The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius RamanujanNOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING JEREMY IRONS AND DEV PATEL! A moving and enlightening look at the unbelievable true story of how gifted prodigy Ramanujan stunned the scholars of Cambridge University and revolutionized mathematics. In 1913, a young unschooled Indian clerk wrote a letter to G H Hardy, begging the preeminent English mathematician's opinion on several ideas he had about numbers. Realizing the letter was the work of a genius, Hardy arranged for Srinivasa Ramanujan to come to England. Thus began one of the most improbable and productive collaborations ever chronicled. With a passion for rich and evocative detail, Robert Kanigel takes us from the temples and slums of Madras to the courts and chapels of Cambridge University, where the devout Hindu Ramanujan, "the Prince of Intuition," tested his brilliant theories alongside the sophisticated and eccentric Hardy, "the Apostle of Proof." In time, Ramanujan's creative intensity took its toll: he died at the age of thirty-two, but left behind a magical and inspired legacy that is still being plumbed for its secrets today. |
Contents
Prologue | 1 |
OneIN THE TEMPLES COOLNESS1887 to 1903 | 9 |
Sarangapani Sannidhi Street | 11 |
A Brahmin Boyhood | 20 |
Offscale | 23 |
The Goddess of Namakkal | 28 |
TwoRANGING WITH DELIGHT1903 to 1908 | 39 |
The Cambridge of South India | 45 |
At the Dock | 194 |
SixRAMANUJANS SPRING1914 to 1916 | 197 |
Together | 203 |
The Flames of Louvain | 211 |
The Zeroes of the Zeta Function | 215 |
S Ramanujan B A | 227 |
SevenTHE ENGLISH CHILL1916 to 1918 | 239 |
An Indian in England | 241 |
Flight | 48 |
Another Try | 52 |
The Notebooks | 57 |
A Thought of God | 64 |
Enough is Enough | 67 |
ThreeTHE SEARCH FOR PATRONS1908 to 1913 | 69 |
DoortoDoor | 73 |
Leisure in Madras | 81 |
Jacob Bernoulli and His Numbers | 85 |
The Port Trust | 92 |
The British Raj | 99 |
The Letter | 102 |
FourHARDYG H Hardy to 1913 | 109 |
Horseshoe Lane | 112 |
Flint and Stone | 120 |
A Fellow of Trinity | 126 |
The Magic Air | 136 |
The Hardy School | 145 |
FiveI BEG TO INTRODUCE MYSELF 1913 to 1914 | 159 |
I Have Found in You a Friend | 172 |
Does Ramanujan Know Polish? | 179 |
A Dream at Namakkal | 183 |
A Singularly Happy Collaboration | 246 |
Deepening the Hole | 254 |
All Us Big Steamers | 259 |
The Danish Phenomenon | 263 |
Trouble Back Home | 272 |
The Nelson Monument | 276 |
Ramanujan Mathematics and God | 280 |
Singularities at X 1 | 289 |
Slipped from Memory | 299 |
EightIN SOMEWHAT INDIFFERENT HEALTH From 1918 | 309 |
Return to the Cauvery | 316 |
The Final Problem | 322 |
A Son of India | 329 |
Ramanujan Reborn | 341 |
Better Blast Furnaces? | 347 |
Svayambhu | 353 |
Epilogue | 361 |
Notes | 375 |
417 | |
Authors Note and Acknowledgments | 425 |
429 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
appeared asked become Brahmin British called Cambridge century Collected College course death early England English equation example five four function genius give hand Hardy Hardy's hundred India Indian Mathematical intellectual interest Interview Iyer Janaki knew known Kumbakonam later learned least less letter Littlewood lived London look Madras March math Mathematical Society mathematician Matlock means mind months mother natural needed never Neville once P. K. Srinivasan perhaps prime probably problem proof prove Ramanujan Ranganathan recalled Record seemed showed side Snow Society sometimes South India story street suggested temple theorems things thought thousand told took town Trinity Trinity College Tripos turned University write written wrote young