biography of Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan

 

Srinivasa Ramanujan:  Biography

                                   

                                  Srinivasa Ramanujan

Early Life

Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887, in Erode, a town in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He grew up in Kumbakonam, in a poor Brahmin family. His father worked as a clerk in a sari shop, and his mother was a devout Hindu and singer at a local temple.

From a very young age, Ramanujan displayed an extraordinary aptitude for mathematics. By the age of 11, he had exhausted the mathematical knowledge of two college students who lived in his neighborhood. By 13, he had mastered advanced trigonometry and began discovering complex formulas on his own.

Education and Struggles

Ramanujan received a scholarship to study at Government College in Kumbakonam. However, he was so focused on mathematics that he neglected other subjects and failed his exams. This led to the loss of his scholarship. Despite these setbacks, he continued his mathematical explorations independently, often living in poverty.

Mathematical Work and Breakthrough

Ramanujan’s breakthrough came when he began corresponding with prominent mathematicians in England. In 1913, he sent a letter filled with mathematical theorems to G.H. Hardy, a renowned mathematician at the University of Cambridge. Hardy was astonished by Ramanujan’s raw genius and invited him to Cambridge.

Ramanujan traveled to England in 1914, where he worked with Hardy and other mathematicians. Together, they published important papers on topics such as:

• Infinite series

• Continued fractions

• Partition functions

• Modular forms

Ramanujan was largely self-taught, and many of his methods were unconventional but incredibly original. He often said that his ideas came to him in dreams, inspired by the Hindu goddess Namagiri.

Recognition and Return to India

In 1918, Ramanujan was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, one of the highest honors in science. He was also one of the youngest Fellows in history and the first Indian mathematician to receive this recognition.

However, his time in England took a serious toll on his health. He suffered from poor nutrition, isolation, and possibly tuberculosis or a liver disorder. In 1919, he returned to India, weak and ill.

Death and Legacy

Ramanujan died on April 26, 1920, at the age of 32. Despite his short life, he left behind an astonishing body of work—over 3,900 theorems and results—many of which were later proven correct and remain fundamental in modern mathematics.

His famous "lost notebook," discovered decades after his death, contained groundbreaking work in areas that later became crucial in string theory and black hole physics