ABOUT SHAKUNTALA DEVI
Shakuntala Devi is a calculating prodigy who was born on
November 4, 1939 in Bangalore, India. Her calculating gifts
first demonstrated themselves while she was doing card tricks
with her father when she was three. They report she "beat"
them by memorization of cards rather than by sleight of hand.
Shakuntala Devi was born in Bangalore, India to an orthodox
priestly Brahmin family. At the age of three she manifested an extraordinary
love for numbers and by the time she was five years old, Shakuntala became
an expert in complex mental Arithmetic. With a divine skill in numbers from the
age of three, she has been stunning the whole world with her uncanny skill in
computing the most intricate problems mentally, even quicker than the highly
sophisticated computers in the world.
By age six she demonstrated her calculation and memorization abilities at the
University of Mysore. At the age of eight she performed her unique gift at the
Annamalai University in Southern India and the then Vice Chancellor of the
University Rt Hon. V.S. Srinivasa Shastriar P.C., CH, LX.D. called her a “living
wonder”. Around the same time she performed in the Osmania University in
Hyderabad and the Vizag University. Soon Shakuntala, who displayed her
talents to gatherings of distinguished people all over India, came to be
acclaimed as a Child Prodigy.
Problems that took learned men hours to solve, she could solve within
seconds. While six years old, Shakuntala demonstrated her talents at the
University of Mysore, Bangalore, to a large gathering of students and
professors of the University. At that tender age she worked out the most
complicated arithmetical calculations with lightening rapidity and scientific
precision and kept the assembly spell-bound for two hours.
Still in her early ages, Shakuntala sailed to Europe in 1950. In London on the
5th of October, 1950, the BBC presented Shakuntala to the viewers of Great
Britain. Shakuntala gave quick answers to problems posed by the BBC, but
when further questions were given, she challenged the problem as set and
said it was worked out wrongly. Mr. Leslie Mitchell, the BBC's interviewer did
some quick checking and confessed that Shakuntala was right and the BBC
wrong!
At the University of Rome one of her answers to the problems was found to be
wrong by the calculating machine, but after re-checking it was found that the
machine had made the mistake and not Shakuntala!
In Sydney, Australia, Shakuntala matched her wits against their most
sophisticated computer at that time, "UTECOM" of the University of New
Page 2South Wales. Questions were set by the then well known Professors Mr. R.G.
Smart and Mr. Barry Thornton, the Chief Mathematicians, Seconds before the
questions were fed to the computer, Shakuntala had the answers. "It's
frightening" remarked Mr. Thornton.
Throughout her tours around the world, Shakuntala has performed in
Universities, Colleges, Schools, Theatres, and on Television with great
distinction.
In England on the 27th of September 1973, Shakuntala appeared on the BBC
programme "Nationwide" with the distinguished Bob Wellings on the popular
ITV programme "Today" and the Televiewers of Great Britain were left in a
daze by the "mind-collapsing" performance of Shakuntala Devi.
She has received accolades and high letters of appreciation from all these
Universities. Shakuntala Devi has also performed in the World Bank -
Washington D.C. and the United Nation in the year 1977.
Unlike many other calculating prodigies, for example Truman Henry Safford,
her abilities did not wane in adulthood. In 1977 she extracted the 23rd root of
a 201-digit number mentally. On June 18, 1980 she demonstrated the
multiplication of two 13-digit numbers 7,686,369,774,870 x 2,465,099,745,779
picked at random by the Computer Department of Imperial College, London.
She answered the question in 28 seconds. However, this time is more likely
the time for dictating the answer (a 26-digit number) than the time for the
mental calculation (the time of 28 seconds was quoted on her own website).
Her correct answer was 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730. This event is
mentioned on page 26 of the 1995 Guinness Book of Records ISBN 0-
553-56942-2.
Universities of various countries in which she has performed:
India: Mysore University –Bangalore, Osmania University – Hyderabad, Vizag
University, Annamalai University, Benares Hindu University
England: University of Leeds – Yorkshire, Kings College of London, Surrey
University, University of London, University of Manchester, University of
Birmingham
USA: Southern Methodist university - Dallas, Texas, USC - University of
Southern California - Los Angeles, UCLA - University of California - Los
Angeles, Staynford University – California, Lehigh University in Pennsylvania,
Columbia University - New York, Princeton University - New Jersey,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Boston, George Washington
University - Washington DC, Georgia University - Atlanta Georgia, State
University of Pennsylvania, Buffalo University and many others in the USA
Page 3Canada: MC Gill University – Montreal, University of Toronto, MC Master
University, York University – Toronto
Australia: University of New South Wales – Sydney, University of Melbourne
Japan: Tokyo University
And numerous other universities and schools around the world
Awards Received
• The most distinguished Woman of the year in 1969 at the University of
Philippines and a Gold Medal.
• Ramanujan Mathematical Genius Award in Washington D.C. handed over
by the then Ambassador of India in the USA in the year 1988.
There are also various other awards.
Books Authored by MS. SHAKUNTALA DEVI
In 2006 she has released a new book called In the Wonderland of Numbers
with Orient Paperbacks which talks about a girl Neha and her fascination for
numbers.
Some of her Books:
•
Puzzles to Puzzle You
•
More Puzzles to Puzzle You
•
Awaken the Genius in Your Child
•
Book of Numbers
•
Astrology for You
•
Figuring -- The Joy of Numbers
•
Mathability
•
In the Wonderland of Numbers
•
Perfect Murder
•
master of game
•
The World of Homosexuals
