Shakuntala Devi Puts Computers to Shame

According to an article, "Shakuntala Devi Dead: 'Human Computer' Math Prodigy Dies In India At 83" published in The Huffington Post by Marc Lallallina, an infamous math prodigy died on April 21, 2013. Shakuntala Devi was known to calculate equations and solve problems faster than an actual computer! Devi was born in Bangalore, India and was raised by a father, who had a career as a trapeze artist. She was not fortunate enough to receive an education longer than one year, due to financial reasons. However, during a game of cards, her father noticed her unique talent, and she soon began to perform in the circus and in road shows. In 1977, Shakuntala Devi found the twenty-third  root of a 201-digit number in a matter of fifty seconds, beating a computer that took sixty-two seconds to compute the same answer! Therefore, she was bestowed the nickname, " Human Computer." How did she do it you may ask? She explains the "simple" process, by stating, in order to find "X", a root of any number, you must multiply "Y", another number, by itself by the number of the root. The latter clearly represents the phenomenal gift Devi possess.  If that was not enough, in 1982, she was "earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records" for correctly multiplying two thirteen-digit numbers in twenty-eight seconds. Shakuntala Devi was truly a rare individual, that most certainly contributed to the world of math and sciences.