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Resonance

June 2004
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S S Pillai: 5 April 1901 – 31 August 1950

S Sivasankaranarayana Pillai was an outstanding  mathematician  who gained fame for his contribution to the solution of Waring's  problem. He was born on April 5, 1901, at Vallam near Cutralam town (famous for its waterfall) in Tamil Nadu. His mother died within a year after his birth. Until the  age of nine or so,  he was educated at home  after which he studied at the middle school in Senkottai.  During his  matriculation, his father too passed away suddenly. Fortunately, a former teacher came with monetary support enabling him to complete his school education and study further. Pillai got a scholarship to do his Intermediate course in the Scott  Christian College at Nagercoil and his BA at Maharaja's College,  Trivandrum.  In 1927, Pillai undertook a research  studentship at the  University of Madras.  He became greatly influenced by Anand Rao and   Vaidyanatha- swamy, as evidenced already in his early work. One of  his  most famous contributions is to the solution of Waring's problem. K Chandrasekharan refers to this in his obituary on Pillai as ``almost  certainly his best piece of work and one of the very best achievements in  Indian Mathematics since Ramanujan".  Most of his work was done during  the period 1929-1941 when he was a lecturer  in Annamalai University.

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