Amath lesson in southern India, circa 1900. The teacher is explaining what happens when you divide a numberrnby itself—if you have ten fruits, and divide them between ten people, each gets one. Likewise with a thousand fruits and a thousand people, and for any other number you might care to mention. Srinivasa Ramanujan, a young boy already displaying unusual talent and a fondness for asking difficult questions, challenges: "But is zero divided by zero also one?
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