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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 the value of Ramanujan's discovery?

2. How does Kanigel describe Ramanujan when he returned to India?

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

4. Who was absent from the dock when Ramanujan's ship came in?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe Ramanujan's trip to England.

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. What was Ramanujan's interest in pi?

10. Describe the decline of Ramanujan's health.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 666 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample