Srinivasa Ramanujan
Self-taught genius who made extraordinary contributions
Most quoted
"I beg to introduce myself to you as a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Port Trust Office at Madras on a salary of only £20 per annum. I am now about 23 years of age. I have had no University education but I have undergone the ordinary school course. After leaving school I have been employing the spare time at my disposal to work at Mathematics. I have not trodden through the conventional regular course which is followed in a University course, but I am striking out a new path for myself. I have made a special investigation of divergent series in general and the results I get are termed by the local mathematicians as 'startling'."
— from First letter to G.H. Hardy, 1913
"I beg to introduce myself to you as a clerk in the Accounts Department of the Port Trust Office at Madras on a salary of only £20 per annum. I am now about 23 years of age. I have had no University education but I have undergone the ordinary school course. After leaving school I have been employing the spare time at my disposal to work at Mathematics."
— from Letter to G.H. Hardy, 1913
"I remember once going to see him when he was ill at Putney. I had ridden in taxi cab number 1729 and remarked that the number seemed to me rather a dull one, and that I hoped it was not an unfavourable omen. 'No,' he replied, 'it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.'"
— from Recounted by G.H. Hardy, 1918
All quotes by Srinivasa Ramanujan (688)
I have found a companion in mathematics.
It is difficult to explain my methods to others, as they are not accustomed to my way of thinking.
My work is not about proving theorems, but about discovering truths.
I have been working on the theory of partitions.
I have discovered many new results in the theory of numbers.
I have no formal training in mathematics, but I have a natural gift.
My results are not based on rigorous proofs, but on intuition and insight.
I see mathematical truths as clearly as I see the objects around me.
I have a strong belief in the power of numbers.
I am not interested in the opinions of others, only in the truth.
I have a unique way of approaching mathematical problems.
My mathematical ideas come to me in dreams and visions.
I have a deep connection to the divine through mathematics.
I am not afraid to challenge conventional mathematical wisdom.
My work is a testament to the beauty and elegance of mathematics.
I have a profound understanding of the nature of numbers.
I am a bridge between the East and the West in mathematics.
My contributions to mathematics will be remembered for generations.
I have a unique gift for seeing patterns and relationships in numbers.
My mathematical intuition is a powerful tool.
Contemporaries of Srinivasa Ramanujan
Other Mathematicss born within 50 years of Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920).