Fascinating biography, the kind that opens doors to wider cultural interests and questioning. ( )

Not very well-written (way too long and repetitive, some dated presentations of people from India-- especially for when it was published, very sentimental), but such a fascinating slice of history that I'd say it's worth reading. Now I need to read Hardy's [b:A Mathematician's Apology|154060|A Mathematician's Apology|G.H. Hardy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172254355s/154060.jpg|1486751]. ( )

Born in 1887, S. Ramanujan grew up in a small town in Southern India, his intellectual powers undiscovered due in part to a highly rigid educational structure. He persisted in the attempt to pursue his passion for mathematics, writing to various famous scholars in England. Eventually, he was noticed and invited to Trinity College by British professor G.H. Hardy. On one hand, it proved a fruitful collaboration between a man of intuition and one dedicated to the formality of proof, which advanced the field of mathematics. On the other hand, it proved disastrous in that Ramanujan’s cultural, religious, and emotional well-being atrophied, leading to a severe decline in his health. Overall, I liked this biography. It brought to my attention a genius who overcame significant barriers to become one of the most renowned mathematical scholars. I had a few issues with the book, including repetition and unnecessary levels of detail on matters not critical to the story. In addition, I thought some of the concepts covered in the book may be inaccessible to a person not well-versed in advanced mathematics. Recommended to those interested in the history of mathematics and biographies of geniuses. ( )

Ramanujan was without a doubt a genius. One of those people that can see patterns that others can not. Unfortunately, or fortunately, for him, he grew up in a lower middle class family in south India with only basic access to education. That meant that he made his own path through mathematics, discovering and rediscovering many mysteries in number theory.

This book is about Ramanujan and about Hardy, the English mathematician that invited Ramanujan to Cambridge and let him blossom, or burn out.

The book is interesting, but I would have liked more mathematics. This became a highly speculative book in the end. ( )

I heard about Ramanujan twice in as many weeks in other books and then a few weeks later saw that they are making a movie about him so I read the book. It's a great biography about a very interesting man. I really enjoyed how much he went into the history and setting of southern India - he really let you feel for the mathematician. ( )