With extraordinary contributions to mathematics, Indian-born Srinivasa Ramanujan has earned an honourable spot in history, where India celebrates his birthday as National Mathematics Day on December 22. To this day, his legacy continues to inspire researchers and mathematicians across the world.
In his short life of only 32 years, he gave the world of mathematics and physics new hope. However, his hardships and struggles make his contribution to the number theory, 1729- the Hardy-Ramanujan Number, the theory of divergent series, the elliptic integrals, the Riemann series, the hypergeometric series, and the zeta function functional equations, among others, even more noteworthy.
Hindered By Health Problems
Born to a poor traditional family in Erode, Tamil Nadu, Ramanujan's father worked as a clerk in a sari shop, and his mother, a housewife, often sang in temples. When he was two years old, he suffered from smallpox but was able to recover, unlike 4,000 others who lost their lives in 1889.
When he moved to Cambridge, a strict staple Brahmin diet was less readily available. That, with erratic research hours, led to the downfall of his health. Rationing during World War I also worsened the situation.
In 1917, his health deteriorated even further, and he was admitted to a Nursing Home in Cambridge, where he was diagnosed with severe vitamin deficiency and chronic illness. In 1919, he was advised to go to his nation as exposure to a familiar climate could help him.
He was only 'skin and bone' when he returned to India and was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He died in 1920, aged a young 32. However, Ramanujan's medical symptoms, including his previous relapses, fevers, and hepatic problems, were far more similar to those caused by hepatic amoebiasis, according to a 1994 examination of his medical records and symptoms by Dr D. A. B. Young. This disease was more common than tuberculosis in Madras, and when not treated, it could lead to hepatic amoebiasis.
Many questions whether the correct diagnosis could help save his life, given that several soldiers who contracted the illness during World War I had recovered and been cured.
Challenges Thrown By Life
His genius was shining in the world when he was only 11; by age 13, he was well-versed in trigonometry. At 16, he passed the Kumbakonam matriculation test and was given the junior Subramanyam Scholarship, which allowed him to continue his studies at the Kumbakonam Government College. He was so preoccupied with math that he barely paid attention to any other subjects, which caused him to perform poorly on the first English exam and lose the scholarship.
Due to this, he was forced to depart Kumbakonam for Madras, where in December 1906, he took the first art test. He attempted to clear this exam, but as fate would have it, he failed and never tried again.
His blackened elbow is proof of the lack of money he faced. Ramanujan once ran into K.S. Srinivasan, a friend from Kumbakonam, in Chennai. "Ramanujan, they call you a genius," Srinivasan stated with respect. "What?" Ramanujan responded, "me, a genius?" He said my elbow would tell you the story if you look at it.
Srinivasan examined his elbow with keen interest and noted that it was dark and rough. Ramanujan clarified by saying he uses a slate to perform calculations all day. Searching for a cloth to clean it with takes time, so he uses his elbow to wipe the slate every few minutes. "I suppose my elbow is making a genius of me," he added.
Upon hearing this, Srinivasan asked Ramanujan why he didn't use paper to do his calculations. Ramanujan humbly replied, "when food itself is a problem, how can I find the money for paper? I may require four reams of paper every month."
Despite the adversities that life threw at him, Ramanujan's genius didn't fail him, and he was recognized as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time. He won several honours and accolades for his discoveries and achievements, changing the course of mathematics, and making the country proud!
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