National Mathematics Day in India is celebrated on December 22. The date is significant, as it is the birthday of one of India's finest mathematicians, Srinivasa Ramanujan. Although he died tragically young in 1920 at the age of 32, Ramanujan made contributions to mathematics that were truly revolutionary. What's more, he did it all despite having no formal training in mathematics.
As a child Ramanujan clearly had a gift. He was self-studying university-level mathematics before he was even a teenager. At 17, he enrolled in a college but was unable to graduate because he spent all his time focusing on mathematics and none on his other subjects!
In desperate need of a job, Ramanujan sought out the founder of the Indian Mathematical Society, V. Ramaswamy Aiyer, who worked at a local tax office. Aiyer immediately recognized the young man's genius. Instead of giving Ramanujan a regular office job, Aiyer
introduced him to some important mathematicians. This eventually led to Ramanujan being offered a position at the University of Madras.
During his time at the university, Ramanujan began exchanging letters with the English mathematician G. H. Hardy at the University of Cambridge. Hardy invited Ramanujan to study at Cambridge, but Ramanujan refused, due to the objections of his parents. Apparently, though, soon after, Ramanujan's mother had a vivid dream in which a goddess commanded her not to stop her son following his destiny. Ramanujan was off to England.
Ramanujan spent five years in Cambridge, during which time he
contributed significantly to a huge range of mathematical fields. However, in 1919, Ramanujan was forced to return to India because of his worsening health due to tuberculosis and a severe vitamin deficiency. The following year, he passed away.
Ramanujan spent his final year producing exciting new mathematical
work even though he was severely ill. For many decades, this work was thought lost, but incredibly, Ramanujan's final papers were rediscovered in 1976. They consist of over six hundred mathematical formulas—a final gift from one of the greatest minds in modern mathematics.
印度會在12月22日慶祝國家數學日。此日期之所以重要，因為這是印度一位最出色的數學家斯里尼瓦瑟．拉馬努金的生日。儘管年僅32歲於1920年不幸英年早逝，他卻帶來顛覆數學界的貢獻。更厲害的是，他並未受過任何正式數學訓練卻能達成此番成就。
拉馬努金小時候就明顯擁有一項天賦，他還沒到青少年的年紀，就能自學大學程度的數學。他17歲就讀大學，卻無法畢業，因為他傾注所有時間專注於數學，對其他學科置之不理！
由於急需就業，拉馬努金尋求印度數學學會創辦人拉馬斯瓦米．艾耶的協助，當時艾耶任職於當地的稅務處。艾耶立刻就看出這位年輕人的天才頭腦。艾耶沒有給拉馬努金一般的辦公室職務，而是介紹他認識一些重要的數學家，終讓拉馬努金獲聘馬德拉斯大學的職位。
任職於該所大學期間，拉馬努金開始與劍橋大學的英國數學家G. H. 哈代書信往來。哈代邀請拉馬努金就讀劍橋，拉馬努金卻因父母的反對而婉拒。但是不久後，拉馬努金的母親做了一個生動的夢境，夢中有一位女神命令母親別阻擋兒子追隨命運。拉馬努金也就此動身前往英格蘭。
拉馬努金在劍橋待了五年，他在這段期間為數學的諸多領域帶來極大貢獻。然而，拉馬努金因為罹患肺結核和維生素缺乏，因而健康惡化，被迫於
1919年回到印度，隔年就離世了。
拉馬努金在世的最後一年，儘管身患重病，仍產出驚人的新數學研究。數十年來，大家以為此份研究已遺失，但不可思議的是，拉馬努金最後的論
文於1976年重見天日。論文裡包含超過六百則數學公式──這可說是現代數學界的最偉大的靈魂所遺留下來的最後禮物。
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