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The world will soon remember the renowned Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan once again, as a biopic on his life, named The Man Who Knew Infinity, is set to release this April. Ramanujan, who lived a short but very productive life, continues to be an inspiration for mathematicians across the world, and his work has inspired a lot of research over the years. Here are 10 things to know about him:

1. He was born in 1887 in Erode, located in Tamil Nadu.

His father worked as a clerk with a cloth merchant and his mother was a homemaker who also used to sing at a local temple.

2. His house in Kumbakonam, where the family had moved after his birth, is now maintained as the Srinivasa Ramanujan International Monument.

3. He was married to Janaki Ammal in 1909, who was 9-year-old at that time.

4. He is recognised as one of the greatest mathematicians of his time, but Srinivasa Ramanujan had almost no formal training in math.

Many of his mathematical discoveries were based on pure intuition – but most of them were later proved to be true.

5. He was the second Indian to be inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a Fellowship of some of the world’s most eminent scientists.

He joined the fellowship in 1918 at the age of 31, as one of youngest fellows in the history of the society.

Promotion

6. A follower of his family goddess Mahalakshmi, Ramanujan credited her for his abilities.

He once said, “An equation for me has no meaning, unless it represents a thought of God.”

7. He compiled 3,900 results (mostly identities and equations), before he lost his life at the age of 32. His infinite series for pi was one of his most celebrated findings.

8. There is also a museum dedicated to telling Ramanujan’s life story. It is located in Chennai and has many photographs of his home and family, along with letters to and from friends, relatives, etc.

The collection is the result of decades of effort by Late P.K. Srinivasan, a renowned math teacher. He worked hard for years looking for his pictures, letters, etc. that could be used in the museum. In 1993, he found a lot of material in a chest in Ramanujan’s old attic.

9. His birth anniversary, December 22, is celebrated as the National Mathematics Day every year.

10. According to reports, Ramanujan used to jot down his ideas in notebooks, in green ink.

One of the notebooks, known as the ‘lost notebook’, was discovered in the Trinity College library by mathematician George Andrews in 1976, and was later published as a book.

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About the author: Varun Jadia is a high schooler who has just completed his Class 10 boards. He enjoys listening to music, playing his guitar, playing badminton, writing and reading. Math is his favourite subject, and in the future, he wishes to pursue a career in economics.