A Life of the Genius Ramanujan - The Man Who Knew Infinity

A BEAUTIFUL BOOK IN EVERY WAY ABOUT A TRULY BEAUTIFUL
MATHEMATICIAN AND MAN. IT'S A GREAT GIFT PURCHASE FOR
ANY ONE WHO KNOW AND DELIGHTS IN RAMANUJAN AND FOR
ANY ONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW OF RAMANUJAN.

The story was great, and well written but the writer seemed unable to edit out irrelevant material, going on for 10 pages about Hardy's love of cricket. I mean, seriously. Had he written about Einstein he would probably devote a chapter to the vegetation around Einstein's outhouse. It was about 3 times longer than it should have been.

Well written and deals with social issues as well as mathematical background. I have enjoyed reading it so far. I would recommend this book if your are interested in number theory and infinite series.

A Mathematician Would Enjoy This Book.

A good read. A sad read. It gives a detailed life history, the struggles of Srinivasa Ramanujam to be socially acceptable, to prove his genius.

Apart from Ramanujam, the character i loved are:
G.H.Hardy : Born and brought not with a golden spoon. He loves his family. He loves cricket. And he loves mathematics.
Ramanujam had the talent. Had the brains. Had the insight. Had the intuition. But G.H.Hardy found Ramanujam. G.H.Hardy showed Ramanujam to the world. And the genuine struggles he took in bringing Ramanujam to England. A compassionate human being.

Neville: The guy who first saw Ramanujam as a genius. Read the book to find out why he travelled to India in the first place. Am sure everyone would be impressed as I am.

Littlewood: A cute guy who competed with Ramanujam with regard to prime numbers. But the first guy who so untiringly went through all of Ramanujam's papers to give a positive impression of Ramanujam to the skeptic mind of G.H.Hardy.

Sir Francis Spring: Wow....A Not An Indian Guy....who recognized Ramanujam's talent when Ramanujam was working as a clerk in the Madras Port.

Ramanujam: He now is a genius. But before that....A brahmin guy. A Vaishnavite. A boy who flunked all his exams except Maths. A boy who loves food. A mother's boy who loved the brinjal curry. A college student who never made it to the board exams. A married man who didn't know if he is doing the right thing in pursing maths.
A simple man.
A humble man.
A Man who saw god in every equation he wrote.
Of all qualities, A guy who wrote to his parents, family, wife, friends 3 or 4 times a month from England giving them up-to-date information about his mathematical progress, how he held to his vegetarianism....

My mom once said that, "Man is a Social Being....He/She cannot be alone". When writing this, I ponder of how true this is.
Ramanujam was a genius...But took so many people outside his family to bring him to light. But in most cases the friends, family that helped them are never ever mentioned...But the author did a great job in going over the minute details of each and every single person who made Ramanujam as the person we see him today. Hats off to Robert Kanigel.

The happiest moments of Ramanujam's life must have been the ones he stayed in Cambridge along with G.H.Hardy going after his leisure activity, "Mathematics" (as Ramanujam put it).

I love the book..In the last pages of the book there is too much mathematics which I didnt enjoy reading much as I didn't understand them (probably thatz why 3 Stars).

Am impressed with the amount of information the author collected in trying to know why a particular place is named, "Triplicane", "Rameshwaram", "Nammakal".

A Big Wow : in the first 2 decades of 20th century.....

The ticket price from Kumbakonam to Madras by train : Rs.3
The ticket price from Madras to Cambridge by ship : Rs.400

AV.

A self-taught mathematical genius! What kind of “teaching” could this be? When Ramanujan finally reveals his secret to his Cambridge collaborator, Hardy could not believe it, and refused to believe it, being a dedicated atheist. Can any modern person believe it? Ramanujan said he received the formulas complete, from the goddess, claiming “to dream of blood drops that symbolised her male consort, Narasimha, after which he would receive visions of scrolls of complex mathematical content unfolding before his eyes.” His long-time English colleague Hardy put it this way:

"They (the formulae) were "arrived at by a process of mingled argument, intuition, and induction, of which he was entirely unable to give any coherent account." He (Hardy) also stated that he had "never met his equal, and can compare him only with Euler or Jacobi." (Wikipedia)

He simply spoke what the goddess told him. He had gaps in his knowledge of the various methods of mathematical proof developed laboriously in the West, and yet could deliver solutions to the most complex pure mathematical problems in the world. Hardy knew that, as brilliant as his Indian colleague surely was, nobody would accept his formulae unless he could prove them to the satisfaction of the skeptical (and envious) mathematical community at Cambridge. Hardy therefore set about teaching Ramanujan how to prove his formulae in the traditional way and so they collaborated until his work was acknowledged and he was accepted as a Fellow of Trinity College at Cambridge.
Hardy lamely describes the core of the phenomenon of Ramanujan’s genius as inspiration mingled with argument and induction, lacking any coherent account. Yet Ramanujan’s account is perfectly coherent when understood from within its terms, i.e. as a thought of god. Accompanying this self-presentational thought is a mood of devotion, surrender and humility, and a non-acquisitional attitude which we could call gratitude. Ramanujan spent many years from about the age of ten learning the language of mathematics and this work prepared him (with the appropriate concepts) to become an adequate vessel for the “inspirational” message from the goddess, in the form of complete formulae that were independently verified by others subsequently. Ramanujan’s cultural practice of devotion to the goddess could not be understood let alone received by the Cambridge dons. He was forced to learn their accepted cultural practice, which is rooted in skepticism and the principle of falsifiability. There is a ruthless aspect to this kind of “testing the claims to knowledge,” even a sadistic pleasure, in seeking not merely to falsify but to destroy Ramanujan’s impertinent, unproven claims. This was portrayed so well in the movie. As a result of the onslaught of unmitigated attacks, Ramanujan’s health began to fail. Although medical reasons were found for his early death at 32 years old, the fact that Ramanujan was uprooted from his own culture, separated from his child-bride, and forced to assimilate uncompromisingly to another, alien cultural practice that had nothing to do with love, submission, humility and gratitude—these facts are enough for me to conclude that Ramanujan was, in fact, killed.
A vessel for Love is killed off! No one is to blame. It is a matter of privileged cultural practices! Love and innocence are a deadly combination today, in a world ruled by Power. Ramanujan was inducted, if you like, into a modern culture that says, in effect: Oh, you think you can bring Love innocently into our world. Well, let’s show you what happens! And he was shown—envy, greed, exploitation, power, resentment, downright hatred
were all presented to this Innocent. Hardy, his only friend there at Cambridge had no idea of the human catastrophe in the making. His response to the attacks was to show Ramanujan how to toughen up: learn how to prove your results. They will listen to you. I will make them listen to you. He is right, of course, but he could not see the human price of such a demand. Ramanujan’s results were greedily appropriated to the Western “Cause” (e.g. his formulae are being used to study Black Holes today) but nobody seems to have noticed the dead body, or to care how it got that way.
The speed with which the gift of Love seeking entry in the world today is appropriated by Power and/or destroyed by Hatred is breath-taking. Yes we have the gold but the vessel has gone missing. Too bad, let’s just go on with what we have and use it for our own purposes. No one asks if the goddess has another purpose in mind i.e. other than exploitation by humans, for their own purposes, in so gifting this young man Ramanujan with her exquisite formulae.
Ramanujan could perceive this beauty of the mathematical world on a scale that only Euler and Jacobi could match. Beauty is Love made visible in the phenomenal world, in this case, the world of mathematics. He wanted only to serve and so Love could emerge as Beauty in his chosen cultural practice of mathematics.
But what happens when this innocent Love seeks to enter the modern Western world as represented by Cambridge? It collides almost immediately with Power and its institutional interests. Ramanujan met this force with no defences, and was destroyed by it. The level of hatred aimed at him and his “methodology” was portrayed in all its menace and destructive power. The damage went to his body and he died a year or so after becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society, at age 32.

This early 20th century math genius from rural south India struggled with his non-conformist approaches to education, mathematics and religion and ultimately achieved global recognition before dying in his early 30s. Sounds like an amazing story about overcoming adversity. Too bad, this book is unable to build this narrative and enlist readers to cheer for Ramanujan.
The book goes into lengthy, tedious detail about life, structures, rice, et al in rural South India. The hundred or more pages prior to Ramanujan's arrival at Cambridge are a struggle to read and add little to the revelation of this young genius.
The page count of this book (465) does not really reveal its length. The type is painfully small so each page contains roughly twice the number of words we normally see in a paperback.
I had high hopes of gaining insights into the process of genius. What I found in this book was endless detailed backstory that does little to enlighten the reader.
Unfortunately, while there are several other books about Ramanujan, none appear to present the story I am seeking. Perhaps the script from the movie by the same name will provide a better representation.

Rich and beautiful in style as well as content. I was taken on a roller-coaster ride through space-time - about a century in the past to South India and England. I experienced the slow, inexorable build-ups, followed by the thrills of glory and discoveries. I experienced, with bated breath, the precarious moments where the Goldilocks effect rescued Ramanujan from being relegated to oblivion. And through this all, there is an undercurrent of melancholy that never goes away for long - and yet, it never really overpowers the spirit of Ramanujan.

Very well researched, eclectic, candid, and with just enough sprinkling of math for the laity, this book is extremely hard to beat in terms of a book for general audience on Ramanujan's life.

Someone, I forget who, drew a line between regular genius and magical genius. Regular genius creates ideas that you or I could come up with if we were ten or a hundred times smarter. Magical genius comes up with things that we never could, no matter how smart we were. I believe that distinction was drawn specifically for Ramanujan, a magical genius.

This warm, thoughtful movie portrays the pivotal period of Ramanujan's life, early lack of recognition for his arcane discoveries, his first real encouragement from an Indian mentor, and his eventual recognition at the center of British academia.

And his struggle. Only two things in life seemed to come easily to him: his marvelous creations, and Hardy's recognition of his potential. He struggled in India for attention to his ideas, he struggled with his family before and during his time in England, he struggled against racism at a time when India was still under British rule, he struggled to maintain the strict diet demanded by his religion. Most of all, he struggled with formality of Western math, with its bedrock demand for rigorous proof. Having been moved by inspiration his whole life, the painstaking work of explaining his ideas in formal and unassailable terms seemed not just foreign to him, but irrelevant, even a hindrance. Still, he managed to overcome that hurdle, the highest part of which lay in himself. But despite his victories, a majestic as they were, Ramanujan remains a tragic character, his life ending barely into his thirties.

Best to see the movie for yourself - my description can't do it justice. I'd like to add some personal note, though. First, the theater audience where I saw this was very largely Indian, like Ramanujan himself, perhaps a tribute to a great countryman. Second, I couldn't help note Ramanujan's passing introduction to Mahalanobis, another Indian mathematician whose name remains familiar today. I can barely imagine the heady atmosphere created by the company of such minds. That, I think is what kept this movie from being dismal - the joy of being accepted at such a high level of company. That, and the loyal love of his wife, who struggles equaled his in magnitude if not in kind.

-- wiredweird

I purchased this title as an audio book. Overall, it was masterful! As other reviewers pointed out, it was quite long and slow in places. What I appreciated most about the book is that it gave insight into Hardy and insight into Ramanujan's family life (especially his relationship with his mother and what his wife did after his untimely death). I had read Hardy's "A Mathematician's Apology", but I didn't realize until this title how late in his life it was written or how large a role in his life Ramanujan played.

It was an interesting book and an interesting subject. But the book could use some editing. It was too disorganized and jumpy at times. Also, in other times the author would go into details that were either discussed previously or didn't need to be talked about to such length. I felt the book could be better had they cut around fifty to seventy pages out of it. The math part was easy. I enjoyed it. But I am an engineer , so other might not be that interested in the math part. However, it is not that difficult and understanding the details of the mathematical equations is not necessary in order to enjoy the book.

An Inspirational account of the life of a Mathematical genius
Srinivasa Ramanujan is rightly a member of the Mathematicians' Hall of Fame. From humble beginnings in the small town of Kumbhakaon in Tamil Nadu to the hallowed cloisters of Trinity College, Cambridge, this magnificent book narrates the story of Ramanujan's trails, tribulations and triumphs.
Central to the story are the powerful influences of Ramanujan's mother and the great English Mathematician, Godfrey Harold Hardy. If his mother, Komala shaped the first part of Ramanujan's life, then surely Hardy must take full credit for bringing Ramanujan's prodigious talents to the attention of the world Mathematical community. Other prominent characters also figure in the story - notably Ramanujan's many friends, Narayana Aiyer, Gopalachari, leading lights in the Indian Mathematical establishment, members of the ruling British classes, Sir Francis Spring, the Governor of Madras Presidency, and Cambridge Mathematicians, Neville and Littlewood.
The book presents a touching portrait of Ramanujan the man: an orthodox Vaishav Bhraman, steeped in Hindu culture with all the attendant characteristics of a deeply spiritual outlook, a calm self-assurance about his abilities, and most of all, an obsession with Mathematics. Hardy, his mentor, is also biographed as the passionately atheist, Winchester educated son of a middle class schoolmaster who went up to Cambridge, and at the turn of the 20th century, almost single handed masterminded the rise of English Pure Mathematics.

One of the most wonderful things in the story of Srinavasa Ramanujan, the Indian mathematician, is the noble character of G.H. Hardy, the English mathematician. Hardy's character was as remarkable for things that he didn't do as it was for things that he did.
When Ramanujan sent his first letter to Hardy, enclosing valuable mathematical results, Hardy could have laid it aside, unread or undervalued. Other mathematicians did. Instead, Hardy sent an emissary half way around the earth to bring Ramanujan to England. Once Ramanujan arrived in Cambridge, Hardy could have taken credit for Ramanujan's work and seen him off, back to India. Other men have done worse.
Also, one of the worst things that can happen to a brilliant man such as Ramanujan is to have a powerful but duller teacher who can not take second place to a brighter student. Hardy recognized Ramanujan as a far better mathematician and nurtured him without envy. That is one of the most remarkable things about this story.
It is easy to be anachronistic about Hardy and Ramanujan. It's easy to put sneer quotes around Hardy's "discovery" of Ramanujan, now that there are Indian names in most large American telephone books. And it's easy to fault Hardy for failing to enrich Ramanujan's food with vitamin D, years before its discovery. All it takes is to know little or nothing of Ramanujan's times.
To a small extent, the author of this book does the equivalent. Still, this is a deeply interesting story, very well told. Reading it, you'll learn why Ramanujan died so early, tightly constrained by the limitations of his own era. And you'll learn why his early death was such a great loss.
It's a pity that Ramanujan wasn't born later, say in 1927. Read this book and imagine what Ramanujan could have done with a pocket calculator, during a long life.

The Man Who Knew Infinity is a biography of Ramanujan, a very distinguished mathematician who lived around the early part of the twentieth century, and whose story makes a fascinating biography. Kanigel's account of Ramanujan, an Indian mathematician of great genius, and also something of the British mathematician Hardy (an outstanding British mathematician), is certainly among the best biographies I have ever read, and ultimately a very sad story as well as its denouement takes us into the tragedy of the first world war. Ramanujan was passionately dedicated to mathematics, and his story from very humble beginnings in poverty in southern India to recognition by Hardy of the merit of his work is an amazing account of a life of discipline and focus in a field of endeavor, always on the edge of failure, and yet producing work of the highest merit. Regrettably, due perhaps largely to the extreme hardship of World War I in England, Ramanujan died at a relatively young age, and at a time when he was showing signs of further deep and beautiful work. Kanigel maneuvers us in the story so that we can have some appreciation for the wonderful genius of Ramanujan, and the great awakening effect it had on Hardy, himself a mathematician whose work was outstanding for his day, and continues to exert influence. Behind this human story is a story of cultural, social, economic and political upheaval in the world, involving great forces that have dominated the past century. Not only can we have some appreciation for the great forces that have been moving the world through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but also some engagement with the depth and beauty of a field of mathematics that most of us would surely regard as a rather esoteric art. Kanigel's sympathetic treatment of human beings is able to enlighten us about these forces, as well as bring both Ramanujan and Hardy into sharp focus so that we are able to take in a bit of the rarefied atmosphere of mathematics at its best (at least in the early part of the twentieth century).

This is an engrossing, fascinating and well written and researched book about an Indian mathematical prodigy who burst upon the world scene in the early 19th century only to die under tragic circumstances a few years later. The book chronicles the life history of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor clerk in South India, who wrote a letter filled with his math formulae and discoveries to the famous English mathematician G. H. Hardy. Hardy recognized the letter as the work of a genius, even though Ramanujan had no formal training in math, not even a college degree. Ramanujan then left to England to work with Hardy in Cambridge. The intuitive brilliance of Ramanujan, combined with the formality and rigor of Hardy, gave rise to a unique and fruitful mathematical partnership. The life of Ramanujan was cut short however when he succumbed to tuberculosis at the tender age of thirty two.

Kanigel does a brilliant job describing Ramanujan's life and his partnership with Hardy. He vividly portrays south India where Ramanujan lived for most of his life. He also excels in describing the relationship between Hardy and Ramanujan and the respect and esteem Hardy had for the Indian genius (on a scale of mathematical ability, Hardy gives himself a 25 whereas Ramanujan gets 100). Kanigel also tries to give the reader a taste of the mathematical work that Ramanujan did, even though it is beyond the realm of most people. The last few pages where Ramanujan is close to death were very touching. You just wonder what else Ramanujan could have achieved had he lived longer.

The wonder of Ramanujan was that he was able to make great intuitive leaps which lead to wonderful discoveries. However he was unable to prove many of his results rigorously as he had no formal training. Therefore Ramanujan's work and unproved ideas he documented are still being researched, proved and marveled at even now. I would have liked the book to have some more mathematical details (maybe in an appendix) where we could appreciate what exactly Ramanujan's contributions to mathematics were and how they are pertinent to the modern age.

Robert Kanigel's biography of Srinivasa Ramanujam is a fascinating read. Having come from Kumbakonam and having studied in Town High School, I was naturally interested in the life of the school's greatest prodigy. The book is excellently researched and goes through all aspects of his life. It shows the early part of his life and his relationship with his mother and what started him on his mathematical life. No one can understand the depths of his mind, but this book does show some insight into it. It also shows the trouble any person may have in those days in breaking the mold in India, especially coming from such a rural background. The book does give insight into his quick insight and creativity, though he was wrong at times, he had amazing accuracy most of the times. For sheer mathematical ability, he was one of the best of the last century, as is acknowledged by most mathematical authorities. He excelled at solving problems and at inventing new areas, his work done in the last days of his life, "mock theta functions" is the proof for this.

In Hardy, Ramanujam found a mentor who was totally without prejudice. This book is useful only for the lay people though, it does not go into the mathematical aspects of his life. It does not go enough into his discoveries and how they made a difference. For instance, even now, his mechanism forms the background for the fastest algorithm for finding the value of Pi. While this is an excellent biography for someone in high school and is inspirational, it is not of much use to the mathematically minded. I wish that they come out with a Springer version of the biography similar to the ones they have for Riemann and others that delve into the life and the mathematics of the person.

The sad news is that while Ramanujam is a great person, he is largely forgotten in his home town and his country. India may have improved in many ways but the Ramanujam journal has contributions mainly from mathematicians in US and Japan. I went to Kumbakonam and it saddens me that no one there remembers one of the greatest products of that city. Even in colleges, he is not remembered by anyone except a select few. While Fields medal winners remember him, his own country people have largely forgotten him. I hope that this situation changes and that such books are read by enough youngsters from India and make contributions to the area of mathematics. One important thing that is relevant from the book is the Tripos system. While it was removed in England, such a system is used to judge people to get them into the IITs in India. I frankly feel that the same logic against the tripos system can be used against the entrace exams of the IITs.

This book describes the life of Srinivasa Ramanujan. He was an Indian mathematician of early 20th century.

The book is written beautifully. The author gives all the relevant information like local customs, religion, geography, and family dynamics at appropriate places while describing the life of Mr. Ramanujan. The friendship between two great mathematicians, G. H. Hardy and S. Ramanujan is narrated in great details and makes a very important part of this book. Those two men were as different as they can get. Hardy was an atheist, outgoing, loved cricket, tennis, and was methodical; Ramanujan was on the other hand an orthodox Brahmin, shy, introvert and his mathematics lacked proper systematic steps and was devoid of proofs. Yet, they became the best of friends and enriched each other's lives. They completed each other. I am glad that the author has included some mathematics in the book. It is not so much that the reader may get distracted and lose the link in the story.

Mr. Kanigel is very right when he says that in India, even decades after independence, many potential Ramanujans are ignored. Also, India recognizes the talent of her own people only after the west does. Time and again, people have witnessed this phenomenon.

I believe this is a very nicely written biography of a very remarkable man.

Kanigel takes the reader onto an unforgettable journey through the lives of two of the most curious mathematicians who ever lived; S. Ramanujan and G. Hardy. Ramanujan is a prodigy who with no formal training rose to be a fellow of the royal society. In spite of dying at just 32 years, he left a fortune of mathematical discoveries that has kept mathematicians busy to this day. Hardy (author of the famous "A Mathematician's Apology") was one of the world's finest mathematicians. In addition to a remarkable mathematical output, he is mostly credited for reviving English mathematics and for putting an end to the notorious Typos. In Hardy's own opinion, his most important contribution was "discovering Ramanujan".

Ramanujan spent his youth in his native south India where he was introduced to and fill in love with mathematics. Scarce as his sources have been, they kindled in him a life time lust for mathematics. Ramanujan received little recognition in India where, it seems, no one was qualified enough to see the genius in him. He thus turned to the west and wrote letters to some of the most prominent English mathematicians of his time. All but one ignored his letters; Hardy. Being such an authoritative figure, Hardy's appreciation of Ramanujan's work caused a considerable shift in Ramanujan's fortunes.

The book starts in the south Indian world of Ramanujan, describes it in vivid detail and accompanies him until he came in touch with Hardy some 26 years later. The scene then shifts to the Victorian world of Hardy and accompanies him till his contact with Ramanujan. The rest of the book narrates the details of Ramanujan's life in England, his most important mathematical contributions and his final years back in India.

I gave this book four starts because I think it is unnecessarily long delving into details of minor importance. Another aspect that I found a bit annoying was the limited treatment of Ramanujan's work. Some of his work on infinite series and on partitions is briefly explained but, in my opinion, is hardly enough. I would say a book about Ramanujan would better dedicate pages to Ramanujan's work than to discussing Hardy's sexual orientation.

All said, I found this book enjoyable, informative and motivating. Ramanujan's story is the stuff of fairy tales. A story where none can fail to find inspiration!

The myth of Ramanujan is famous in mathematics. The story of a poor Indian man who worked as a clerk and discovered deep mathematical truths, wrote to many English mathematicians, until one of them realized the talent and invited him to study with him at Cambridge. Ramanujan then died young but not before he made amazing breakthroughs in mathematics.

The myth is false, but it is close to the truth. The myth seems to imply that Ramanujan had magically acquired all these mathematical insights, however, Ramanujan had worked in mathematics for a long time, studying it in college. Professors in college had noticed his extreme talent, but Ramanujan spent too much time doing mathematics and not enough time on the other subjects, something which made him lose his scholarship. Because of that he had to work, but he kept working on his mathematics and eventually Hardy, a renowned British mathematician discovered his talent.

The book is a biography of Ramanujan. The story of Ramanujan in India, his wife, his family, his religion, is very interesting. The book explains how difficult it was for him to live in England, a country that had terrible weather and a different diet. The weather made him ill often. The book is also a biography of Hardy, an eccentric, brilliant mathematician. His story is also interesting, covering his love for cricket among other things.

The book is also interesting in terms of the times it covers. Ramanujan was in Cambridge when the first world war started. It is interesting to read about the conditions in England at the time.

Overall, this book is fantastic. I wish it had a little bit more mathematics, but I am happy with the biographies and the historical perspective it provided me.

What can one say about a man who defied all odds to become one of the best mathematicians of the world having done rigorous research for less than 5 years? That too, when you come know that such a man originated from India (in early twentieth century) which was then enslaved by the British, the achievement becomes even more special. He had to survive the period in England in the extreme conditions of the first world war, his own ill-health notwithstanding. The man, Ramanujan, is really a genius of extra-ordinary brilliance. His biography "The Man Who Knew Infinity - A Life of the Genius Ramanujan" by Robert Kanigel is about a small town guy, Ramanujan, from an authentic Brahmin family of Tamilnadu who turns the world over through his intuitive contributions in number theory (primes and partitions, in particular).

This book is an inspiring tale of the conviction of Ramanujan who wanted to show the world his works and earn a well deserved recognition from the very best mathematicians. This book describes how his mother and friends in India along with his collaborator in Trinity college at Cambridge, Prof. Hardy, helped him achieve his ambition but at the expense of the genius himself. This book is a treasure for the aspiring researchers in the world. Although Indians can appreciate and relate the life of Ramanujan much better than others, this book is a homage to a great mathematician who belonged to the elite mathematical community of the world. Ramanujan is a pride of India but it is indeed a pity that he could not live long enough to see his notebooks reach millions of mathematicians and his contributions getting realized as key tools in later scientific inventions.

The book starts with his early life in south Indian town called Kumbakonam where Ramanujan was educated. A tripos exam guide by Carr filled with mathematical formulas inspired Ramanujan into exploring mathematics while neglecting his other subjects in the college. This created a situation wherein earning a basic degree, which is the bare minimum expected of every student in that era, proved elusive as he used to fail in subjects other than mathematics. His requests for funding towards his research were initially rejected in India as he did not earn even a basic degree. Having married at an early age, he was forced to take up a job in port trust while still carrying out his passion for mathematics at leisure.

Ramanujan knew that his works were something special and wanted recognition for his work which he did not get in India under British Raj. He was forced to write to three eminent mathematicians in England. While two of them discarded his request and replied in negative, Hardy and his student Littlewood could see the real potential of Ramanujan's work. The major part of the book is the effort they took to bring Ramanujan to Cambridge and how they were able to add rigor in otherwise intuitively stunning discoveries of Ramanujan. Ramanujan did not have proper mathematical training on proving different conjectures he had developed. Hardy extracted the best out of Ramanujan apart from playing a key role in making him one of the Fellows of Royal Society (FRS).

Ramanujan used to prepare food for himself as he was a strict vegetarian. Over time, Ramanujan unfortunately contracted tuberculosis which along with his dislike for English food, irregular eating habits, and English weather worsened his health. He could still write some major papers with Hardy even when he was admitted to sanatorium. The ongoing first world war made the sea journey unsafe and prevented Ramanujan to reach India for better care. Ramanujan however returned to India once the world war ended, but the damage to his physical and mental health had become irreversible by then. Kanigel presents this moving tale of a real genius who could not be saved by a nation who still prides in his incredible mathematical proofs.

Kanigel gives various instances of his life when Ramanujan, who even offered a part of Royal Society fellowship to help the needy students, could have been saved by others. His mother could have sent his wife Janaki to take care of him in England as requested by him. Hardy could have cared more about his health and monitored it over time apart from pushing him to deliver his best mathematical contributions. Even after returning to India after first world war, Ramanujan's mother and wife could have created a more pleasant atmosphere instead of fighting over petty things. Ramanujan's belief in astrology through which he predicted that he would not survive more than 35 years also might have played a role in his demise.

It is almost a century since Ramanujan left us. India has been an independent nation over the past 65 years. The basic question which is still left unanswered, why independent India could not foster more such Ramanujans. The question can be answered partly by trying to understand the mental attitude of present day students. Those students who are interested in higher studies go abroad just for the sake of getting higher reputation once they are back in India instead of the love and desire to contribute to science and mathematics by doing so. This attitude, I feel points to the failure of our basic primary and secondary school education. The inclination of students to basic mathematics and basic sciences after school education is still viewed as inferior in India.

The attitude of the majority of established Indian academicians, who treat those researchers from abroad and India differently, is evident even now. Students going to any arbitrary university abroad just to earn a foreign degree are made to think they are 'Ramanujans' in the making. But they do not realize the fact that Ramanujan grew up in British Raj and he was forced to go abroad to get recognition. We have a lot of opportunities for research even in India nowadays. On the contrary, most of the present Indian students do not have strong inclination towards fundamental research and want to go to any arbitrary university abroad just driven by the social constraints. Lack of motivation and adequate funding in independent India towards research might also be a certain contributing factor. This again begs us to answer a few key questions. What is the benefit of India getting independence when we still feel inferior to those educated abroad? Should India have been made to develop into a nation with more intellectual self pride over the past 65 years? No one can answer these questions in the affirmative to even a certain extent by citing any example.

After liberalization, many foreign companies have been allowed to setup their manufacturing centers in India. Every Indian is aware that the IT industry also contributes more to the welfare of the other nations than India. Indian students, who are inherently bright, are lured by the amount of money they can earn in these multi-national companies and are even forced by the changing Indian societal norms. Even the Indian managers of the so called multi-national companies act as brokers who tap the talent of the Indian students towards doing menial jobs in order to benefit foreign economy more than that of India. Students are misguided and shown wrong path more in independent India than prior to independence when we could get at least one Ramanujan. These are some of the reasons I feel why India is unable to nurture intuitive scientific and mathematical thinking in the students and which have certainly played a key role to the decline in high quality research of modern India.

Most of the people in Brahmin community, who were close to Ramanujan, neglected Ramanujan's funeral as he had crossed the ocean and did not take bath afterwards in Rameswaram. The descendants of the same Brahmin community have developed into somewhat of a slave race contributing more to the companies originating in countries other than India. Even now, Brahmin community often feels it a criminal offense to work in either companies not owned by a foreigner or those who do not serve people of other nations. Indians who serve other Indians are looked down as somewhat inferior than those who live abroad. In short, we lack self pride which has intruded into the whole society. With such a social setting at present, Ramanujan's life is a real motivating factor for every Indian student who wants to pursue his own interests in basic science and mathematics. This book is a must read treasure for anyone who wants to develop a motivation towards a high quality dedicated research and contribute to the pride of India.

What a way to introduce the genius!Robert kaniegal introduces this man from a *remote* place to the world through the renowned Mozart,Beethoven etc..This intorduction says it all.Read the book and you will know Him.The Man-Mathematics-Ramanujan.
I am from Tamil Nadu,state in India and am proud to tell the world that I am from the place of the genius.
One more thing for me to take pride in-the vivid way in which Robert Kaniegal introduces the natural beauty of the place enriched by river Cauvery.At the other extreme is the beautiful Cambridge University described-The university of intellectuals right from the day *Science* was born??!!.
Coming to the subject,you get to know about the man behind the genius,G.H.Hardy and other all time great mathematicians.
You will be amazed at how Ramanujan's genius was seen what it means to be a genius and still not recognised ,not having enough money in hand and all the struggle this man underwent till one day he was RECOGNIZED.You get an insight into the personal aspects of the man also.It might in some sense change the reader's perspective about the man as such (ofcourse not the mathematician) considering his choosy nature in food etc.But you will at the same time start wonderimg how this man with a little education and not so succesful college could become the FRS,London.Is anybody interested in Tripos exam???Hey check out u got all *old* details;)
To sum up,I would appreciate the efforts Robert Kaniegal has taken to give a clear insight into the life and works of Ramanujan.
An inspirational account too!

Easily one of the most enjoyable books I have read so far. Mr. Robert Kanigel is probably one of the few intellects who has seen precision, poetry and pricelessness in the works of Ramanujan to have been so deeply passionate and moved, and successfuly makes the poignant biography get the feel of a graceful story. Mr. Kanigel succeeds in enveloping the legend of the collobaration between Ramanujan and Hardy with emotions that must have been so charactestiric of the priceless and sincere yet an impersonal association between the two mathematicians. I was totally immersed in the book and have never felt such involvement all at the same time for the author, the protagonists and the cultures of that period! Could it be that topics that mystify one make one turn out such great writing. I am not sure. For me, one who abhorred Math up until the reading of the book (in one sitting) I feel biographies can be difficult to consume let alone write unless I find the author fully immersed into it completely, and spiritually as well. Mr. Kanigel is all that. Personally, I have come to believe contrary to Mr.Kanigel's one emotional observation, that extreme geniuses like Ramanujan, Einstein or Bach are all occurrences of some rare dynamics of the times in which they lived. God will bestow in the genius powers to make himself apparent and so, it is not reasonable to believe that of the many born in poverty like Ramanujan, a few may have had the potential to be a genius but poverty struck them down? A Genius will be in control of himself and his circumstances, and he or she will show up somehow and strive to live as long as possible needed to give what he has to give. So many thousand element, not ordinarily occurring, have to be right in the birth of a genius and one deteriorating circumstance like poverty is what stirs the concoction! So much you may see a Bach or Ramanujan or Ilayaraja once in 300 years or thereabouts. That is what I think is the probable!

This is a captivating, illuminating, and deeply moving biography of the Indian mathematical genius S. Ramanujan. Genius is always enigmatic, and mathematical genius doubly so to the general reader for whom math will always be a closed book. One of the extraordinary things about this biography is Kanigel's gift for mathematical exposition at the layman level. As a mathematician myself, I can only say I've never seen its equal. Although to some extent he is helped by the "elementary" nature of much of R.'s work -- its gist can be grasped with only a basic understanding of calculus -- the task is still daunting. Yet everything is clearly and correctly explained, freshly, succinctly, memorably.

Kanigel's book is equally rich in human terms, too. His portrait of R. shows not only a genius but also a simple, spontaneous, likeable man. R. must have been the world's worst math tutor -- one shudders at the thought -- yet people liked him. This was a crucial factor in R.'s getting the opportunity to bring his gifts to full flower, for heaven and earth had to be moved. It's sad to think of the other Ramanujans in India and elsewhere who, crushed by life's hardships, were never able to develop or perhaps even recognize their gifts.

I take issue with the previous reviewer concerning Kanigel's treatment of Hardy. Hardy is a complex and fascinating figure in his own right and his personality needs to be explored in the context of his relationship with R. His homosexuality was a part of the constellation and a factor in his championing of the underdog (including women in mathematics), his openness to the unorthodox, and his willingness to take risks. Although bound by their common love for mathematics, the two men were otherwise poles apart both temperamentally and culturally. This contrast adds further interest and poignancy to the already romantic, Cinderella-like story of R.'s brief life in this world, and Mr. Kanigel makes the most of it.

Urgently recommended!

Ramanujan was a mathematician in Euler's class, that is the sort of mind you see once a century. For those interested by his life in India and at Cambridge University, this book explains the ins and outs of his existence quite well, and a bit else as well.

Unfortunately those with a genuine interest in his work really will never get much further than realizing that he was incredibly gifted; perhaps his work was too complicated to describe; perhaps the author didn't want to sacrifice a good narrative to tedious equations.

I'd recommend this book to students keen to read about the life of a mathematician, but not necessarily to those trying to get a grasp of Ramanujan's legacy as a mathematician.

I have read this book many times over the years and it always moves me. Although hard-pressed to find a single word to describe the main characters, I have elected to use the word "noble". Ramanujan, Hardy, Littlewood, and Neville were noble characters, in an old-fashioned way. This is a book about an unusual mathematician and his unusual mathematics, but it is also about the ability of human beings to connect even though they are separated by an enormous cultural gap. It is also about decent and gentle men in the arcane world of pure mathematics. It is a very romantic story.

Some parts of Ramanujan's life in cold and gray England are truly moving, such as not being able to figure out how to use blankets and stay warm in winter, or trying to cook vegetarian food in his room, or his attempted suicide because he was so lonely and would not receive letters from his wife in India. There is a simplicity to this man that touches the heart. Genius is simplicity. And of course, the portrayal of Hardy, and to a lesser extent Littlewood, is just superb. In some ways the book is more about Hardy than about Ramanujan, but that depends on how you look at it. Perhaps it is about both men. If Ramanujan touches your heart, then Hardy is someone for whom you feel great admiration. To put it in others words (much as the author has done), Ramanujan is pure intuition, whereas Hardy is pure rationality. They are point and counter-point.

On a separate note, I would recommend looking up Chicago astrophysicist, the late Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar's notes and records on Ramanujan (published, and unpublished but available through his special collections in U. Chicago). He did not know R personally (R died while Chandra was still in high-school in Madras) but he knew R's widow and had met her on several occasions. It is a little-known fact that the photograph of R which is most widely circulated today was actually retrieved by Chandra. Chandra did meet Hardy and Littlewood while he was at Cambridge (UK). His recollections are worth reading. Also worth reading are notes and comments by Professor Bruce Berndt (University of Illinois) who is perhaps the pre-eminent Ramanujan scholar. It is also fun talking to Professor Berndt. And of course, if you feel up to it, take a look at some of R's fascinating formulae, especially his continued fractions. They are bewitching (I have never managed to solve even one of them). Finally, I have visited Ramanujan's home in Triplicane (Madras, now Chennai). It is a humble dwelling and I stood before it in awe. But my awe gave way to compassion. In the end, even if we do not understand his genius and his strange mathematics, we will always be moved by the simplicity of his life, and the tragedy that it was. We will always empathize with his search for meaning in his own life even though he died so young.

Do not be impatient when reading this book. Read it with patience and enjoy a story that is stranger than fiction.

To say that Robert Kanigal's book “The Man Who Knew Infinity” is about the life and times of Indian Mathematician extraordinaire Srinivasa Ramanujan is actually a huge disservice not just to the author but also to the muse. Packed in the pages of this book is so much information on the times that prevailed before and after Ramanujan that the author needs to take a bow for the colossal amount of research he has conducted on every critical aspect of the man's life. Be it examining G.H.Hardy's life before he heard of Ramanujan, or be it the vessel S.S.Nevasa that took Ramanujan from India to England – the book is a treasure trove of information for anyone wanting to genuinely want to know more about the man behind the genius. In writing this bird's eye review of the book I find myself debating what to do add and what not to given that almost every page of this fantastic biography is peppered with thousands of little details that go beyond the names of Ramanujan and Hardy.

But first things first – what this book does quite well is demystifies the man we in India (and abroad) have to come know only from the tilted face view of his photograph. As it turns out that photograph was taken during the worse times of his life in England as he prepared to make his journey back home after several months of ill health. Known to be a rather portly fellow Ramanujan fell victim to a bizarre case of TB from which he never fully recovered. Other photographs of him during his early days in England perhaps do more justice to the generous extremities he was actually known for. It is said he looked like a male version of his mother and that is quite a good way to put it.

But his journey into England and then his return to India to draw his final breathe is really the tip of the iceberg. There is so much more that I did not know about this man before reading this book. Like, for instance, the ineffective and almost merciless education system prevalent during those days which disallowed him from having a proper education given his natural affections only towards Mathematics. Or the extremely absurd yet rigid in its roots – the Tripos Mathematics examination – that every Cambridge scholar hoping to become a Wrangler had to take. Or the dozens of people – Indian and British alike – who moved heaven and earth to bypass regulations and rewrote rules to get Ramanujan to Cambridge, to Trinity. Hardy, obviously, played a big role in being the one person who came closest to perhaps knowing what Ramanujan was about (and there is abundant evidence in the book for the contrary) but so were people like EH Neville, a lecturer in Madras, Hanumantha Rao (a math professor at an engineering college), Narayan Iyer (Ramanujan's colleague) and many more such intellectuals who came together to find a way to prove to the West, and to the world really, that Ramanujan was no crank and his theories were no “products of a fake genius” but a talent so rare and powerful that it had to be nurtured, cared for and if at all possible, amplified for generations to come.

The book looks at Kumbakonam of that time (which surprisingly – and refreshingly – even after a century has still retained a lot of its old world charm) which became home for a young Ramanujan. We get to meet his formidable mother, a rather prominent force in his life, Komalatammal – a woman of a strong personality bordering on the irrational. We get to look at young Janaki's life who married Ramanujan at the tender age of thirteen but it would take her six more years to really get to know her husband who spent most of his remaining life in absentia. Her becoming a widow at the young age of twenty and then her struggle for survival in a society that had no mercy for widows makes for a compelling read. We also get a close up look at Hardy who steps out of the one dimensional image of being “that Brit with whom Ramanujan collaborated” and gets a background, a human face and soul and is layered with various levels of style, charisma, precision and elegance both as a mathematician and as an Englishman. A man who was forced to come out of his social shell to accommodate the rare talent in Ramanujan. As the author at one point states - “Hardy did not discover Ramanujan. It was Ramanujan who had discovered Hardy.” This rings true throughout their journey as two perfect contradictions in every imaginable way brought together for the love of numbers and the beauty of infinity.

The book is also loaded with a lot of interesting mathematics. It occurred to me while reading the book that had I been (and I speak for a lot of my generation) introduced to mathematics in a fun way which made the connections seem logical I would perhaps had a better appreciation (and who knows, even love!) for the subject. But the reason I feel maths is hated around the world as a popular opinion is the bizarre and unnecessarily complicated ways in which it is learnt and taught across the board. The book, through simple examples of theories like continued fractions or mock theta functions or the prime number series captures such fantastic patterns that for a brief fleeting moment I could not help but admire the fun aspect of mathematics.

The book also spends considerable time on the Brahminical roots that Ramanujan was woefully tied to. Given his orthodox ways in the religion and an absolute refusal to adapt to Western diets despite his falling health and consistent appeals from physicians it makes for a frustrating read in some parts as we watch a true gift, a miracle, wither away because of lessons he had picked up as part of his life before England. Much of his belief in God and the infinite nature of the universe stemmed from his love for mathematics. This is perhaps why his famous statement on equations and god's thought is so prominently heralded to this day. For him there was truth in all gods and yet his obstinate attitude towards anything alien, his gradual disconnection from the realms of reality, his slow descent into depression towards his final days in England – all point to a mentally fragile individual who had the nerves for mathematics but little else. His erratic eating habits, lack of exercise, reluctance in being part of a culture that was so different from his own – all add up eventually to bring to him the lethal disease.

The book ends, as expected, with Ramanujan's death at the age of thirty two resembling a “bag of bones” due to his abnormal weight loss. It then goes on to talk about the events that took place after that, leading up to the 1980s when a lot of his theories were found and examined by prominent mathematicians around the world. To this day a lot of his work remains a mystery as more talents try to figure out just how a semi-educated poor Brahmin from an almost nondescript town in Southern India had the vision to formulate such complex equations to begin with. I guess that will forever remain a fascinating story to tell indeed.

After several years of knowing about Ramanujan and having seen only glimpses of his work in passing I am finally happy that through Kanigel's book I finally got a front row seat to not only his life but also those whom he touched and inspired. His collaborations from 1914 until 1920 are perhaps one of the most significant ones in the history of world mathematics. I only hope that more people (and not just Indians – although I do feel this book should be compulsory reading in all Indian schools) get to know the man behind the genius to fully appreciate and acknowledge what a rare talent had been born in what was supposed to be an extremely poor, immensely diseased and unashamedly uneducated part of the world.

I can only hope that India continues to recognize and support millions of Ramanujans who, even as I write this, are struggling to get their ounce of recognition in a society that cares only for the shallow requirements of an equally shallow world outside.

Robert Kanigel touches upon what should be elaborated upon in transcultural experiences. In current times, more than ever, immigrants from developing countries are creating names for themselves in developed coutries with their intellectual contributions much in the way that Ramanujan did in his time.
While it is good that developed countries are open to welcoming these intellectual contributions, it would be a vastly better world if there is a genuine interest in these new immigrants as human beings and if there is a genuine interest in their culture as well. The converse is also true. It would be much nicer if the immigrants were as well versed with the cultures of their hosts as they were in their fields of endeavour.
Even in supposedly the most enlightened and cosmopolitan part of the USA in Silicon Valley, it is a minority of people who attempt to bridge the culural barriers - with the result that though people interact without barrier at work, away from work most people live in cultural enclaves. I suppose excellence in the chosen field requires such a dedicated focus that away from it, the comfort of the familiar is what most of us opt for.
The kind of cultural isolation that Ramanujan experienced is less likely today since every field of endeavour has a sufficiently diverse cultural mix for people to find others of their ilk to mingle with away from work - especially in a place like the USA.
Also, it is gratifying to note that the brown or the yellow man does not care so much of the approval or recognition of the white man these days. He is more likely busy excelling them in every field of endeavour. It is the surest sign of progress yet from Ramaujan's days. There couldn't be too many Hardies today taking pride in discovering a genius from an unlikely source since the souce is no longer considered unlikely to produce geniuses.

Im not too fond of biographies, but I would give this book an exception.
The life of Ramanujan is amazing and one is pushed to only awe the limits of mind. Being an Indian, I can see Robert Kanigel has given a comprehensive treatment to all facets of the life of Ramanujan - his boyhood days in small town of Kumbakonam, his obsession with Maths, his seperation from Mother and his wife, his relationship with Hardy and others, his stay in London, and his final days. Kanigel has really done a wonderful job in depicting the Brahmin house-hold of the early 1900s. One could really imagine Ramanujan with a tuft and a religious symbol on forehead, but his mind calculating 10,000 th decimal of pi.
His purely professional relations with Hardy has also been very deftly depicted. How hard the days must have been! Being a Ramanujan's biography its hard to avoid mathematical formulas - and the author justifiably includes them when necessary. But even if you do not understand them - you can just wonder at the string of symbols joined together to purport some meaning.
The narration is truly captivating. It sends an horripulating feeling to the mind, when Hardy describes the first letter of formulas as "These must be true. If they are not, nobody would have the audacity to invent it."
The final days of Ramanujan are indeed sad and emotional and also beautifuly captured in the book. Typical is the life of geniuses - the world has hard time understanding them. This book is really worth in my library.

Just finished it today, come right away to review. It is an amazing book, very detail biography about the man Ramanujan and his mathematical journey. One of the most inspiring story i ever read, story begin at his early life in India and continue one. This book is very rich in information and thoughtful just like Ramanujan himself. Definitely recommend for young math student or any one enjoy reading biography.

Ramanujan is a bit like the Wittgenstein of mathematics: An eccentric genius whose true insights we apparently are still to comprehend.
Phenomenal research has gone into this book, and it is filled with a variety of detail. The maths is accesible without being oversimplified. Interesting looks at the culture of the time too, like the saga of Ramanujan's marriage and Hardy's (the English mathematician who helped make Ramanujan famous) repressed homosexuality.
Best of all is the exciting mystery of this whole saga. Ramanujan seamed to attract and create drama, and it is intriguing to witness his life progress on the pages.

This is a splendid book- both exquisite care and extensive research clearly went into creating it. Kanigel is both a great writer and a great journalist and scholar, since he is able to provide such an intimate description of the life of the mathematical genius Ramanujan. Not only is Kanigel's research and writing skill top notch, but also he has picked such an interesting topic to write about. Highly recommended for anyone remotely interested in the subject of genius. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".

This book presents a balanced view of the life of the genius Ramanujan and how his association with Hardy nurtured him. According to Hardy, who himself was one of the most brilliant mathematicians of his time, Euler and Gauss are the only ones who come close to Ramanujan's abilities. Kanigel's portrayals of Cambridge and S.India are very vivid. It brings back some pictures of my visits to the places in India mentioned in the book.

Also, during a time when Indians were considered second class citizens in their own country, it is commendable that Hardy acknowledged a letter from an Indian clerk and decided to bring him to the premier institution in England. Significant part of the book is devoted Hardy's biography which is also pretty interesting.

Kanigel's has spent quite some time in India and Cambridge researching the facts of Ramanujan's life and contributions and has churned up a phenomenal biography. I could not put the book down.

On a side note, I'd recommend not wasting too much time on the mathematical formulae presented, there are only a countable few in the world who have understood this.

Ramanujan perhaps suffers a little from being such an extraordinary character - I'm surprised at how little-known his story is, even in Britain (a friend of mine who read mathematics at Cambridge had never heard of him until after she graduated!), and most accounts I've read seem rather superficial. Kanigel manages to make him sound like a man - a man with a uniqely sharp mathematical vision - but a human being nonetheless. What, I think, makes Kanigel's account so successful is his willingness to take Ramanujan's religious faith seriously and not to sideline it. He is very good at describing the two different worlds (South India and Cambridge), both of which are vastly different from 21st century Western life, and letting us get a feel for the culture of each place. He also should take credit for attempting to describe some of the mathematics involved.
The Ramanujan story is, I believe, a sad one and Kanigel isn't scared to confront some of the issues that should anger some of us. Yes, Ramanujan was a phenomenon of which India should feel proud - but equally she should be shocked at how easily he could have lived his life undiscovered. Yes, Hardy should take credit for recognising Ramanujan's genius and taking him under his wing - but equally he allowed Ramanujan to live a lonely and in many way malnourished life in Britain. And so on. I think that this is an excellent, honest, book.

As some of the other reviewers have pointed out, Kanigel does not dwell much on Ramanujan's mathematics. However, this is a spectacularly outstanding biography (this is not an exaggeration, believe me). Anyone who reads this book cover to cover will 'know' Ramanujan as well as they know their best friend. The many sides of this prodigy's personality - his affinity for mysticism, his need for public approbation, his gentle good nature - are all expertly transmitted. The tragedy of a life cut short at the height of its productivity will be felt keenly even by the 'toughest' of readers. Kanigel deserves high praise indeed for the masterly way he evokes time and place: Southern India and Cambridge (England) during 1900-20. If it were possible to award 6 stars, I would have done that.
A few further points: 1) Kanigel's decision to give G. H. Hardy equal importance (almost) as Ramanujan is a strength of this book, not a drawback. This decision adds much richness to the narrative. 2) Kanigel returns to one question repeatedly: What is 'genius' and where does it come from? He succeeds in getting the reader to wonder along with him. There is probably no (one) good answer, but a life such as Ramanujan's should lead one to ponder this deeply. 3) I wish that in a future edition Kanigel would include an appendix, with some of the more accessible of Ramanujan's mathematical formulae. I am sure that any one of the 'gang of three' Ramanujan specialists (George Andrews, Richard Askey, and Bruce Berndt) would help him with this if he requested. The biography is superb, as already stated, but this would be dessert for those readers who have a mathematical background.

I am apparently unable to understand much math above algebra, but I'm interested in the subject, so biographies and memoirs of mathematicians are about the best I can do. I thought this was a terrific work, extremely clearly written, discussing in interesting ways not only the lives of Ramanujan and Hardy, but also the social and cultural history of pre-WWI India and England, the question of what exactly mathematics is, and other topics. He also makes a stab at explaining the math, though I think mathematicians would say that a metaphorical discussion of these concepts is not very useful. Maybe it's like trying to describe paintings to a blind person. Though that may be true I enjoyed the whole book immensely. At least at this moment in time there can be no explanation of how a genius of Ramanujan comes to be.

I am apparently unable to understand much math above algebra, but I'm interested in the subject, so biographies and memoirs of mathematicians are about the best I can do. I thought this was a terrific work, extremely clearly written, discussing in interesting ways not only the lives of Ramanujan and Hardy, but also the social and cultural history of pre-WWI India and England, the question of what exactly mathematics is, and other topics. He also makes a stab at explaining the math, though I think mathematicians would say that a metaphorical discussion of these concepts is not very useful. Maybe it's like trying to describe paintings to a blind person. Though that may be true I enjoyed the whole book immensely. At least at this moment in time there can be no explanation of how a genius of Ramanujan comes to be.

The title "The Man Who Knew Infinity" was irresistible. For a layman intrigued by mathematicians, I found that Kanigel opens a new door by portraying the accomplishments of S Ramanujan and setting his contribution in sufficient context to satisfy the non-mathematical. While it cannot be described as pacy (as is Simon Singh's "Fermat's Enigma"), it does propel the reader forward. It contrasts the educational system of South India in the early 1900s with the formal, yet creative environment of Cambridge. The genius and brilliance of a wonder mind is painted against a backdrop of isolation and the difficult route to recognition. What Ramanujan needed was the "leisure" to allow him to devote his life to what he did best. The story tracks his progress and eventual association with Cambridge mathematician GH Hardy, to whom he appealed for assistance. The reader is left to decide whether circumstances helped or hindered Ramanujan in his quest. What is not in question is that modern maths is still riding the waves of the insights of India's greatest mathematician.

Ramanujam was a genius and his only problem compared to the western mind was that he was a bit timid and was not arrogant despite his vast knowledgebase. Had Hardy wanted he could have just curbed the ingenuity of Ramanujam and taken credit of Ramanujam's work as his own. The fact that Hardy gave Ramanujam 100 out of 100 and only 25 for himself speaks volumes of his humbleness and humility. Had Ramanujam lived more both Ramanujam and Hardy would have produced more theorems for the world. However the excellent character of Hardy and his good upbringing has stood him and he did not choose to credit himself with the work. The book certainly gives a glimpse to the western world how pious, devoted, and simple living were (are still) the brahmin class of South India. Also clear from the book is the lack of opportunities for the genius like Ramanujam and many more in the Indian scene. Itis quite true that if these class of people were living in United States they would have produced more geniuses like Einstein.

While an interesting story, what really separates this book from the pack is its probing look at how much we can learn drawing only from the universe, versus sitting in class and having someone tell us what they have been told is known. Ramanujin operating in a social vacuum experienced tremendous sucesses and tremendous failures. He reinvented theorems that were known 100 years earlier, because he did not attend universities that would have saved him such work. On the other side of the equation, he tackled problems sometimes, from a completely unique perspective, having not had his way of thinking "institutionalized" by those same universities. This is the lesson that hits home in this book. Both types of learning are important. Both create stumbling blocks to higher levels of discovery. It seems to me that this is probably true of every discipline to which we have given a name.

Kanigel's is the first book I've read on Ramanujan. It is well put together and explores the elements of the man, South India and Cambridge that led to the "collaboration" which allowed Ramanujan to flourish and be "discovered" by the West. Mathematics and Science is Planetary in scope, whereas cultures and colonialism, idiosyncracies of Universities, constraints of poverty, all in some way deny us the fruits of genius, whom I daresay are "normally" distributed in all populations! Nurture, in the true and fullest sense of the word, allows the light to shine through. Ramanujan's letter to Hardy is a classic! It is the essence of understatement, he may have been uneducated in the purely formal sense, but he was quite aware of the world he was to be reluctantly invited to join. His gifts are rare, his powers abundantly evident, there is no use debating how much longer he may have lived, if both he and Hardy understood the difficulties of a South Indian clerk attempting to live in Cambridge. The collaboration brings into sharp relief, the genarally accepted notion that in most endeavours of man, critical mass, or an informed bouncing wall/mirror brings out the best. Does Hingis give of her best against a weak opponent? Doesn't Michael Jordon reach deep when there is half a minute and five points to score? Would Karpov have ramped up his game had Fischer allowed him a match? Ramanujan may have contributed much more had he survived even two more Summers. As it stands his contribution is so outstanding that his notebooks still give up useful gems to knowledge-hungry post-graduate students. Kanigel's book is a must read for anyone interested in the history of Mathematics, anyone interested in harnessing the powers of genius, the relationships among nature and nurture, genes and culture etc. Good companion reading would include the lives of Richard Feynman, John Maynard Keynes and anything on the Manhattan Project to name but a few.

It is interesting to note that much of the work of Ramanujan is still not understood, and it might be another 100 years before we could even begin to unravel the way he thought. A superb proof of the power of one mind, and a warning to everyone to take care not to summarily discard that which we do not understand.
A superb book. It will appeal to anyone interested in the triumph of excellence over great obstacles. No math background is needed to read this book.

I always wanted to know the contributions done by Ramanujan to Mathematics and landed up on this book. I could not imagine such a thorough work on this genius mathematician, his environment,his time, circumstances, troubles, and an undying spirit depicted so well. I am surprised at the authors understanding of nuances of an Indian society which is an important background to appreciate what a genius undergoes to further his cause. Author is very objective in all his assessments and that helps the reader to come to some of his own conclusions. In effect this is a wonderful read for anyone who is interested to know about this Genius and if one is a bit mathematically bent, this is sure to provide ,well, an infinite surprise and joy

Painfully I kept waiting for Mr. Kanigel to get to writing about the person whom the book is supposed to be about. It never got there. I wanted to throw it against the wall. I ended up going Google to find out about this mathematics genius. Is there some way to rate it negative stars? If there was I'd rate it negative 10. All those pages, pages and pages about all sorts of things other than the Man Who Knew Infinity. It was like picking up a book that was supposed to be about Bill Clinton and the book is first about George Washington, then George Washington's plantation and then about Martha Washington's cooking, then about street plans for Washington DC, after a few hours and still nothing about Bill Clinton. That is what this book is like: Painful! I wonder how it could ever get so many real ratings that are anything above a 3 star. Makes me wonder about this rating thing because this book is so amazing tedious, as several raters who must have truly tried to get through it. Painful!

An exemplary piece of biographical writing. Kanigel brings Ramanujan, his times, and his contemporaries vividly to life. I wish even more of Ramanujan's mathematical contributions had been treated, but appreciate that a biographer has many priorities. Kanigel handles them all deftly. One of the finest (most informative and engaging) biographies I've ever read.

What strikes me most about Robert Kanigel's singular achievement is that he miraculously managed to capture on paper the story of a man that lived through three widely different contexts, colonial India, academic England, and the center of Mathematics: Number Theory. From what I know this book could've skimmed on the tales of the young, frustrated Ramanujan struggling as a student in a strict traditionalist society, but it didn't.. This book could've failed to mention in detail the many talented Indian mathematicians who tried to help Ramanujan, but it didn't.. This book could have, for the sake of editorial clarity, avoided presenting the mathematics of Ramanujan in any symbolic form, but it didn't... There are so many things going right for this biography that what I have mentioned only scratches the surface of this extraordinary effort.

Kanigel offers a very "American" interpretation of both Ramanujan's Indian life and the U.K. university life he briefly led w/ G.H. Hardy at Cambridge.

The first 150 pages give exceptional detail into R's life outside Chennai (Madras) and how Hinduism permeated his entire existence. This section is outstanding. No assumptions are made and many details of Hinduism as it impacts daily life (and therefore Ramanujan's decisions) are expanded upon in great detail.

However, once the author turns his attention to the U.K. and the public school/univeristy system, there is a lengthy prurient discussion of Hardy's sexuality, among other things. It is tedious and distracting.

Finally there is little if any discussion of the mathematical concepts on which Ramanujan worked. The details, spelled out for a layman.

Kanigel clearly heeded every editor's warning, "For every equation in a book, sales drop by half". There is no explanation of mathematical notation so that it can be used later in the book to explain other ideas. This was extremely dissappointing. When reading biographies or Euler, Riemann etc, you expect some fairly detailed mathematics. Not in this book!

In short, this could have been a 200 page book, but was padded for reasons I still cannot quite figure out.

One of the finest books I have encountered, esp after I came to know about the `modular functions' Ramanujan helped investigate in depth from his `lost notebook'. A mystic sadly taken away in the peak of his genius. The book elucidates the times and conditions [social & political] in the British India thereby giving a diff perspective of the struggle of an extra-ordinary brain.

The Man Who Knew Infinity: Apt description of one of world's greatest mathematicians. Ramanujan’s life was cut short by illness and malnutrition but that did not prevent him from producing extraordinary mathematics. Robert Kanigel has written a great biography which moves from dusty streets of Kumbkonam to cold and depressing wartime Cambridge. Every place and character in the story is described with great detail. I am now a great admirer of Ramanujan whom I only heard of vaguely a few days ago.

I read this book on Ramanujan (whom I consider to be one of the greatest genious of all time ) arround 3 years back in 1995. Though I had heard a lot about RAMANUJAN ,still reading this book was sort of totally new experience. I can not expect a better write up. Maintaining the interest of the reader in a topic as complex and hard as MATHEMATICS and that too about RAMANUJAN, who has been a mystery to all of us till date , is the single most important achievement of the book. It sure is an inspiring biography. And you would sure learn few news things about MATHS if you consider your self a novice in the field of MATHEMATICS.

A must for anyone interested in the history of mathematics. A self-tutored Hindu boy from southern India is discovered and mentored by two of the most famous mathematicians of his day. Deep mathematical knowledge is not necessary to read and enjoy this fine book. As a side note, I understand that there was a BBC television program on Ramaujan's life entitled "An Indian Clerk". If anyone knows a source for a tape of this, I would be very interested.

This is an amazing book about an amazing man, just reading about him makes most math geniuses feel like a complete idiot. If Ramanujan had a proper education in the field, he could have become the greatest mathematician of his time, even greater than Hilbert.

Robert Kanigel has written one of the most interesting biographies I have read! The book is so captivating that after reading it once, I have returned to it several times. What is really fasinating about this extremely well written book is that the two principal characters, and their cultural backgrounds are so vastly different. Yet they are united in their purpose of discovery.

This is a wonderful account of a true prodigy in mathematics. Although not a fan of math, I do enjoy books about famous mathematicians and this is a good one. I would also recommend Simon Singh's book on the solution of Fermat's theorem. It's also an engaging and interesting read. It's interesting to think that some of the math principles from Ramanujan are still being studied and are in use today (a hundred years later). Too bad that he died at only 33 years of age.

One of the best books that i have encountered. The author makes us wonder about the mind of a south indian Brahmin who without any guidance or help came up with such astonishing results. The author literally takes us to the period and place in which Ramanujan lived. Ramanujan gains all the sympathy of the reader for the obstacles he encounters in spite of his genius. Hats off to Hardy for revealing the world, one of India's greatest mathematician. This is an excellent book.

The Ramanujan story is one of the 20th century's most remarkable, and this book is a very well-written account. I couldn't put it down. It displays some of Ramanujan's formulas, which will amaze the mathematically inclined, but mathematical knowledge is most definitely not needed to enjoy the book.

Warning: I am a physicist/mathematician. Great summary of the lives of two of the twentieth century's greatist mathematicians, Ramanujan and Hardy. Also a fascinating description of life in both India and Oxbridge. If you like the book don't miss the recent movie. Dev Patel is rather too handsome to really play Ramanujan but Jeremy Irons is just right for Hardy.

Kanigel does elaborate a little too much on unnecessary subjects (such as Hardy's sexuality), but this book is a interesting look at one of the world's greatest mathematicians of all time.

Highly recommended for those that are interested or familiar with the world of mathematics, else this read may be a bit cumbersome.

The remarkable story about Ramanujan has been told many times before but rarely with such a loving care to detail. In a way it is more a book about Hardy and prewar Cambridge, which beautifully explains the clash Ramanujan experienced when he appeared on the scene during WW1 and finally succumbed.

MISFORTUNE AND GENIUS ARE TOO OFTEN INTERTWINE.STARTING LIFE IN THE INDIAN CASTE SYSTEM IS CERTAINLY A BURDEN FOR ANY GENIUS (MAHATMA GANDHI DENOUNCED THE CASTE SYSTEM).DOWN IN SOUTHERN INDIA AMONG THE MULTITUDES ONE NEEDS A PRODIGIOUS MIND TO ASCEND FROM SUCH A DIFFICULT ROOTAGE.HOW CAN YOU READ OF THIS MAN AND NOT BE THRILLED WITH THE STARS OF INSPIRATION? HERE IS A SALUTE TO THE BRITS FOR SHOWING THE WORLD THIS NUMERICAL PUNDIT.

A very very good read....... Ramanujans story still has relevance even after almost a 100 years. The images of colonial Madras and England before the war are very desciptive and well researched. In all one of the best books I have ever read.

Fantastic! Loved the way the author analyzed the life of this rare genius; Ramanujan is a pride of the World! His impact is still not felt fully but will surely shape a lot of Mathematics, science in the coming days!

An amazing story of a man whose intuitive grasp of mathematics got him plucked from obscurity and placed with peers to develope his skills as a mathematician. The tragic ending of his life as a result of his move to England makes one wonder if he thought it was worth it?

The book is really the biography of G.H. Hardy as well as of Ramanujian. The narrative of both men's lives sets the stage for their epic collaboration at Cambridge. Shows how Hardy and Ramanujian respectively overcame English pedantry and British colonialism. A brilliant tribute to two brilliant Mathematicians!

Probably an exciting life; however, it refers back to pre-war I as a begining, seems very old, and is a terribly long book with a very old fashioned, boring writing style. Probably it should serve as THE source book, but for more ordninary people like me (Psychologist with some knowledge of, and interest in ,the history of Mathamatics) this needs to be re-written as a briefer edition( based on the above) by a Reader's Digest Editor. Martin J.Kaplan

I think the worst book on mathematics or mathematicians I have read. The reader would have some knowledge, perhaps to the 9th grade, but is informed what a coefficient is, that the denominator is 'the number on the bottem'! Functions of interest to Ramanujan are mentioned but never adequately specified. Similarly for theorems. The author seems uncomfortable with mathematics.
The reader comes away with the sense of great things done but no idea of what they were.
This book is a read only for those interested in cataloging the faults of sloppy 'scientific' writing.

The best mathematical biography of Indian mathematics wizard Srinivasa Ramanujan ,I ever read by Robert Kanigal ,who has written this book by heart feeling.
Everyone who is interested to know completely about S.Ramanujan should read this book.