Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan

The man who knew infinity

Srinivasa Ramanujan (middle) with fellow scientists at Cambridge.

1887 - Born In Erode, Tamil Nadu, on December 22
1903 - Passes Matriculation examination from Town High School, Kumbakonam
1904 - Joins Government Arts College, Kumbakonam
1905 - Drops out of Kumbakonam college
1906 - Joins Pachaiyappa’s College, Madras, only to leave without completing his studies
1911 - Publishes first paper on Bernoulli Numbers
1912 - Gets a job at the Madras Port Trust. Ramanujan is introduced to G.H. Hardy’s tract on ‘Orders of Infinity.’ He provides an answer to one of the problems posed by Hardy
1913 - Ramanujan writes his first letter to Hardy. Hardy recognises Ramanujan as ‘a mathemacian of the highest class,’and tries to organise a visit by Ramanujan to England
1914 - E.H. Neville, a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge meets Ramanujan in Madras and convinces him to go to Cambridge. Neville writes to University of Madras to support Ramanujan. University of Madras offers Ramanujan scholarship. On March 17, leaves for England
1916 - Gets B.A. degree by research from Cambridge University
1917 - Periodically hospitalised for treatment
1918 - Becomes Fellow of the Royal Society. Elected to Trinity College Fellowship
1919 - Returns to India
1920 - Health deteriorates. Dies on April 26, 1920
1927 - Collected papers of Ramanujan, edited by P.V. Seshu Aiyar, G.H. Hardy and B.M. Wilson and published by Cambridge University Press

“An equation for me has no meaning, unless it expresses a thought of God.”

― Srinivasa Ramanujan

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