Google Doodle marks birthday of ‘human computer’ Shakuntala Devi

Multiply the following as quick as you can in your head: 7,686,369,774,870 x 2,465,099,745,779 = ?

Got it yet?

If you took longer than 28 seconds, then you missed your chance at breaking a world record held by Shakuntala Devi. The woman known as the “human computer” died in April, and Monday would have been her 84th birthday.

On Monday, Google paid tribute to the woman once known as the human computer with this doodle.

For more on this amazing woman, check out this Los Angeles Times profile of her from 25 years ago.

The story says of Devi:

“Devi is a sari-clad diva of numbers, a math prodigy who can calculate as fast and accurately as any hand-held contraption. She is one of those rare people who somehow -- even she does not know how -- possesses a skill with figures that amazes computer wizards, intrigues academics and dumbfounds those of us who have difficulty balancing checkbooks.”

(Note: the story pegs her age as 43, but that was probably off by a couple of decades. She was born in 1929.)

As for that multiplication problem, are you still thinking? Don’t bother.

The answer is 18,947,668,177,995,426,462,773,730.

Duh.

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