"The Infinite in Mathematics — A Biography of Ramanujan (Philosopher's Stone Series · Biographies of Contemporary Science and Technology Experts): A Biography of Ramanujan"

Author: Robert Kanigel
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2002-10-01
Features: In 1913, a young Indian clerk with no formal education named Ramanujan wrote to the renowned British mathematician G.H. Hardy, asking this scholar for his opinion on several of his mathematical ideas. Hardy recognized the genius behind the letter and found ways to arrange for Ramanujan to come to Britain. Thus began a collaboration that was both historically rare and incredibly fruitful.
With great enthusiasm for the rich and captivating details, the author guides us from the temples and slums of Madras, India, to the courtyards and churches of Cambridge University in England. There, the devout Hindu "Prince of Intuition," Ramanujan, stood alongside the rigorous and eccentric "Apostle of Proof," Hardy, to verify his brilliant theories. Ramanujan's relentless creative contributions came at a price: he died at the young age of 33, leaving behind a mesmerizing and profound mathematical legacy. To this day, people are still tirelessly exploring its secrets.
This book is one of America's bestselling books and was awarded the "American Book Review Biography Award" in 1992.