Maths prodigy beats the odds and tumours to become a World Science Scholar
A young mathematician who battled back from illness to complete a university course from his hospital bed has been awarded a global accolade.
Pritvik Sinhadc, 14, has been named as the only World Science Scholar in the Middle East, despite being too young to apply for the prestigious programme.
But Pritvik, who lives in Dubai, impressed judges so much that he won a place among 45 maths pupils aged between 15 and 17 at the World Science Fair in New York next summer.
It is just the latest achievement for the youngster. He published his first book on palaeontology, When Dinosaurs Roamed the Earth, when he was seven and has had two more books published since.
Pritvik was born with 50 per cent kidney function and had surgery to remove four tumours from his arm last year.
But none of that stopped him from completing an online university course from hospital in only six days.
“My arm was cut in four places, and a three-kilogram fixator was screwed into eight holes to hold my arm together,” he said.
Pritvik absorbed new concepts in mathematics such as advanced geometry, matrices, complex numbers, topology, calculus and algebra.
“Studying new discoveries in mathematics became the best medicine to survive the pain, as I was not allowed to take any painkillers because of my failing kidneys,” he said.
“Mathematics, which was already my passion, became super-close to my heart as I found myself immersed in it.”
Pritvik had to keep the fixator on his arm for seven months.
“Even from my hospital bed, I continued to shoulder my responsibilities as a member of Dubai College Math Society and leader of Palaeontology Society and Astrophysics Club,” he said.
“I survived pretty well with this metallic friend for seven long months until, right in the middle of the third school term, I went in for another operation to remove it.”
The teenager is studying for his GCSEs at Dubai College, while also taking university-level courses.
“Being a World Science Scholar means I shall be studying university-level math content and participating in lectures by world-renowned experts using online resources,” Pritvik said.
“I shall also be brainstorming on a group project where the collaborative learning experiences will allow me to examine how applied mathematics can help to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.”
He is studying a course called A Beautiful Universe: Black
Holes, String Theory and the Laws of Nature as Mathematical Puzzles with renowned Prof Cumrun Vafa, from Harvard University.
He is also taking a special boot camp by Prof Brian Greene of Columbia University on physics and reality.
Pritvik has three more books in the pipeline, covering rare dinosaurs, the world of paleo-science and the origins of the universe.
He said his ultimate goal was to further his research on “developing a theory that unifies all fundamental forces and matter”.
“If cosmologists could witness the earliest point of the universe or see a naked singularity, they could easily harvest the quantum data to derive the theory of everything,” said Pritvik, who moved with his family from India to Dubai when he was two.
“I am also interested in black holes and how they can be linked to white holes. I shall therefore be using working and breathing mathematics throughout my entire career.”
But Pritvik’s passion for learning has come at a cost, said his mother, Indira Dharchaudhuri, 45.
Studying new discoveries in mathematics became the best medicine to survive the pain as I could not take painkillers because of my kidneys PRITVIK SINHADC Dubai teenager
“We are running out of space to put all these books,” she said, gesturing to the library taking up most of the living room in their Jumeirah Village Circle home.
They include a biography of Robert Oppenheimer, the man regarded as the father of the atomic bomb, and work from authors such as Brian Cox and Leonard Susskind.
“He usually can read a book in just one day, so it is really hard to keep him supplied,” Ms Dharchaudhuri said.
“He goes to the Kinokuniya book shop in Dubai Mall and buys a pile of books each time. He goes so often that the staff know him on a firstname basis.
“I am worried he is going to bankrupt us some day.”