The books studied by Ramanujan in India. (English) Zbl 1012.01008
From the introduction: “Since Ramanujan died in 1920, mathematicians have discussed and debated the question, “From which books did Ramanujan learn mathematics while in India?” In his beautiful book highlighting some of Ramanujan’s contributions to mathematics, G. H. Hardy devoted almost three pages to this question [Ramanujan, Cambridge University Press (1940), reprint Chelsea, New York (1959; Zbl 0086.26202), pp. 42-44].…
Although the present writers cannot settle all the controversy, we can offer some insights. Our task here is twofold. We list the books that Ramanujan definitely had seen, and those that Ramanujan likely knew. For each book, we provide evidence to back up our claim. In the final section, we describe each book and offer a biography of each author. We emphasize that our deliberations are centered only on what Ramanujan might have read in India before departing for England in March, 1914. Of course, after his arrival at Cambridge, he was exposed to considerably more literature”.
Although the present writers cannot settle all the controversy, we can offer some insights. Our task here is twofold. We list the books that Ramanujan definitely had seen, and those that Ramanujan likely knew. For each book, we provide evidence to back up our claim. In the final section, we describe each book and offer a biography of each author. We emphasize that our deliberations are centered only on what Ramanujan might have read in India before departing for England in March, 1914. Of course, after his arrival at Cambridge, he was exposed to considerably more literature”.
Reviewer: M.Sheingorn (New York)
