Math talent has never been to school

Once included in the Guinness Book of World Records for his superhuman mental ability, but a mathematical prodigy in India only works on her own.

Math prodigy Shakuntala Devi.Photo: thestar.com.my .

Like most students, Gaurav Tiwari once considered math a difficult subject. But, according to The Jakarta Post, after attending a training session by 71-year-old Indian mathematician Shakuntala Devi, held at Gandhi International School in Jakarta's Indonesian capital, he was no longer afraid. it too.

The training not only helps students like Gaurav to learn math more easily, but also helps a 16-year-old boy who loves the subject is always said to be "dry".

'Now I know the magic of many things, including numbers. Ms. Shakuntala made every problem great ' , Gaurav shared.

Ms. Shakuntala displayed mathematical ability by multiplying and dividing long numbers in seconds. She also showed the distinct properties of many numbers. These properties help people find results very quickly when doing squared (some multiply with themselves).

For example, 11 x 11 = 121, 111 x 111 = 12.321. Similarly 33 x 33 = 1,089, while 333 x 333 = 110,889.

71-year-old math talent also surprised everyone in the room by guessing the birth dates of some people.

'I was really impressed with her performance,' said a student named Ananthu.

Ananthu said he was very interested in listening to Shakuntala describing the magic properties of number 1.

'That conversation is very interesting. Thanks to it, we can broaden our vision of math, ' Gaurav said.

Jalaj, a math teacher at Gandhi International School, said he felt deeply impressed with the way Shakuntala applied to attract the audience's attention during the training.

'She uses humor to draw people's attention. I was surprised at the advanced techniques she applied to perform math operations, ' he said.

Shakuntala Devi demonstrated mathematical ability in India in 2006. Photo: atlantadunia.com .

Shakuntala was born on November 4, 1939 in Bangalore state, India. She said funny stories and ways she used to turn dry problems into fun for students.

'I encourage every math teacher to create challenges for students and eliminate the fear of math. Once the fear disappears, the results will surprise us, ' commented Shakuntala.

Shakuntala added that she has no secret in supernatural ability to learn math because it is so natural. She was aware of a special ability when she was only three years old. Back then she always won the game with her father thanks to the ability to remember all the cards that were lowered.

'It is a gift of gods. Because I was a gift of gods, I wanted to share it with everyone. I often practice to improve my math skills , 'she said.

Many teenage math prodigies, such as Truman Henry Safford (USA), lost their ability to quickly calculate mental growth, but that phenomenon did not occur in Shakuntala. On June 18, 1980, in the presence of hundreds of people at the London University of Experimental, England, she showed her ability to do super mental arithmetic by performing a multiplication of 7,686,369,774,870 x 2,465,099,745. 779. Two numbers in multiplication by the audience. She answered the results within 28 seconds. That is the number 18.947.668.177.995.426.462.773.730. The event was recorded on page 26 of the 1995 Guinness Book of Records.

Shakuntala admitted she never went to school because she wanted to study by herself. She wrote 14 books, some of which were translated into Japanese, Thai and Danish.