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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 Ramanujan say he was willing to do in order to come to England?

2. How long did the trip from India to England take?

3. Who is NOT included in the list of people who have benefited from Ramanujan's work, in Kanigel's account?

4. What does Kanigel say was Ramanujan's greatest talent?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Ramanujan's interest in pi?

2. Describe the decline of Ramanujan's health.

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

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

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

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

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

8. What did Ramanujan discover when P. C. Mahalanobis read him a puzzle one evening?

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

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?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Ramanujan's life and Hardy's. How are they similar? How are they different? What did they offer each other? Was Ramanujan truly Hardy's greatest accomplishment? Does that make Ramanujan's depression, suicide attempt and death Hardy's greatest failure?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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