PORTRAIT OF A GENIUS: Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician, was born December 22, 1887.*
Image: Konrad Jacobs, Oberwolfach Photo Collection
December 22, 2012, marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of legendary Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. An intuitive mathematical genius, Ramanujan's discoveries have influenced several areas of mathematics, but he is probably most famous for his contributions to number theory and infinite series, among them fascinating formulas ( pdf ) that can be used to calculate digits of pi in unusual ways.
Last December Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared 2012 to be a National Mathematics Year in India in honor of Ramanujan's quasiquicentennial. Ramanujan's story is dramatic and somewhat larger than life. It is even the subject of an opera by Indian-German composer Sandeep Bhagwati, a novel and two plays . Largely self-taught, he dropped out of college, took a job as a clerk in Madras and attracted the attention of British mathematician G. H. Hardy through written correspondence in 1913. Although Ramanujan's mother believed that as a Brahmin (the highest class in the Indian caste system, which was in place at the time) he should not travel overseas, Ramanujan, aged 27, went to England in 1914 and spent the ensuing war years working with Hardy and other mathematicians at the University of Cambridge. He grew quite ill in England, and in 1919 he returned to India where he died in 1920. Since his death at age 32 mathematicians have analyzed his notebooks ( pdf ), which are full of formulas but light on justification. Most of the formulas have turned out to be correct, and researchers continue to learn from his work while trying to understand and prove them.
India's mathematical heritage extends far beyond Ramanujan's time. The nation is considered home of the concept of zero. Babylonians had used a space as a placeholder (similar to the role of "0" in the number 101), but this space could not stand alone or at the end of a number. (In our number system, as in theirs, this could be problematic; imagine trying to tell the difference between the numbers 1 and 10 by context alone.) In India, however, zero was treated as a number like any other. India is also the home of our decimal numeral system.
Indian government and mathematical societies pursued several projects to celebrate their year of mathematics, from enrichment programs for students and teachers to the "Mathematical Panorama Lectures" that occurred around the country. This series of 20 short lecture courses, which will continue into 2013, brings prominent mathematicians from different fields to Indian universities to deliver five or six lectures. M. S. Raghunathan, president of the Ramanujan Mathematical Society and chair of the organizing committee for the National Mathematics Year, wrote in an e-mail that he hopes the lectures will facilitate an infusion of Indian talent into fields that lack it right now.
Indeed, a primary purpose of the year of mathematics is to reinvigorate mathematical education in India. In his speech announcing the event, Prime Minister Singh said that although India has produced many distinguished mathematicians, "for a country of our size, the number of competent mathematicians that we have is badly inadequate." He mentioned concerns about the rigidity of India’s academic system, which some believe might squelch rather than nurture mathematical curiosity and achievement. "A genius like Ramanujan would shine bright even in the most adverse of circumstances, but we should be geared to encourage and nurture good talent which may not be of the same caliber as that of Ramanujan," he said. Singh also mentioned the need to prevent attrition of mathematically interested people. "There is a general perception in our society that the pursuit of mathematics does not lead to attractive career opportunities," he said. "This perception must change." Lectures for undergraduates, camps for motivated youngsters and educational programs designed to acquaint teachers with new topics and pedagogical ideas have all been part of the attempt to nurture mathematical interest at all levels.
Two longer-term projects begun this year could help as well: a documentary on the history of Indian mathematics and a mathematics museum in Chennai. Raghunathan hopes that the documentary will be available in 2014 and the museum will open its doors in 2015.
This yearlong fete is culminating in "The Legacy of Srinivasa Ramanujan," a conference at the University of Delhi from December 17 to 22. Included are technical lectures on mathematics influenced by Ramanujan's work, public presentations on Ramanujan's notebooks, dance performances and a film about Ramanujan's life. The annual SASTRA Ramanujan Prize, which recognizes a mathematician age 32 or younger who works in a field influenced by Ramanujan, will be awarded as well. The awardee this year is Zhiwei Yun of Stanford University, whose work lies at the intersection of geometric representation theory, algebraic geometry and number theory.
*Correction (12/22/12): The caption was edited after posting to correct Ramanujan's year of birth.
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39 Comments
Add CommentIt is not India's honour. It is honour to Britain that brought out the genius in this man!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell, his dear UK colleagues let him die of starvation and without medical care. He was starving and getting more and more ill in Cambridge.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPlease do not fool the people in India. Every man knows the great advantage of an English connection. However, it is not acknowledged. I do wonder what he would have been in India, with its feudal languages, that uses pejoratives to the common man and ennobling to the higher people.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHowever, I am not sure if social science themes can be discussed in this site.
The caption to the photo is wrong. Srinivasa Ramanujan was not born on Dec 22,2012. It was Dec 22, 1887.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is directed at Ved from VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS.(Typing it in caps doesn't make it, or you, sound more important Ved)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou are a complete idiot for conflating two completely different issues.
You say that Britain deserves credit for 'bringing out' the genius of this man ? What an absolute joke.
He was a self taught mathematician whose only gain from Britain was the fact that it lent credence and volume to his theories on the world stage(that too after a lot of reluctance), WHICH had been dominated by the British Imperialists leeching on the rest of the world including his nation India, so the real question here is not what would have happened to him in India, he would have still been the mathematical genius, the real question is what ELSE could he have done had the British not been around to make the lives of millions of Indians miserable like never before.
The fact that he had to travel so much and so far(one of the main reasons for his illness) just to prove his abilities speaks volumes of the state of scientific study in India and British attitudes of the time.
Since you're dealing with hypothetical situations, what is to say that if the Brits weren't around that, under the patronage of Indian Kings etc, he may have gone on to achieve even more ? What is to say that India would not have recognized this mans genius ? India has produced brilliant scientists, astronomers and mathematicians from time immemorial, none of them needed the help of a tiny island to get their voice out into the world. Indian books and scientific studies travelled wide and far, especially in the middle east, and on their own capabilities.
Your tiny imagination which is trying to hold on to emollient tales of the past of a fading empire, cannot comprehend a world where the West is not in top, and that is your tragedy.
And then, to top it off, you try and bring in 'social science themes', as if you could ever hope to understand the complexities and the history and the equations of the Indian caste system. Your comment is myopic and ignorant at best, with a good dose of prejudice and pretensions to expertise on social science. Sigh.
Thanks, LarryW. I'd try to blame it on the Mayan apocalypse, but I don't think that would fool anyone.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRamanujan's association with Hardy did make western mathematicians much more aware of his work, but as noted in the article, India has a long, strong mathematical tradition and does not need Britain to provide legitimacy to the accomplishments of Indian mathematicians. It is impossible to know what would have happened in his life had he not traveled to England, but my speculation is that his trip shortened his life significantly. We can't know what discoveries he would have made had he lived decades longer.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCalling me an idiot doesn't help things here. There is nothing in my writing that should provoke anyone call me an idiot. Calling another person an idiot doesn't make him an idiot.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs to the term 'India' it is actually a mix-up of terms. Current day India is only a nation that was formed in 1947. The other 'India' that is generally the geographical area that includes current day Pakistan, India and Bengladesh was not a nation as such but a series of disconnected areas, which became one nation by activities of the British East India Company. AS to this company being exploitative and the current day India become benevolent to the people here is just a wild imagination based on silly academic writings by academicians who siphon off a major share of the national resources in the name of pay, perks and pension (including commutation of pension).
From a very direct observation, I have seen that it was the British (meaning English) intervention in this geographical area that gave the never-before-in-history chance for a huge majority of lower classes to come up and break out of their traditional lower class status. This lower class status of the majority people in this geographical area was connected to the rank feudal quality of the vernaculars here. The people were kept on the pejorative side of the words. Since the readers here may not understand what it is, I will be very clear: In South INndian languages, the Nee, Avan, Aval for the lower person and the Ungal/Thangal, Avar/Adheham etc. for the higher persons.
It was egalitarian English that improved them. In fact, any child brought up in pristine English will show remarkable personality improvement regardless of his or her financial status.
As to 'India', if East India Company had ruled the places west of Afghanistan, they would have been 'India' for River Indus is in Pakistan and not in India. Possibly then Kazakhstan would have claimed Vedic traditions, and the claims over many so-called 'Indian' mathematicians.
It is not that there were no genius in this geographical area. But that knowledge was cordoned off from the majority people. They lived like dirt (s**t) under their feudal master, till the advent of the English. As to current day higher class, rich Indians, they carry the same 'respect' versus pejorative codes to English nations and spoil the people there.
You can call me an idiot, that can be your prerogative. I don't care. As to the Capital in my penname, it is a mistake to imagine that is it directed some silly person here. It has been my penname for long
To that half-knowing idiot called ' VED from VICTORIA INSTITUTIONS' (what kind of idiotic pen name is that ?)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIndia is a civilizational nation state which means it was a civilization and a nation state rolled into one. It is both the name of a civilization and later a nation state. Indian dynasties united India long before the British came. Infact the British followed on the paths of earlier Indian dynasties like Mauryans, Guptas, Mughals etc. Saying British united India and implying that India was never united before is simply being oblivious to history. India is a anglicized name of Greek word 'Indhu' which in turn is derived from Sanskrit word 'Sindhu' signifying the Indus river and people on the other side of Indus river. The 'Indian' name of India is "Bharat" referring to the emperor Bharat who united India during the ancient Indian epic period.
The British colonization of India has been a disastrous to India in most aspects.There are more negatives to it than positives.For one, India which was one of the largest economic and trading nation of the world before the British colonization (thats the reason the British came to India in the first place) became one of the poorest and least traded countries in the world by the time the British left thanks to British looting.
The caste system as we understand today itself is a handiwork of the British. Before there was varna system (as opposed to caste system) but it was not rigid, less discriminatory and was fluid. But the British made it into a rigid system as we know it today. Refer to the book 'Castes of Mind' written by a British author himself on why and how they did it.
I can understand the training that the poster has had. It is the similar to the experience a common man in this geographical area gets from the typical 'Indian' government official. I should mention that 'Indians' like this person has no right to call the people living here as Idiots or to use the pejoratives that I have mentioned above.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAS to the various dynasties that has been mentioned, it was all run by people who maintained the majority people as slaves, by means of feudal indicant words. Even knowledge was kept away from the purview of the common man. It is a fact that even Sankrit literature was brought out to the notice of the outside world by the work of the officials of the East India Company officials, and not by the so-mentioned royal houses here.
As to the existence of a single 'India' before the East India Company rule, it is only a fact that most people did not know much beyond a few kilometers beyond their area and to imagine that an ordinary person in say Madras or Calicut was aware of the happenings of Gujarat, Kashmir and Bengal in the historical periods before the English rule would be erroneous.
As to caste issues mentioned as a creation of the English rulers, I would like to enlighten the readers with just one single input. In ertwhile Malabar, which was under British rule, statutory compulsion on the lower caste Thiyya female not to wear an upper garment was removed. However, in the independent Kingdom of Travancore, the Ezhava caste females couldn't wear upper garments, including a blouse. If they wore, they would have to pay a penal tax.
However, speaking about modern written history, the people of Travancore also speak of Independence from the British in 1947 and celebrate it. However the fact remains that after the British left, what really happened was the loss of independence for Travancore kingdom and the forced amalgamation into India.
Speaking of British looting, I am yet to know that trade is looting. Or pay. Well, what the modern Indian officials are getting is a real daylight heist.
But then, the term looting is connecting to looting house and temples, catching women and taking them into harems, using slave labour to build huge Mahals, looting traders in the guise of collecting sales tax and other taxes etc. I can write more, however, I understand this is not a site on social and historical themes.
As to civility of speech, some 'Indians' here might need some refined training. Naturally they cant get it from their teachers, who would have used the pejoratives on them also.
Srinivasa Ramanujan's dedication to his science was complete, he should be your beacon.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMy last reply didn’t appear here. The version given about ‘India’ is only a textbook version of history that is gaining prominence through textbooks. It is possible that at no time in history of the various dynasties mentioned would there have been any emotion of ‘India’ or ‘Indian people’. To say that in those times, a common man from Calicut or Madras would have been interested in or informed of events in Kashmir or Bengal would be possibly unacceptable.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI’ve seen in the 70s, people living just some 300 kilometres apart had not even heard of caste names on either side.
The misconception about a nation called India existing before English rule is connected to the fact that the geographical area was mentioned as ‘India’ by the English. When the English departed, one of the two segments retained the title of ‘India’. If it had named itself any other name, this misconception would not have arisen.
The East India Company rule was disastrous to the ruling feudal nobility and to the upper castes. The lower castes got a never-before-in-history opportunity to rise above their traditional stations. And to learn & benefit from egalitarian English. For, they had remained under the lower section of the ‘Indian’ vernaculars for centuries.
Benevolent rule is not ‘loot’. Loot is thieving houses, temples etc. Catching women for fornication and enslaving after battles. Taxing the traders in the guise of sales tax to feed a gigantic army of officials can be loot. As to English trade, they came for trade in many commodities starting with pepper.
As to patriotism, it is intact till a British or US visa arrives. Then it is a haste to leave India. Once this person reaches there, a feeling of grandeur comes. A conceit that all the others who are stuck here are ’Idiots’ come in. Calling me an Idiot, is just displaying the traditional intolerance prevalent in this geographical area, among the upper classes.
In British Malabar, lower caste Thiyya females were not under statutory compulsion that they shouldn’t wear an upper garment. In independent kingdom Travancore, lower caste Ezahava females couldn’t wear it. People of Travancore do celebrate Independence Day. Actually this kingdom lost its independence and was forced to join India. This is the variation between textbook history and real events.
I haven’t come here for competing with full-baked geniuses. Only to put in words the reality as I see and observe it. English rule was good. As to British writers, many of them do not even know of the terrible feudal content in Asian languages.
"Calling me an idiot doesn't help things here. There is nothing in my writing that should provoke anyone call me an idiot. Calling another person an idiot doesn't make him an idiot."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe lady doth protest too much, methinks.
At least India is doing a great job by honoring this brilliant man.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is no protest 'methinks'! Only accepting the quality of debate!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI read a popular math book that was a sort of intro to number theory and infinite sets. There was a whole chapter devoted to this kid. He was beyond brilliant. It's tragic that those among us that shine the brightest are far too often lost to us so quickly.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIndia has every right to be proud of their native son.
Credit should also go to G.H. Hardy and the University of Cambridge for recognizing this young mans' genius.
Why fight about it?
History has unfolded in a certain and specific way. The path this young mans' life took brought him from India to the University of Cambridge, and that is where his mathematics entered the world stage. Those are the facts, and until someone figures out a way to alter the past, playing "what if" games is the worst kind of useless, meaningless speculation.
If anyone's interested, that book title is:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"Mathematical Mysteries: The Beauty and Magic of Numbers"
by Calvin C. Clawson
Oh, and Calvin devoted TWO chapters to this guy, not just one (as I mentioned before).
Reading a lot of Niall Ferguson, have we?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt seems like every neo-con is carrying around a coffee table edition of his bile.
Nevertheless, your first comment is borne out of complete ignorance as to the previous Indian dynasties that united India, far beyond the British India, including parts of Afghanistan. Even though one can say that modern India is a creation only 65 years old, it would be naive to think that it is an artificial construct like Pakistan or Israel.
There has been a cultural, linguistic, religious and political coherence for thousands of years. North India, the areas of Mughal rule had a strong sense of belonging to 'Hindustan', as well as other kingdoms surrounding it. Almost all states minted coins with the Mughal Emperor's name on it, even those that were not under his suzerainty.
And in 1857, when Hindu sepoys from outside of the Mughal Kingdom, marched up to Delhi in rebellion, and declared the Mughal emperor, a Muslim, as the head of the rebellion in 'Hindustan', so did many other states that rebelled against the East India Company signifying political oneness.
However, the concept of the nation state is itself very young, therefore if you say that India as a nation state is only 65 years old, yes you are right, but if you think that the people who lived in India before that did not understand their place in the world, or their identity, you would be underestimating their intelligence.
As for the East India Company, if you believe that it was anything but exploitative, I'm afraid I must call you an idiot, again. The East India Company was setup for the sole purpose of furthering British interests in the 'East Indies', regardless of the people slaughtered, the wars fought and slaves traded. They came as humble traders and grew in size through guile, shrewdness, discipline and treachery. They were by no means out for a 'civilizing mission'. The devastating effects of the Christian Missionaries, especially, which believed that growing British success was a sureshot sign from Heaven that they must enlighten the heathen, aggressively sold Christianity across the subcontinent, which then finally erupted as one of the main causes of the rebellion of 1857.
You also seem to draw some major conclusions from the different words used to describe a person of a higher standing as opposed to a person of a lower class, but that is a ridiculous analysis. For almost ALL languages across the subcontinent have this common trait (again pointing to linguistic unity, a point against your favour). Continued..
If we are to then say that all of British India(landmass, as large as Europe) had languages inherently feudal, and almost racist in nature therefore all of India shares these social characteristics, it would be naive, near impossible.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut even if one were to accept your false linguistic analysis as to be true, then what is to say that India would not have moved on or gotten rid of this practice or such practices from self-cleansing ? What is to say it would not have produced men and women who would have brought about a revolution ?
You paint a picture of Indian culture being timeless, unchanging i.e orientalist. No doubt due to your Anglo-centric education filled with the conquerors history, a narrow-minded view of the world, near triumphalist in nature.
'Loot is thieving houses, temples etc. Catching women for fornication and enslaving after battles. Taxing the traders in the guise of sales tax to feed a gigantic army of officials can be loot.'
The company did all this, and more. The near genocide that took place after the 1857 rebellion had all of the above and so did the wars before. Save for the charge of fornicating with Indian women, because obviously, how could a British man fornicate with a nigger? Borne out of racist attitudes and hatred and not because of benevolence or superior control of their carnal desires.
Reading your latest posts has convinced me that there is no point in wasting time on you anymore. You seem to have accepted stereotypes as gospel truth, and filled in the massive gaps in your knowledge on India with pedestrian Neo-Imperialist nonsense which seems to be whats selling in a gloomy Britain of today.
You perfectly fit the bill for a EIC or ICS officers post in the 19th century. You look down upon Indian culture, have a superiority complex, don't understand India, neither do you care, are racist(oh yes, perhaps not in the 19th century sense, but a lot like how Niall Ferguson is. Yes, the 19th century ones didn't know it either), generalize and propagate falsehoods as truth.
No, it's an honor to his family's genes, which produced him. Neither country was responsible.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm sorry, "VED", but anyone claiming superiority in an argument about intelligence who uses bad grammar is fighting against their own argument. You are merely a self-important racist, nationalist poltroon, nothing more, and you are NOT going to be able to excuse the excesses of British colonialism, no matter how you try.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGood day to you.
It is my understanding that Ramanujan believed he was visited by goddess in his dreams who provided insight into the mathematical problems before him. I read about this as a boy and marveled at the inherent genius of the man. It seemed as if he couldn't help but be drawn into these deep universal mysteries as his unconscious was so powerfully involved. I wonder did he feel like math was a compulsion or choice?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLook like VED from Victoria Institutions is a Communist guy from India. Indian communists love Western countries, western culture, but dislike Indian culture. Indian Commies never supported India's independence. They were with Britishers. Once India got independence, these so called intellectuals started ruling India. Best example was Krishna Menon. They took up important positions, especially law, education, etc. They re-wrote India's history. We were taught about India's civilization started with so called "Aryan Invasion theory." They hate anything related Hinduism. They made Vedic culture was a myth, Hinduism just caste based society. Even things such as "Sati" as part of Hinduism. They also made sure that Islamic rule in India brought better culture, but deliberately avoided the destruction caused by Islamic rule in India. I never studied that the greatest University Nalanda university was destroyed by a Muslim ruler who asked to destroy the university just because there was NO Quran in that university. The university library burnt 6 months continuously, to visualize how big was the university at that time. Even now the students in India are not these things. These so called intellectuals say, "teaching such things will make divide Hindus and Muslims", instead they rewrote the history. Similarly, I never studied Mao and Stalin massacred millions of people. For them, these 'great people' are the real saviors of the world.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo I am not surprised by people such as VED ... Indian commies are like person who loves & admires the next door prostitute more than his Mom who gave him birth, food, money, shelter, etc by working hard 24/7/365. So there is no point of advising such people.
Even the leftists from Western countries are same as the Indian commies when they come to Indian history and Hinduism. Both are sides of a same coin.
Most useless people of this world!
The direction that the debate has taken is not a healthy one. It is a debate on Ramanujan. A simple assertion that English intervention has brought out the genius of many 'Indians' to the international limelight was made.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt brought out a quite funny assertion that in England he was starving. Well, it is more possible that he must have starved in India, rather than in England.
The whole focus was to call me names:
First an irritation on seeing my penname given in Capital letters and the strange assertion that it was aimed at giving me 'importance'. Then that I am a 'complete idiot'.
Then another person that seemed to impute the idea that a Penname should pass his acceptance and ratification.
Then a funny assertion that I was protesting too much. I do not have any protests. I am aware of the common debate standards of the 'learned-class’ Indians.
Then: Niall Ferguson. I do not know anything about him. It has no relevance here. Yet, ‘bile’ is not a healthy word to use about an unconnected person. That letter was of two letter size. I did reply. Without any expletives or profanities. That reply simply was deleted by the site administrators.
There was the next input from another person: 'You are merely a self-important racist, nationalist poltroon, nothing more......'. Well, is this the manner to discuss a point? What is self-important and racist here? What is 'poltroon' in me? If I am thus, what is the context here?
I gave him a small answer, befitting his intelligence. That was also removed.
Now comes the very astounding assertion that I am a 'communist guy'? Well, it is quite funny in the sense that the local communist party had even given a police complaint here that I am promoting English to the detriment of the local vernacular.
It may not be possible to bring in information here. For that is really what a healthy debate should aim at. On one side stand a number of people ready to batter up anyone who comes with a point that is not as per their school textbook based understandings. On the other is the site administrators who use the keyboard delete key, when the counter arguments sound too focused and strong.
This debate should really be a good example of ‘Indian’ mood of tolerance and discussion quality.
There was one person who came with the idea that Moguls were one of the dominant forces that held ‘India’ together. However, the last letter contains the tone of an anti-Muslim tirade. Some undesirable words have been mentioned by this last post. I should not discuss them.
Continued: I am not speaking about bravados, spirited actions, great battles, great kings and huge geographical stretches. Bravados and spirited actions any street ruffian can do. Rhetoric is an art of shallow politicians.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEnglish rulers
1. Brought in the concept of equality before the law (Would one prefer the whims and fancies of the Indian feudal lords instead of this)
2. An efficient law & order machinery, that crushed the Thuggee menace (The modern day Indian Thugges, the sales tax officials, accost commercial vehicles & force money out of the traders). This machinery was beyond the control of local feudal lords. So road were safer for the common man.
3. Crushed the practise of Sati (many young females escaped a horrendous death)
4. Created a popular education system: any person without connection to his caste could study knowledge that England possessed (no local man here would dispense his knowledge to others)
5. Built an immensity of dams and improved agriculture
6. Designed and built townships, roads, and commercial areas with extreme foresight. See the streets near Paris in Madras (now a mess), Colaba areas in Bombay (now Bombay is a civic nightmare)
7. Brought in railways. Everyman without connection to his caste could travel. If the railways were built by any native Kings, would the lower castes be allowed to enter?
8. Wrote the very complicated structure of various governmental procedures with very serious commitment
9. Created a very fantastic Judiciary, (its quality has come down)
10. Created a postal department. A a letter posted in Mangalore will get delivered in Assam with wonderful precision.
11. Common people were given the chance to learn English & escape the thraldom of their native suppressors. That is the best part of the English rule. This was soon negated by the new rulers of ‘India’ & Pakistan.
12. Currently around 70-percentage of Indians live in low to dire situations. The Delhi CM asserts that Rs. 600 is enough for majority Indian families to subsist for one month
There are many more things. I happen to feel that this geographical area would have been much better under English officials. I did once write many years ago that Europe would be safer under English administrators, under the English monarch than under a messy democracy that would make it sink and drown. I was rebuked by Europeans.
I do not want to continue to write here. This site is on Science. The subject matter is Ramanujan. I have no time for answering nonsensical assertions. Good wishes to everyone.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBuddies, by calling anybody a fool, the 'intelligent' man's credentials diminishes in a debating forum ,I guess, cut him point by point with data, facts, emotionally and culturally ditached. I know it is difficult! But fist of fury won't lead to reasoning, civilised and scientific conclusions. Is it part of the great Indus culture program or perhaps I guess most likely due a person's individual cultural atributes that reason pave way to preconceived notions about the social status of people living in distant villages in India, who are subjugated even in Independent India? Raman was a great genius, no one disputes, what we are talking about is the nourishing environment for a talent, the contention about is the system and social practices that supports him locally, by and large and even today some developing countries are not capable of aknowleding and promoting the merit of an individual. That is why they have that 'Tag' backward. In large part of india it is a sad fact that today merit. honesty, hard work, intellectual propery rights is not respected, rewarded. People clamour for feudal govt jobs, favours are required to get things done. Geverment babus are arrogant, feudal in attitude, lacks efficiency, full of red tapism. No Raman's from a village can come up in India that easily. You go to west for that reason. Our scientist in question did the same, with the help of a Professor, an Englishman,who accidentally noticed him.
Happy holidays, SA commenters. Thank you for visiting our site and for being part of scientific conversations this year. We especially thank those of you who have posted constructive comments that have advanced the dialogue on topics directly related to the content posted. We remove name-calling comments, hostile comments, ad hominem comments, and comments that gratuitously mention politics, as you might have noticed on this story. Overall, if you are consistently making the comments section a less enjoyable place to be, your account and your comments may be removed from it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVED,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou must be the one what Indians call "moorkha". Saying the British united India is like saying a thief/murderer united a family when the family is saving themselves from that thief. A murderer who built a bridge to travel to his victims place or to transport his loot is still a murderer.
I'm from the geographical area that is currently India. I looked on an online dictionary to know the meaning of Moorkha & saw that it means a ‘fool’ in Hindi. I don't know Hindi & most people around me don’t know Hindi. This calling me an idiot, a complete idiot & now fool, hasn’t added to the quality of the discussion here.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wanted to sign off from this discussion page, where even the site administrators do take sides
My 2 replies have been deleted, & a statement to the effect that it's me who is being uncivil has been given
I’ve given a very detailed answer to why I stand by my views. As to Ramanujan, he was a citizen of British-India, and not India. It was English intervention that brought out his ideas to the fore. I don’t know if he became a great man or not in his lifetime
This discussion is not political, but connected to history. In the very beginning itself I had cautioned that it may slip out of the parameters of science
To Neeraj, I must point that there is a great cultural link among the people of Continental Europe. Yet, it was not a nation
Most of the other allegations made about East India Company are actually true about native Indian kings. As to the Company converting people to Christianity, it's a false idea. The company had nothing to do with Christian Missionaries, other than lend them the same law & order protection that was extended to the native peoples here. I think Christians are most in Kerala other than the north-east. Kerala Christians don't have much connection to English. In fact, most of them don’t know English and majority of English speakers among them speak Malayalam- English. As to how so many Christians came there, it was St Thomas who first converted a small section to Christianity some years after the death of Jesus Christ
Around 1900, the lower caste Ezhavas of Travancore Kingdom mass petitioned the Divan to allow them public freedoms available to similar lower castes in British ruled areas. It was refused. Then around 11 lakh (1100000) Ezhavas converted to Christianity in protest. This is not British conversion to Christianity and this Christianity had nothing to do with the English Church.
Forced conversion was done by Islamic raiders who fed beef to those who opted to convert in exchange for life
As to feudal codes in ‘Indian’ vernaculars being a sign of a cultural link, the fact is that this might be there in most languages of Asia/Africa, some of Europe & even the Celtic languages of Britain. English stands apart. This is my personal observation based on intuition
Why there's nothing in this article that Ramanujan was a deeply religious devout Hindu and was saying that his discoveries were divine, revealed to him in dreams by the goddess Namagiri? It's on Phys.org at: http://phys.org/news/2012-12-math-formula-glimpse-magical-mind.html#jCp
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVED is right on the ball with his observations. India, sorrowfully, remains a horribly feudal and corrupt society, embroiled in an odious caste system with little or no regard for human rights. The British tried and made a small positive impact on this travesty. Those efforts, though, have been bulldozed in the last 65 years since they left. It's a sordid tale.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNow, now, Ladies and Gentlemen, let's stop this unrelated bickering on historical, political and social issues, that can never be truly resolved but can only make us the wiser if we could only learn from them and not repeat the mistakes in the future (despite the adage that we learn from history that we do not learn from history).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGetting to the great mathematician featured here, I, too, felt greatly honoured when Discover magazine here somewhat related my simple research insights into fundamental physics (the bedrock of science) to that ofthe mathematical breakthrough findings of the esteemed Mr. Ramanujan here (please see last paragraph in: http://discovermagazine.com/2002/apr/featnotes#.UNyyq2_7JBB ), which, for your convenience here, goes as follows.
"In the meantime, he can take comfort from the case of the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. In 1913 Ramanujan was a clerk at Madras Port Trust—"a short uncouth figure," in the words of one contemporary, "stout, unshaven, not over clean, with one conspicuous feature: shining eyes." Although largely self-taught in mathematics, Ramanujan had the audacity to mail 120 of his theorems to the British mathematician Godfrey Hardy at Cambridge University. Hardy dismissed the pages as gibberish at first, only to find, upon careful consideration, that some of the theorems were truly revelatory. Five years later Ramanujan was elected to the Royal Society of London." [End of article.]
I was born and raised in the the Island of Serendipity, or Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) during the British reign there; and I am very proud indeed of the educational system they firmly established for us there. With excellent teachers and UK-style education, it was little wonder that we excelled in education in the whole of South-East Asia. (Even Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, who was to later become the first Prime Minister of Singapore, had his early education in Ceylon;see: The Singapore Story http://www.sthomascollege.com/Excerpt.htm)
Even if the Sun has set on the British Empire, you can safely bet it'll never set on the British language. It grows instead, with even the EU be adopting it as its official language (in preference to contending German for the honour)!
Long live Euro-English; and Happy New Year to you all!
www.toe.tv
I thank Eugene Sittampalam for giving the quote about Ramanujam.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI did some online searches, regarding Ramanujam in order to ascertain the modern nation of 'India's claims on this genius, on the basis of this quote.
See this quote from http://www.imsc.res.in:
Ramachandra Rao later recorded that :
"And in the plentitude of my mathematical wisdom, I condescended to permit Ramanujan to walk into my presence. A short uncouth figure, stout, unshaved, not over-clean, with one conspicuous feature -- shining eyes -- walked in, with a frayed Notebook under his arm. He was miserably poor. He had run away from Kumbakonam to get leisure in Madras to pursue his studies. He never craved for any distinction. He wanted leisure, in other words, simple food to be provided for him without exertion on his part and that he should be allowed to dream on".
I would invite readers to the following pages, wherein I feel it is Great Britain's right to feel honoured for giving the real opportunity to gem of a man to bloom his genius.
His first letter to Prof. Hardy: http://goo.gl/fLw94
His impressions about his English acquaintances: http://goo.gl/fhXEo
His emotional support for British war efforts
http://goo.gl/cOCnK
How his English colleagues helped him get elected to the Royal Society:
http://goo.gl/alxzH
His illness (not given by the British as imputed in some comments):
http://goo.gl/6tG86
There were sharp remarks that he was made to starve in England. Well, this is the current level of history writing in India. If anyone is interested in knowing the truth, let them go through this site to know who helped him.
It is for England to rejoice in this man's achievements.
When Hardy noticed Ramanujan's genius, he convinced him to go with Hardy to England to give his discoveries more attention in the mathematical world as it existed in Europe in those and also to further his education.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHowever the English climate and specifically the English diet with lack of fresh vegetables and emphasis on meat and fat (suet pudding for example) from sheep and pigs (no beef as they are sacred in India) and lots of sugar. Also his adult immune system did not have the same exposure as a young child would have had to deal with various European diseases.
Ramanujan was used to an Indian climate and diet and there was no substitute in England at that time. He became sicker and sicker and begged to go back to India. Hardy relented and sent him back where he improved for awhile but the damage was done. He eventually died.
I do not from which nation you are. However, the fact that he was suffering from the ailment much before his departure to England is given in this link: http://goo.gl/6tG86
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhether it is correct or not, I am not sure. But the tone in your reply is simply to cast some blame on his benefactors. The words 'begged to go back to India' is to give a hint that he was in some kind of detention in England.
For there are these words in given: QUOTE: 'Ramanujan was persuaded by Hardy to return to India with the hope that he would recover soon and return to take up the Trinity College Fellowship awarded to him for five years.' http://goo.gl/XS5EG (Your writings are similar to way history is written in Indian school history textbooks - with no basis)
There is a silly ambiance in the writing. England was not and is still not a place where people need to be forced to go. In fact, I am sure that most people in India, if given a chance will move to England. I have seen youngsters going there as students for some simple courses and hanging on there, despite the best efforts from the authorities to send them back.
The only shortage of food he could have suffered is what everyone were experiencing. For, it was the period of World War 2.
As to his eating 'pig' (pork), he is mentioned as practicing strict vegetarian diet. If his immune system was weak, it should be attributed to his poverty in India.
If you know India, you will be aware that in India, the poor are placed at the lower end of the feudal indicant codes. It is a mentally degrading situation. When he came back from he is said to be 'subject to fits of depression': http://goo.gl/hX1J2
It is natural. For, his greatness as a mathematician need not be accepted by the local small town. It can be quite a depressing affair to be placed at the lower end of indicant words, over here. It is an experience he wouldn't have had in England.
I made a typo. The period was Word War 1
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'd like to bring up an important contribution of the Brits to Indian history that is obvious but, far as I have read or heard, never mentioned: Gandhi prevailed because it was Great Britain he opposed. If it had been any other colonial power, or even more certainly if it had been any Indian regime up to that time, he would have disappeared or been openly assassinated, along with his closest supporters.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEven though, I would have been happy to give some inputs to your ideas, since Gandhi is not the subject matter in this article, I wouldn't do it here. However if you are interested, you can Google Search for: Gandhi and his 'Ji', and search for the word Hitler in that article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishere we go: https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/14578_575620619122005_1082100587_n.jpg