Srinivasa Ramanujan

views updated

Srinivasa Ramanujan

1887-1920

Indian mathematician notable for his brilliant mathematical intuition, which inspired him to create numerous new theorems and insights into analytical number theory. Born into a poor Brahmin family, Ramanujan was largely self-taught. His genius was recognized by the British mathematician G. H. Hardy, who arranged for Ramanujan to come to England and publish many of his results on arithmetic functions, infinite series, and highly composite numbers. Ramanujan also developed a fast method for computing the value of π.

More From encyclopedia.com