If you thought mathematics was just about crunching numbers, think again. It also allows for engrossing anecdotes. Mathematics has helped build bridges, craft sculptures and determine the number of days, hours and minutes in a year.
At the 93rd ‘remembrance’ get together of Srinivasa Ramanujan organised by the Ramanujan Museum and Math Education Centre (RMMEC) on Friday, T.R. Govindarajan, professor, Chennai Mathematical Institute, dealt with the ‘why’ before he got to the ‘how’.
Placing mathematics genius Ramanujan in the league of mathematicians such as Brahmagupta, Baskara II and Madhava and Nilakantha, he engaged children from the Government Children’s Home for Boys, Royapuram, and Kavi Bharathi Vidyalaya in a discussion on the significance of mathematics in ancient civilisations and the immense scope it offers to dig deep into subjects.
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Prof. Govindarajan, while tracing Ramanujan’s life from his roots in Sarangapani Street in Kumbakonam to his period in Cambridge University to the remarkable body of work he produced before his death at the age of 32, called the ‘man who knew infinity’ an “extraordinary genius”. He said that the mathematician belonged to the class of Euclid, Newton, Gauss, Riemann and Poincare.
Meena Suresh, director, RMMEC, said that on every birth anniversary and ‘Remembrance Day’, they invited descendants of those who were associated with Ramanujan.