S. R. Ranganathan is considered by many to be the foremost theorist in the field of classification because of his contributions to the theory of facet analysis. In addition to being known as the "Father of Library Science" in India, his accomplishments include founding the Documentation Research and Training Centre in Bangalore, India; developing his Five Laws of Library Science (1931) and Colon Classification (1933); and authoring more than sixty books and two thousand articles.

Ranganathan was born in Shiyali in the Tanjavoor District of Tamil Nadu in southern India. His father, a learned and cultured man, was Ramamrita Ayyar, a landlord of a medium-sized rice-growing property. His mother was Seethalakshmi, a simple and very pious lady. Ranganathan attended school in his village and then went to Madras Christian College in 1909, where he earned B.S. and M.A. degrees in mathematics, studying with...