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        G H Hardy (1877-1947), who was solely responsible for discovering the transcendental genius of Ramanujan wrote an autobiographical narrative called 'A Mathematician's Apology' in which he made the following statement : 'The case for my life, then, or that of anyone else who has been a mathematician in the same sense in which I have been one, is this : that I have added something to knowledge, and helped others to add more, and that these somethings have a value which differs in degree only, and not in kind, from that of the creations of the great mathematicians, or of any of the other artists, great or small, who have left some kind of memorial behind them'.

        Though I am no mathematician, either by training or profession, yet I am a great lover of the history of mathematics. In my humble view, the above words of G H Hardy are appositely applicable to the life, work and achievements of Professor S Suryanarayana Iyer (1903-1973) who served with great distinction as a teacher of mathematics in St Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli for 36 years from 1925 to 1961.

A special Souvenir has been brought out in commemoration of the Birth Centenary of Professor S Suryanarayana Iyer (1903-1973), a very eminent and distinguished Professor of Mathematics in St Joseph's College. This volume has been brought out by his eldest son S V Subramanian who has written the preface to this interesting Souvenir.         The Souvenir contains a garland of tributes to Professor Suryanarayana Iyer from some of his distinguished students who have played a key role in the making of modern India. President Abdul Kalam in a letter to S V Subramanian has stated: 'Thank you for your letter regarding bringing out a Souvenir on Professor Suryanarayana Iyer. Normally I do not write a forward for any book or publication. I would like to give my experience of meeting the great teachers of mathematics of my time in St.Joseph's College. As a young science student, I had the opportunity at St.Joseph's College to witness a unique scene of divine looking personalities walking through the college campus every morning, and teaching mathematics to various degree courses. Students looked at these personalities who were a symbol of our own culture, with awe and respect. When they walked, knowledge radiated all around. The great personalities were Professor Thothatri Iyengar and Professor Suryanarayana Iyer..I am happy to note that a Souvenir is being brought out on the Birth Centenary of Professor Suryanarayana Iyer incorporating the tributes by his former students and colleagues.'          As an outstanding teacher of mathematics in St Joseph's College, for more than a generation, Professor Suryanarayana Iyer became a legend in his lifetime. During the days of British Rule, when the whole country was dependent upon text-books authored mostly by the British, Professor Suryanarayana Iyer set an exemplary example as an unparalleled pioneer and innovator by bringing out outstanding books on Algebra (1929), Geometry (1933), Analytical Conics (1942), Perfective Geometry (1945), Analytical Geometry (1948) and Statics by Vector methods (1968). His book on Statics was the first book to be written by any Indian author using Vector methods. Even in his advanced age, he wrote a book on Applied Mathematics at the MSc. Level. All his text-books developed the subject in the most organized way with problems being cogently graded so that they became the most popular texts for self-study for the readers. These books used to cover the syllabi of different Universities and were concise and precise.

Professor S Suryanarayana Iyer and his wife

         The lucid exposition of certain abstract mathematical content with easily understandable logical explanation made his books very popular among the students and the teachers. As Rev Dr Rajarathinam SJ, Principal, St Joseph's College today has observed: 'It gives me immense pleasure to pen down this tribute to the great Professor Suryanarayana Iyer who is immortal in this campus. He was a very simple and humble Professor known for his mastery in his field of Mathematics, his clarity of thought and expression, his concern for the students and his innovative text-books'. 'Professor Suryanarayana Iyer Endownment Lecture' in our Institution is a very solemn occasion when men with mathematical acumen meet to pay their respects to the great Professor who did yeoman Service for more than three decades to the students of this part of the globe. Let me salute with gratitude the great genius who moulded men of the orders of our President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. Professor Suryanarayana Iyer, a noble son of this soil, is a role model to emulate for people of all times and it is fitting that a Souvenir is being brought out to commemorate his Birth Centenary.

        Professor Suryanarayana Iyer was born to Paravathi Ammal and S Sankara Iyer on 10 May, 1903 in the temple town of Vaitheeswaran Kovil near Myladuthurai. He passed the SSLC in April 1919, securing centum in Elementary Mathematics. He obtained a scholarship from the St Joseph's College and completed his college education in 1924, passing the BA (Hons) examination, securing the second rank in the Madras Presidency and winning a Gold Medal. In 1925 he joined as Lecturer in Mathematics in St.Joseph's College and continued there till 1961, creating a new generation of outstanding mathematicians, scientists, civil servants and other categories of brilliant public men. After his retirement from St Joseph's College in 1961, he worked as Professor of Mathematics in National College Trichy and S N College, Quilon. He also served as Professor of Mathematics in Jamal Mohammed College in Tiruchirapalli for one year from 1967 to 1968. Even after retiring from the world of teaching, he performed the unique feat of writing two books on Applied Mathematics for MSc. students in his late 60's. Interested in sports and games, he was an outstanding chess player, besides being a good tennis player and an ace swimmer. He passed away in Bombay in 1973.

        Recalling his own college days with pride, nostalgia and affection R Gopalaswami, formerly Chief Secretary of Kerala, has paid this tribute to Professor Suryanarayana Iyer: 'I was a student of BA Hons. In Mathematics in St Joseph's College during 1948 to 1951 and was fortunate to have a distinguished team of masters who inspired the students with their lectures and also set examples hard to follow fully. Professor Suryanarayana Iyer was one such personality. An exacting and exciting master indeed!'

        Professor S Genisis, a brilliant student of Professor Suryanarayana Iyer, and who later became the Head of the Department of Mathematics in St Joseph's College has given a beautiful and graphic description of the presence and impact of his eminent Professor in the class room in these words: 'At the stroke of the bell, a dignified, magnificent well-built man with neatly pressed clothes entered the class with effortless ease and a smile. The clarity, with which he spoke, his authority over the subject, the logical sequence in which he marshalled the steps, his analysis and inference and the torrential flow of words all made us realise that we were under the guidance of a great mathematician. He was an erudite scholar and above all a great teacher'.

        Professor Suryanarayana Iyer had a keen sense of the aesthetics of mathematical proof. He often contended in his class-room that truly great theorems possess the three characteristics of economy, inevitability and unexpectedness.

        In my view, Professor Suryanarayana Iyer found his life's mission in his teaching of mathematics. Can anyone doubt that there is a remarkable permanence about mathematical ideas? A theorem, correctly proved within the rigours of logic, is a theorem forever. This vital truth was often expressed by Professor Suryanarayana Iyer every day to his students. This message brings to my mind the beautiful words of the great 19th century mathematician Hermann Hankel who said: 'In most sciences one generation tears down what another has built, and what one has established another undoes. In mathematics alone each generation adds a new storey to the old structure'. Indeed logic can be patient, for it is eternal.

        Professor Suryanarayana Iyer had a tremendous impact - intellectual, emotional, cultural and social—on all his students. He derived his passion for his life's mission of teaching mathematics because of his commitment to the ideals of truth and beauty. For him mathematical truth was beauty and geometrical beauty was truth. I would conclude by giving two quotations, separated by 15 centuries yet somehow conveying much the same idea. The first comes from the Greek commentator Proclus (AD 410-485) of the 5th century: 'This, therefore, is mathematics: she gives life to her discoveries; she awakens the mind and purifies the intellect; she brings light to our intrinsic ideas; she abolishes the oblivion and ignorance which are ours by birth'.

        The second quotation is from Bertrand Russell (1872-1969) who recognised beauty in mathematics and characterized it about as well as anyone could. To quote Russell: 'Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth but supreme beauty—a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture, without appeal to any part of our weaker nature, without the gorgeous trappings of painting or music, yet sublimely pure, and capable of a stern perfection such as only the greatest art can show'.