Hardy
occasionally let slip that I am an academic great-grandchild of G.H. Hardy, whose non-technical writings about mathematics, in particular A Mathematician’s Apology are often quoted in general discussions of the nature of mathematics. Here I give my personal thoughts related to four of these well known quotations. These
Hardy
Beauty is the first test: There is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics. — GH Hardy in A Mathematician’s Apology
Ramanujan
“I had never seen anything in the least like [it] before” — G.H. Hardy On or about the 31st of January 1913, mathematician G.H. Hardy (1877-1947) of Trinity College at Cambridge University received a parcel of papers from Madras, India. The package included a cover letter where a young
Ramanujan
On or about the 31st of January 1913, mathematician G.H. Hardy (1877-1947) of Trinity College at Cambridge University received a parcel of papers from Madras, India which included a cover letter from an aspiring young Indian mathematician by the name of Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920).
Hilbert
The Hardy space has three equivalent definitions. Each of them emphasizes a different aspect of the space and all three of these aspects…
Ramanujan
The two different ways 1729 is expressible as the sum of two cubes are 1³ + 12³ and 9³ + 10³. The number has since become known as the Hardy-Ramanujan number, the second so-called “taxicab number”