Top 10 Interesting Facts about Srinivasa Ramanujan

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa by Konrad Jacobs from WIkimedia Commons

Srinivasa Ramanujan (born December 22, 1887, in Erode, India—died April 26, 1920, in Kumbakonam), was an Indian mathematician whose contributions to number theory include the pioneering discovery of partition function features.

He got a copy of George Shoobridge Carr’s Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics, 2 vol. (1880–86) when he was 15 years old. This collection of thousands of theorems, many with very brief proofs and no material younger than 1860, piqued his interest.

Ramanujan expanded on the conclusions in Carr’s work, establishing his own theorems and concepts. He received a scholarship at the University of Madras in 1903, but he forfeited it the following year because he abandoned all other subjects in pursuit of mathematics. Here are ten interesting thing you should know about him.

1. He is from a small Tamil Nadu town

Tamin Nadu by mckaysavage from Wikimedia Commons

Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887, in the home of his maternal grandmother in Erode. For a long period, this house was untraceable. His father was a textile merchant’s clerk, while his mother was a housewife. She used to sing at a nearby temple as well.

2. He was inspired by a book about Mathematics

Ramanujan was primarily self-taught and grew up in abject poverty. He developed his passion for mathematics on his own and in complete isolation. He borrowed a copy of Loney’s book on Plane Trigonometry from a friend when he was 12 years old, which was published by Cambridge University Press in 1894.

This publication, together with A Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics, added a new dimension to Ramanujan’s life and catapulted him into the realm of twentieth-century mathematics.

3. He was Married to a 9-Year-Old Girl

Janaki Ammal by Wikimedia Commons

Ramanujan was married to Janaki Ammal on March 21, 1899. She was the fourth daughter of six children (five daughters and a son) of Rangaswamy Iyengar and Ranganayaki Ammal of Rajendram, a village close to Marudur Railway Station.

4. He has almost little formal math training

Srinivasa Ramanujan had no formal math instruction, but he is the guy behind all mathematical breakthroughs. Some of his theorems are intuition-based. Ramanujan’s Formula was written by Hardy. “They must be true because no one would have had the ingenuity to conceive them if they were not true.”

5. He is just the second Indian to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society

Srinivasa Ramanujan by Wikimedia Commons

Ramanujan is one of society’s youngest fellows in its history. He joined the fellowship at the age of 31 in 1918. Within a few years, Hardy and Ramanujan cooperated on more than a half-dozen scholarly articles (from 1914-to 1917). Ramanujan authored more than 30 academic articles in three years while finishing his fellowship.

6. Ramanujan worships his family Goddess

Mahalakshmi Mandir by Pratishkhedekar from Wikimedia Commons

Ramanujan worshipped his family’s Goddess Mahalakshmi. “An equation has no relevance for me unless it conveys an idea of God,” he once declared. Surprisingly, many of Ramanujan’s theorems are based on intuition, which eventually proved to be mathematical breakthroughs.

7. By the age of 32, he had accumulated 3,900 results

Ramanujan Cambridge by Ramanujan22.jpg from Wikimedia commons

Within his restricted time, he completed 3,900 findings, the majority of which were on identities and equations. The third and final of Ramanujan’s hypotheses caused a stir in twentieth-century mathematics. His most famous discovery was The Infinite Series of Pi.

8. There is a museum dedicated to recounting the story of Ramanujan

The museum, which is located in Chennai, contains several images of Ramanujan’s house and family members, as well as letters from his friends. This collection is the outcome of Late P.K. Srinivasan’s efforts.

The late P.K Srinivasan was a well-known math instructor. His collection of Ramanujan’s photos, letters, and other mementos is utilized in a museum dedicated to recounting Ramanujan’s life story. It is in Chennai and has numerous images of his house and family, as well as messages to and from friends, relatives, and others.

9. He liked to scribble his ideas in notebooks using green ink

According to the story, Ramanujan likes to jot down his thoughts on a notepad using green ink. One of his journals was dubbed the “Lost Notebook.” George Andrews, a mathematician, found it in the Trinity College library in 1976. Later, it was turned into a book.

10. The 22nd of December is National Mathematics Day

Every year on December 22, Ramanujan’s birth anniversary is observed as National Mathematics Day. He is a metaphor for young Indian students who want to break free from intellectual captivity and fly like Ramanujan!

Ramanujan epitomizes the marvellous miracle of the human mind’s ability to construct thoughts and employ mathematics and symbols as cognitive tools. It acknowledges as a potent instrument for delving deeper into the secrets of the cosmos and one’s own being. As long as the spirit of inquiry and curious minds remain alive, Ramanujan’s legacy will flow from one generation to the next. Embibe bows to him.