Indian boy solves 350-year old math puzzle set by Newton

IANS

London, 28 May 2012: A 16-year-old Indian origin schoolboy in Germany has managed to crack puzzles that baffled the world of maths for more than 350 years, it was reported here on Saturday.

 

Shouryya Ray, from Dresden, has been hailed a genius after working out the problems set by Sir Isaac Newton.

 

Ray solved two fundamental particle dynamics theories which physicists have previously been able to calculate only by using powerful computers, Daily Mail reported.

 

His solutions mean that scientists can now calculate the flight path of a thrown ball and then predict how it will hit and bounce off a wall.

 

Ray only came across the problems during a school trip to Dresden University where professors claimed they were uncrackable, the newspaper said.

 

"I just asked myself, ’Why not?’," explained Ray.

 

"I didn’t believe there couldn’t be a solution," he added.

 

Ray began solving complicated equations as a six-year-old but says he’s no genius.

 

After arriving from Kolkata four years ago without knowing any German, Shouryya is now fluent in the language.

 

His intelligence was quickly noted in class and he was pushed up two years in school - he is currently sitting his exams early, the Mail said.