Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh deNational Mathematics Day: Everything Math Lovers Need To Knowclared 22nd December to be National Mathematics Day in India. This day was announced to celebrate mathematics as it was the birth anniversary of the Mozart of mathematics, Srinivasa Ramanujan. Ramanujan’s exceptional contributions lay some of the founding stones in the history of mathematics, not just for India but even the world. He even has a prime number named after him known as the ‘Ramanujan Prime’ relating to prime-counting function.
Ramanujan contributed to the mathematics world with the remarkable number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions. National Mathematical Day in our country is celebrated to pay tribute to this mathematician along with many other such greats who have carried forward his legacy. This day is significant for recognizing and cultivating the tradition of Indian mathematics.
National Mathematics Day is an important day to foster scientific temperament among the youth to explore and venture into the sphere of mathematics and discover its applications across other disciplines such as economics and science.
This momentous day is even recognized by the UNESCO (United Nations Educations, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) who is working in collaboration with the mathematical fraternity in India to spread the joy of learning and understanding mathematics. The National Academy of Sciences, which is one of the oldest science institutes in India, also promotes love for mathematics through lectures and workshops discussing remarkable works of Ramanujan.
Ramanujan was an alumni of the Madras University, on visiting which the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared Ramanujan’s birth anniversary to be a nationwide celebration of math. Keeping with this tribute, several universities appeal for and encourage students to pursue research in the field of mathematics. With scholarships and grants to make higher education in mathematics accessible to all, students and researchers are encouraged to continue the legacy of development which the founding fathers of mathematics and science started. The AIMS Institute, a reputed MCA college in Bangalore is one such example.