SSC
'The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan' is a biography of:
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Answer: Option C — Srinivasa Ramanujan
Detailed Solution
"The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan" is a biography of the great Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, written by the American author Robert Kanigel and published in 1991.
About the book:
- It traces Ramanujan's life from his childhood in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, to his years in Cambridge, England, and his early death.
- It describes how, without formal training in higher mathematics, Ramanujan filled notebooks with remarkable results.
In 1913, he wrote a letter with pages of theorems to the Cambridge mathematician G. H. Hardy, who recognised his genius and invited him to Cambridge.
It also describes the cultural difficulties and the ill health he faced in England during World War I.
In 2015, it was made into a film of the same name, with Dev Patel as Ramanujan and Jeremy Irons as G. H. Hardy.
About Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920):
He was born on 22 December 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu. His birthday is celebrated as National Mathematics Day in India (since 2012).
He made major contributions to number theory, infinite series, continued fractions and the theory of partitions.
In 1918, he became one of the youngest Fellows of the Royal Society and the first Indian Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
The number 1729 is called the "Hardy-Ramanujan number". When Hardy said his taxi number, 1729, seemed dull, Ramanujan replied that it is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways (1³ + 12³ and 9³ + 10³).
He died in Kumbakonam in 1920, aged only 32.
His "lost notebook" was rediscovered in 1976 by the mathematician George Andrews.
Other Indian scientists:
- V. Raman: Nobel Prize in Physics (1930) for the Raman Effect; National Science Day (28 February).
- Satyendra Nath Bose: Bose-Einstein statistics; particles called "bosons" are named after him.
- C. Mahalanobis: founder of the Indian Statistical Institute; National Statistics Day (29 June).
Why not the other options?
- ✗V. Raman was a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1930.
- ✗Satyendra Nath Bose was a physicist known for Bose-Einstein statistics.
- ✗C. Mahalanobis was a statistician.
Quick tip
Remember: "The Man Who Knew Infinity" = biography of Srinivasa Ramanujan by Robert Kanigel (1991; film 2015 with Dev Patel); 1729 = Hardy-Ramanujan number; 22 December = National Mathematics Day.
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Books & Authors — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Books & Authors, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers famous books and their authors, including ancient Indian texts, works of the freedom struggle, classic and modern literature, autobiographies of famous people, and recently published books by well-known personalities. Questions usually name a book and ask for its author, or the other way round. Ancient and historical books, such as Arthashastra (Kautilya), Indica (Megasthenes) and Gitanjali (Rabindranath Tagore), are tested most often. Autobiographies are another favourite, so learn titles such as 'My Experiments with Truth' (Mahatma Gandhi) and 'Wings of Fire' (A. P. J. Abdul Kalam). Practise the books and authors questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.