"An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a
thought of God."
S. Ramanujan
Born Srinivasa Ramanujan Iyegnar on December 22, 1887 in
Erode, Tamil Nadu, the child prodigy through his passion and devotion to mathematics
gave to us, the greatest and the most coveted of research the field of
mathematics can ever witness. A vivid and enthusiastic student when young, the
genius would play with numbers often asking his teachers “Will everyone get a
single mango when zero mangoes are divided among zero people?” His mathematical
abilities were discovered, not so early, by the British Lecturer G.H. Hardy
when he was introduced to the dubious of solutions to the improvable Ramanujan
had kindled. He was then invited to the Trinity College, London were he did
some of his most articulate and purest of discoveries. He henceforth went on to
become a fellow of The Royal Society of London on 1918, selected second of the fifteen
tied to the robe that year. Nobel Laureate Neils Bohr was the one who had
topped the list. Soon after he developed an incurable disease and forced of
returning to India. Circumstances vitiated his urge, as the First World War
creaked shaking the entire of Britain. His wits finally revived the day he
reached the shores of the Madras Port on April 2, 1919. He spent the remaining
two years of his life, inscribing on his notebook the developments of his
latest pursuits. Unfortunately, the early hours of April 26, 1920 saw the
demise of the greatest of geniuses to have ever embraced this soil of ours.
The following chronology[1] jots down the events that earmarked
the short life of his.
1887 – Born on December 22 at Erode, Tamil Nadu
1894 – Joins the Town High School, Kumbhakonam, Tamil Nadu
1903 – Passes the Matriculation examination of the University
of Madras with First Class and joins the First Arts Class in Government
College, Kumbhakonam, Tamil Nadu
1904 – Reads George Shoobridge Carr’s book titled A Synopsis
of Elementary Research in Pure and Applied Mathematics
1905 – Discontinues studies and spends some time in Andhra
Pradesh
1906 – Resumes studies at Pachaiappa College, Madras
1907 – Appears as a private candidate for F.A. but fails
1909 – Marries Janaki
1911 – Meets R. Ramchandra Rao in Nellore and secures is
personal scholarship
1912 – Secures the job of a clerk in the Madras Port Trust,
Madras
1913 – Secures the research fellowship of the Madras
University; sends letter to the British mathematician G.H. Hardy
1914 – Sails for London aboard S.S.Nevasa from Madras Port
on March 17
1916 – Receives the Honorary B.A. degree from the University
of Cambridge
1918 – Awarded the Fellowship of the Trinity College,
Cambridge; elected the Fellow of the Royal Society of London
1919 – Returns from England and reaches Madras on April 2
1920 – Dies in Chetpet, Madras, on April 26
Ramanujan’s brilliance litigated with passion accounts for
the unwinding of numerous sects to the subject and further inspires us to
discover the unravelled mysteries science withholds.
"As long as people do mathematics, the works of Ramanujan
will continue to be appreciated."
S. Chandrasekhar
[1] S. Ramanujan The Mathematical Genius, Dilip M. Salwi
