About SRINIVAS RAMANUJAN and his magical Genius.ppt

About SRINIVAS RAMANUJAN and his magical Genius

1. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah1
SRINIVASA RAMANUJANSRINIVASA RAMANUJAN
The incredible life of a
Magical GeniusMagical Genius
Who started his life as a
port employee in Chennai

2. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah2
THE MAGICAL GENIUSTHE MAGICAL GENIUS
Mathematicians from all over the world gathered
in Illinois in June 1987 to celebrate the birth
centenary of a magical geniusmagical genius..
Indian Postal Dept., had issued a stamp on his
75
th
birth anniversary in 1962.
Chennai Port remembered him during its
centenary celebrations in 1981-82 and granted a
family pension to his wife Janaki Ammal and
named a floating craft Ramanujan to perpetuate
his memory.

3. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah3
DEFININGDEFINING AA MAGICALMAGICAL GENIUSGENIUS
According to an American Professor an
ordinary genius is one who is a hundred
times brighter than the best brains.
A Magical GeniusMagical Genius on the contrary is one
of whose work it might be said, “one has
no idea where his results came from!”
Thus Ramanujan came to be known
as a MAGICAL GENIUSMAGICAL GENIUS

4. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah4
THE MOST IMPORTANT
QUOTE OF SR
AN EQUATION MEANS AN EQUATION MEANS
NOTHING TO ME UNLESS NOTHING TO ME UNLESS
IT REPRESENTS A IT REPRESENTS A
THOUGHT OF GODTHOUGHT OF GOD

5. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah5
HUMBLE BEGINNINGHUMBLE BEGINNING
This is the house
where Ramanujan
lived in Kumbakonam
His father K.
Srinivasa Iyengar was
a clerk in a sari shop
His Mother
Komalathammal sang
in the temple

6. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah6
THE HOUSE AS A MUSEUMTHE HOUSE AS A MUSEUM
The same house
has been made
into a museum
now and has the
bust of
Ramanujan
installed.

7. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah7
KOMALATHAMMAL - MOTHER

8. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah8
INSIDE HIS HOME
Inside the house in
Kumbakonam
This photo is from
Alladi Krishna’s page
The bust is placed in
the central place of
the house

9. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah9
From this cot Ramanujan used to
sit and watch according to Alladi

10. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah10
THE FAMILY
The family moved to his maternal Grand
parents’ house in Kanchipuram, where
the grandfather was an official in the
Court.
It was his mother who saw to his needs
and encouraged him throughout in
whatever he wanted to learn.

11. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah11
EARLY EDUCATION
In 1892, Ramanujan joined a local school and in
March 1894 he was sent to a Telugu Medium school.
When his maternal grandfather lost his job as a court
official in Kanchipuram,the family shifted to
Kumbakonam and he joined the Kangeyam Primary
School.
Later he was sent back to his maternal grandparents,
who had moved to Madras. He never liked the school
in Madras and was back in Kumbakonam in six
months.

12. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah12
SPOTTING A GENIUS
K. Srinivasa Rao of IMSc, in an article, narrates
some incidents to show the genius in SR, even
as he was young student.
In III form SR’s Maths teacher said that if three
bananas were given to three boys each will get
one and generalized by saying that any number
divided by itself would result in one
SR asked “Sir, if no banana is distributed to no
student, will everyone still get a banana?”

13. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah13
SPOTTING A GENIUSSPOTTING A GENIUS
At the age of twelve, SR worked out properties of
arithmetical, geometrical and harmonic
progressions.
A senior student posed this question to SR
Ifx + y = 7 and x +  y = 11, what are the values of
x and y?
SR shot back immediately the answer as
x = 9 and y = 4.
This is the same friend introduced SR to Nellore
collector later!

14. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah14
GROWING YEARS
Since Ramanujan's father was at work most of the day, his
mother took care of him as a child.
He had a close relationship with her and from her, he
learned tradition, and Hindu Mythology.. He learned to sing
religious songs, to attend pujas at the temple and eating
habits — all of which were necessary for Ramanujan to be
a good Brahmin child.
At the Kangeyan Primary School, Ramanujan performed
well. In November 1897, he passed ranking first in the
district.
In the Town Higher Secondary School he encountered
formal mathematics for the first time

15. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah15
MATHS FOR THE FIRST TIME
When barely eleven, he borrowed books from the
lodgers at home (college students) on advanced
trigonometry by S.L. Loney
He completely mastered this book by the age of thirteen
and he discovered sophisticated theorems on his own.
By fourteen, he achieved merit certificates and academic
awards throughout his school career and also assisted
the school in the logistics of assigning its 1200 students 1200 students
(each with their own needs) to its 35-odd teachers, as (each with their own needs) to its 35-odd teachers, as
asked by Ganapathi Subbier, his maths teacherasked by Ganapathi Subbier, his maths teacher..

16. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah16
MASTERING MATHS
He completed mathematical exams in half the
allotted time, and showed a familiarity with
INFINITE SERIES.
When he was sixteen, Ramanujan came across
the book, A synopsis of elementary results in
pure and applied mathematics written by George
S. Carr.
This book was a collection of 5000 theorems,
and it introduced Ramanujan to the world of
mathematics.

17. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah17
HIS MATHS KNOWLEDGE
The next year, he had independently
developed and investigated the Bernoulli
numbers and had calculated Euler’s
constant up to 15 decimal places
His masters and wellwishers of the time
commented that they "rarely understood
him" and "stood in respectful awe" of him.

18. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah18
EULER’S CONSTANT
Much of Ramanujan’s
mathematics comes under
number theory - a purest realm
of mathematics.
It is the abstract study of the
structure of number systems
and properties of positive
integers.
It includes various theorems
about prime numbers Number
theory includes analytic number
theory, originated by Leonhard
Euler (1707-89)

19. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah19
THE NEXT PHASE
In the final exam, he was awarded the K.
Ranganatha Rao prize for mathematics by the
school's headmaster, Krishnaswami Iyer.
Iyer introduced Ramanujan as an outstanding
student who deserved scores higher than the
maximum possible marks.
He received a scholarship to study at
Government College in Kumbakonam which was
then known as the "Cambridge of South India”

20. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah20
POVERTY CHASES THE
GENIUS
However, Ramanujan was so intent on studying
mathematics that he could not focus on any
other subjects and failed most of them, losing
his scholarship in the process.
In August 1905, he ran away from home,
heading towards Visakhapatnam.
He later enrolled at Pachaiyappa’s College,
Madras, where he excelled in mathematics, but
performed poorly in other subjects.

21. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah21
IN PACHAIYAPPA’S COLLEGE
It is not clear as to what he did in 1905. He
spent some time in Andhra region.
He joined the Pachaiyappa’s College in FA class
again in1906.
He never liked physiology class and he hated
bisecting a frog, he being a strict vegetarian. It
appears he answered to a question on digestive
system, “Sir, this is my undigested product of the
Digestion chapter. Please excuse me”

22. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah22
PENURY AND THE GENIUS
Ramanujan failed in his FA exam; in 1906 and
again in the following year.
Without a degree, he had to leave the college
But he continued to pursue independent
research in mathematics.

At this point in his life, he lived in extreme At this point in his life, he lived in extreme
poverty and was often near the point of poverty and was often near the point of
starvationstarvation

23. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah23
ADULT LIFE
On July 14 1909, Ramanujan was married to a
nine-year old bride, Janaki.
Ramanujan was sick and a surgeon volunteered to
treat him.
After the surgery, searching for a job, he stayed at
friends' houses.
He tutored some students at Presidency College
and earned a paltry remuneration.
In late 1910, Ramanujan was sick again, possibly
as a result of the surgery earlier in the year.

24. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah24
SR LOOKS FOR A BENEFACTOR
It was during the period 1907-12, that SR was
frantically looking for a benefactor.
He continued to stay in Madras when his formal
examination which was a failure came to an end
in 1907.
Hardy was to say later: “The years between 18
and 25 are the critical years in a
mathematician’s career. During his unfortunate
years (1907-12) his genius was misdirected,
side-tracked and to some extent distorted”

25. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah25
SICKNESS THREATENS HIM
He was afraid of his health.
He even told his friend, R. Radhakrishna Iyer, to
"hand these [my mathematical notebooks] over
to Professor Singaravelu Mudaliar [math
professor at Pachaiyappa's College] or to the
British professor Edward B. Ross, of the MCC“
After Ramanujan recovered and got back his
notebooks from Iyer, he went to Villupuram.

26. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah26
INDIAN MATHEMATICAL
SOCIETY FORMED
A society for mathematics was formed in April
1907 by V. Ramaswami Iyer (Deputy Collector)
with twenty founding members. It was called
Analytic-Club.
SR showed his notes to him more to get his
favour to get a job with the Revenue
Department.
He was interested in earning for a living and
continue his work in Maths specially number
theory.

27. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah27
AWE STRUCK RAMASWAMI
IYER
On seeing the notes Iyer saw a genius behind it:
He said:
“I was struck by the extraordinary mathematical
results contained in it [the notebooks]. I had no
mind to smother his genius by an appointment in
the lowest rungs of the revenue department”
He thought it was best to send him to Madras
and introduce him to some friends interested in
Maths. Thus he gave an introductory letter to
some of his friends in Madras.

28. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah28
SR IN MADRASSR IN MADRAS
The friends in turn sent him to Ramachandra
Rao, District Collector of Nellore who was also
the secretary to the Indian Mathematical
Society.
Rao supported him financially and asked SR to
continue with his work.
He published his first problem in the society’s
journal and asked the readers for an answer.
Since no one was able to solve in six months, he
provided the answer in the subsequent issue.

29. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah29
View of Dewan Bahdur Ramachandra
Rao the District Collector Nellore
“a short uncouth figure, stout, unshaved,
not over clean,with one conspicuous
feature- shining eyes- walked in – with a
frayed Notebook under his arm. . . He was
miserably poor.. . He never craved for
distinction. . .He wanted leisure, that is
simple food provided for him . . .and that
he should be allowed to dream on. . “

30. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah30
SR IN MADRAS
SR lived in a small house - “Summer
House” - in Sami Pillai Koil St., in
Triplicane with the monthly assistance
provided by Nellore Collector.
He was not happy with free allowance; he
wanted to earn a living and pursue his
studies and research in Mathematics.

31. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah31
SR SEEKS A JOB WITH THE
PORT
Narayana Iyer was the
Manager of the Port and
was theTreasurer of the
Mathematical Society
Narayana Iyer used to find
it difficult to follow
Ramanujan and asked him
to go slow
Ramanujan was impatient
to prove any of his findings
as he thought they were
very simple!

32. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah32
RAMANUJAN AT WORK
Early 1912 he got a job in the AG’s Office, for a
monthly salary of Rs. 20
He then applied for a job with the Port Trust, where
his mentor Narayana Iyer was the Manager, who
was also the treasurer of the society.
He spent his spare time doing his mathematical
research.
Recommended by Narayana Iyer Sir Francis
Spring, Chairman Madras Port encouraged
Ramanujan.

33. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah33
HIS APPLICATION TO THE PORTHIS APPLICATION TO THE PORT

34. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah34
THE PORT HELPS SRTHE PORT HELPS SR
Credit goes to Spring for encouraging young SR along
with Narayana Iyer.
SR’s letters to two well-known Cambridge
mathematicians: H.F. Baker and E.W. Hobson,
bore no results.
But on on January 16, 1913, when Ramanujan wrote to
G. H. Hardy, it was different.
Hardy had the foresight to quickly recognize
Ramanujan's mathematical skills. He was also
impressed by some of Ramanujan's other work relating
to infinite series.

35. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah35
SR WRITES TO HARDY:
“I beg to introduce myself to you as a clerk in the
Accounts Department of the Port Trust Office at
Madras on a salary of only £ 20 per annum. I have
had no university education but I have undergone
the ordinary school course. After leaving school I
have been employing the spare time at my
disposal to work at mathematics. I have not
trodden through the conventional regular course
which is followed in a university course, but I am
striking out a new path for myself.

36. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah36
Contd. .
“I have made a special investigation of divergent
series in general and the results I get are termed by
the local mathematicians as “startling“… I would
request you to go through the enclosed papers.
Being poor, if you are convinced that there is
anything of value I would like to have my theorems
published. I have not given the actual investigations
nor the expressions that I get but I have indicated
the lines on which I proceed. Being inexperienced I
would very highly value any advice you give me “.

37. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah37
HARDY REACTSHARDY REACTS
Hardy started taking steps for bringing
Ramanujan to England. He contacted the Indian
Office in London to this effect
Ramanujan was awarded the first research
scholarship by the Madras University. This was
possible by the recommendation of Gilbert
Walker, then Head of the Indian Meteorological
Department in Simla.
Gilbert was a former Fellow and mathematical
lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge.

38. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah38
SR IN PORT SERVICESR IN PORT SERVICE
Sir Francis Spring is
considered the father of
Madras Port
When Narayayna Iyer told
About Ramanujan Spring
was interested.
It was he who made Gilbert
Walker take interest in
Ramanujan.
raman14_b[1].jpg

39. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah39
SIR FRANCIS SPRING HELPSSIR FRANCIS SPRING HELPS
Gilbert Walker was on a trip to Madras from
Calcutta and visited Port.
It was Spring who persuaded Gilbert Walker to
go through the notes of Ramanujan
Walker said: “. . . But it was perfectly clear to me
that the University would be justified in enabling
S. Ramanujan for a few years at least - - to
spend the whole of his time on mathematics
without any anxiety as to his livelihood.”

40. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah40
ASSISTANCE BY PORT
Spring allowed Ramanujan to be on
unpaid leave for the period of research.
As asked by Walker Spring ‘looked after’
Ramanujan till ‘something could be done’
to him.

41. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah41
RECOGNITION
On February 8, 1913, Hardy replied Ramanujan,
expressing his interest for his work.
 Hardy also added that it was "essential that I
should see proofs of some of your assertions.“
Even before his letter arrived in Madras Hardy
contacted the Indian Office to set up plans for
Ramanujan's trip to Cambridge.
Secretary Arthur Davies of the Advisory
Committee for Indian Students met Ramanujan to
discuss the overseas trip.

42. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah42
REFUSAL AND RESULT
In accordance with his Brahmin upbringing,
Ramanujan refused to leave his country to "go
to a foreign land”
Meanwhile, Ramanujan sent a letter packed with
theorems to Hardy, writing, "I have found a
friend in you who views my labour
sympathetically”
Hardy’s finding was endorsed by Gilbert Walker
and wrote to B. Hanumantha Rao a Professor in
Madras which had the desird results.

43. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah43
UNIVERSITY BOARD DECIDES
Hanumantha Rao, invited Narayana Iyer to a
meeting of the Board of Studies in Mathematics
to discuss "what we can do for S. Ramanujan.“
The board met and agreed to grant Ramanujan
a research scholarship of 75 rupees per month
for the next two years.
While he was engaged as a research student,
Ramanujan continued to submit papers to the
Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society.

44. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah44
OVERCOMING AN OBSTACLEOVERCOMING AN OBSTACLE
His refusal to go abroad,
was overcome, to a
considerable extent by E H
Neville who met Ramanujan
while lecturing in India.
His grandmother Rangammal
also encouraged him and
Ramanujan was personally
convinced by a vivid dream his
mother had, in which the family
goddess Namagiri commanded
her "to stand no longer
between her son and the
fullfilment of his life's purpose”

45. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah45
RAMANUJAN LEAVES FOR
ENGLAND
Ramanujan sailed from India on 17 March 1914 by the
ship S. S. Nevasa from Madras.
He arrived in London on 14 April 1914 and was met by
Neville.
After four days in London they went to Cambridge and
Ramanujan spent a couple of weeks in Neville's home
before moving into rooms in Trinity College on 30
th

April.
Right from the beginning, he had problems with his diet
and it was not long before Ramanujan had health
problems.

46. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah46
LITTLEWOOD WHO WAS ASKED LITTLEWOOD WHO WAS ASKED
TO HELP RAMANUJAN SAIDTO HELP RAMANUJAN SAID
”.. that it was extremely difficult because
every time some matter, which it was
thought that Ramanujan needed to know,
was mentioned, Ramanujan's response
was an avalanche of original ideas which
made it almost impossible to persist in his
original intention”

47. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah47
THIS IS WHAT GODFREY THIS IS WHAT GODFREY
HAROLD HARDY HAD TO SAYHAROLD HARDY HAD TO SAY
I still say to myself when I am
depressed and find myself forced to
listen to pompous and tiresome people,
‘Well, I have done one thing you could
never have done, and that is to have
collaborated with both Littlewood and
Ramanujan on something like equal
terms’.

48. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah48
HARDY IN LATER YEARS AND HARDY IN LATER YEARS AND
LITTLEWOODLITTLEWOOD

49. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah49
HARDY AND RAMANUJAN HARDY AND RAMANUJAN
WORK TOGETHERWORK TOGETHER
Hardy and Ramanujan had highly contrasting
personalities.
Their collaboration was a clash of different cultures,
beliefs and working styles.
Hardy was an atheist and an apostle of proof and
mathematical rigour, whereas, Ramanujan was a
deeply religious man and relied very strongly on his
intuition.
While in England, Hardy tried his best to fill the gaps in
Ramanujan's education without interruptingwithout interrupting his spell of
inspiration.

50. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah50
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) wrote to
Lady Ottoline Morell.
“I found Hardy and Littlewood in a state of
wild excitement because they believe,
they have discovered a second Newton, a
Hindu Clerk in Madras … He wrote to
Hardy telling of some results he has got,
which Hardy thinks quite wonderful.”

51. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah51
RAMANUJAN GRADUATES
He was allowed to enroll in June 1914 despite
not having the proper qualifications.
Ramanujan's dissertation was on Highly
composite numbers.
Ramanujan graduated from Cambridge with a
Bachelor of Science by Research (this was
called a Ph.D. from 1920)
he became the first Indian to be elected a Fellow
of Trinity College, Cambridge

52. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah52
HONOURING A MASTERHONOURING A MASTER
Ramanujan fell seriously ill in 1917 and his
doctors feared that he would die.
On 18 February 1918 he was elected a
fellow of the Cambridge Philosophical
Society.
Three days later, his name appeared on
the list for election as a fellow of the Royal
Society of London.

53. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah53
THE HONOUR IMPROVES HIS
HEALTH
By end November 1918 Ramanujan's health had greatly
improved. Hardy wrote
I think we may now hope that he has turned to corner, . ..
There has never been any sign of any diminution in his
extraordinary mathematical talents. He has produced less,
naturally, during his illness but the quality has been the
same. ....
He will return to India with a scientific standing and reputation
such as no Indian has enjoyed before, and I am confident that
India will regard him as the treasure he is. His natural
simplicity and modesty has never been affected in the least by
success - indeed all that is wanted is to get him to realise that
he really is a success.

54. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah54
THE FELLOWSHIP
His election was confirmed on 2 May 1918.
On 10 October 1918 he was elected a Fellow of
Trinity College Cambridge, the fellowship to run
for six years.
Trinity College Fellowship, carried a prize
fellowship worth 250 pounds a year for six
years with no duties or condition, which
he was not destined to avail of!

55. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah55
RAMANUJAN RETURNS TO RAMANUJAN RETURNS TO
INDIAINDIA
Ramanujan sailed to India on 27
February 1919 arriving on 13
March.
However his health was very poor
and, despite medical treatment,
he died there the following year.

56. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah56
LAST DAYS IN MADRASLAST DAYS IN MADRAS
Janaki Ammal nursed him till his
death on April 26, 1920. During
those months, the household
was run by Ramanujan’s mother
Komalathammal and
grandmother Rangammal.
I considered it my good fortune
to feed him at regular intervals
and to give fomentation to his
legs and chest when he reported
pain. The two vessels used then
for preparing hot water are alone
still with me; these remind me
often of those days.

57. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah57
ASSISTANCE BY
NAMBERUMAL CHETTY
T.Namberumal
Chetty gave him
place to stay and
took on the
expenditure
during his illness
and later for his
funeral!

58. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah58
Government of India honoured SR with an issue Government of India honoured SR with an issue
of a postage stamp on his 75of a postage stamp on his 75
thth
birth anniversary birth anniversary

59. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah59
THE FIRST DAY THE FIRST DAY
CANCELLATION COVERCANCELLATION COVER

60. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah60
HIS NOTE BOOKSHIS NOTE BOOKS
While he was still in India, Ramanujan recorded the
bulk of his results in four notebooks of loose leaf
paper.
These results were mostly written up without any
derivations. This is probably the origin of the
misperception that Ramanujan was unable to prove
his results and simply thought up the final result
directly.
Mathematician Bruce C. Berndt, says that Ramanujan
most certainly was able to make the proofs of most of
his results, but chose not to.

61. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah61
Contd.,
The first notebook has 351 pages with 16
somewhat organized chapters and some
unorganized material.
The second notebook has 256 pages in 21
chapters and 100 unorganized pages;
The third notebook containing 33 unorganized
pages.
The results in his notebooks inspired numerous
papers by later mathematicians trying to prove
what he had found.

62. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah62
Contd.,
Hardy himself created papers exploring
material from Ramanujan's work as did G.
N. Watson, B. M. Wilson, and Bruce
Berndt.
A fourth notebook, the so-called LOST
NOTEBOOK , was rediscovered very
much later, in 1976 by George Andrews

63. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah63
HARDY WAS TRULY THE GUIDE HARDY WAS TRULY THE GUIDE
BUT CONSIDERED SR GREATBUT CONSIDERED SR GREAT
What was to be done
in the way of teaching
him modern
mathematics?
The limitations of his
knowledge were as
startling as its
profundity.

64. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah64
RATING OF RAMANUJAN
K. Srinivasa Rao says,
“As for his place in the world of Mathematics, we
quote Bruce C. Berndt:
'Paul Erdős has passed on to us G. H. Hardy's
personal ratings of mathematicians.
Suppose that we rate mathematicians on the
basis of pure talent on a scale from 0 to 100,
Hardy gave himself a score of 25, J.E. Littlewood
30, David Hilbert 80, and Ramanujan 100.'"

65. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah65
RAMANUJAN’S LOST NOTE
BOOK
After Ramanujan's death in 1920, the three
notebooks and a sheaf of papers that he left
behind were handed over to the University of
Madras.
They were sent to G.N. Watson who, along with
B.M. Wilson, edited sections of the notebooks.
After Watson's death in 1965, the papers, which
contained results compiled by Ramanujan after
his return to India from Cambridge in 1914, were
handed over to Trinity College, Cambridge.

66. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah66
RAMANUJAN’S LOST NOTE
BOOK Contd.,
In 1976, G. E. Andrews of Pennsylvania State
University rediscovered the papers at the T rinity
College Library. Since then these papers have
been called Ramanujan's "lost notebook".
According to Berndt, the lost notebook caused
as much stir in the mathematical world as
Beethoven's Tenth Symphony did in the world of
Western classical music.

67. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah67
INDIA RECOGNISES
During the year 1987 (Ramanujan's centenniel),
the printed form of Ramanujan's Lost Notebook
by the Narosa publishing house of Springer –
Verlag was released by the then prime minister,
Rajiv Gandhi, who presented the first copy to S.
Janaki Ammal Ramanujan.
The second copy was given to George Andrews
in recognition of his contributions in the field of
number theory.

68. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah68
BRUCE CARL BERNDT
Bruce Carl Berndt has
written on Ramanujan
extensively
Awarded for editing
SR’s note books
Coordinating Editor of
the Ramanujan

69. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah69
BOOKS ON RAMANUJAN 1
By Bruce Carl Berndt
“Letters and Commentary”
An American
mathematician
Berndt is best-known for
his work explicating the
discoveries of Ramanujan.
He is a coordinating editor
of The Ramanujan and
awarded for his work of
editing Ramanujan's
Notebooks.

70. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah70
BOOKS ON RAMANUJAN 2
Essays and Surveys
Also by  
B. C. Berndt &
Robert A. Rankin
Collection of essays on
Ramanujan and his
work.
Survey articles in areas
influenced by Ramanujan's
mathematics.
Most of the articles in the
book are non-technical.

71. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah71
BOOKS ON RAMANUJAN 3
THE MAN WHO KNEW
INFINITY
Is written by Robert
Kanigel and is sub titled
as A LIFE OF THE
GENIUS RAMANUJAM
Rights for making a
movie of this has already
been obtained by a
production company.

72. Srinivasa Ramanujan K R A Narasiah72
HIS LIFE REMINDS US
OF What Queen Vidula said In udyoga
parva, Mahabaratha

Muhurtham Jvalitham Sreyo Muhurtham Jvalitham Sreyo
na tu dhuna tu dhuûûmmààyitham ciramyitham ciram

IT IS BETTER TO FLAME FORTH IT IS BETTER TO FLAME FORTH
FOR AN INSTANT THAN TO FOR AN INSTANT THAN TO
SMOKE AWAY FOR AGESSMOKE AWAY FOR AGES