The question "Who is no. 1 in maths?" is subjective, as there is no single, universally agreed-upon "number one" mathematician. Greatness in mathematics is often measured by the impact and originality of one's contributions, and many mathematicians have made profound impacts in various fields. However, one mathematician often cited for his exceptional talent and contributions is Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920) was an Indian mathematician who, despite having almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions. His work continues to influence mathematics today.
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Contributions | Number theory, analysis, etc. |
| Awards | Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) 1918 |
| Institution | University of Cambridge |
Ramanujan's story is remarkable. He developed his mathematical ideas largely in isolation and communicated them to G.H. Hardy at the University of Cambridge. This led to Ramanujan traveling to England and working closely with Hardy, resulting in significant breakthroughs.
- Key Contributions: Ramanujan is famous for his work on partition functions, hypergeometric series, and mock theta functions.
- Intuition: His deep intuition and ability to see patterns in numbers were unparalleled.
- Legacy: He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1918, a testament to his extraordinary talent.
While Ramanujan is an exceptional figure, other mathematicians like Euclid, Archimedes, Isaac Newton, Leonhard Euler, Carl Friedrich Gauss, and many others also made invaluable contributions that shaped modern mathematics. The choice for "number one" ultimately depends on the criteria used for evaluation.
