Srinivasa Ramanujan: in celebration of the centenary of his election as FRS

摘要

Srinivasa Ramanujan, the so-called Man Who Knew Infinity, was one of the most influential, as well as most enigmatic, mathematicians in the recent history of mathematics.With a letterwritten to G.H.Hardy in 1913, the impoverished Hindu college dropout, self-taught in mathematics, reaching for worlds beyond the shores of India, introduced himself to the history of science. He had spent his youth sitting on cool stone floors in the neighbourhood temple, surrounded by Hindu deities, his mind wandering the world of mathematics. After absorbing the mysterious equations in the letter, Hardy invited Ramanujan to study in England, an extraordinary offer for an Indian under colonial rule. Together they innovated vast tracts of mathematics, before Ramanujan returned to India in fragile health. Tragically, he died at 32 from a misdiagnosed illness, leaving behind three enigmatic notebooks.