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

2. What are partitions in math?

3. Who was Leonard Euler?

4. Where did Ramanujan move to?

5. What cultural practice did Ramanujan insist on, in Kanigel's account?

Short Essay Questions

1. What problems did Ramanujan have on account of his Indian cultural practices?

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

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

4. What is a formalist in mathematical thinking?

5. Describe Ramanujan's trip to England.

6. Describe Ramanujan and Hardy's work on partitions.

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

8. Where did Ramanujan go when he reached England?

9. What was Ramanujan's relationship with Cambridge after he left for India?

10. Describe the decline of Ramanujan's health.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What were the two or three most influential influences in forming Ramanujan's character. What were the two or three most influential conflicts or absences or desires in shaping Ramanujan's character?

Essay Topic 2

To what extent was math a social enterprise for Ramanujan? How much did his career depend on other people? What made other people believe in him? What values did those people have that made it important to help Ramanujan?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the role of Ramanujan's wife in his life and career. How important was it for him to be married? Was he married to someone or something else besides his wife?

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