Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said there’s a deep connection between science and spirituality, as he fondly remembered Srinivasa Ramanujan, considered to be one of the greatest mathematicians of all time.
When American podcaster Lex Fridman, an engineer who loves mathematics, asked the Prime Minister about Ramanujan and what is so inspiring about him, PM Modi said he “deeply respects him”.
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“Everyone in my country respects him as well, because I strongly believe there’s a deep connection between science and spirituality. If you closely observe many scientifically advanced minds, you’ll find they’re often spiritually advanced too,” said PM Modi.
They’re not disconnected from spirituality. Ramanujan once said that his mathematical ideas came from the goddess he worshipped, meaning ideas emerge from spiritual discipline, and discipline is more than just hard work.
“It means fully devoting yourself to a task and completely immersing yourself into it so much that you become one with your work,” said the Prime Minister.
According to PM Modi, the more open we are to new and different sources of knowledge, the more new ideas we’ll have.
“I think it’s important for us to clearly understand the difference between information and knowledge. Some people mistakenly confuse information with knowledge, carrying around large amounts of information, but I don’t believe information alone equals knowledge,” the PM asserted.
“Knowledge is something deeper. It gradually evolves through processing, reflection and understanding. Recognising this difference is important in how we handle both,” he added.
The National Mathematics Day is celebrated every year on December 22 to honour the memory of mathematical genius Ramanujan.
Ramanujan was born in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district on December 22, 1887.
He was one of the youngest members of Britain’s Royal Society and the first Indian to be elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge University.
His contribution to mathematical analysis, infinite series, continued fractions and number theory was immense. Ramanujan is most popular for his contribution to the analytical theory of numbers, elliptic functions, continued fractions, and infinite series.
