The Man Who Knew Infinity
Just finished the book on Ramanujan by R. Kanigel. So far, I only knew vaguely that Ramanujan was a mathematical genius and a pride of India who died young. The book was an eye-opener!
Who exactly was Ramanujan? Why is his math ability such a big deal? What did his contemporaries think of him? Is he just another case of clutching at any opportunity for "Indian pride?" How did he live and how did he die? The magical book takes you on a journey across the temple streets of Kumbakonam, through the homes of orthodox brahmins and the corridors of town schools, through colonial Madras and turn-of-the-century England and Cambridge, through the minds of acclaimed and budding geniuses, through war-torn London and cold sanatoriums...
Apart from Ramanujan, you also get a peek into the person called Hardy, one of the math greats who responded to a strange letter of appeal from an unknown Indian clerk and took a leap of faith purely on the merit of the crazy maths that he saw in the letters.
The book is a sensitive but honest portrayal and does justice to all the characters without gloss or artifice. It is also an indictment on a rigid educational system and a sahib-enamoured populace who even today need the stamp of western approval before they can respect one of their own. Read it for the romance and heartbreak, the genius and oppression, the promise and the failure of a rare human being.
Who exactly was Ramanujan? Why is his math ability such a big deal? What did his contemporaries think of him? Is he just another case of clutching at any opportunity for "Indian pride?" How did he live and how did he die? The magical book takes you on a journey across the temple streets of Kumbakonam, through the homes of orthodox brahmins and the corridors of town schools, through colonial Madras and turn-of-the-century England and Cambridge, through the minds of acclaimed and budding geniuses, through war-torn London and cold sanatoriums...
Apart from Ramanujan, you also get a peek into the person called Hardy, one of the math greats who responded to a strange letter of appeal from an unknown Indian clerk and took a leap of faith purely on the merit of the crazy maths that he saw in the letters.
The book is a sensitive but honest portrayal and does justice to all the characters without gloss or artifice. It is also an indictment on a rigid educational system and a sahib-enamoured populace who even today need the stamp of western approval before they can respect one of their own. Read it for the romance and heartbreak, the genius and oppression, the promise and the failure of a rare human being.
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