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The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan Kindle Edition

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,239 ratings

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING JEREMY IRONS AND DEV PATEL!

A moving and enlightening look at the unbelievable true story of how gifted prodigy Ramanujan stunned the scholars of Cambridge University and revolutionized mathematics.

In 1913, a young unschooled Indian clerk wrote a letter to G H Hardy, begging the preeminent English mathematician's opinion on several ideas he had about numbers. Realizing the letter was the work of a genius, Hardy arranged for Srinivasa Ramanujan to come to England.

Thus began one of the most improbable and productive collaborations ever chronicled. With a passion for rich and evocative detail, Robert Kanigel takes us from the temples and slums of Madras to the courts and chapels of Cambridge University, where the devout Hindu Ramanujan, "the Prince of Intuition," tested his brilliant theories alongside the sophisticated and eccentric Hardy, "the Apostle of Proof."

In time, Ramanujan's creative intensity took its toll: he died at the age of thirty-two, but left behind a magical and inspired legacy that is still being plumbed for its secrets today.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This moving and astonishing biography tells the improbable story of India-born Srinavasa Ramanujan Iyengar, self-taught mathematical prodigy. In 1913 Ramanujan, a 25-year-old clerk who had flunked out of two colleges, wrote a letter filled with startlingly original theorems to eminent English mathematician G. H. Hardy. Struck by the Indian's genius, Hardy, member of the Cambridge Apostles and an obsessive cricket aficionado, brought Ramanujan to England. Over the next five years, the vegetarian Brahmin who claimed his discoveries were revealed to him by a Hindu goddess turned out influential mathematical propositions. Cut off from his young Indian wife left at home and emotionally neglected by fatherly yet aloof Hardy, Ramanujan returned to India in 1919, depressed, sullen and quarrelsome; he died one year later of tuberculosis. Kanigel ( Apprentice to Genius ) gives nontechnical readers the flavor of how Ramanujan arrived at his mathematical ideas, which are used today in cosmology and computer science. BOMC featured alternate; QPB alternate.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This biography traces the life of one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century, Ramanujan. This incredibly brilliant Indian mathematician, working alone in relative obscurity and lacking the usual academic credentials, could easily have passed unnoticed. However, with the help of a handful of friends and the ultimate support of renowned English mathematician G.H. Hardy, his work was brought to the attention of the world. When he died in 1920 at 32 he had become a folk-hero in his own country. He left a rich lode of original mathematics, which is still being mined today. This extremely well-researched and well-written biography is a "must" addition to any library collection.
- Harold D. Shane, Baruch Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00BW4VEGM
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Washington Square Press; Media Tie-In edition (May 7, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 7, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 14266 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 465 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 1,239 ratings

About the author

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Robert Kanigel
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Robert Kanigel is the author of nine previous books, most recently "Hearing Homer's Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry." His "Eyes on the Street: The Life of Jane Jacobs" was long-listed for the 2017 Andrew Carnegie Medal for nonfiction and named an NPR best book of the year. He has been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim fellowship, the Grady-Stack Award for science writing and, for his Milman Parry biography, a Public Scholar grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. His book "The Man Who Knew Infinity" was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and named a New York Public Library "Book to Remember"; it has been translated into more than a dozen languages, and was the basis for the film of the same name starring Jeremy Irons and Dev Patel. .Kanigel and his wife, the poet S. B. Merrow, live in Baltimore. His first memoir, "Young Man, Muddled," was published in late 2022. [robertkanigel.com]

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
1,239 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book well-written and engaging. They describe it as a biography of a great mathematician with thorough research. Readers find the insights enlightening and thought-provoking, exploring the mysteries of the human mind and mathematics.

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115 customers mention "Readability"105 positive10 negative

Customers find the book well-written and engaging. They praise the author's descriptive writing style and narration, which takes them through the settings of the small town in India where the story takes place. The subject matter is praised for being thoroughly researched and presented in an engaging manner.

"...the culture shocks and the complex personality of Ramanujan are well portraited...." Read more

"...early 20th century southern India and Cambridge, as well as a marvelous exposition of the pursuit of pure mathematics at its highest level by two of..." Read more

"Robert Kanigel's biography of Ramanujan is a well researched and well written book about the all-too short life of a man who remains largely unknown..." Read more

"...books, publications and interviews and then building a most compelling tale of a true born genius...." Read more

88 customers mention "Biography quality"74 positive14 negative

Customers find the biography well-researched and engaging. They appreciate the author's attention to detail and presenting the subject in an informative and humorous manner. The book is described as one of the best scientific biographies they have read.

"...The character of Hardy is beautifully developed. Indeed, the book is almost as much about Hardy as about Ramanujan...." Read more

"Robert Kanigel's biography of Ramanujan is a well researched and well written book about the all-too short life of a man who remains largely unknown..." Read more

"...Robert Kanigel has done a wonderful job in researching books, publications and interviews and then building a most compelling tale of a true born..." Read more

"...book is the story of the life of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the brilliant Indian mathematician who lived a short but productive life around one hundred..." Read more

21 customers mention "Insight"21 positive0 negative

Customers find the book enlightening and thought-provoking. They find it interesting and engaging, providing an insight into the life and times of math genius Ramanujan. The book serves as a reminder to remain open-minded about people's abilities and the need to be creative. It provides a glimpse into the world and India during the early 1900s.

"...I appreciate the book’s dedication to presenting a holistic view of Ramanujan’s life, Indian cultural elements, his psychological struggles, and the..." Read more

"A great writer performs thorough research on a fantastic and enlightened subject, person, and time period...." Read more

"...to the pleasure of reading, exploring a different world and seeing into a unique mind. Highly recommended...." Read more

"...It is an important reminder to remain open minded about people's abilities and the need to be flexible with systems that tend to oversimplify the..." Read more

Extremely Disappointed with the Condition
3 out of 5 stars
Extremely Disappointed with the Condition
I ordered this book as a gift for my brother, but it arrived in a terrible state. The cover is torn, the last page is damaged, and it looks like it has already been used. This is unacceptable for a “new” book purchase, especially when it was meant to be a thoughtful present. Now I’m left scrambling to find an alternative, and it has completely ruined the surprise. Very disappointing experience!
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2017
    I bought this book after seeing the film, although I have always been fascinated by the Ramanujan story.

    The problems of adapting to postgraduate study, the culture shocks and the complex personality of Ramanujan are well portraited. However I would have wanted to read more on his work - the book is written very much for non-mathematicians.

    The character of Hardy is beautifully developed. Indeed, the book is almost as much about Hardy as about Ramanujan. I am not sure if Hardy tamed Ramanujan or if he just canalized his inmense genius and energy to problems and fields where work could be jointly developed and published. To his great credit, Hardy also gave him critical support at difficult times. In any case it is hard to see what else could have been done. Without Hardy we would never have learned of Ramanujan, which speaks volumes about the Indian educational system and society at the time.

    I hope that many elementary and secondary school teachers get to read this book. While most of the world is struggling to get children to learn the basics of mathematics, we cannot forget how important it is to detect and develop early talent. How many Ramanujans are today sitting in a classroom, thoroughly bored with elementary arithmetic taught by an unmotivated teacher?

    I recommend anybody interested in this book to pick Hardy's "A Mathematician's Apology" as well.
    29 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2016
    I had read Kanigel's book on Ramanujan way back in college and therefore, to refresh my memory after watching the recent movie and to get a more mature understanding of the story, I read it again. The book achieves the rare distinction of being an evocative picture of both early 20th century southern India and Cambridge, as well as a marvelous exposition of the pursuit of pure mathematics at its highest level by two of its most exalted practitioners. I found it remarkable that Kanigel manages to explain concepts like partitions, modular forms and generating functions in a book that assumes literally no knowledge of math.

    Ramanujan's cultural, religious and family background is described with empathy and in detail. So much of his success was due to sheer chance; he was recognized by the right people at the right time even after many others had ignored him, and his caste made up for his poverty and lack of connections. Slide the needle of destiny a little to the right or left, and he might have languished in obscurity forever. G. H. Hardy's background and the the culture of Tripos examinations, public school and Cambridge elites is similarly described in vivid terms. Hardy was a singular thinker who enjoyed pure math precisely because of his uselessness (his book "A Mathematician's Apology" is eminently readable for the pride it takes in the pursuit of useless but beautiful ideas). The contrast between the two worlds and the two men could not be more stark, and yet somehow mathematics bridged the very unlikely gap between them; the book is thus even more of a human story than a mathematical one. Even today it's impossible to understand how Ramanujan could derive and prove everything that he did, but it's clear that obsessive hard work combined with a fearless creative streak played an important role in his discoveries.

    Kanigel also talks about how these discoveries have kept entire schools of mathematicians busy for decades. Ultimately Ramanujan's story is that of a blazing comet which burned bright and quick, guided by the gravitational pull exerted by his own intellect and Hardy's kinship. More than anything else, the story makes the expedience of making sure that other Ramanujans in remote places don't fall through the cracks woefully clear.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2006
    Robert Kanigel's biography of Ramanujan is a well researched and well written book about the all-too short life of a man who remains largely unknown outside of the world of mathematics. Ramanujan was born of poor parents in Southern India in the late 1880s. His only interest outside of his religion was mathematics and he was unable to complete a formal university education. After several attempts to attract the attention of prominent British mathematicians he finally became the protégé of G.H. Hardy, a prominent mathematician at Cambridge. Hardy brought Ramanujan to Cambridge based on some of his preliminary work and was surprised to find that his protégé's thinking was far in advance of the then, and possibly current, state of mathematics.

    Publication of many joint papers resulted in Ramanujan's election to the Royal Society.

    Unfortunately he had by this time contracted tuberculosis and he died in 1920 shortly after his return to India. Even today Ramanujan's theorems are still being studied and he is ranked among the world's greatest mathematical thinkers hence the book's subtitle.

    This book not only provides a valuable insight into a great mind but it also gives us a penetrating glimpse of the culture of Southern India in the early 20th century.

    The contrast between Hardy's British public(i.e. private) school background and Ramanujan's Indian schooling makes the collaboration between the two even more interesting.

    This is a fascinating read that leads one to speculate how many more similar sparks of genius remain undiscovered.
    8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • XVB
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesante biografía
    Reviewed in Spain on June 3, 2022
    La vida de este matemático autodidacta es fascinante. Paraxaquellos que kquiersn profundizar en su vida mas allá de la simplista película que omite demasiados detalles. E-book bien formateado y editado.
  • JAYANTI PRASAD
    5.0 out of 5 stars The best biography I have read so far !
    Reviewed in India on January 15, 2022
    I do not know what to write. Reading this book is a life changing experience for anyone who gets mesmerised by the power of mathematics. This book is more about a culture & revolution than about a person or subject. It is about how the seeds of mathematics which were planted in the young mind of Ramanujan by a mathematics book by Carr he read in the start of his mathematical journey resulted in giant tree of mathematics Ramanujan created. This book is about the story of a boat of mathematics which Ramanujan was able to sail through the rough waters (odd socio cultural background, poor health, world war I etc.,) and reached his destination. The treatment of the subject matter is very deep & engaging. If this book cannot excite you about mathematics then none will ! Go for a life changing journey with this master piece. !
  • Leonardo P.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Libro che mi ha appassionato alla Matematica
    Reviewed in Italy on December 5, 2020
    Una delle più affascinanti storie della Matematica, un libro che potrebbe motivarti a studiare matematica!
  • anderson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Um homem e seu dom
    Reviewed in Brazil on November 3, 2018
    Algumas vezes somos levados a acreditar que alguém que nasce com um dom não necessita de nada mais além disso.
    Foi com essa ideia que eu adquiri esse livro e, ao longo da leitura, fui notando que além de um dom existiu muito trabalho, problemas , dificuldades no caminho de Ramanujan. E é exatamente esse lado da estória que faz com que qualquer um se identifique com Ramanujan e é isso que torna a leitura tão agradável.
  • Kemal Koeksal
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
    Reviewed in Germany on April 24, 2017
    On one of many trans Atlantic flights I saw the movie and the story has caught my attention. The book is, as usual, much better then the movie. The author does a good job in explaining mathematical concepts very easy to understand. Your perfect holiday book !

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