G H Hardy on Ramanujan

-

G H Hardy

Srinivasa Ramanujan

I came across this anecdote from G H Hardy, the great English Mathematician, from the book: "Pi in the Sky: Counting, Thinking and Being", a book on the history of Mathematics by John D Barrow, a Professor at Univ of Sussex:

"I remember once going to see him when he was lying ill at Putney. I had ridden in a taxi-cab No. 1729, and remarked that the number seemed to me 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 a sum of two cubes in two different ways." - G. H. Hardy on Ramanujan.

Here is a full blown article on the number 1729 which came to be known as the Hardy-Ramanujan number on Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1729_(number)

God that's amazing!!

-Siddartha Pamulaparty
June 14, 2008

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gajendra Moksham - Part-2

-
Image
This is another poem from the epic of “Gajendramoksham”. When I was a kid, I couldn’t get the emotions behind this poem, but later on when I started thinking on my own, my eyes filled with tears whenever I read or heard this padyam. Of course I admit I am very emotional but I believe this poem will cause everyone a tinge of sorrow in their hearts at the plight of the elephant king and at the same filled with utmost devotion to the Ultimate Liberator, Sri Maha Vishnu. Context: The whole story of Gajendra Moksham is how the Elephant King gets “ moksham ”, the Telugu/Sanskrit word, the closest equivalent in English I can think of is absolute Liberation . The scene starts with the Elephant King leading his herd and moving across the thick forest towards the river for quenching their thirst. It is described very graciously that, as the herd moved, the Elephant King glowed with pride, and all the animals in the jungle get scared, as if the Earth shook during Pralaya, destruction of Universe
Read more

పోతన భాగవత మకరందాలు

-
Image
శా. కారే రాజులు రాజ్యముల్ గలుగవే గర్వోన్నతిం బొందరే వారేరీ సిరి మూటగట్టుకొని పోవంజాలిరే భూమిపైఁ బేరైనం గలదే శిబిప్రముఖులుం బ్రీతిన్ యశఃకాములై యీరే కోర్కులు వారలన్ మఱచిరే యిక్కాలమున్ భార్గవా! shA. kArE rAjulu rAjyamul galugavE garvOnnathiM boMdharE vArEree siri mootagattukoni pOvaMjAlirE bhoomipaiAO bErainM galadhE shibipramukhuluM breethin yashaHkAmulai yeerE kOrkulu vAralan maRachirE yikkAlamun bhArgavA! Context: This is a poem in the “ashtama skandam” of the Pothana’s Bhagavatham, where in the story of the Maha Vishnu in His “Vamana” avatara is told. Vamana goes to the great demon king Bali and asks him for three feet of space, as Bali is doing a great penance and is giving alms/charity to those who seek. Then, the intelligent guru of Bali, Shukracharya, warns Bali not to promise anything to this young Brahmin Vamana, as “He is none other than the great Vishnu, and He will destroy you if you give Him whatever He asks”. In reply, Bali, who is known for his great charitable nature, say
Read more

Prahlada's beautiful answer to his father

-
Image
Encouraged by my pal Pradeep's comment, here I go attempting a couple of more translations of Pothana's poems. These poems were being sung to us at our home, my father especially I remember taught us to recite these padyams. Very fortunate of being born in my family, I am, in deed!! From the story of Prahlada in the Bhagavatam, this is yet another beautiful piece of work from Pothana. Context: Hiranyakashipa is a powerful Demon King who is a staunch enemy of Vishnu. His son Prahlada is the quite opposite of him and since his childhood is a great devotee of Vishnu. In this scene, Hiranyakashipa overcome with rage asks Prahlada “Where can I find Hari (Vishnu)?”. This poem is the answer of Prahlada to his father’s inquiry. My Translation: He (Vishnu) is inside the deep abyss, He is in the omnipresent atmosphere, over the sky, in the core of the Earth. He is also present in the fire, He is in days and nights. He is in the embodiments of the life-giving Sun, the pleasing Moon. He i
Read more