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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. Who did Ramanujan stay with in England?

2. How does Kanigel describe John Littlewood?

3. What did Hardy decide after conferring with John Littlewood?

4. What are partitions in math?

5. To what extent does Kanigel say Ramanujan blended in with Cambridge society?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What has been the impact of Ramanujan's work?

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

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

5. What was the conflict between Ramanujan's family and his wife?

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

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

8. What was Ramanujan's interest in pi?

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

10. What is a formalist in mathematical thinking?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ramanujan once ran away from home. Describe his relationship with his family, and the running-away temperament: what was he running to? Cite another time when he 'ran away' from things? Did he ever have a feeling of arrival in a place that redeemed the problems with his family or immediate environment?

Essay Topic 2

Was Ramanujan different 'as a person' than he was 'as a mathematician'? Did his work in math redeem the discomforts or failures he suffered elsewhere in his life? How does his life balance out--was he a mathematician, or a fully-developed human being, who could adjust to any number of human experiences?

Essay Topic 3

What did Ramanujan use math for? What problems did he solve with it? Were they abstract mathematical problems, or life problems? How did math solve Ramanujan's life problems? Where did it fail to?

(see the answer keys)

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