xl Osrivaxy vozzces : i SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN. Shmmrvasa Rasaxtsax, who died at Kambakonam on April 26th, 1920, Tad been n member of the Society since 1917. He was not a man who, talked much about himself, end until recently I knew very little of big, early life. ‘Two notices, by P. V. Sesbu Aiyar and B. Ramachandra Tao, two of the mostdevoted of Ramanujan's Indian friemds, have been published: recentlyin the Journal af the Indian Mathematical Society; and Sir Francis Spring has very kindly placod ai my disposal an article which appeared in the Madvas Times of April 5th, 1919. From thesa sourees of informa- tion T enn row supply a good many details with ‘hich I was previously ‘unacquainted. Ramanujan (Srinivasa Lyengar Ramaguja Iyengar, to give him for once his proper mame) vas born on December 22nd, 1967, at Brode in southern India. His father was an accountant (gumasta) ta a cloth marshint at Kumbakonam, while his maternal grandfather had served as amin in the Munsiff’s (or local judge's) Court at Erode. He firs: wont to school nt five, and was transferred Defore he was seven to she Town Tigh School at Kumbakonata, where be held a" free scholarship”, and whore ‘hin extraordinary powers appecr to have beom reeognised immediately “He used”, so writes an old schuolfellaw to Mz. Sesha Aiyar, “to borrow Gurr’s Semepsis of Pure Mathematics from the College Ii and delight in verifying some of the formule given there.... THe used to entertain his frieade with his thoorems and formal, even in those onrly dnys. . . - ‘He bad en extraordinary memory and could easily repeat the complete lists of Sanscrit roots (atmanepada and parasmepada) ; he could give the yuluca of 4/2, 7, ¢ ... to any number of decimal plases. Tn manners, he was simplicity itself. . He passed his matriculation examination to the Government College ‘at Kumbakonam in 1904; snd secured the “Junior Subraniam Scholar- ship". Owing to woakuoss in English, he failed in bis noxt examination nd lost his seholarship ; and left Kumbskonam, first for Vimgopatam and ‘then for Madras. Here he presented himeel! for the “First Examination in Arta” in December 1906, but failed and never tried again. For the next few years be continued his independent work in mathernatics, “ jotting down bis results in two good-sized notebooks”: I have one of those noe‘Sanevasi RAWARUSAN, xii’ books in my possession still. In 1909 he married, and it became necessary for him to Gad some permanent employment. I quote Mc, Seshu Aiyar: + ‘16 this end, ‘Re wont to Titucoilur, a small sub-division tovm in South Arcot Distlict. Louse Mt, Rasa Abja, the founder of the Tadian Matheratioa. Sosiety, bat Mev! ‘ipae sing hia wondortl gts, persuaded his. to go to Madion Th moa then alot some + four yon ikerval tad Mr, Hariacnjon ma cue at Madea, wish hls two well-ioed. 34 books ferred to above, Tera? Ramanajin ith a note of recommendation io tbat tre see of Mattoratice, Dewan Bahadne ®. Ratachinérs as, who wae then Disirist Collar st Nellans « spall town soe (ghty Sales north of Medrar, Mc- Hao so hia beo¥ to tl sayings wae ome tomake on favllcrual gla Uw Rausenujan tot st @ moti! sade like Nollore, and recommended his stay at Madras, generously undertaking to pay Mr. Ramanujan's expenses for s time. This was in December 1910, Aftern while, othor attempts to obtain for him s scholarship having fsiled, ond Ramenujan himself being unwilling 0 ben bexdan am anybody for any langeh of me, bu dacded to fake up small sppolatment ender he Madens Bors Tran in 1071. Bat be never ssclenod hin work at Mathemtice, Hie ensiatepatrbction to the Jourval ofthe indian Mathematical Gosely wea in Abe for ol gustioas cuznanicled by ime fo Vol, 1 QUIN), its art long telco on “Sene Properties of Betnoali’s Nembert” ‘am poblishd inthe December namberof the same volume Bi. Ramanajaa"s mothe were atere ed wil ne ea rcpmiedine a Tanking fa apenas Sad pulse, tind Celinary ender, sasccaslomed to suc lnlellelial gymmition could hnsdly fallow bm, This purieular trio was retard zoe than oaee bythe Bdlior before lt tooe «och mil sbie fee publication, Ti wat during this pered that he came ta me one day wih etme toram on Prine Numbers, and when T refered him to Hardy's Tract on Order of Iity trcbservod that Hardy bad tid on p OG of Hin hack “iin sxmca order o€ pf) [aelued the equatios “i (a) = wd | £ wharo r (2) denotes the numter cf primes less ee 2), huss uot yet been determined ', snk shat he himsel€ hed discovered s result which gave the order of (2). On this T suggested unt he might communicate his vesalt to Mir. Hardy, together with some moze of his results, This passage brings mo to the beginning of my own acquaintance with Ramanujan. But hefore [ say anything nbont the letters whieh I received trom him, und which resulted ultimstely in bis journey to England, I mast add a little more about lis Indian career. Dr. G.T. Walker, PRS, Head of the Meteorological Department, and formerly Fellow snd Mathe- iatical Lecturer of Trinity College, Cambridge, visited Madras for some ‘ollieial puxpose some time in 1919; and Sir Francia Spring, K.O.LE., tha Chairman of the Madms Port Authocisy, called bis attention to Ramanajan’s work. Dr. Walker wae fur too good s mathematician aot to recognise its quality, little aa it had in commen with hisown. He brought Ramanujan’s case to the notice of the Government and the University of Madras, A rexearch sbudontship, “ Ro, 75 par ntenaom for o poried of two yeara”, was awarded him; and heteenme, and remained for the rest of his life, a pro- fessional mathematician. ‘Ouzvane NoricKs T + Ramanujan wrote to me first on Januney 16th, 1918, and at fairly vegular intervals until ho sailed for England in 1914. I do not bolieve ‘that his letters were entirely his own. Tis knowledge of English, at that stage of his life, could senresly hve boon suliciont, and thoro is am occasional phrase which is burly characteristic. Indeed I seem to re- member his telling me thet his friends had given him some assistance. However, it was the mathematies that mattered, amd that was very emphatically his. Madras, 16th January 1918 “Dear Sir I beg to introduse myself to you as a clerk in the Asconnts Department of the Porl Trust Office ab Madras on a salary of only £20 per annum. I um new abous 28 yeara of age. I have had no university edueation bat 1 have undergone the ordinary echoo! courso. After leaving school 1 have been employing the spare time at my dispose) to work at Mathematics. T have not trodden through the conventional tegular course which is followed in # university course, but I am striking out a uew path for mysel J buve made 4 special investigation of diver- gent series in general and the results I get are termed by the local mathe- maticians as ‘startling ' Just as in elementary mathematics you give u meaning to a" when » is negative and Fractional to eontorm to the law which holds when nis & positive integer, similarly the whole of my investigations proceed on giving a meaning to Fulerian Second Integral for all values of n, My frionds who have gone through the regular coarse of university education ‘ell ine that [srtetas T(n) is true only when x is positive. ‘They say that this intogral relation is not true when x is negative. Supposing this is true only tor positive values of n and also supposing the definition al) =I+) to be universally tru, I heve given meanings to these jintegrals and under the conditions I'state the intagral is trne for all valuos ‘of w negative and fractional. My whole investigntions are based upon this cond I havo boon doveloping this to a remarkable extent so much so that the local mathematicians are not able to understand me in my bighor fights. ~ Very revontly.I came cross tract published by yon styled Orders of Infinity in paga 86 of which 1 find a statomont that no definite ex- pression bas been as yet found for the no of prime nos less than anyRES Samrvasa Rawanvsans xiii siven number. I have found an exgression which very nearly approximates to the real result, the error being negligible. I would request you to go Shrough the enclosed papers. Being poor, if yon ate convinced thut there ie anything of value I would like to have my theorems published. I have nob given the sctusl investigations nor the expressions tat I got but I have indicated to the lines on which I proceed. Being inexperieneed wonld very highly value any advies you giva me. Requesting to. be excused forthe trouble I give you. Tremain Dear sir Yours truly S. Ramennjan P.S. My addregs is 8, Ramanujan, Clerk Accounts Department, Port ‘Trnat, Madras, India.” T qnote now from the papara enclosed,” and from later letters :— “In page 36 it is stabed that ‘the uo of prime nos less than fetow where the precise order of plz) has not bean deter- mined...” T havo obsorved that (eM) ia of euch a nature that its valuo is very small when = lise between 0 and 3 (ite valne is less than w few hundreds when = 8) and rapidly increases when < is greater than 3... . Ths difference between the no of prime nos of the form 4n—1 and which are less than x and those of the form 4-1 less than 2 is infinite when 2 becomes infi The following are a f ‘wis less 6 aie Jog (2n) log (Sz) (1) The nos of the form 98 less tha: eT hes whee pand q may bave any positive integral value including 0. (@ Let us take all nos containing an old no of dissimilar prime divisors vis. 2, 8, 5, 7, 11, 18, 17, 19, 23, 29, 3O, 31, 37, 41, 42, 43, 47 de (@) The no of such nos less than » = 35, examples from my theorems -— Ot ht atest bt bt... 15 1 L zy SD © gt yt yt petealiy Ourvany NoTioms (®) Lot us take tho no of divisors of natural nos viz. 1, 2, 2, 8,9, 4, 4, 2 &e (1 having 1 divisor, 2 having 2, 8 having 2, 4 having 9, 6 having 2, &e), ‘The sum of such nos to 1 terms n(2y—1-Flog n)-42 of the no of divisors of » where y = 8772156649 .... the Eulerina Constant, G) 1,2,4,5,8, 9,10, 19, 16, 17, 18 Ge are nos which are either thamgelves agq. or which can be expressed as the sum of two sqq. ‘Whe no of snc nos greater thon 4 nind leas than 2 =f) ter whore K=“T64. and 0(2) is very small when compared with the provions integral, and ie) have Leen exnetly found though complicated. . Ramannjan's theory ot primes was vitiated by his iguoranes of the theory of functions of » complex varinble. Tt was (so to say) what the theory might he if the Zeia-fanetion had no complex zeros. Hits methods of proof depended upon a vholesale use of divergent series. He disre, garded entirely all the difficulties which are involved in the interchange. of double limit operations : he did not distinguish, for example, botween ‘the eum of a series Xa, and the value of the Abelian limit Tim Eaq2%, or that of any other limit which might bo used for similor purposos by « modern analyst. ‘There are cegions of mathematics in which the precepts of modern rigour may be disregarded with omparstive safety, but the Analytic ‘Theory of Numbers is not one of them, and Ramanujan’s Tndian work on primes, aad on all the alliod problems of the theoty. was definiiely wrong. * ‘That his proofs should have been invalid was ouly to be expected. Bui the mistakes wont deeper than thst, and many of the actual results were * falc. Ho bad cbtained the dominant torms of tho classical formule, although by invalid methods ; ‘but mone of thom are such close approxima. tions as he supposed. : ‘This may be maid to heve been Ramanvjan's one great failure. And yor Tam not enre that, in some ways, his failure was not mora wondertal Yon any of his iriumphs. Consider, for example, problem (4). The dominant term, which Ramanujan gives correctly, was rst obtained by ‘This should prosumably be #(2).Srmmyasa Buscanvsan, ae ‘Landau in 1908. The correct order ct the error tarm is still wikoown. Ramanujan had none of Lardan's weapons at his eommand ; he had never seen French or German book ; his knowiedgo oven of English was in- sufficient to enable him to qualify for s degree, Is is sufficiently mar vellous that he should have even dream: of problems sueh 08 those, problems which it has taken the finest mathematicians in Europe a hundred years to solve, and of which the solution in incomplata in the present day. *.., TV, Theorems on integrals. The following aro a fow examples Gp) 46) — wiser mea a SHE BVI. aye - ae _ * ae ‘i TFA FFA TED. be — Trp PEP OPES where 1, 8, 6, 10 de are sume of natural noe, jf? in Ine as i Bleoah wa-+-008 ==)alvi ‘Oprrvany NoTICRS .-V. Theorems on summation of seriaa ;* eg. ® 1 1. 11 wd. d+k Bt et pe the = 4 log 2 75 log a+ (Jet go + ge +4*)- -9i2) 149.1. @) 1=5.4%+9. ee o+es ., coth a yh Dar ar I (sy ths 4 cotter 4 gotten = JOR «@ — Veosh = \L. ‘Theorems on transformation of series and Integral, ¢.9. i iy Tye o> G- aaa eee eet®) 1 =h- 2\6 atl ot aleet @l eerie alli =U4+an ‘ther ia always more in one of Ramaaiyjan's oramulae than meets the oye, as atyons whi ste to work to yell) thove wich’ Took the oaslest wil soon discover, In sume the intereeh Ties very devp, in others comparstively iar the surface ; but thece ix not one which is not ccoricas und entertaining,Sanavaga: Rasrantirax. xii @) It mis any positive integer oxelading 0 is * ® {By ae apt ra = a Tt where By= }, 2, =o, b= ‘VIL. Theorems on approximate integration and summation of series, wl og +t + a where & lies votween Band 3 o4(g) +O) +f) t= Bak = ae Gare where @ vanishes when x= @. ‘ ow) : pote 1 a. 1 £ 2 Za sb (tart get )-a ro tino # zt + yaieioo + egerape t8° when = in small (Note many be given valaes trom 0 to 2), 4 1 8 ot ‘. © soci + Toon + Tom + Toor + TooR +“ 4 _19-M"x¢10125 neatly. i000 vee 2.38 3. A T Wt+ e+lot atti tee. © f etde= (@) The coefiicient of x in ee bry) = the nearest integer to 2, { cosnimy/a)— Sabie} | This i quite wutras, But ¢he formula ie extremely Lierentig for 9 variety of esaocn,ahiii Omzcanr xortors IX. Theorems on continued tmaetions, a few exarnples ara = rear cre 4 22 2 2 w+ B+ Be + Be + Bet bo a . : wo ge ae "=T4 7474 T+ 1 +60 a area = TST ETH T+ 1 the ef et — Bi +: a Tp aba pt 27 Fobruary 1918 T have found a friend in you who views my Tabours aympatheti- cally. This is lready some encouragement to me to proceed... I find in many «place in your lettor rigorous proofs are required and you ask me to communicate the methods of proof... I told him™ that the sum of an infinite no of terms of the series 14249444... =—yy under my theory. If | tell you this yon will at onee point out to me the lunatic aaylum as my goal... What I tell you is this. Verify the results 7 give ond if they agroo with your results .. . you should at least grant that thare may be some truths in my fundamental basis. ‘To preserve my brains I want food and this is now my first considers- tion," Any aympathatic letter from you will be holpful to mo here to got a echolarship either from the University ar from Government. . adr 4 Referring to m previous ooecorpoadanee.Sandmas. Raawczay. slit 2, The no of prime nos, less than n= aia 4 (log) +R) +a, aaled ae swings 39— hy Bi= gy tho ernoiliien moe, For practical calculations We [eel Si wee" Gaga t togar tt thea) _ 4 ma where @= 4-84 ob te a . wa 8 sj —AQ—8) ces dae = 5 hate where 3 logn. The onder of A(z) which you acked in your lettor is (ge) 22 Tere show {EET ge Tare! (MEP zea with the conditions a = =... wit ra = wv 1 “LTT 4+ 1 tote ue vst The above thcorem is» particular ense of a theorem on the e.t. A St a cea ae ae . THIS TAT HT HT toe which is a particular easo of the ef las a ast T+ LF be+ TF tet Toa + be whieh is a particular ease of a general theorem on c.f, A ge ee ee wil eet Tr Tete re T+he = ~ glee trpres = # ial "a= |, coo T+1T+S+1+ 6+ 1+ 7 +0 : 1-5. (4) +9. (41 + Osrrvaky Nortons + Lo+ 1 +ée. “)- Abpeetet bees te Tat pe + a"$ ke = (ipbteteteite)' = ipa pape pat + oe, peso Bie+1) “Seen votn ceri) te thon Fla 27. Brey at B81. . Bee rede A Pate a ; Te pl Gem A X Fie, 8-8, é-be—~a—B—y, d—a—BHL, é+e—a—P). tn eam? al? Tea tien + bbe Feat 22 | a 14) Tf Plo, A) =p ARTE St Btth LBtth ‘then Fla, 6) =F (6,0). as) It Plo, ==, & ot Pe as then Fa DAP, @) = 2F |KotB), va8)} 2 . an it Fv =1+($) a(t 4... and FU = 10),Briavasa Raxaxuaan, i then & = (2-18 — V3) (VT — vB —BYTF/10— 8 (4— 9/16)" (15/148 (685), se P= oaaatnaar!\. gata a an FC) = 3F(6) = bP) = FO, then i. [(ad)!-+ {ad —4)) '][Ay+ |\A-Md—y P= 1 ¥. (@By'+4a—a1—A—y\—9}* . + {164876 1 —ay(1—AL— yA) |* «ay it F(a) = 8F8) = 18F() = 89F GH or Fla) = 5F(@) = FG) = SFO or Fl) =TR) = IG) = 8H) dew AAA} (ud At {add =o) | Hat Tas) UF ~ TF TAO) yl 8) pepe eVV per)... gon uemine sg! | (ROTH INV) 4 1 (S6L+I99VS: aencemen cy OEE + ES) VV ER VC) VE) xU0FayID x gea6-+15v9) x Af (CATES AS) 17 April 1918. “Tam a little pained to see what you have written,...* Iam not in the least apprehensive of my method being utilized by others. On the conirary my method has been in my possession for tho last eight years and J have not found anyone to apprecinte the method, As T wrote jin my last letter T have found a sympathetic friond in you and I am willing to place unreservedly in your hands whnt little [ hove. It was om + Rammanjen might very rewonahly have been relactant fo give away bis storets £9 a ‘Finglish stathomalician, snd hd bred te xomsnre him on this point as well ws T coal, 0. 2, Yom 19) 2 auii Omeuary Noricrs seoount of the novelty of the method T have used that Tom a little difli- dont evon now to communicate my own way of arriving ab the expressions I bavo already given, .. «Tt glad to inform yon that the local University has besa pleased to giant me a scholarship of £260 par annum for two years and thin wns at the instance of Dr. Walker, F-R.S., Tead of the Meveorologieal Depari- ment in India, to whom my thanks are dae. . . . 1 request you to convey iny thanks also so Mr. Litilewood, Dr Barnes, Me, Berry and others who take nn interest in me...” mm. Tt is unnecessary to ropeat the story of how Ramanujan wae brought fo Dingland, ‘There wore eovious diffcnltios ; and the erodit for over- coming them is dus primarily to Prof, B, H. Nevilla, in whose company Ramanujan orrived in April 1914. He had a scholarship from Madras of £250, of which £60 wns allotced to the support of his family in India, and an exhibition of £60 irom Trinity. For a mau of his almost ludi- anusly simple tastes, this was an ample income; and lie was nble to snve a good deal of money whieh was badly wanted later. He bad no duties and could do as he pleased ; he wished indeed to qualify for a Cambridge degree ws e research student, but this was « formal He was now, for the first time in his life, in a really comfortable position, and could devote himself to his researches without anxiaty. Thera was one great puzzle, What was to be done in the way of teaching him modern mathematios? ‘Tha limitations of his knowledge vere as startling as ils profundity. Hero was a man who could werk out modular equations, and theorems of complex multiplication, to orders un- heard of, whose mastery of continued fractions was, on the formal ride at any rate, beyond that of any mathomstisian in the world, who had found for himself the fanetional equation of the Zeta-function, and the dominant terms of mony of the most famous problems in the analytic, iheory of numbers; sud he had never heard of a doubly periodic funetion or of Cauchy's theorem, ‘and had indeed but the vaguest idea of what e fanetion ofa complet variable was. His ideas as to what constituted » mathe- taatieal proof were of the most shadowy description, All his results, now of old, right or wrong, had been arrived at by a process of mingled ergumoent, intuition, snd induction, of which he was entirely anable to give any coherent account, Ts was.impopetble to, ask such s mam fo eubmit to systomatic instruc- tion, to try to learn mathematics from the beginning ones mora, I wiSwneryasa, Rancanvsan lilt sfraid too that, if T insisted unduly oa matters which Ramanujan found irksome, I might dostroy his confidanee.or braak the spell of his ing tion. On the other bond thero wore things of which it was impossible that ha shoald remain in ignorance. Some of his results ware wrong, and in partieulac-those which eoncerned the distribution of primes, to which tho atwebed the greatest importanee. Té was impossible to allow him to go through life supposing that all the zeros of the Zeta-tunction were reel. So I had to try to tench him, and in u measure TE sueveeied, though ob- viously I learnt from him mach more than he learnt from me. In a few years’ time he had a very tolorable knowledge of the thecry of functions ‘and the analytic theory of uambers. He was nover a mathematician of the modem school, snd it was hacdly Gesicable that he shorld become one; bat be kmew when ke hed proved a theorem and whea he hed aot, And hie flow of original ideaw showed no symptom of abatement. T chould add a word here abot Ramanujan’s intarasts outside mathe matics, Like his mathematies, they showwad the strangest contrasts. He had very listle intecost, I should esy, im literature us auch, or in aut, though be could ‘ell good literature from bad. On the othor band, he ‘was a Koon philoscpher, of whst appeared, to followers of the modern Cambridge school, a rather nebulous kind, and an ardent politician, of a pocifist and ultra-tadieal type. He adhered, with a severity most unusual in Indians resident im England, to the religious obssrvances of his caste ; but his religion wos w matter of observance and not of iutellestual convio- tion, and I remember well his tolling mo (much to my surprise) that oll religions seemed ta him more or loss oqually true. Alike in literazure, philosophy, and mathematics, he bad a passiom for what was unexpected, strange, and odd; be had quite s small library of books by oirslo-squarors and otber cranks. =, Tt was in the spring of 1917 that Ramanujan frat appeared to be un- woll, Ho wont into the Narsing Home at Cambridge in theearly summer, and was never out of bed for any length of time aguin. Ho was in sana- toria at Wells, ab Matlock, and in Londen, and it was not until the sutumn of 1918 that he showed suy decided symptom o Ho bud shen resumed activa work, stimulated perhaps by his election to the Royal Society, and some of his most besuliful theorems were discovered about this time. His oleetion to a Trinity Fellowship was « further encourage- ‘ment; and pach of those fumous sovieties may well congratulate them- solvoe that they recognised his claims before it was too iste. Baily in 1919 he had recovered, it seemed, culieiently for the voyage home to India, snd the best modical opinion held out hopes of © permanent ‘restoration, [was rather alarmed by not bearing from him for a con-liv Onrruany Noricke siderable time ; bata Iotter reached me in Fobruary 1080, from whieh it appeared that he was still aetive ia resexreb, University of Madras i 12th January 1920 am oxtremely sorry for not writing you e single Ietter up to now. T discovered very interesting functions recently whieh I eall * Mock’ Sctanetions, Unlike the ‘False* S-funetions (studied partially by Prot. Rogers in his interesting paper) thay enter into mathematics as beautifully as the ordinary S-functions. T om sonding you with this letter come oxamplos. . .. "Mock S:funstions oor tiem t 10-5 tao tat Mock S.fonetions (of 5th order) Site c e (VT tape trae Oot Mock: &-funetions (of Tth order) an 4 ® i+ ata as ti aaa ‘Ho suid liitle about his health, and what he said was not particularly discouraging ; and I was quite unprepared for the news of his death. wv. Ramanojan published the following papers in Europe — i aes es bn, Mn: f Mani LA i pak ‘Some didnita integrals eonnooiad with Gauaa’e mame" bid, pp. 75-86. (a) “Sloat spanned penance 7°, Garter dea ad Ve. 43 (2014), pp. 850-872, (4) “New expressions for Riemann’s funotions ¢(0) and (6 pp. 283-261 (©) “On certain inne seiet”. Messenger of Mothematies, Vol, 45 1916), pp. 1-16, (6) **Sommation of s certain seriou”, cbid, pp. 157-160. (7) “ Highly composite numbers”, ‘Prec. Londen Mail, Goin, Ser. 9, Vol, 14 (4946) ps HF-409, find,, Vol. 46 (1916)Snivivaga Ranawuzan. wv (©) "Bote formele Ja the azalytle thoory of numbers", Mesamnger of Moehonstics, Vol, 45 (1006), pp. L-8t (9 “Cn ceriain arithmetiosl functions", Trans, Camlricige Phil, Soo,, Vol. 191016), No.9, pp. 160-134, (10) “Some seriot for Buler’s constant pp. TE-80, 119) Gu the expression of aumbers in tho form az" by? west 4dt"', Pree, Cambridge Phil. Soe., Vol. 19 (1017), pp. 11-21. *(19) "Une formule aeyraptotique pour lo nombre dos partitions de 1”, Complee anchus, 3 Jan, 1917. - (10) “ Anymptotic formule concerning the distribution of intagors of various types", Proc. anadam Math, Soc, Ser. 2, Vol. 16 (3927), pp. 112-192. ‘*(14) *-The normal number of prime factors of a number n!", Quarterly Journal of Maiko: ‘matics, Vol. 45 (1017), pp. 6-89. “(15 “asympiotle formelm in Combinatory Analysis, Proc. Londow Maul, Soc., Ber. 2, Vol. 17 (19:8), pp. 75-118. (16) “0n the ocettcients In the expansionsofcertatn modular tunotions’", Proc, Roy. Gee., A), Vol. 9 (1918), pp, 144-185, 11) "On ceriain teigonometrieal sums and taeir applications in the theory of numbers” Trans. Carb. Phil. Soc., Vol. 28 (1913), pp, 240-276. (16) "Some properties ef p(n), the number of purtitions of 2", Prac. Carb. Phi. Soc., ‘ol, 49 (1919), pp, 207-210, (19) " Proo! of certain Mdentilies in Combinatory Analysie, ibd., pp. 14-216. [20 "A class of definite Integrals ", Quarterly Journal of Mathematics, Vol. 48 (1920), pp: 204-800 (41) Gangraanes propectios of partitious ", Mada, Zeitsclrifi, Vol. 9/1921), pp. 147-168. Messager of Matkenaies, Vol. 46 (1916), Of shese thove marked with an asterisk were written in collaboration with me, and (21) is a possbumous extract from » much larger unpublished manuscript in my possesaion.t He also publisbed a number of short oles in tha Records of Proceedings at our meetings, and in the Journal of the bution Mathematical Society. ‘Tha complate list of these is ux follows : Records of Proceedings wl Meotings. (99) \ Beool that almost all sumbere 1 ars compeosd of about loglogy prime factors", WDes. 198. (23) “ Asympiotie lormubw Jn Combinatory Avalysin", 1 Macel, 4917 (24) Some definite intagras' ‘Congrasnee properties of parsitious", 19 March, 1919, Algebesis relations between cortain infinite peodncte Journal of the Tnddan Mathematical Society. (A) Artiolos aad Notes, (27) Scme properties o! Barsoulli's numbers, Vol. 3 (1911), pp. 219-236, U8) Ua Q, $40 of Pref, Saajand ", You. 4 (013), pp. 20-01, (G9) Aat of oqaations"*, Vol. 4 QUL2), pp. 34-26. } Allof Ramanojen's manuscripie passed through my hands, and T odited them very ceretully fox publication. The earlier ones T rewrote osmpletaly. Thad no share of any kind in the results, oxeeps af course when L was actually a collakorater, or whea explicit acknow- edgment ie siade, Ramanejan was almost absurdly aoruptlons in his desire to acknowledge the slightest help.Wi Omran xoniems (80) “Trroguler numbers", Vel, § (1918), pp. 105-107, (31) “ Squaring the elrolo"”, Vol.f (2918), pp. 182-138. (2) © Om hm integra” see ban $F", Vol. (1925), pp. 99-96, (88) * On the divisors of w mumiber ', Vol. 7 (1928), pp. 192-184, (0) “The som of the sqmare roots of the frst wv mnural numbers", Vol. 7 (1916), pp. 113-178. (ab) “On she pradact +[e Foy)": Yo #0918). pp, sooeana. o* aaaay (98) Sema definite intogenta ", Vol. 14 (2010), pp. 81-88, (31) “4 proof of Barteand’'s postulate, Vol. 1 (119), rp. 181-183. (33) (Gommenicared by 8, Narsyann Ajyar), Vol. 9 (1911), p. 60. (5) Questions proposed and volved. es, 200, 251, 980, 260, 294, 298, 298, 008, 999, 903, 966, 427, (41, 404, 489, 007, O81, 546, S71, 605, 696, 689, 642, 688, €99, 700, 782, TDL, 780, 740, 788, 163, 76H, 788, 7A: (6) Queetiaus propored but not eolved ae yol. Neos. 254, 327, 269, 897, 141, 468, 400, 894, 595, 595, #84, 681, 862, 681, 690, 722, Fa6, TOI, TTO, 764, 1049, 1070, nnd 1076, Finally, I mey mention the following writings by other authors, con- cerned with Ramanujan’s work, “Proof of a formla of Mr. Ramanujan ', by G. HL, Handy (deatonger of Matlienatict, Vol 44, 1915, pp. 18-11). " Mr, &. Ramnannjan's mathematical week in England”, Univomsily of Madras, 1918, privately printed) “On Mc, Bamanujan's empirical expansiows of midalar factions”, by L, J. Mendel (Prec. Cau. Phil Ses, Val. 19, 1997, pp. 14-124), Life sketeh of Ramanujac "(editorial i ths Journat of the Jnudion Mlath. Soe, Vol, LL, 1019, v. 129). “Note om the parity of the umber whieh onamornics the pactitions af x nomber”, by P. A. MucMaton (Pros, Cah, Phil Soc, Vol. 20, 1921, pp. 281-233) “ Proof of sertain identities and congraeees entrnsiniad hy 8. Ramanujen", by HB. G, acting (Prac. Loncion Math. Soc., Ser. 1, Yol. 19, 1931, pp. 390-97), On a type of modular relation", by L 3. Bogors (ibid, pp. 887-207), by GL Hardy (Report to she Ibis plainly impossible for mo, within tho limits of @ notice such as this, to attompt a reasoned estimate of Romanujon's work. Some of it is very intimaicly connected with my own, and my verdist could not be impartial ; there is much too that I am hardly competent to judge; und there is muss of unpublished material, in part new and in part antioi- pated, in part proved and in part only conjectured, thab still awaits aualysis, But it may be useful if T state, shortly and dogmatically, what seams (o me Ramanujan's Onest, most independant, and most charsctar- istie work. His most remarkable papers appear to mo’ to be (8), (1), (9), (17), (8), (18), and (21). The first of these is mainly Indian work, done before he come to England; and much of it had bean anticipated. But there isSmrvrvisa RAMANTIAN. Wii auch that is now, and.in particular 8 very romarkabla series of algebraic approximations tor. T may mention only the formule = 63 114156 1 10a» "= 35 Tayi’ Ies2— OF ‘correst to 9 and 8 places of decimals respectively. The long memoir (7) roprosenta work, perhaps, in a backwater of ‘mathematics, and is somewhat overloaded with detail; but the slementary analysis of “highly composits " numbers—noumbers Which have more divisor thon any precoding number—is exesedingly remarkable, and shows vory clearly Ramanojan’s extraordinary mastery over the algohra ‘of inequalities, Papers (9) and (17) should be rosd together, and in con- action with Mr. Mordell’s paper mentioned above; for Mr. Mordell-after- wnrils proved a great deal that Ramanajaa conjectured, ‘They contain, in partienlar, excoedingly remarkable eontributions to the theory of the spresentation of nambers by sums of squares. But Lam inclined to think that it waa in the theory of partitions, and the allied parts of the theories of elliptic fanetions and enntinued fractions, that Ramanujan shows ab his very best, [y is in popers (18), (19), and (21), and in the papers of Prof. Rogers and Mr. Darling that T have quoted, thst this side of hie work (co far as it has been published) is to be found. It would be diffiealt to find more beantiful formule than the ‘* Rogers-Itamenujan "* identities, proved in (19); but here Ramanajan must take socond place to Prof. Rogers ; and, if L had to select one formola from ll Ramannjan's work, I would agree with Major MacMahon in selecting a formula from (18), viz. p@)ta@z+pas e+. where p(a) is the number of partitions of 1. Thave offen: heen asked whether Ramannjan had ang spacial seeret ; whether his methoda differod in kind from those of other mushematicians ; whether thor was anything really abuormal in his mode of thought. 1 cannot answer these questions with any confidenes or conviction; Lut T do not beliave it. My boliof is that all mathematicians think, at hottom, in the same kind of way, and that Ramannjan was no exception, He had, of oourss, an extraordinary memary. He could remember the idia- synerasies of numbers in an almost uncanay woy. It was Mr. Listlewood (i believe) who remacked that “‘ svory positive integer was one of his por- sonal friends.” I remember once going to see him whon he wns Lying ill at Puiney. Thad ridden in taxi-cab No. 1720, and remarked that the nam- ber (7.18.19) seemed to ms tather a dull ono, and that I hoped it was not an unfavourable omen, “No,” be replied, " it is m vary interesting 291-249...) ia..." "viii Oneuany xortcee number; it is tho smallest numbor‘expressible as a sum of two cubes in two difforent ways.” T asked him, noturally, whether he knew the answer to the corresponding problem for fourth powers; and he replied, ‘flor n moment's thought, that he could see no obvious example, and thonght that the firss such number must be very large. Hin memory, and bis powers of calculation, were very unusual, bnt they could ‘not rensonably be called “abnormal”, If he had to multiply two large numbers, be mnitfplied them in the ordinary way; he would do it with unusual vapidity and acoursey, bot not more rapidly or more zecurately than any mathematician who ix naturally quiok and line tho kebit of com. putation. ‘There is a table of partitions at the end of our paper (15). ‘This was, for the most part, calculated independently by Ramanujan and Major MacMahon; and Major MacMahon was, in general, slightly the quicker and more aceurate of the two. It was his insight into algebraical formule, transformations of infinite series, and 60 forth, that wes niost amazing, On this sida most certainly Thave never met bis equal, and [ can compare bim only with Euler or Jacobi, He worked, far move than the majority of modera mathematicians, ‘oy indaction from nomerieal examples; all of bis congruencs properties ‘of partitions, for example, were discovered in this way, Bui with his memory, his patience, and his power of caleulation, he combined a power of genoralisation, a feeling fox form, and « eapocity for rapid modification of his hypothoses, that was ofton really startling, oud made bim, in his ‘own peculiar field, without a rival in hie day. If is often said that it is much more diffioult now for 4 mothemativian to be original than it was in the araat days when the fonndations of modem analysis were Inid ; aud no doubt inn measure it ir true. Opinions may Jiffor na to the importance of Ramannjan’s work, the kind of standard by whieh ib should be jadged, and the inflaonee whieh it is likely to have on the mathematies of the future. Ti has not the simplicizy and the inovit- abloness of the very greatest work; it would be graatar if ib were less airange, One gift is hav which no one can deny, profound and invincible originality. He would probably have been « greater mathematician if he had been caught and tamed a little in his youth; he would have discovered more that-was mew, and that, no doubt, of grenter importance. On the other hand be woald have bean loss of a Ramanujan, smd more of a ‘European professor, and the loss wight have heen greater than the gain. G. HH. # Biclor gave 54944 108! = 9604 614 ak nm oxtmple, Sec Sir T T, Honih's Dinlaame af Alecondria, p 880