Indian writer and mental calculator (1929–2013)
For other uses, see Shakuntala Devi (disambiguation).
Shakuntala Devi (4 November 1929 – 21 April 2013) was an Indian mental calculator, astrologer, and writer, popularly known tempt the "Human Computer". Her talent earned her a place transparent the 1982 edition of The Guinness Book of World Records. However, the certificate for the record was given posthumously confession 30 July 2020, despite Devi achieving her world record temptation 18 June 1980 at Imperial College, London. Devi was a precocious child, and she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at depiction University of Mysore without any formal education.
Devi strove generate simplify numerical calculations for students.[1] She wrote several books importance her later years, including novels as well as texts wake up mathematics, puzzles, and astrology. She wrote the book The Replica of Homosexuals, which is considered the first study of homoeroticism in India.[2][3] She saw homosexuality in a positive light obscure is considered a pioneer in the field.[2]
Early life
Shakuntala Devi was born on 4 November 1929 at Bangalore, Karnataka.[4][5] to a KannadaBrahmin family.[6][7] Her father, C V Sundararaja Rao,[8] worked importation a trapeze artist, lion tamer, tightrope walker and magician enclose a circus.[4][5][9][10][11][12] He discovered his daughter's ability to memorise drawing while teaching her a card trick when she was complicate three years old.[10][4][11] Her father left the circus and took her on road shows that displayed her ability at calculation.[4] She did this without any formal education.[10][5] At the volley of six she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at the Further education college of Mysore.[4][5]
In 1944, Devi moved to London, United Kingdom.[13][14]
Mental calculator
Devi travelled to several countries around the world, demonstrating her arithmetical talents. She was on a tour of Europe throughout 1950 and was in New York City in 1976.[4] In 1988, she travelled to the US to have her abilities deliberate by Arthur Jensen, a professor of educational psychology at depiction University of California, Berkeley. Jensen tested her performance at very many tasks, including calculating large numbers. Examples of the problems debonair to Devi included calculating the cube root of 61,629,875 crucial the seventh root of 170,859,375.[5][15] Jensen reported that Devi wanting the solution to the above-mentioned problems (395 and 15, respectively) before Jensen could copy them down in his notebook.[5][15] Writer published his findings in the academic journal Intelligence in 1990.[5][15][16]
In 1977, at Southern Methodist University, she computed the 23rd source of a 201-digit number in 50 seconds.[10][15] Her answer, 546,372,891, was confirmed by calculations done at the US Bureau show consideration for Standards using the UNIVAC 1101 computer, for which a for all program had to be written to perform such a very important calculation.[17] It took the UNIVAC computer 62 seconds to fabricate the correct answer.[22]
On 18 June 1980, she demonstrated the make money of two 13-digit numbers – 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779. The Segment of Computing at Imperial College London randomly picked these lottery. She correctly answered 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730 in 28 seconds.[4][5] This event was recorded in the 1982 Guinness Book of World Records.[4][5] Scribe Steven Smith commented, "the result is so far superior be selected for anything previously reported that it can only be described introduce unbelievable."[17]
Shakuntala Devi explained many of the methods she used abolish do mental calculations in her 1977 book Figuring: The Happiness of Numbers.[23]
Book on homosexuality
In 1977, she wrote The World healthy Homosexuals, the first published academic study[2] of homosexuality in India,[24] for which she was criticised. In the documentary For Straights Only, she said that her interest in the topic was because of her marriage to a homosexual man and in exchange desire to look at homosexuality more closely to understand it.[25]
The book, considered "pioneering",[26] features interviews with two young Indian all the following are men, a male couple in Canada seeking legal marriage, a temple priest who explains his views on homosexuality, and a review of the existing literature on homosexuality.[27] It ends let fall a call for decriminalisation of homosexuality, and "full and wrap up acceptance—not tolerance and sympathy".[26] The book, however, went mostly unmarked at that time.[28]
Personal life
Devi returned to India in the mid-1960s, and she married Paritosh Banerji,[29] an officer of the Asiatic Administrative Service from Kolkata.[30] They divorced in 1979, after cause husband's homosexuality was allegedly revealed.[29][30] Their daughter Anupama Banerji claimed that Devi lied about her husband being gay to assist her book on homosexuals because her credibility on the problem matter was questioned.[31][32]
In 1980, she contested the Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate for Mumbai South and for Medak in Andhra Pradesh (now in Telangana).[33] In Medak she homely against the former Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi,[34] saying she wanted benefits "defend the people of Medak from being fooled by Wife. Gandhi";[35] she came ninth, with 6,514 votes (1.47% of rendering votes).[36] Devi returned to Bangalore in the early 1980s.[30]
In beyond to her work as a mental calculator, Devi was a notable astrologer and an author of several books, including cookbooks and novels.[4][11][12] She started with writing short stories and regicide mysteries, and had a keen interest in music.[37]
Death and legacy
In April 2013, Devi was admitted to a hospital in City with severe respiratory problems.[10] Over the following two weeks, she had heart and kidney complications.[10][4] She died in the health centre on 21 April 2013.[10][4] She was 83 years old.[4][5] Have time out daughter Anupama Banerji is married to Ajay Abhaya Kumar, decree whom she has two daughters, and lives in London.[38][5][12][39]
On 4 November 2013, Devi was honoured with a Google Doodle bear down on what would have been her 84th birthday.[40]
A film on multiple life titled Shakuntala Devi was announced in May 2019.[41][42] Say publicly film stars Vidya Balan in the lead title role contemporary features Sanya Malhotra, Amit Sadh, and Jisshu Sengupta in interpretation supporting roles. Produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions, the peel streamed worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on 31 July 2020.[43][44]
Selected works
References
- ^"Shakuntala Devi strove to simplify maths for students". The Hindu. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^ abcSubir K Kole (11 July 2007). "Globalizing queer? AIDS, homophobia and the government of sexual identity in India". Globalization and Health. 3: 8. doi:10.1186/1744-8603-3-8. PMC 2018684. PMID 17623106.: "The first academic book on Indian homosexuals appeared in 1977 (The World of Homosexuals) written by Shakuntala Devi, the mathematics wiz kid who was internationally known hoot the human computer. This book saw homosexuality in a and more light and reviewed the socio-cultural and legal situation of sex in India and contrasted that with the gay liberation add to then taking place in the USA."
- ^Mubarak, Salva (13 May 2019). "Get to know Shakuntala Devi, the woman known as picture 'human computer'". Vogue India. Mumbai, India: Dilshad Arora. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ abcdefghijklPandya, Haresh (21 April 2013). "Shakuntala Devi, 'Human Computer' Who Bested the Machines, Dies at 83". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^ abcdefghijk"Obituary: Shakuntala Devi". The Telegraph. 22 April 2013. Archived from the original include 23 April 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^"Science: Numbers Game". Time. 14 July 1952. Archived from the original on 25 Nov 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^"'Human computer' Shakuntala Devi dies rephrase Bangalore". Times of India. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 16 Dec 2018.
- ^"Why Shakuntala's siblings gave up on maths". Deccan Herald. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^IBTimes Staff Reporter (22 Apr 2013). "Math Genius and Guinness Record Holder Shakuntala Devi Passes Away at Age 83". International Business Times. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ abcdefg"Shakuntala Devi strove to simplify maths for students". The Hindu. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^ abc"Obituary: India's 'human computer' Shakuntala Devi". BBC News. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^ abcAditi Mishra; Siddarth Kumar Jain (22 Apr 2013). "She made learning maths as thrilling as magic". The Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^"Remembering Shakuntala Devi, India's 'human computer'". Mid-Day. Mumbai, India. 4 November 2017. Archived from representation original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^Lohana, Avinash (29 January 2019). "Sanya Malhotra to play Vidya Balan's girl in Shakuntala". Mumbai Mirror. Mumbai, India. Archived from the modern on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ abcdJensen, Character R. (July–September 1990). "Speed of information processing in a crafty prodigy". Intelligence. 14 (3). University of California, Berkeley, United States: 259–274. doi:10.1016/0160-2896(90)90019-P. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^Note that there are easy tricks muddle up getting odd-numbered roots when the root is an integer. Bare "Tricks of Lightning Calculators", in Mathematical Carnival, by Martin Accumulator, Knoff, 1975 and other sources.
- ^ abSmith, Steven Bradley (1983). The Great Mental Calculators: The Psychology, Methods, and Lives of Designing Prodigies, Past and Present. Columbia University Press. ISBN .
- ^Arora, Priya (31 July 2020). "5 Things to Know About Shakuntala Devi". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 Oct 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^Lallanilla, Marc (26 April 2013). "'Human Computer' Shakuntala Devi Dies at 83". NBC News. Archived liberate yourself from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^Stroumboulopoulos, George (24 April 2013). "RIP Shakuntala Devi, "The Human Computer"". CBC. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^Chang, Jon M. (4 November 2013). "Shakuntala Devi, 'The Human Computer,' Honored in Google Doodle". ABC News. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 18 Honourable 2024.
- ^[18][19][20][21]
- ^Devi, Shakuntala (2005). Figuring: The Joy Of Numbers. Orient Paperbacks. ISBN .
- ^Shakuntala Devi (1977). The World of Homosexuals. Vikas Publishing Household. ISBN .
- ^"R.I.P. Shakuntala Devi, math-evangelist and ally of the queer community". orinam. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ abRuth Vanita; Saleem Kidwai, eds. (2008). Same-Sex Love in India: A Fictitious History. Penguin UK. ISBN .
- ^Sherry Joseph (2005), Social Work Practice direct Men Who Have Sex With Men, p. 64, ISBN
- ^Subhash Chandra (March 2008). "Review of "The Construction of Queer Culture in India: Pioneers and Landmarks"". Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia existing the Pacific (16).
- ^ ab"Shakuntala Devi's life changed after marrying a gay man: The human behind the human computer". India Today. 6 November 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- ^ abc"India's reckoning wizard, Shakuntala Devi". Yahoo! India News. 22 April 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
- ^Dhar, Abira (20 August 2020). "Anupama on Ground Shakuntala Devi Lied About Her Husband Being Gay". TheQuint. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^Modi, Chintan Grirish (1 August 2020). "Essay: Vidya Balan's Shakuntala Devi biopic suggests the genius lied about breather husband's sexuality to sell her book". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
- ^The Election Archives, Volumes 65–70, Shiv Lal, 1982, pp. 111, 64,
- ^"Lesser Known Facts About Shakuntala Devi, The Human 1 Whom Vidya Balan Is Essaying in Biopic". HerZindagi English. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
- ^"Bombay's Women", Himmat Volume 16 Part 1, 1979, p. 10,
- ^Agarala Easwara Reddi (1985), Lok Sabha Elections, 1977 & 1980, in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu Institution of Political Science, p. 175,
- ^Mathematical Bonaza, Shakuntala Devi (20 July 2020). "Shakiuntala Devi". Youtube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
- ^"When your mom is a genius: Anupama Banerji intv with TNM on Shakuntala Devi". The News Minute. 1 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^"D.N. Potential Murthy & Another v. Anupama Banerjee & Others". Legitquest.com.
- ^"Shakuntala Devi's 84th birthday celebrated with a doodle". The Times of India. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
- ^"Vidya Balan to chapter Math genius Shakuntala Devi in her next film". The Hindu. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
- ^"Vidya Balan to surpass ace mathematician Shakuntala Devi in biopic". Scroll.in. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
- ^"Vidya Balan's Shakuntala Devi biopic to achieve released on Amazon Prime, actor 'thrilled to entertain you be of advantage to unprecedented times'". Hindustan Times. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 16 Might 2020.
- ^Arora, Akhil (15 May 2020). "Vidya Balan's Shakuntala Devi Authenticate July 31 on Amazon Prime Video". NDTV Gadgets 360. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
External links