Ramanujan's Place in the World of Mathematics Essays Providing a Comparative Study

Author / Creator

Alladi, Krishnaswami, author

Available as

Online

Summary

The First Edition of the book is a collection of articles, all by the author, on the Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan as well as on some of the greatest mathematicians in history whos...

The First Edition of the book is a collection of articles, all by the author, on the Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan as well as on some of the greatest mathematicians in history whose life and works have things in common with Ramanujan. It presents a unique comparative study of Ramanujan’s spectacular discoveries and remarkable life with the monumental contributions of various mathematical luminaries, some of whom, like Ramanujan, overcame great difficulties in life. Also, among the articles are reviews of three important books on Ramanujan’s mathematics and life. In addition, some aspects of Ramanujan’s contributions, such as his remarkable formulae for the number pi, his path-breaking work in the theory of partitions, and his fundamental observations on quadratic forms, are discussed. Finally, the book describes various current efforts to ensure that the legacy of Ramanujan will be preserved and continue to thrive in the future. This Second Edition is an expanded version of the first with six more articles by the author. Of note is the inclusion of a detailed review of the movie The Man Who Knew Infinity, a description of the fundamental work of the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize Winners, and an account of the Royal Society Conference to honour Ramanujan’s legacy on the centenary of his election as FRS. KRISHNASWAMI ALLADI is professor of mathematics at the University of Florida where he was department chairman during 1998-2008. He received his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1978. His area of research is number theory where he has made notable contributions. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Ramanujan Journal (Springer), Founder and Editor of the book series Developments in Mathematics (Springer), and Chair of the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize Committee. He was an associate editor of Notices of the American Mathematical Society. From some Reviews of Edition 1 The book is an enlightening study of Ramanujan as a mathematician and as a human being and will appeal to mathematicians, students and the general public interested in mathematics. Themistocles M. Rassias, European Math. Soc. Newsletter, March 2013 A great book to go swimming in; Alladi has put together a sweeping compendium of essays on Ramanujan ... a wonderful book to browse through, and before you know it, you'll have read it all. ... This book is clearly entirely irresistible. Get a copy for yourself .... You can’t miss. Michael Berg, Math. Assoc. of America Reviews, January 2013.

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