Srinivasa

Ramanujan
Katelyn Murray
2
nd
Quarter Extra Credit
Calculus per. 8
Background
Born December 22, 1887 in Erode, South
India
Ramanujan was born into a family that
was very poor and that had no
distinguished professional achievements
But his family was respected socially
because his grandfather was a minor
official in a local court
Background
After his birth in Erode, his mother and
father moved with him to the town of
Kumbakonam, which is where he grew up
Ramanujan, the family name, means
person who contains a particle of the
god Rama
Srinivasa, his personal name, means
prosperous, or more literally one who
abides in wealth
Background
His family would sometimes take in
boarder students, which is how he was first
introduced to formal mathematics
At the age of twelve one of the students
lent him a trigonometry book and within a
year he mastered it
Background
Ramanujan was given George Carrs
Synopsis of elementary results in pure and
applied mathematics which contained
over 6,000 theorems in all fields of
mathematics. He discovered that he
could derive results the were not in the
encyclopedia, beginning Ramanujans
mathematical productions and predicted
what was to come of his mathematical
career
Background
After receiving very high marks on a
competitive examination Ramanujan was
given a scholarship to the local college,
the Government College at Kumbakonan
There he excelled in mathematics but
found every other subject distasteful and
refused to focus on any other subject
besides mathematics
He failed all of his finals except for
mathematics causing him to lose his
scholarship
Background
Finding it hard to find a job and one that
would allow Ramanujan to continue to
work on his mathematics, Ramanujan
moved from India to England in March of
1914
His health quickly began to deteriorate
and he contracted tuberculosis
In 1916 Ramanujan was awarded his B.A.
for his mathematical studies
Background
In December of 1917 Ramanujan was
elected to the London Mathematical
society
In 1918, at the age of 30, he was inducted
into the Royal Society as a Fellow. This
was considered an extreme honor for
such a young man and he was one of
few non-Britains to receive such an honor
Background
At the end of 1918 Ramanujan became a
Fellow of Trinity of the University of
Cambridge and was the first Indian to
ever be so honored
In 1919 his health became so bad that he
returned to India where he could receive
the comfort and care he needed from his
family
In 1920, at the age of 32, Ramanujan died
from tuberculosis and a liver disease
Accomplishments
Calculated Eulers
constant to 15
decimal places
Studies Bernoulli
numbers and
elliptical functions
Accomplishments
Studied continued
fractions and
divergent series
Developed
relations between
elliptic modular
equations
Accomplishments
Was recognized for
his work in the
J ournal of the
Indian
Mathematical
Society
Accomplishments
Worked out the
Riemann series, the
elliptical integrals,
hypergeometric
series and
functional
equations of the
zeta function
Accomplishments
Work on partial
sums and products
of hypergeometric
series have led to
the other major
developments in
those topics
Accomplishments
Unpublished
noteooksfilled with
theorems have been
studied by other
mathematicians
His work inspired G.
N. Watsons
published papers
Theorems stated by
Ramanujan
Accomplishments
Had an Indian
stamp made in his
honor
Works Cited
Hoffman, Mike. "Srinivasa Ramanujan."
Notable Mathematicians. United States
Naval Academy, 2012. Web. 24 J an 2012.
<http://www.usna.edu/Users/math/meh/r
amanujan.html>.
J J , O, and Robertson E F. "Srinivasa
Aiyangar Ramanujan." Gap system.
University of St,Andrews, 1998. Web. 24
J an 2012. <http://www.gap-
system.org/~history/Biographies/Rama
nujan.html>.
Works Cited
. "Srinivasa Ramanujan, A Remarkable
Mathematical Genius." Vigyan Prasar
Science Portal: For anything and
everything on science from India.
Vigyan Prasar Science Portal, n.d.
Web. 24 J an 2012.
<http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/scie
ntists/ramanujan.htm>.
Works Cited
. "Srinivasa Ramanujan Biography."
iloveindia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 J an 2012.
<http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-
heroes/srinivasa-ramanujan.html>.
Watkins, T.. "Srinivasa ramanujan, a
mathematician brilliant beyond
comparison." . N.p., n.d. Web. 24 J an
2012.
<http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/
ramanujan.htm>.
THE END