Today (November 10, 1906) is the birthday of V. Ganapathi Iyer, one of the foremost Indian mathematicians of the twentieth century, in the broad mathematical arena of geography.
V. Ganapathy Iyer was born on November 10, 1906, in Kozhikode, Kerala to Venkatachalam and Lakshmi. He completed his schooling locally and studied at Chennai State College and obtained his B.A. in 1927. Passed first class in Mathematics in Honors examination. He obtained his D.Sc degree from the University of Chennai in 1938. Dr K. Ananda Rao, R. Vaithiyanathaswamy and others guided him in mathematics. After two years as a lecturer in a government college in Masulipatnam, Chidambaram joined the mathematics department of Annamalai University in 1939. There he rose to become professor and head of the mathematics department in 1950. From there he worked in the world of mathematics until his retirement in 1972.
Elected President of the Indian Mathematical Society (1957 – 1959) and presided over its Golden Jubilee Special Conference in 1958. At the Annual Conference of the Indian Academy of Sciences in January 1960, Sevvane took over as the Head of its Mathematical Division. It is customary for any average professor to encourage and study students who come to him for doctoral studies in a field in which he or she is proficient in mathematics, chemistry, or physics. But Ganapati Iyer was a pioneer among researchers. Students who go to him can study in any field of mathematics. Through his method, his research students became scholars of breadth and depth.
The doctoral student goes to him after a month or two of reading a couple of texts in his mind’s eye to clear up his doubts. He listens attentively to everything he says. In a quarter or half an hour, he would tell me everything he knew. Even if they are all irrelevant to his field of study and the student is speaking from texts he has never seen before, he will understand better. Then he would be engrossed in the idea for a few minutes. Just ask a couple of questions. He will also listen to the half-answers he says. Then he would make a long speech. He will have to do more research in this new field that he has not seen, read more texts for this, what is not yet caught up in this field in the world, and he will speak as if he has explored in it how relationships in the future may be bound to this field and other fields beyond mathematics. The other professors of their time concluded that there were very few mathematicians in the world who could absorb any new subject to this extent and talk about it more constructively.
He began his research in complex geography in general, and Entire Functions in particular, and his essays became well-known in the areas of pro-geography, topography, sequence, etc. His students’ studies were done in other areas besides these, such as probability, spontaneity, and so on. Some of the doctoral students who studied under his direction-supervision, M.S. Ramanujan, M.R. Parameswaran, V. Krishnamurthy. S. Freedom, k. S. Padmanabhan, G. Sankaranarayanan, S. Ganesan. Ganapati Iyer lived simply with serenity, humility and honesty. Marshall H. Stone, an American professor who was one of the foremost forensic geniuses of the twentieth century, used to visit Chennai frequently for the Chennai Music Festival. He would not go to Annamalai Nagar and talk to Ganapathy Iyer. He refers to Ganapati Iyer as a saint. Ganapati Iyer will do his studies and studies only at dawn. So he would go to bed at eight at night.
Ganapathi Iyer chatted and no one saw him. Even if he speaks a few speeches casually it will be embedded in depth. Dr R. Vaithiyanathaswamy is his guru. Dr. M. Venkataraman is a teacher friend who also worked with Ganapathy Iyer. Both of them were not only professors of mathematics but were well versed in all the texts that came in Aravind’s way and lived according to Aravind’s ethics. Ganapati Iyer often talks to these two. The conversation between the three will cover a wide range of topics such as mathematics, history, theology and culture. How Ganapathi Iyer writes the dissertation is strange. He does not have to write, beat, edit, change, and write over and over again. Will not write. Everything will sit in front of the typewriter and type. The preface to the article, the mathematical codes, the metaphors, the basic definitions for the installation, the aids, everything would have been formed in his mind beforehand where they should be. He will type only once. Whether it is a small article or a large article, once it is typed it will be ready to be printed without any change.
Ganapati Iyer was one of the foremost Indian mathematicians of the twentieth century. Ganapati Iyer, popularly known as ‘Professor VG Iyer’ in the world of mathematics at that time, was a highly respected mathematical genius due to his simple style. He is world-renowned for writing 55 in-depth dissertations on all the mathematical disciplines covered in the broad mathematical arena of geography, as well as the new twentieth-century mathematical discipline of topography. V. Ganapathy Iyer passed away on June 13, 1987, at the age of 81, having not only trained 15 Indian students in Philosophy of Mathematics to pursue a doctorate but was also instrumental and exemplary in serving the world of mathematics throughout their lives.
Great Wizard indeed! Let us recollect his services. Wonder man!
Envius Thoughts 