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Srinivasa Ramanujan

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Mathematician

The Resume

    (December 22, 1887-April 26, 1920)
    Born in Erode, India
    Largely self-taught
    Sent samples of his work to three English mathematicians (1912)
    Invited by G.H. Hardy to work with him at Cambridge
    Contributed to number theory, infinite series and continued fractions

Why he might be annoying:

    He won a university scholarship, but it was withdrawn after he failed almost all his non-math courses.
    When he was 21, he wed a nine year old girl. (Although he apparently did not consummate the marriage until she was 17 or 18.)
    He would work thirty straight hours, then sleep for twenty.
    In his private notebooks, he usually wrote just the final result without the steps to reach it, so after his early death other mathematicians had to spend a lot of time proving his results.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Despite his own achievements, Hardy said that his greatest contribution to mathematics was discovering Ramanujan.
    Hardy said that Ramanujan's theories 'must be true, because if they were not true, no one would have the imagination to invent them.'
    He was one of the youngest scientists ever named a Fellow of the Royal Society (1918).
    He was mentioned in the film 'Good Will Hunting,' with the title character being compared to him.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 19 Votes: 57.89% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 23 Votes: 39.13% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 19 Votes: 42.11% Annoying