Saturday, 30 December 2023

Aryabhata and Ramanujan

Note: As you read this post bear firmly in mind that the British mathematician G. H  Hardy was a pacifist with no patience for wars, colonialism, and all the nonsense the British empire indulged in wherever they went. This post does not support British rule anywhere in any sense - but it is firmly, and very correctly, critical of how we conduct ourselves and treat our own.

Here goes:

A friend wittily remarked today: It is apt that Aryabhata is from India. Because India's contribution in the world of mathematics, at least for the last couple of centuries, has essentially been Zero.

I countered: What about Ramanujan?

Pat came the reply, tongue firmly in cheek: Hardy, a British mathematician, recognised his talent and mentored him. Left to fellow Indians, he would've been firmly kept at Zero.

On that note, here's a movie recommendation: The Man Who Knew Infinity (2015).

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