My Search for Ramanujan: How I Learned to Count by Ken Ono (PDF)

Description

The son of a prominent Japanese mathematician who came to the United States after World War II, Ken Ono was raised on a diet of high expectations and little praise. Rebelling against his pressure-cooker of a life, Ken determined to drop out of high school to follow his own path. To obtain his father’s approval, he invoked the biography of the famous Indian mathematical prodigy Srinivasa Ramanujan, whom his father revered, who had twice flunked out of college because of his single-minded devotion to mathematics.Ono describes his rocky path through college and graduate school, interweaving Ramanujan’s story with his own and telling how at key moments, he was inspired by Ramanujan and guided by mentors who encouraged him to pursue his interest in exploring Ramanujan’s mathematical legacy.Picking up where others left off, beginning with the great English mathematician G.H. Hardy, who brought Ramanujan to Cambridge in 1914, Ono has devoted his mathematical career to understanding how in his short life, Ramanujan was able to discover so many deep mathematical truths, which Ramanujan believed had been sent to him as visions from a Hindu goddess. And it was Ramanujan who was ultimately the source of reconciliation between Ono and his parents.Ono’s search for Ramanujan ranges over three continents and crosses paths with mathematicians whose lives span the globe and the entire twentieth century and beyond. Along the way, Ken made many fascinating discoveries. The most important and surprising one of all was his own humanity.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “My Search for Ramanujan,” is a combination memoir and biography by the mathematician Ken Ono, in collaboration with the late science writer Amir D. Aczel. …[this] book is divided in two. Half is a brief, lively biography of Ramanujan, and half is an autobiography. The bridge between the two is a letter that Mr. Ono’s father, Takashi, a mathematician at Johns Hopkins, received from Ramanujan’s widow in 1984. (She had been 10 when they married.) After Ramanujan’s death she had a hard time financially. Many years later some mathematicians organized a fund to provide for her needs and to put up a statue of him. Takashi had contributed, and this was a letter of thanks. Mr. Ono’s father showed it to him and told him the story of Ramanujan. The effect was probably not what he expected. It inspired Mr. Ono to drop out of school and leave his family. The rest of this part of the book deals with the development of Mr. Ono’s life and career. … Mr. Ono has had a fine career and has ended up as a professor of mathematics like his father. He has worked on some suggestions of Ramanujan’s and even made a pilgrimage to Ramanujan’s childhood home in India. …Father and son have now reconciled. As for Ramanujan, someone once said that genius is the capacity to do things easily that others can’t do at all. – Wall Street Journal”So in its frankness and courage, this book is less a mathematician’s memoir than a thought-provoking examination of what matters and what doesn’t.” – Live Mint”Ken Ono’s generosity and courage to share some of his inner most feelings and personal life with readers is admirable.”- Notices of the American Mathematical Society”Ono and Aczel have woven real-life incidents into a story that is engaging… The book will make a great turning point not only for young and aspiring mathematicians but also for others who have a voice in their heads telling them they are on the wrong road.”- The Hindu”We all have someone who inspires us and wants to make us better. Our hero might be a teacher, a family member, a historical figure, or a movie star. For Ken Ono it was Srinivasa Ramanujan. In My Search for Ramanujan, an intimate account of Ono’s life, we are taken on his journey from “tiger-child” to world-class mathematician….This book will have value for many people…It is particularly inspiring to see that even a child prodigy turned world-class mathematician had these dark moments and was able to surmount them, not through sheer force of will but thanks to the support of some good people.” – Focus”Ken [Ono] grew up as an immigrant in America, an introverted kid under great pressure to excel, which almost destroyed his self-esteem and confidence. He was ready to quit everything. It was a chance encounter with Ramanujan, his work and life, that inspired Ken and developed a deep and abiding love for mathematics. It was Ramanujan who ultimately caused the reconciliation between Ken and his parents. Ken Ono has written an outstanding book, which is like his pilgrimage (both literal and metaphorical) called “My Search for Ramanujan”. That a gem such as Ramanujan could emerge from utter poverty, against untold hardships and hostility, and from an education system that almost discarded him, was largely self-taught and became a mathematical giant, is an inspiration not only to Ken Ono but to all of us.”- Mumbai Mirror”Ono interweaves Ramanujan’s life and work with his own fight to become a mathematician — including a suicide attempt — in the shadow of his distinguished mathematician father, Takashi Ono. After years of estrangement, the Onos realized that they were united by admiration and affection for the university drop-out Ramanujan. Here is yet another example of how this enigmatic Indian’s unique achievements continue to reverberate nearly a century after his death.” – Nature”Ken Ono is a number theorist who tells here the story of Ramanujan and discovers many parallels between Ramanujan’s obsession for mathematics and Hardy’s efforts that brought Ramanujan to the center of the mathematical community of his time and similar incidents in his own life and the life of his parents….The book is based on a true story but it reads like a script for an American movie with a happy ending.” – European Mathematical Society”Young readers searching for meaning in life and mathematics will be reinvigorated by Ono’s story.” – American Mathematical Society From the Back Cover “The son of a prominent Japanese mathematician who came to the United States after World War II, Ken Ono was raised on a diet of high expectations and little praise. Rebelling against his pressure-cooker of a life, Ken determined to drop out of high school to follow his own path. To obtain his father’s approval, he invoked the biography of the famous Indian mathematical prodigy Srinivasa Ramanujan, whom his father revered, who had twice flunked out of college because of his single-minded devotion to mathematics.Ono describes his rocky path through college and graduate school, interweaving Ramanujan’s story with his own and telling how at key moments, he was inspired by Ramanujan and guided by mentors who encouraged him to pursue his interest in exploring Ramanujan’s mathematical legacy.Picking up where others left off, beginning with the great English mathematician G.H. Hardy, who brought Ramanujan to Cambridge in 1914, Ono has devoted his mathematical career to understanding how in his short life, Ramanujan was able to discover so many deep mathematical truths, which Ramanujan believed had been sent to him as visions from a Hindu goddess. And it was Ramanujan who was ultimately the source of reconciliation between Ono and his parents.Ono’s search for Ramanujan ranges over three continents and crosses paths with mathematicians whose lives span the globe and the entire twentieth century and beyond. Along the way, Ken made many fascinating discoveries. The most important and surprising one of all was his own humanity.” About the Author Ken Ono is the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Mathematics at Emory University and a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. He has received many awards for his research in number theory, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Packard Fellowship, and a Sloan Fellowship. He was awarded a Presidential Career Award by Bill Clinton in a ceremony at the White House in 2000, and in 2005 he was named the National Science Foundation’s Distinguished Teaching Scholar. Ono served as Associate Producer and Consultant for the forthcoming film on the life and work of Ramanujan, The Man Who Knew Infinity. Additionally, he serves as Editor-in-Chief for several journals, including Research in the Mathematical Sciences and Research in Number Theory, and he is an Editor of The Ramanujan Journal. He also serves as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Graduate Texts in Mathematics.Amir D. Aczel is a bestselling author and historian of science. He received his PhD in Statistics from University of Oregon. Dr. Aczel was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2004, and he is currently a visiting researcher at Boston University’s Center for the Philosophy & History of Science. He has written articles that have been published by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Jerusalem Post, and the Huffington Post. Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The most relatable and informative books I’ve ever read. Having been a tiger cub myself, I appreciated the honesty about his life and the struggles about his identity. The writing is forceful, beautiful and compelling.As a student of Dr. Ono’s, I have worked with him personally for 3 years. He expects a lot from his students around him, but is always finiding ways to make them better. Although intimidating at first, Ono is one of the most effective professors I’ve ever had and is someone who truly tries to get to know every one of his students individually. He is someone that has found his true purpose. His commitment to mentoring not only math students, but also students of engineering and commerce that cross paths with him will always be an inspiration to me.

⭐In his courageous and fascinating memoir, Ken Ono elegantly traces three lives moving in odd synchronicity through time and space: his own, his father’s, and famous Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. The thread that ties them together is a prodigious talent for mathematics that only begins to flourish under the mentorship of an established authority.Ramanujan’s case is archetypal. His solitary mathematical development in India and his eventual collaborations with Cambridge mathematician G. H. Hardy are the stuff of myth. Ono’s story is just as compelling but much more accessible because he is willing to share his painful struggles as a kid of immigrant Japanese “tiger parents”, his uncertainties about his life’s path, and his own eventual flourishing as a creative mathematician and teacher. It is his search for Ramanujan and the compulsion to understand the man and his mathematics that drives Ono’s considerable success. And that success leads Ono to finally understand his own father and the forces that drove him to be the parent he was.This is fascinating reading: personally moving and intellectually compelling.PS: Ono is too good a storyteller to let the math slow the narrative. It is easily compartmentalized. Be not afraid.

⭐A difficult childhood left Prof. Ono crave a sense of belonging and acceptance, despite his loyalty to his family and to mathematics. The curious and mysterious beacon of Ramanujan’s life and work gradually worked into this desire, until it became a guiding light for his life. This led to much fulfillment in his life, and represents a very inspirational story. The sad life of Ramanujan together with his mysterious, profound and beautiful sense of mathematics represents certainly one of the wondrous and poignant incidences in the long and colorful history of mathematics. In a way, his life and work stands as a beacon of wonder and beauty for us all. It is not surprising that it had a profound influence in Prof. Ono’s life, and helped him to achieve a distinguished career in mathematics. I thought this was a very inspirational tale of courage and loyalty in the face of much discouragement initially.

⭐What a delightful, inspirational book! Ono provides a courageous, candid perspective about his life and the struggles he has overcome to find his destiny. In a compelling, gripping prose, he will help you reflect on your own past, your goals and dreams, the fragility of the human condition, and the unpredictability of our future.This must-read book is a fascinating, moving account of Ono’s life as first-generation immigrant, rich in details about his parents’ lives in Japan and the life-changing events that helped them emigrate to the US, and of course Ramanujan’s story of unbelievable genius in early-twentieth-century India and his collaboration with G.H. Hardy–all of them weaved together through the passion for mathematics. Please note, however, that the few mathematical technicalities are in no way an impediment to enjoy and be absorbed by the book if you don’t have the mathematical background. The story flows seamlessly if you skip the few math formulas and ideas, and most of them are presented in an appendix.Compelling, inspirational, gripping–a must-read!

⭐This autobiography explains Ken Ono and Ramanujan’s full journey to becoming a mathematician. While both journeys were different, both show that the most enlightened and successful way to think about doing mathematics is to think of it as an artform. Beauty is both the motivation and the guide to new mathematical theory.

⭐This book is one of the most interesting motivational books I have ever read. It is a must read for those who feel they did not find their path in life yet or those who feel that difficulties are prohibiting them from achieving their goals. The personal struggle of one of the world’s prominent mathematicians, Ken Ono, that started at an early age (having tiger parents) could have definitely destroyed his life if it wasn’t for certain events and certain decisions at certain times motivated by certain people. Few people that dealt with him at the right time in the right place helped him get where he is right now; Ramanujan (the inspiration), Basil Gordon (the self-confidence), Erika, his spouse (safety and support) in addition to other minor players. No one who is familiar with the mathematical work of Ken Ono will believe that this successful guy has passed through all of this in his life.

⭐This is a beautiful book in which amazing journeys of growth and kindness intertwine. Whether it is the physical journey of Ramanujan from India to England and the subsequent rich mathematical interaction with Hardy, or the intellectual and spiritual journey of Ken to vanquish his fears and doubts and realize his potential in a way that was inspired by Ramanujan and then comes full circle to lead us to a fuller and deeper understanding of his work. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read for anyone with an appreciation of how the tough experiences in life, once you persevere through them, are meant to bring the best in you and lead you to new heights.

⭐Story of growing up in America by second generation Asian American mathematician dedicated to the work of Ramanujan in number theory, with a short biography of Ramanujan.

⭐How Ken Ono gained inspiration from Ramanujan and had some uncanny life-parallels. Fascinating read.

⭐Ken Ono ist Professor für Mathematik an der Emory Universität, sein Interesse gilt der Kombinatorik, Modulformen und Zahlentheorie, er untersuchte u.a. Ramanujans Bemerkungen über die Teilbarkeit von Partitionszahlen, und schuf gemeinsam mit Kathrin Bringmann eine Theorie der Mock- Theta- Funktionen.Das vorliegenden Buch ist in erster Linie eine Autobiographie des Autors, die stellenweise sehr persönlich seinen Werdegang als Mathematiker nachzeichnet, auf der anderen Seite schildert Ken Ono die Bedeutung und den Einfluss, den der geniale indische Mathematiker Srinivasa Ramanujan immer wieder auf sein Schaffen ausgeübt hat. Aus diesem Grund enthält das Buch auch einige Kapitel zu Ramanujan Geschichte, seiner Entwicklung als mathematischer Autodidakt, der Zusammenarbeit mit G.H. Hardy, seine z.T. wundersamen Einfälle, die er in Notizbüchern festhielt. Ein Anhang fasst wichtige Ramanujans Resultate zusammen, und würdigt diese aus heutiger Sicht.Bereits sein Vater Takashi Ono war ein erfolgreicher Mathematiker, und durch die Tiger Mentalität seiner Eltern – wie es der Autor ausdrückt – fühlte sich der junge Ken unter permanent Erfolgsdruck, obwohl er tatsächlich mathematisch begabt war, fühlte er sich nicht sonderlich zur Mathematik hingezogen. Nach einem Abbruch der High School, begann er zwar ein Studium – versuchte sich aber zunächst in anderen Fauchen. Ein ‘F’ in Soziologie, zeigte ihm aber deutlich, dass – für ihn – Mathematik zumindest der einfachere Weg zum Studienerfolg wäre. Erst als graduierter Student wird seine Leidenschaft für sein Fach entfacht, und er findet in Basil Gordon einen Mentor, bei dem er schließlich promoviert.Der Autor hört im Alter von 16 Jahren zum ersten Mal von Ramanujan, als sein Vater eine Dankesbrief von Ramajans Witwe Janaki Ammal erhält, da er sich, gemeinsam mit zahlreichen anderen Mathematikern, für die Errichtung einer Statue von Ramanujan eingesetzt hatte. Einige Parallelen zu seinem eigenen Leben, trösten den jungen Ken, dass er trotz abgebrochener High School vielleicht doch noch eine produktiver Mathematiker werden könnte. Später schöpft der Autor Selbstvertrauen , aus der Lösung von Problemen, mit denen sich schon Ramajuan herumgeschlagen hat.Schließlich erfüllt sich auch der Traum einer ‘Pilgerreise’ nach Indien – auf den Spuren Ramanujans – anlässlich einer Konferenz an der SASTRA Universität, besucht der Autor die Wirkungsstätten seines großen Vorbilds.Natürlich ist das Buch keine umfassende Biographie Ramanujan, dazu verweist der Autor selbst auf das Standardwerk von Robert Kanigel, aber es illustriert in wunderbarer Art und Weise, wie lebendig der Einfluss Ramanujans auf die heute Mathematik ist. Dabei sind viele von Ramanujans Einsichten bis heute ein Mysterium, er gewann diese zum großen Teil intuitiv – hielt sie selbst für Geheimnisse, die ihm die Göttin Namagiri offenbarte; das strenge Regelwerk der Mathematik aus Axiomen, Theoremen und Beweisen, lernte Ramanujan erst durch seine Zusammenarbeit mit Hardy in Cambridge. Um so erstaunlicher, dass einige seiner Erkenntnisse, Beziehung beinhalten, die erst in Rahmen moderner mathematischer Theorien ihre volle Tiefe offenbaren. Das Beleuchten einiger dieser ‘seltsamen’ Verbindungen, macht grade den Reiz dieses Buches aus, der dessen Lektüre – abgesehen von einigen unnötigen Wiederholungen – interessant und kurzweilig werden lässt.

⭐

⭐Excellent book!Different aspects covered very well though this is not a book for those who are looking for detailed info on Ramanujam.Overall must read.

⭐I love it.

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