Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan FRS ( pronunciation (helpinfo)) (22 December 1887 26 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician andautodidact who, with almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis,number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions. Living in India with no access to the larger mathematical community, which was centred in Europe at the time, Ramanujan developed his own mathematical research in isolation. As a result, he rediscovered known theorems in addition to producing new work. Ramanujan was said to be a natural genius by the English mathematician G. H. Hardy, in the same league as mathematicians such as Euler and Gauss. He died at the age of 32. Ramanujan was born at Erode, Madras Presidency (now Tamil Nadu) in a Tamil Brahmin family of Thenkalai Iyengar sect.[2][3][4] His introduction to formal mathematics began at age 10. He demonstrated a natural ability, and was given books on advanced trigonometrywritten by S. L. Loney that he mastered by the age of 12; he even discovered theorems of his own, and re-discovered Euler's identityindependently. He demonstrated unusual mathematical skills at school, winning accolades and awards. By 17, Ramanujan had conducted his own mathematical research on Bernoulli numbers and the EulerMascheroni constant.

Ramanujan received a scholarship to study at Government College in Kumbakonam, which was later rescinded when he failed his non-mathematical coursework. He joined another college to pursue independent mathematical research, working as a clerk in the Accountant-General's office at the Madras Port Trust Office to support himself.[6] In 19121913, he sent samples of his theorems to three academics at the University of Cambridge. G. H. Hardy, recognizing the brilliance of his work, invited Ramanujan to visit and work with him at Cambridge. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. Ramanujan died of illness, malnutrition, and possibly liver infection in 1920 at the age of 32. During his short lifetime, Ramanujan independently compiled nearly 3900 results (mostly identities and equations).[7] Nearly all his claims have now been proven correct, although a small number of these results were actually false and some were already known. He stated results that were both original and highly unconventional, such as the Ramanujan prime and the Ramanujan theta function, and these have inspired a vast amount of further research. However, the mathematical mainstream has been rather slow in absorbing some of his major discoveries. The Ramanujan Journal, an international publication, was launched to publish work in all areas of mathematics influenced by his work. In December 2011, in recognition of his contribution to mathematics, the Government of India declared that Ramanujan's birthday (22 December) should be celebrated every year as National Mathematics Day, and also declared 2012 the National Mathematics Year.

Aryabhata

Aryabhata (Sanskrit:

listen (helpinfo); IAST: ryabhaa) or Aryabhata (476

550 CE)[3][4] was the first in the line of greatmathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy. His works include the ryabhaya(499 CE, when he was 23 years old)[5] and the Arya-siddhanta. The works of Aryabhata dealt with mainly mathematics and astronomy. He also worked on the approximation for pi.

Biography

Name
While there is a tendency to misspell his name as "Aryabhatta" by analogy with other names having the "bhatta" suffix, his name is properly spelled Aryabhata: every astronomical text spells his name thus,[6] including Brahmagupta's references to him "in more than a hundred places by name".[7] Furthermore, in most instances "Aryabhatta" does not fit the metre either.

Time and place of birth

Aryabhata mentions in the Aryabhatiya that it was composed 3,600 years into the Kali Yuga, when he was 23 years old. This corresponds to 499 CE, and implies that he was born in 476.

Aryabhata's birthplace is uncertain, but it may have been in the area known in ancient texts as Ashmaka India which may have beenMaharashtra or Dhaka.

Education
It is fairly certain that, at some point, he went to Kusumapura for advanced studies and lived there for some time. Both Hindu and Buddhist tradition, as well as Bhskara I (CE 629), identify Kusumapura as Paliputra, modern Patna. A verse mentions that Aryabhata was the head of an institution (kulapa) at Kusumapura, and, because the university ofNalanda was in Pataliputra at the time and had an astronomical observatory, it is speculated that Aryabhata might have been the head of the Nalanda university as well. Aryabhata is also reputed to have set up an observatory at the Sun temple in Taregana, Bihar.

Other hypotheses
Some archeological evidence suggests that Aryabhata could have originated from the present day Kodungallur which was the historical capital city of Thiruvanchikkulam of ancient Kerala. For instance, one hypothesis was that amaka (Sanskrit for "stone") may be the region in Kerala that is now known as Kouallr, based on the belief that it was earlier known as Koum-Kal-l-r ("city of hard stones"); however, old records show that the city was actually Koum-kol-r ("city of strict governance"). Similarly, the fact that several commentaries on the Aryabhatiya have come from Kerala were used to suggest that it was Aryabhata's main place of life and activity; however, many commentaries have come from outside Kerala. Aryabhata mentions "Lanka" on several occasions in the Aryabhatiya, but his "Lanka" is an abstraction, standing for a point on the equator at the same longitude as his Ujjayini.