National Mathematics Day 2023: Srinivasa Ramanujan's life & work

December 22 is celebrated as National Mathematics Day every year. This date marks the birth anniversary of legendary mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. Mathematics is a part of our everyday lives and celebrating this day makes it even more special.

The celebration of this day began in 2012 when then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared December 22 as National Mathematics Day to honor the life and achievements of Ramanujan in the field of Mathematics.

Know about Srinivasa Ramanujan’s life and his works in the timeline given here.

1887: The great mathematician was born on this day in Tamil Nadu’s Erode to a Brahmin Iyengar family. Since his childhood days, he had a liking for mathematics which led him to master trigonometry at the age of 12. He was also eligible for a scholarship at the Government Arts College in Kumbakonam.

1912: Srinivasa Ramanujan started to work as a clerk in Madras Port Trust in 1912. There, his mathematics genius was recognized by some of his colleagues and one of them referred him to Professor GH Hardy of Trinity College, Cambridge University. He met Hardy in 1913, after which he went to Trinity College.

1916: This year the Ramanujan received his Bachelor in Science degree. After this, he published several papers on his subject with Hardy’s help.

1917: Ramanujan was elected to the London Mathematical Society.

1918: The great mathematician was elected to the prestigious Royal Society for his research on Elliptic Functions and theory of numbers. He was also the first Indian to be elected a Fellow of the Trinity College.

1919: Ramanujan returned to India.

1920: On April 26, he breathed his last owing to deteriorating health. He was just 32 years old.

Srinivasa Ramanujan never received any formal training in pure maths, but he made impactful contribution in the field of mathematics.

His areas of work include infinite series, continued fractions, number theory and mathematical analysis.

He also made notable contributions like the hypergeometric series, the Riemann series, the elliptic integrals, the theory of divergent series, and the functional equations of the zeta function. He is said to have discovered his own theorems and independently compiled 3,900 results.