Shakuntala Devi – lady mathematician

Shakuntala Devi was a remarkable lady known for superfast calculations, something that had earned her the title of ‘human computer’. Born in Bangalore in the year 1929, Shakuntala’s talent was first observed by her father when he was training her for remembering numbers on the card for the circuses. Shakuntala’s father used to work in a circus. Soon after the father – daughter duo were traveling to do street shows based on a young Shakuntala’s calculations’ talent. Shakuntala had by the end of year 1944 moved to London thereby traveling across the world doing shows. After all the young prodigy was known to solve the most complex equations within seconds. So much so that the professor of psychology at California University, Arthur Jensen, had called her to the university in the year 1988 to study her exceptional capabilities. The world was stunned with Shakuntala Devi’s talent. In the year 1980, her name was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Record for calculating thirteen digit numbers- 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779- which were picked at random at the Computer Department of Imperial College, London. She gave the correct answer – 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730- in just 28 seconds. Shakuntala Devi was also a successful astrologer and author of several books on the subject. She also wrote texts on mathematics for children and puzzles. The immensely gifted mathematician bid her adieu to the world in year 2013