|
| |
| People: The Idea of Ramanujan |
| |
| www.khabar.com |
| |
 Ken Ono’s life has been greatly impacted by Ramanujan, the great Indian mathematician of the early 20th century. (Photo, left: Source: Discover Magazine).
From the shadows of the past, a great Indian mathematician inspires a Japanese-American professor … and how this has contributed to the making of the recent Hollywood hit The Man Who Knew Infinity.
Growing up in the USA during the1950s was tough for Ken Ono, whose parents moved here soon after the end of World War II. America was unwelcoming of Japanese immigrants and Ken grew up isolated from the mainstream community around him. Life wasn’t easier at home either, thanks to his brilliant but sternly disciplinarian mathematician father and “tiger mom,” both of whom had determined little Ken’s life goal early on-to acquire a Ph.D. in mathematics from an Ivy League college. Forbidden from social and sports activities, Ken struggled for years to live up to his parents’ ambitions and even dropped out of high school. Later, he gained admission to the University of Chicago, but was less than enthused about academics. Eventually, Ono found his feet and grew to love mathematics, going on to become a professor in the subject. Traumatic childhood memories, though, continued to haunt him, leading once to a failed suicide attempt.
Amidst the choppy waters of Ono’s life, a late 19th century-born figure emerged as a mysterious source of inspiration-the great Indian math genius, Srinivasa Ramanujan. There were parallels in their lives that resonated in the young Japanese-American, desperately seeking a way out of his inner turmoil. Like Ono, Ramanujan did not have an easy childhood, albeit for different reasons. Ramanujan’s poverty stricken parents from Tamil Nadu could barely put him through school. Later, his single-minded devotion to math, to the exclusion of all other academics made him a misfit in the educational system. But there was no stopping the young prodigy. Stuggling through poverty, he continued his research, sent his work to leading mathematicians at Cambridge University, and finally was recognized by Professor G. H. Hardy, who invited him to England and nurtured Ramanujan’s genius. Ramanujan died young in 1920, a brilliant mind cut short by illness.
To the youthful-and very depressed-Ono, Ramanujan’s amazing but tragically brief career, his dropping out of college, and struggle for recognition was a deeply appealing story. Mystically, it seems, Ramanujan kept surfacing through Ono’s college years and a “bond” was formed, ultimately pushing Ono to develop a passion for mathematical research. |
| |
 Ono’s lifelong interest in his inspiration, Ramanujan, culminated in him being asked to become the “math advisor” and later the associate producer of the film, (left) The Man Who Knew Infinity.
Ono’s Ramanujan “connection” has taken him along other, unexpected paths as well. In recent times, the producers of the Ramanujan biopic The Man Who Knew Infinity turned to Ono as “math advisor” for the film; he eventually became an associate producer on the project. And now, there’s My Search for Ramanujan: How I Learned to Count-Ono’s new memoir, co-authored with his friend and popular science writer Amir Aczel who persuaded Ono to pen his life story (sadly, Aczel did not live to see the publication). |
| More>> |
| URL: http://www.khabar.com/magazine/features/people-the-idea-of-ramanujan |
|
|
| |
|
|
