Bihar mathematician who challenged Einstein dies

Bihar Social Aspects of state

15-Nov-19

Download PDF

Mathematician Vashishth Narayan Singh, who once challenged Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and made Bihar and the country proud, breathed his last here on Thursday after a prolonged illness. His family members, however, rue that the renowned mathematician did not get the acclaim due to him.
Born on April 2, 1942 in Bihar’s Bhojpur, Singh had been suffering from schizophrenia for nearly four decades. According to his family members, Singh was taken to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) after his condition deteriorated, but the doctors declared him brought dead.
Singh was staying in Patna with his younger brother Ayodhya Prasad, who said, “pen, pencil and diary were his friends till death took him away from us. He kept writing mathematical formulae, even on the walls.
” Getting a Ph.D degree from California University, Singh brought glory to not only his home state Bihar, but to the whole country. His research on Cycle Vector Space Theory made him very famous. Now after his death, his kin say Singh did not get the recognition to which he was entitled. His family members said Singh came back to India from abroad for the sake of the motherland. Ayodhya Prasad said, “He was so famous.
He was known from India to America’s Berkeley, California. He taught at IIT. But people here forgot him. He did not get accolades here.”
A senior journalist Surendra Kishore said, “the rules for Patna University were changed for Vashishth Narayan to accommodate him. We were students of this talented man. We will continue to get inspiration from him.”
“He even used to intervene when teachers made mistakes in the classes. Teachers used to revere him for his knowledge,” Kishore added. Singh did his schooling from Netarhat Residential School. In 1962, he passed Class X.
Later, while studying at Patna Science College, he met American Professor Kelly, who invited him to Berkeley, US for research. In 1963, he went to California University for research.
In 1969, he received a Ph.D. degree from the varsity. He then joined NASA and worked there till his return to India in 1971. On his return to India he worked at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur and after eight months joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay.
He also worked as a permanent faculty at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. (IANS)