National Mathematics Day 2022: Date, History, Significance, Celebrations, Key facts & More
National Mathematics Day 2022: It is observed on 22 December every year to mark the birth anniversary of legendary Indian Mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan. The day recognizes and celebrates his works. On this day, the genius mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan was born in 1887 to a Tamil Brahmin Iyengar family in Erode, Tamil Nadu.
Since ancient times various scholars had made significant contributions to mathematics including Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Mahavira, Bhaskara II, Srinivasa Ramanujan, etc. At a very young age, Srinivasa Ramanujan showed signs of an unfolding genius, and his contributions regarding fractions, infinite series, number theory, mathematical analysis, etc. set an example in mathematics.
National Mathematics Day: History
In 2012, the former Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, paid tribute to Srinivasa Ramanujan at a function organized on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the great mathematician Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan in Chennai. 22 December was declared National Mathematics Day. Thus, on 22 December 2012, National Mathematics Day was celebrated across the country for the first time.
Why is December 2022 celebrated as National Mathematics Day?
National Mathematics Day: Significance
The main objective behind the celebration is to raise awareness among people about the importance of mathematics for the development of humanity. We can't ignore that several initiatives are taken to motivate, enthuse, and inculcate a positive attitude towards learning mathematics among the younger generation of the country. On this day, training is also provided to the mathematics teachers and students through camps and highlights the development, production, and dissemination of teaching-learning materials (TLM) for Mathematics and research in related areas.
READ| List of famous Indian mathematicians from Ancient to Modern India
How is National Mathematics Day celebrated?
National Mathematics Day is celebrated in various schools, colleges, universities, and educational institutions in India. Even the International Society of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) and India had agreed to work together to spread mathematics learning and understanding. Along with this, various steps were taken to educate the students in mathematics and spread knowledge to students and learners all over the world.
NASI (The National Academy of Science India) is the oldest science academy situated in Allahabad. To celebrate National Mathematics Day, NASI conducts a workshop on applications of Mathematics and Ramanujan. The workshop is attended by popular lecturers and experts in the field of mathematics from across the nation. Speakers at the country and world levels discuss Srinivasa Ramanujan's contribution to mathematics.
The two days workshop on the topic 'History of Indian Maths before 16th Century' was organized during 30-31 December 2019 at the NASI headquarters at Prayagraj.
Discussion in the workshop covered the below-mentioned topics:
- Indian Contribution during the Vedic Period
- Indian Contribution during the Classical period
- Indian Contribution during the medieval period.
All the states of India celebrate National Mathematics Day in different ways. Various competitions and mathematical quizzes are conducted at schools, colleges, and universities. Mathematics talent and students from all over India participate in these programs and workshops.
About Srinivasa Ramanujan and his contributions to Mathematics
Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on 22 December 1887, in Erode, India, and died on 26 April 1920 at Kumbakonam. His family was of the Brahmin caste and lived in poverty. At the age of 12, he gained knowledge in Trignometry, and without anyone's help, he developed his own theorems and ideas. Do you know that at the age of 15 only he obtained a copy of George Shoobridge Carr's Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics?
He had spent his childhood days in great difficulty in poverty. He used to borrow books and read books from friends in school. When he was young, he took up the job of a clerk to meet the economic needs of the house, and when he gets time he used to solve mathematics questions and worked on various types of theorems. Once, an Englishman saw those pages, he was impressed and took a personal interest. He sends Srinivasa Ramanujan to Hardy, the Professor at Oxford University. He then recognized the talent hidden in him and thereafter he got famous worldwide.
His papers were published in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society in 1911. He had compiled about 3900 results mainly identities and equations that too on his own without anyone's assistance. Several results them are original and novel like the Ramanujan prime, The Ramanujan theta function, partition formulae, and mock theta functions. These results further inspired several other research and opened new fields of work. He discovered his theory of divergent series and worked out the Riemann series, the elliptic integrals, the hypergeometric series, and the functional equations of the zeta function. Let us tell you that the number 1729 is known as the Hardy-Ramanujan number.
So now we come to know that National Mathematics Day is celebrated on 22 December every year to spread awareness about the importance of mathematics and the contributions made by the scholar of mathematics Srinivasa Ramanujan. The government of India decided in 2012 to celebrate National Mathematics Day on 22 December the birth anniversary of Srinivasa Ramanujan. Since then it was celebrated on 22 December every year.
