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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are partitions in math?

2. What does Kanigel say characterized Indian intellectuals' experience at Cambridge?

3. How does Kanigel describe Ramanujan's dress?

4. What was the result of Ramanujan clinging to his cultural practices?

5. What did the divergent series 1+2+3+4+5... add up to in Ramanujan's notebooks?

Short Essay Questions

1. How was Ramanujan treated on his return to India?

2. What was Ramanujan's condition when he returned to India?

3. What accolades did Ramanujan receive for his work?

4. What cultural practices did Ramanujan hold on to from India?

5. What did Hardy do with Ramanujan's letter?

6. What was Ramanujan's response when Hardy asked him for proofs?

7. What did Ramanujan discover when P. C. Mahalanobis read him a puzzle one evening?

8. What is a formalist in mathematical thinking?

9. Ramanujan kept extensive notes of his thinking. What was in Ramanujan's notebooks, and how much of his work was valuable, according to Kanigel?

10. Describe the decline of Ramanujan's health.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ramanujan was never a teacher, just a theoretical mathematician. Describe the role of researcher and evaluate its benefit to Ramanujan: was it good for him? Would he have been happy or miserable as a teacher?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the importance of illness and bad health on Ramanujan's life. How did it shape his personality and his intellect? How did it weaken him? How did it strengthen him?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast Ramanujan's life and Hardy's. How are they similar? How are they different? What did they offer each other? Was Ramanujan truly Hardy's greatest accomplishment? Does that make Ramanujan's depression, suicide attempt and death Hardy's greatest failure?

(see the answer keys)

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