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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. How does Kanigel describe Ramanujan's relationship with his wife?

2. How does Kanigel describe English society from Ramanujan's point-of-view?

3. When do mathematicians believe Ramanujan did his best work?

4. How was Ramanujan treated on his return?

5. With whom did Ramanujan eventually begin to develop a real relationship, according to Kanigel?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Ramanujan's trip to England.

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

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

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

5. What was Ramanujan's interest in pi?

6. What problem kept Ramanujan from coming to England, as Hardy hoped he would?

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

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

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

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

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

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?

Essay Topic 3

Describe the intersection the British culture of secret society and prestige with Ramanujan's culture of Brahmin prestige and privilege. How much did these cultures clash in Ramanujan's experience? How did they work together?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 670 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample