1887-1920
mathematician
The number 1729 is known as the Hardy–Ramanujan number after a famous visit by Hardy to see Ramanujan at a hospital. In Hardy’s words:
I remember once going to see him when he was ill at Putney. I had ridden in taxi cab number 1729 and remarked that the number seemed to me rather a dull one, and that I hoped it was not an unfavorable omen. “No”, he replied, “it is a very interesting number; it is the smallest number expressible as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.”
Immediately before this anecdote, Hardy quoted Littlewood as saying, “Every positive integer was one of Ramanujan’s personal friends.”
Thesis: High Composite Numbers
Ramanujan, Srinivasa; Hardy, G. H.; Seshu Aiyar, P. V.; Wilson, B. M.; Berndt, Bruce C. (2000). Collected Papers of Srinivasa Ramanujan. AMS. ISBN 978-0-8218-2076-6.
Hardy, G. H. (1978). Ramanujan. ISBN 978-0-8284-0136-4.
Hardy, G. H. (1999). Ramanujan: Twelve Lectures on Subjects Suggested by His Life and Work. Providence, Rhode Island: American Mathematical Society. ISBN 978-0-8218-2023-0.
Narlikar, Jayant V. (2003). Scientific Edge: the Indian Scientist From Vedic to Modern Times.. ISBN 978-0-14-303028-7.
Kanigel, Robert (1991). The Man Who Knew Infinity: a Life of the Genius Ramanujan. ISBN 978-0-684-19259-8.
The Man Who Knew Infinity is a 2015 film based on Kanigel’s book. British actor Dev Patel portrays Ramanujan.
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