Shakuntala Devi (4 November 1929 – 21 April 2013) was an Indian mental calculator and writer, popularly known as the "Human Computer". Her talent earned her a place in the 1982 edition of ''
The Guinness Book of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''. However, the certificate for the record was given posthumously on 30 July 2020, despite Devi achieving her world record on 18 June 1980 at
Imperial College, London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
. Devi was a
precocious child and she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at the
University of Mysore
The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission ...
without any formal education.
Devi strove to simplify numerical calculations for students. She wrote a number of books in her later years, including novels as well as texts about mathematics, puzzles, and astrology. She wrote the book ''The World of Homosexuals'', which is considered the first study of
homosexuality in India
Homosexuality in India has been a subject of discussion from ancient times to modern times. Hindu texts have taken various positions regarding homosexual characters and themes. The ancient Indian text ''Kamasutra'' written by Vātsyāyana dedic ...
.
[: "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 as the human computer. This book saw homosexuality in a positive light and reviewed the socio-cultural and legal situation of homosexuality in India and contrasted that with the gay liberation movement then taking place in the USA."] She saw homosexuality in a positive light and is considered a pioneer in the field.
[
]
Early life
Shakuntala Devi was born on 4 November 1929 at Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
.[ ] Her father, C V Sundararaja Rao, worked as a trapeze artist, lion tamer, tightrope walker and magician in a circus. He discovered his daughter's ability to memorise numbers while teaching her a card trick when she was about three years old. Her father left the circus and took her on road shows that displayed her ability at calculation. She did this without any formal education. At the age of six she demonstrated her arithmetic abilities at the University of Mysore
The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the Maharaja of Mysore. The university is recognised by the University Grants Commission ...
.[
In 1944, Devi moved to ]London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
Mental calculation
Devi travelled to several countries around the world demonstrating her arithmetic talents. She was on a tour of Europe throughout 1950 and was in New York City in 1976.[ In 1988, she travelled to the US to have her abilities studied by ]Arthur Jensen
Arthur Robert Jensen (August 24, 1923 – October 22, 2012) was an American psychologist and writer. He was a professor of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jensen was known for his work in psychometrics an ...
, a professor of educational psychology at the University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. Jensen tested her performance at several tasks, including the calculation of large numbers. Examples of the problems presented to Devi included calculating the cube root
In mathematics, a cube root of a number is a number such that . All nonzero real numbers, have exactly one real cube root and a pair of complex conjugate cube roots, and all nonzero complex numbers have three distinct complex cube roots. Fo ...
of 61,629,875 and the seventh root
In mathematics, a radicand, also known as an nth root, of a number ''x'' is a number ''r'' which, when raised to the power ''n'', yields ''x'':
:r^n = x,
where ''n'' is a positive integer, sometimes called the ''degree'' of the root. A roo ...
of 170,859,375. Jensen reported that Devi provided the solution to the above-mentioned problems (395 and 15, respectively) before Jensen could copy them down in his notebook.[ Jensen published his findings in the academic journal '']Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...
'' in 1990.[
In 1977, at ]Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = "The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, prov ...
, she gave the 23rd root of a 201-digit number in 50 seconds.[ Her answer, which was 546,372,891, was confirmed by calculations done at the US Bureau of Standards by the UNIVAC 1101 computer, for which a special program had to be written to perform such a large calculation, which took a longer time than for her to do the same.]
On 18 June 1980, she demonstrated the multiplication of two 13-digit numbers – 7,686,369,774,870 × 2,465,099,745,779. These numbers were picked at random by the Department of Computing at Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
. She correctly answered 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730 in 28 seconds. This event was recorded in the 1982 ''Guinness Book of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''. Writer Steven Smith commented, "the result is so far superior to anything previously reported that it can only be described as unbelievable."
Shakuntala Devi explained many of the methods she used to do mental calculations in her 1977 book ''Figuring: The Joy of Numbers''.
Book on homosexuality
In 1977, she wrote ''The World of Homosexuals'', the first published academic study[ of ]homosexuality in India
Homosexuality in India has been a subject of discussion from ancient times to modern times. Hindu texts have taken various positions regarding homosexual characters and themes. The ancient Indian text ''Kamasutra'' written by Vātsyāyana dedic ...
, 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 her desire to look at homosexuality more closely to understand it.
The book, considered "pioneering", features interviews with two young Indian homosexual men
Gay men are male homosexuals. Some bisexual men, bisexual and homoromantic men may also dually identify as gay, and a number of young gay men also identify as queer. Historically, gay men have been referred to by a number of different terms, ...
, 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.[ It ends with a call for decriminalisation of homosexuality, and "full and complete acceptance—not tolerance and sympathy".][ The book, however, went mostly unnoticed at that time.
]
Personal life
Devi returned to India in the mid-1960s and she married Paritosh Banerji, an officer of the Indian Administrative Service
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
from Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. They divorced in 1979 due to personal problems.[ In 1980, she contested the ]Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...
elections as an independent candidate for Mumbai South and for Medak
Medak is a town in Medak district of the Indian state of Telangana. It is a municipality and the headquarters of Medak mandal in Medak revenue division. And There is a river named srujan which is big in length.
Etymology and History
Medak w ...
in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
(now in Telangana
Telangana (; , ) is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India b ...
).[ In Medak she stood against the former ]Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
, saying she wanted to "defend the people of Medak from being fooled by Mrs. Gandhi";[ she came ninth, with 6,514 votes (1.47% of the votes).][ Devi returned to ]Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
in the early 1980s.[
In addition to her work as a mental calculator, Devi was a notable ]astrologer
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...
and an author of several books, including cookbooks and novels.[ She started with writing short stories and murder mysteries, and had a keen interest in music.
]
Death and legacy
In April 2013, Devi was admitted to a hospital in Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
with severe respiratory problems.[ Over the following two weeks she had heart and kidney complications.][ She died in the hospital on 21 April 2013.][ She was 83 years old.][ Her daughter Anupama Bannerji is married to Ajay Abhaya Kumar, with whom she has two daughters, and lives in ]London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.[
On 4 November 2013, Devi was honoured with a ]Google Doodle
A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...
on what would have been her 84th birthday.
A film on her life titled ''Shakuntala Devi
Shakuntala Devi (4 November 1929 – 21 April 2013) was an Indian mental calculator and writer, popularly known as the "Human Computer". Her talent earned her a place in the 1982 edition of ''The Guinness Book of World Records''. However, ...
'' was announced in May 2019. The film stars Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan (pronounced ; born 1 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Known for pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema with her roles in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including a National Fi ...
in the lead title role and features Sanya Malhotra
Sanya Malhotra (born 25 February 1992) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She began her career with supporting roles in the biographical sports film '' Dangal'' (2016) and the comedy ''Badhaai Ho'' (2018), both of which rank among t ...
, Amit Sadh
Amit Sadh (born 5 June 1983) is an Indian actor. He is known for his roles in films like ''Kai Po Che'' (2013), ''Guddu Rangeela'' (2015), and ''Sarkar 3'' (2017). He began his acting career with the teen drama ''Kyun Hota Hai Pyarrr'' and late ...
, and Jisshu Sengupta
Jisshu Ujjwal Sengupta (born 15 March 1977) is an Indian actor, producer, television presenter. who predominantly works in Bengali, Hindi and Telugu films. Sengupta made his debut through a Bengali TV series, '' Mahaprabhu'' where he portraye ...
in the supporting roles. Produced by Sony Pictures Networks Productions, the film streamed worldwide on Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
on 31 July 2020.
Selected works
*''Astrology for You'' (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
, 2005).
*''Book of Numbers'' (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
, 2006).
*''Figuring: The Joy of Numbers'' (New, ,
*''In the Wonderland of Numbers'' (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
, 2006).
*''Mathability: Awaken the Math Genius in Your Child'' (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
, 2005).
*''More Puzzles to Puzzle You'' (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
, 2006).
*''Perfect Murder'' (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
, 1976),
*''Puzzles to Puzzle You'' (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
, 2005).
*''Super Memory: It Can Be Yours'' (New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks
The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
, 2011). ; (Sydney: New Holland, 2012). ,
*''The World of Homosexuals'' (Vikas Publishing House, 1977), [: "In her 1977 book, mathematician Shakuntala Devi interviewed..."]
References
External links
Chips no match to grey cells: Shakuntala Devi
at ''The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
''
Interview of Shakuntala Devi
at Know Your Star
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, Shakuntala
1929 births
2013 deaths
20th-century Indian educators
20th-century Indian mathematicians
20th-century Indian non-fiction writers
20th-century Indian women writers
20th-century astrologers
20th-century women mathematicians
21st-century astrologers
Indian astrologers
Indian Hindus
Indian mnemonists
Indian popular science writers
Indian women mathematicians
Indian women science writers
Indian LGBT rights activists
Mental calculators
Women writers from Karnataka
Writers from Bangalore