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by Ken Ono (Author), Amir D. Aczel (Author)
Covering the life and enduring impact of the late mathematical prodigy Srinivasa Ramanujan and the influence he had on the life and career of Ken Ono, this book presents a powerful biographical diptych of two great mathematicians.
Ono was inspired to become a mathematician from the life and scientific quests of Ramanujan; Ramanujan's story guided Ono throughout his life, giving him hope when he needed it most. Although they never met, Ono believes a letter sent from Ramanujan's widow to his father, then a prominent Japanese mathematician, was a sign. This was the beginning of Ono's mission to carry on Ramanujan's legacy, and to develop Ramanujan's ideas within the context of modern mathematics.
Since then, Ono has spent his academic life trying to solve the mysteries that G.H. Hardy, one of the greatest English mathematicians of the 20th century, and others could not unravel: to find how Ramanujan came to his mathematical truths (which he claimed the Indian goddess Namagiri would tell him in dreams). In this way, Ono retraces the steps of Ramanujan's life throughout his career, drawing inspiration and strength for his own life from the travails and ultimate triumphs of his predecessor's brilliant, but tragically short, career.
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The son of a prominent Japanese mathematician who came to the United States after World War II, Ken Ono was raised on a diet of high expectations and little praise. Rebelling against his pressure-cooker of a life, Ken determined to drop out of high school to follow his own path. To obtain his father's approval, he invoked the biography of the famous Indian mathematical prodigy Srinivasa Ramanujan, whom his father revered, who had twice flunked out of college because of his single-minded devotion to mathematics.
Ono describes his rocky path through college and graduate school, interweaving Ramanujan's story with his own and telling how at key moments, he was inspired by Ramanujan and guided by mentors who encouraged him to pursue his interest in exploring Ramanujan's mathematical legacy.
Picking up where others left off, beginning with the great English mathematician G.H. Hardy, who brought Ramanujan to Cambridge in 1914, Ono has devoted his mathematical career to understanding how in his short life, Ramanujan was able to discover so many deep mathematical truths, which Ramanujan believed had been sent to him as visions from a Hindu goddess. And it was Ramanujan who was ultimately the source of reconciliation between Ono and his parents.
Ono's search for Ramanujan ranges over three continents and crosses paths with mathematicians whose lives span the globe and the entire twentieth century and beyond. Along the way, Ken made many fascinating discoveries. The most important and surprising one of all was his own humanity.
Author Biography
Ken Ono is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Mathematics at Emory University and a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. He has received many awards for his research in number theory, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Packard Fellowship, and a Sloan Fellowship. He was awarded a Presidential Career Award by Bill Clinton in a ceremony at the White House in 2000, and in 2005 he was named the National Science Foundation's Distinguished Teaching Scholar. Ono served as Associate Producer and Consultant for the forthcoming film on the life and work of Ramanujan, The Man Who Knew Infinity. Additionally, he serves as Editor-in-Chief for several journals, including Research in the Mathematical Sciences and Research in Number Theory, and he is an Editor of The Ramanujan Journal. He also serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Graduate Texts in Mathematics.
Amir D. Aczel is a bestselling author and historian of science. He received his PhD in Statistics from University of Oregon. Dr. Aczel was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2004, and he is currently a visiting researcher at Boston University's Center for the Philosophy & History of Science. He has written articles that have been published by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, and the Huffington Post.
