‘Ananthathai Arinthavan,’ the Tamil translation of Robert Kanigel’s biography on Srinivasa Ramanujan was released at The Institute of Mathematical Sciences on Saturday.
The book was authored by P. Vanchinathan, professor of mathematics, Vellore Institute of Technology.
Launching the book, N. Ram, chairman of Kasturi and Sons Ltd., said, “Hardy can claim a lot of credit for recognising the genius of Ramanujan and the great importance of his work,” he said.
“It is very hard to write a biography; I think it’s an art,” he said, adding he found the biography, fascinating and insightful.
Mr. Vanchinathan said Ramanujan was a very simple and unassuming person. “Hardy wanted to prove there was no God. He says, though Ramanujan followed some rituals, he was not quite religious. Kanigel, however, cites various instances from Ramanujan’s life that show he had faith in God.”
C.S. Seshadri, director-emeritus, Chennai Mathematical Institute, received the first copy of the book. M.A. Sikander, director of National Book Trust, and M.S. Raghunathan, head of National Centre for Mathematics, IIT-TIFR, also spoke at the event.
