“Human computer” dies: An Indian math whiz known as the “human computer” has died at age 83, it was reported this week.
Shakuntala Devi grabbed the world’s attention in the late 1970s when she calculated the 23rd root of a more than 100 digit number in less than a minute, according to the Daily Telegraph. It was 12 seconds faster than the top-performing computer of the era.
She also multiplied two randomly-generated numbers with 13 digits in 28 seconds. The numbers, according to the New York Times, were 7,686,369,774,870 and 2,465,099,745,779. She multiplied the two together and got 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730.
“Her parents noticed her extraordinary talent and tried to put her in school but they could not support it, so they withdrew her and made her do road shows, performing in public from the age of six,” D.C Shivadev, with the Shakuntala Devi Educational Foundation Trust, told the Telegraph.
The Times reported that Devi died in Bangalore on Sunday of cardiac and respiratory problems.
Devi became famous by traveling in the circus and her father later arranged shows for her.
“I had become the sole breadwinner of my family, and the responsibility was a huge one for a young child,” she said, according to the Times. “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.”
