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Autobiography of Dr S R Rangananthan
(Father of Library Science)
Early Life of Rangananthan:
Dr. Ranganathan was born in a poor Brahmin family at Shiyali village in Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu on August 9, 1892. He was the eldest child of N. Ramamrita Ayyar, a petty landlord, and his wife Sitalakshmi. His father died in 1898 at the early age of thirty, due to illness. He suffered from more than the usual quota of childhood diseases and was handicapped by a severe stammer that he finally over came by forcing himself to give speeches in public.” He attended the local S. Mudaliar Hindu High School in Shiyali and passed his high school examination in 1908, obtaining a first division. Ranganathan passed his Intermediate and B.A. examinations in first class as well, thus proving that he was a bright student through out his school years. He received his B.A. degree in Mathematics and Physics in 1913 from the University of Madras. Ranganathan decided not to attend graduate school because his mother’s financial position was not very sound. Professor Edward B. Ross, one of his professors at Christian College, knew that Ranganathan was a hard working and brilliant student and he therefore decided to pay Ranganathan’s tuition for his graduate studies. Thus Ranganathan joined the Master’s program in June 1913 as the only graduate student of Professor Edward B. Ross; he graduated in 1916.” He was much interested in teaching and joined the Teachers College at Saidapat for his Professional Education Degree and received his degree in 1917.
In 1917 Ranganathan was appointed assistant lecturer in Mathematics at the Government College in Mangalore. In 1920-21, he taught at Government College, Coimbatore, and in 1921 he was appointed Assistant Professor at the Presidency College. Madras, where he taught for two years, during his teaching years in these institutions, he taught mathematics and physics and encouraged his students to use library books. Thus he avoided “the prevalent highly teacher-centered and notes/ dictation classroom methods. Later he called his approach library centered teaching his students called him a born teacher.”
1924 was a very crucial year in Ranganathan’s life. He applied for the position of University Librarian at the University of Madras and was offered the position. “One of the conditions of his appointment was that he goes to Great Britain to be trained in librarianship and to study modern library methods.” Therefore, he had to decide between librarianship and the teaching of mathematics. In his own words, “I had never dreamt in my life that I would ever become a librarian; nor had I used a library either at school or at college when I was a student, for the simple reason that there was no library worth mentioning and for the additional reason that no teacher ever mentioned any book other than the prescribed text book. But it seems that he saw some challenge in librarianship and it “struck him as a virgin land pregnant with many possibilities” of improvement and introduction of new ideas. It was a field “where methods needed to be systematized and made exact.” With this in mind he accepted the position and became a librarian on January 4, 1924. In this way “India lost one of her most enthusiastic mathematics teachers and librarianship acquired a man whose mental approach was of a strictly scientific and mathematically exact nature.”
How to Become a Math Teacher
Education is a great field of work to be involved with. Not only are teaching jobs rewarded well they can also bring immense satisfaction. One area in which there is a high demand is mathematics. If you want to understand how to become a math teacher then you should take a moment to read the following advice.
Math teachers play an important rule in any educational establishment. They educate students on various mathematical concepts such as values, functions, equations, and other principles. There are openings for qualified professionals at all grade levels though the greatest demand is usually in middle schools and high schools. At an elementary level a math teacher would usually teach general mathematics to students. Those positions in middle and high school would most often have a specific field of expertise required; for example algebra, trigonometry, calculus, or geometry.
All teachers are required to create lesson plans, give out homework and assignments, as well as evaluate student performance on a continual basis. As with all teachers, being a math teacher would also require an understanding of how to maintain order in the classroom as well as knowing how to use disciplinary measures on occasion.
PhD in Mathematics – The Prerequisites
The general aim of the PhD in Mathematics is to prepare eligible candidates to become productive workers in the industry or government. For the academia, it helps the research scholars to be able to communicate their knowledge and expertise to students and other members of the mathematical society. The doctorate program is designed to develop the students to be able to have a fundamental grasp of certain basics in the fields of mathematics as well a deep understanding of a major field of interest. It nourishes the ability to formulate and recognize significant research problems, postulate solutions and transmit same to others effectively.
Candidates eligible for admission into the PhD in Mathematics must complete the requirements for the Masters degree in mathematics and a completion of at least a total of 90 hours of graduate course work of which up to 30 hours may be substituted for dissertation credits.
Maintaining a certain grade point average in certain written preliminary and qualifying examinations is paramount in obtaining admission as well. Exemption from such examinations which covers core areas such as complex analysis, real analysis, algebra, applied mathematics and topology is subject to meeting certain qualifications as well.
