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7:30 pm, Wednesday, November 8th, 2017
Fairmont Lounge, St. John's College
2111 Lower Mall, UBC
Why does Ramanujan,"The Man Who Knew Infinity", matter?
Ken Ono
Emory University
Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920), one of the most inspirational
figures in the history of mathematics, was a poor Brahmin from lush south
India who left behind three shabby notebooks that engineers,
mathematicians and physicists continue to mine today. His ideas came to
him as visions from a Hindu goddess. As a two-time college dropout, he
could have easily been lost to the world, a thought that scientists cannot
begin to absorb. I will present some of the studies of Ramanujan that are
most accessible to the general public, and share several clips from the
film "The Man Who Knew Infinity" (starring Dev Patel and Jeremy Irons)
about Ramanujan. I will also explain why Ramanujan matters today, in terms
of the Idea of Ramanujan: talent is often found in the most unpromising
circumstances. It must be located and then nurtured.
To learn more please visit his
webpage.
Note that Prof Ono was also an Associate Producer of the film "The Man
Who Knew Infinity"; further information about the film can be found at
its wikipedia
webpage.
Additional resources for this talk: video.
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