Ramanujan: Twelve Lectures on Subjects Suggested by His Life and Work

by G.H. Hardy

Ramanujan occupies a unique place in analytic number his formulas, identities and calculations are still amazing mathematicians three-quarters of a century after his death. Many of his discoveries seem to have appeared as if from the ether. His mentor and primary collaborator was G.H. Hardy. Here, Hardy collects 12 of his own lectures on topics stemming from Ramanujan's life and work. The topics partitions, hypergeometric series, Ramanujan's tau-function and round numbers.

Genres: Mathematics

254 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Godfrey Harold Hardy FRS was a prominent English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis.

Non-mathematicians usually know him for A Mathematician's Apology, his essay from 1940 on the aesthetics of mathematics. The apology is often considered one of the best insights into the mind of a working mathematician written for the layman.

His relationship as mentor, from 1914 onwards, of the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan has become celebrated. Hardy almost immediately recognized Ramanujan's extraordinary albeit untutored brilliance, and Hardy and Ramanujan became close collaborators. In an interview by Paul Erdős, when Hardy was asked what his greatest contribution to mathematics was, Hardy unhesitatingly replied that it was the discovery of Ramanujan. He called their collaboration "the one romantic incident in my life."

Reviews

[Anna Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this yesterday. Found it fascinating and thought provoking. Unsure how I missed it the last dozen or so years. It has found a spot on my bookshelf.