Indian memory master recites 14,000 digits of Euler’s number to break record

By Sanj Atwal
Published 29 August 2024
Deepu blindfolded sitting on a chair

An Indian man with a remarkable memory has broken the world record for the most decimal places of Euler’s number memorized.

Deepu V recited 14,000 digits, far surpassing the previous record of 10,122.

Euler’s number (represented by the letter e) is an irrational number, like pi. Beginning with 2.71828, the digits go on forever in a series that never repeats.

Deepu, 33, was blindfolded and his ears were checked before beginning the record attempt, ensuring that he had no way of cheating.

When attempting this record, any mistakes or pauses longer than 15 seconds result in disqualification.

Deepu was untroubled by these rules, taking just 49 minutes to recall all 14,000 digits in the correct order.

Deepu sitting blindfolded between witnesses

He has possessed the ability to easily memorize numbers since he was a child, and he now knows over 500 phone numbers by heart.

He also once set a national record by reciting 2,000 digits of pi faster than any other challenger.

After learning of the Euler’s number world record, he felt “very excited” and started devising a way to achieve it.

Using his own “tabular” method of memorization, Deepu spent four months preparing for the record attempt.

He explained: “In the table there are 10 columns and 20 rows. I added five digits in each column, thus in a column of one full row, there are 50 numbers. And with 20 rows on a page there will be a total of 1,000 digits. Likewise, in 14 pages I was able to include 14,000 digits.”

Covering 250 digits per day from Monday to Thursday, he used the remaining three days of the week to consolidate the information in his memory. He also recorded himself and watched it back to catch any mistakes he made.

Deepu is delighted to now hold an official Guinness World Records title.

He joins the ranks of other memory maestros such as Taylor Swift superfan Bilal Jhandir, “Human Calendar” Abhay Kumar, and GWR co-founders Ross and Norris McWhirter.