53 pages • 1-hour read
The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan
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Background
Authorial Context: Srinivāsa Ramanujan
Ramanujan was born in 1887 in India, which at the time was still under British colonial rule. As he entered college, much of the Indian system was influenced by the English university system. In fact, his first college, Kumbakonam’s Government College, was nicknamed “the Cambridge of South India” (45). Ramanujan left India to pursue mathematical study at Cambridge in 1914, remaining in England for five years. His residence in England spanned the duration of WWI. He worked alongside G. H. Hardy at Cambridge as the university was adapted into a military hospital to treat the many wounded who returned from the trenches at the front on the European continent. As a response to the threat posed by German submarines, Ramanujan’s stay in England was lengthened, as passenger ships were operating on a truncated schedule, if at all. During the war, economic recession resulted in a reduced food supply and caused general malnutrition, which fostered a ripe climate for disease. Among these was a resurgence of tuberculosis after it had been tamped down from its peak in the late 1800s. Ramanujan contracted the disease during his residence in England, and when he finally returned to India in 1919, he lived only one more year before succumbing to its effects. The year 1918 and the winter of 1919 also saw a worldwide influenza epidemic in which 10 million people died (313).
Cultural Context: Hinduism and Hindu Culture
Readers of the book will not need to know the details of traditional Hindu culture, of which Ramanujan was part, as Kanigel provides extensive explanations of how Indian culture functioned at the time Ramanujan lived in India. The caste system has a central role in the narrative, specifically the Brahmin caste, to which Ramanujan belonged. Importantly, Kanigel distinguishes the Indian caste system from similar Western social structures. The Indian system is much less focused on economic status, and because of this, economic status within a particular caste varied widely. Ramanujan, for example, was a Brahmin, a well-esteemed caste in India. However, this did not guarantee a financially stable position in society, and Ramanujan was impoverished for much of his early life. Hinduism was also a central component in Ramanujan’s life that informed his worldview. He attributed his own intellectual gifts to a particular deity, Namagiri. Kanigel discusses some of the features of Hinduism, including the different deities that are worshipped. Many in the West at the time saw Hinduism as a primitive, almost pagan religion, and this caused much prejudice directed at Indian people in general. Kanigel’s examination of Hinduism does not suggest bias; instead, he treats it with the dignity it deserves as one of the world’s great religions. He says the genius of Hinduism “was that it left room for everyone. […] It was a profoundly tolerant religion. […] It embraced everything and everyone” (35). The cultural discussion at the beginning of the text sets up a stark contrast with Ramanujan’s time in England. The cultural differences that he encountered were immense, and he faced no small amount of racism. Ramanujan struggled to maintain a healthy diet because his faith required him to be a vegetarian and because he could not adapt his palate to what he considered to be bland English food. His poor nutrition on this account was likely a contributing factor in his ill health.
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