India’s ‘human computer,’ mathematical genius Shakuntala Devi, dies aged 83

Shakuntala Devi, a math genius known known as the "human computer," has died in Bangalore aged 83.

The New York Times cited D. C. Shivadev, a trustee of the Shakuntala Devi Educational Foundation Public Trust, as saying the cause of death was respiratory and cardiac problems.

Devi, born in 1929, first astonished world math experts in 1977 at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas by extracting the 23rd root of a 201-digit number in 50 seconds.

The same math problem took a Univac computer 62 seconds to solve.

Three years later, at the Imperial College in London, she correctly multiplied two 13-digit numbers picked at random by the computer department — 7,686,369,774,870 x 2,465,099,745,779.

After 28 seconds she correctly answered 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730.

Her feat, wrote the London Telegraph, earned her a place in the 1982 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

She said she discovered her unique talent at age 3, while playing cards with her father, a circus performer who recognized her uncanny ability to memorize numbers.

By age 5, she had become an expert at solving math problems.

She developed a wider following via road shows arranged by her father, recounting:

"I had become the sole breadwinner of my family, and the responsibility was a huge one for a young child. At the age of 6, I gave my first major show at the University of Mysore, and this was the beginning of my marathon of public performances."

Even more astounding was that she received no formal education as a child.

She once told the Times of India:

"At 10, I was admitted to Class 1 of St. Theresa's Convent in Chamarajpet. But my parents could not afford the monthly fee of Rs 2 [2 rupees], so in three months, I was thrown out."

She toured Europe in the '50s and during one appearance at the University of Rome was called out for getting a problem wrong.

However, the experts re-examined their own calculations only to discover that Devi was, indeed, correct.

According to the Telegraph, she was also "witty and sharp-minded," possessing "exceptional powers of retention and appeared to harness the power of several mnemonic devices in her brain."

She was studied in the US, with Stanford educational psychologist Professor Arthur Jensen subjecting her to a series of tests.

According to Jensen, in a research study published in the journal Intelligence in 1990:

"Devi solved most of the problems faster than I was able to copy them in my notebook."

Devi was later quoted as saying:

"Numbers have life, they're not just symbols on paper," she once said. "I cannot transfer my abilities to anyone, but I can think of quicker ways with which to help people develop numerical aptitude."