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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. When did Ramanujan write to Hardy?

2. What were Ramanujan and Hardy looking for in their work on partitions?

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

4. What did Ramanujan work out in his research on constants?

5. How does Kanigel characterize Ramanujan's theorems and formulas?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What accolades did Ramanujan receive for his work?

4. Describe the decline of Ramanujan's health.

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

6. How much did Ramanujan's bride share in his mathematical life?

7. What was Ramanujan's decline like, and death?

8. In what way was Ramanujan's experience of England similar to Ghandi's?

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. What was Ramanujan's Master Theorem intended to do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a character sketch of the author based on his handling of the material in Ramanujan's life. What are the author's values like? What evidence do you have for them?

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

Having reached a degree of fame, Ramanujan attempted suicide because he could not solve all the problems around him. Why was Ramanujan incapable of handling this inevitable limitation? Where else in his life were his needs far beyond the realm of what was possible?

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