2. Introduction

Srinivasa Ramanujan was born on \(22\) December \(1887\) in Erode, Tamil Nadu. During his time, Erode was part of the earlier Madras Presidency. He became a child prodigy at the age of \(11\). When his friends and classmates were learning basic mathematical functions such as addition and subtraction, Ramanujan was solving advanced topics such as trigonometry, which was prescribed only for higher classes and colleges. He was very interested in mathematics, that he did not concentrate on other subjects such as history or philosophy. He moved out of his home to quench his thirst in Mathematics and joined Pachaiyappas College, Madras. But he could not grasp all the other subjects and often failed in arts. But his performance in Mathematics was commendable and far too good for a student of his age.

 

Ramanujan has made several research papers at the University of Madras. He has also contributed to the number theory, infinite series etc. He is also famous for calling \(1729\) a magic number. According to him, 1729 is the smallest number, which can be expressed as the sum of two different cubes in two different ways. 1729 is the sum of the cubes of \(10\) and \(9\). Cube of \(10\) is \(1000\), and cube of 9 is 729. Adding 1000 and 729 gives the number 1729. It is infact called the Ramanujan number. Ramanujan is considered the best mathematician in the world for his contributions.