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Start giftingThe Man Who Knew Infinity
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreIn 1913, a young, unschooled Indian clerk named Srinivasa Ramanujan wrote a letter to G. H. Hardy, begging that pre-eminent English mathematician's opinion on several ideas he had about numbers.
Hardy, realizing the letter was the work of a genius, arranged for Ramanujan to come to England. Thus began one of the most remarkable collaborations ever chronicled.
With a passion for rich and evocative detail, Robert Kanigel takes us from the temples and teeming slums of Madras to the courts and chapels of Cambridge University, where the devout Hindu Ramanujan, "the Prince of Intuition," tested his brilliant theories alongside the sophisticated and eccentric Hardy, "the Apostle of Proof.”
In time, Ramanujan's creative intensity took its toll: he died at the age of thirty-two but left behind a magical and inspired legacy that today is still being plumbed for its secrets.
Robert Kanigal, the author of nine books, has received numerous awards, including a Guggenheim fellowship, the Grady-Stack Award for science writing and, for his biography of Milman Parry, a Public Scholar grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. His book The Man Who Knew Infinity was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was the basis for the film of the same name starring Jeremy Irons and Dev Patel. For more information, visit www.robertkanigel.com.
Humphrey Bower, winner of multiple Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for best narration, is a writer, actor, and director. He earned his BA in English literature from Oxford University and has worked extensively in theater, and television. He was a founding member of the Melbourne collective Whistling in the Theatre and the Perth independent company Last Seen Imagining. He is the artistic director of Night Train Productions.
Reviews
“Ramanujan’s tale is the stuff of fable…an exquisite portrait…a compelling read.”
“A brilliant study of one of the most remarkable and enigmatic minds of the century.”
“One of the most romantic stories in the history of mathematics…superbly evocative…thoroughly captivating.”
“A masterpiece.”
“[A] moving and astonishing biography [and an] improbable story…Kanigel gives nontechnical readers the flavor of how Ramanujan arrived at his mathematical ideas, which are used today in cosmology and computer science.”
“This extremely well-researched and well-written biography is a ‘must’ addition to any library collection.”
“[A] brilliantly realized biography...Kanigel’s particular interest in how primitive superstition, India’s bureaucratic mind-set, English spiritual asceticism, and a Western war combined to destroy the miracle of Ramanujan’s genius adds deeper dimensions to the already fascinating story of a difficult but astoundingly fruitful cross-cultural collaboration.”
“Arithmetic equations in an audiobook? In Humphrey Bower’s eloquent reading…spoken numbers manage not to confuse…This is a classy production. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
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