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

(Paperback)

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The tale of a relationship between a young Indian mathematics genius, Ramanujan, and his tutor at Cambridge University, G.H. Hardy, in the years before World War I. Through their eyes the reader is taken on a journey through numbers theory. Ramanujan would regularly telescope 12 steps of logic into two - the effect is said to be like Dr Watson in the train of some argument by Sherlock Holmes. The language of symbols and infinitely large (and small) regions of mathematics should be rendered with clarity for the general reader.

Reviews

'An exquisite portrait...the rarest of literary achievements...Ramanujan's tale is the stuff of fable' LOS ANGELES TIMES 'an exciting and thoughtful book... should catch the imagination of any reader- even the reader with little mathematical background.' INDEPENDENT 'This is a fine example of a work of popularising mathematics, and deserves a wide readership.' NEW SCIENTIST 'Enthralling... one of the best scientific biographies I've ever seen.' John Gribbin 'A vivid study of cultural contrasts.' OBSERVER 'A remarkable story... moving.' INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS IRELAND 'Robert Kanigel recounts as extraordinary a personal history as one could ever hope to encounter.' TES 'Poignant and Absorbing.' IRISH INDEPENDENT

Author Bio

Prize-winning biographer Robert Kanigel was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist for this book.