I am very very fond of the great mathematician SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN because of his intelligence. Not only me, most of the professors and teachers
are following his brilliant methodology in their teaching style. Because of his
wide knowledge in mathematics we can learn small and toughest concepts in mathematics
very easily. There by this world always praise his superior intelligence.
Seven Wonder About My GURU Srinivasa Ramanujan - The Man Who Knew Infinity
Ramanujan
was a child prodigy, and a mathematical genius. Irrespective of having little
or no access to having exposure to advance mathematics, he turned out to be one
hell of a genius as a kid! As most child prodigies, if not all, Ramanujan could
not survive for long. He died at the age of 33 on April 20, 1920, but even in
his short-lived life, he became Mozart of mathematics!
1. When Ramanujan was thirteen, he could
work out Loney’s Trigonometry exercises without any help!
By the age
of 13, he had completed advanced trigonometry and discovered complex theorems
on his own! Feeling numerically dyslexic already?
2. He
never had any friends in school because his peers rarely understood him at
school & were always in awe of his mathematical acumen!
It is an
obvious fact that being a nerd, it became difficult for Ramanujan to gel with
kids of his age. While others were involved in sports, it was math which caught
his interest at a tender age.
3. As
a young man, he failed to get a degree, as he did not clear his fine arts
courses, although he always performed exceptionally well in mathematics.
Who says
failure should be the dead-end in a person's life! This man is an inspiration
for many that temporary failure can't ever decide your future. Don't let
minor disappointments come your way and keep following your passion.
4.
Because paper was expensive, poor Ramanujan often used to derive his results on
a 'slate' to jot down results of his derivations.
After he
died, people close to him found a treasure! This treasure was nothing
materialistic but something which was even more precious! He left behind a
'notebook' with merely summaries and results in it, with little or no proofs -
his personal notebook.
The first notebook had 351 pages
with 16 organised chapters and some unorganized material. The second notebook
has 256 pages in 21 chapters and 100 unorganized pages, and his third
notebook had 33 unorganized pages. The results in his notebooks inspired
numerous papers by mathematicians!
5. G.H.
Hardy brought Ramanujam with him to England but unfortunately the English
weather didn't suit him. He also reported of mild racism towards him.
After
getting inspired by his book Orders of Infinity, he
wrote a letter to famous English mathematician G.H. Hardy (Who later became his
mentor) in 1913. After a visit to India, G.H Hardy brought Ramanujam with
him to England but unfortunately the English weather didn't suit him very well.
Also, being a devout Brahman, this mathematical super-hero had a tough time
adjusting with the culture and cuisine.
6. 22nd December is called National
Mathematics Day in India because of Ramanujan's birth-anniversary!
7. After a funny incident, 1729 is called
Hardy-Ramanujam number in his honor, and such numbers are called Taxicab
numbers.
After moving to England, Ramanujan
had a lot of health disorders. A visit to hospital in a taxi resulted in one of
the most celebrated anecdotes- Once, when G.H. Hardy went to the hospital to
visit him, he remarked that he had ridden in a taxicab with the number
1729, adding "what a dull number to ride in to the hospital". To
which Ramanujam immediately said "No, on the contrary it is a very
interesting number! It is the smallest number expressible as the sum of
two cubes in two different ways". He was a pure genius, isn't it?
