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Summary: A compel read Biography
Review: One of the best books that i have encountered. The author makes us wonder about the mind of a south indian Brahmin who without any guidance or help came up with such astonishing results. The author literally takes us to the period and place in which Ramanujan lived. Ramanujan gains all the sympathy of the reader for the obstacles he encounters in spite of his genius. Hats off to Hardy for revealing the world, one of India's greatest mathematician. This is an excellent book.
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Summary: Man who knew infinity: Ramanuj
Review: One of the finest books I have encountered, esp after I came to know about the `modular functions' Ramanujan helped investigate in depth from his `lost notebook'. A mystic sadly taken away in the peak of his genius. The book elucidates the times and conditions [social & political] in the British India thereby giving a diff perspective of the struggle of an extra-ordinary brain.
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Summary: An enthralling story
Review: One of the most wonderful things in the story of Srinavasa Ramanujan, the Indian mathematician, is the noble character of G.H. Hardy, the English mathematician. Hardy's character was as remarkable for things that he didn't do as it was for things that he did.When Ramanujan sent his first letter to Hardy, enclosing valuable mathematical results, Hardy could have laid it aside, unread or undervalued. Other mathematicians did. Instead, Hardy sent an emissary half way around the earth to bring Ramanujan to England. Once Ramanujan arrived in Cambridge, Hardy could have taken credit for Ramanujan's work and seen him off, back to India. Other men have done worse. Also, one of the worst things that can happen to a brilliant man such as Ramanujan is to have a powerful but duller teacher who can not take second place to a brighter student. Hardy recognized Ramanujan as a far better mathematician and nurtured him without envy. That is one of the most remarkable things about this story. It is easy to be anachronistic about Hardy and Ramanujan. It's easy to put sneer quotes around Hardy's "discovery" of Ramanujan, now that there are Indian names in most large American telephone books. And it's easy to fault Hardy for failing to enrich Ramanujan's food with vitamin D, years before its discovery. All it takes is to know little or nothing of Ramanujan's times. To a small extent, the author of this book does the equivalent. Still, this is a deeply interesting story, very well told. Reading it, you'll learn why Ramanujan died so early, tightly constrained by the limitations of his own era. And you'll learn why his early death was such a great loss. It's a pity that Ramanujan wasn't born later, say in 1927. Read this book and imagine what Ramanujan could have done with a pocket calculator, during a long life.
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Summary: Long and difficult prose style
Review: Probably an exciting life; however, it refers back to pre-war I as a begining, seems very old, and is a terribly long book with a very old fashioned, boring writing style. Probably it should serve as THE source book, but for more ordninary people like me (Psychologist with some knowledge of, and interest in ,the history of Mathamatics) this needs to be re-written as a briefer edition( based on the above) by a Reader's Digest Editor. Martin J.Kaplan
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Summary: The Genius
Review: Ramanujam was a genius and his only problem compared to the western mind was that he was a bit timid and was not arrogant despite his vast knowledgebase. Had Hardy wanted he could have just curbed the ingenuity of Ramanujam and taken credit of Ramanujam's work as his own. The fact that Hardy gave Ramanujam 100 out of 100 and only 25 for himself speaks volumes of his humbleness and humility. Had Ramanujam lived more both Ramanujam and Hardy would have produced more theorems for the world. However the excellent character of Hardy and his good upbringing has stood him and he did not choose to credit himself with the work. The book certainly gives a glimpse to the western world how pious, devoted, and simple living were (are still) the brahmin class of South India. Also clear from the book is the lack of opportunities for the genius like Ramanujam and many more in the Indian scene. Itis quite true that if these class of people were living in United States they would have produced more geniuses like Einstein.
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Summary: A Mysterious Life
Review: Ramanujan is a bit like the Wittgenstein of mathematics: An eccentric genius whose true insights we apparently are still to comprehend. Phenomenal research has gone into this book, and it is filled with a variety of detail. The maths is accesible without being oversimplified. Interesting looks at the culture of the time too, like the saga of Ramanujan's marriage and Hardy's (the English mathematician who helped make Ramanujan famous) repressed homosexuality. Best of all is the exciting mystery of this whole saga. Ramanujan seamed to attract and create drama, and it is intriguing to witness his life progress on the pages.
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Summary: An honest, touching account of a phenomenal mathematician
Review: Ramanujan perhaps suffers a little from being such an extraordinary character - I'm surprised at how little-known his story is, even in Britain (a friend of mine who read mathematics at Cambridge had never heard of him until after she graduated!), and most accounts I've read seem rather superficial. Kanigel manages to make him sound like a man - a man with a uniqely sharp mathematical vision - but a human being nonetheless. What, I think, makes Kanigel's account so successful is his willingness to take Ramanujan's religious faith seriously and not to sideline it. He is very good at describing the two different worlds (South India and Cambridge), both of which are vastly different from 21st century Western life, and letting us get a feel for the culture of each place. He also should take credit for attempting to describe some of the mathematics involved. The Ramanujan story is, I believe, a sad one and Kanigel isn't scared to confront some of the issues that should anger some of us. Yes, Ramanujan was a phenomenon of which India should feel proud - but equally she should be shocked at how easily he could have lived his life undiscovered. Yes, Hardy should take credit for recognising Ramanujan's genius and taking him under his wing - but equally he allowed Ramanujan to live a lonely and in many way malnourished life in Britain. And so on. I think that this is an excellent, honest, book.
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Summary: This is a superb biography of a gifted mathematician.
Review: Robert Kanigel has written one of the most interesting biographies I have read! The book is so captivating that after reading it once, I have returned to it several times. What is really fasinating about this extremely well written book is that the two principal characters, and their cultural backgrounds are so vastly different. Yet they are united in their purpose of discovery.
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Summary: Superb
Review: Robert Kanigel touches upon what should be elaborated upon in transcultural experiences. In current times, more than ever, immigrants from developing countries are creating names for themselves in developed coutries with their intellectual contributions much in the way that Ramanujan did in his time. While it is good that developed countries are open to welcoming these intellectual contributions, it would be a vastly better world if there is a genuine interest in these new immigrants as human beings and if there is a genuine interest in their culture as well. The converse is also true. It would be much nicer if the immigrants were as well versed with the cultures of their hosts as they were in their fields of endeavour. Even in supposedly the most enlightened and cosmopolitan part of the USA in Silicon Valley, it is a minority of people who attempt to bridge the culural barriers - with the result that though people interact without barrier at work, away from work most people live in cultural enclaves. I suppose excellence in the chosen field requires such a dedicated focus that away from it, the comfort of the familiar is what most of us opt for. The kind of cultural isolation that Ramanujan experienced is less likely today since every field of endeavour has a sufficiently diverse cultural mix for people to find others of their ilk to mingle with away from work - especially in a place like the USA. Also, it is gratifying to note that the brown or the yellow man does not care so much of the approval or recognition of the white man these days. He is more likely busy excelling them in every field of endeavour. It is the surest sign of progress yet from Ramaujan's days. There couldn't be too many Hardies today taking pride in discovering a genius from an unlikely source since the souce is no longer considered unlikely to produce geniuses.
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Summary: Chronicle of a legendary mathematical partnership
Review: The book is really the biography of G.H. Hardy as well as of Ramanujian. The narrative of both men's lives sets the stage for their epic collaboration at Cambridge. Shows how Hardy and Ramanujian respectively overcame English pedantry and British colonialism. A brilliant tribute to two brilliant Mathematicians!
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