# Talk:Srinivasa Ramanujan

There is a big mistake in the algoritm for calculate pi. For k=0 it works, but for k=1 pi is equal to 129 million. For k=5 the entire part of pi has 48 digits. Are there anybody who can repare it? User: ivan tchakoff  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ivan tchakoff (talk • contribs) 00:20, 6 January 2019 (UTC) 

@Ivan tchakoff: which algorithm? This page lists several.--Jasper Deng (talk) 01:42, 6 January 2019 (UTC)
User:Tchakoff might be referring to the equation for the reciprocal of pi. The infinite series contains a "k".
See the paragraph entitled "Mathematical achievements". The equation is in the fourth line.

Why in the infobox the nationality written as Indian? In the similar case of Galileo Galilei, there is just a comment: "During his life, Italy, as we know it today, didn't exist. Don't add the nationality as Italian because it isn't true.". I think that we should do the same way here. India was not a country then. --Seekl (talk) 14:29, 13 August 2019 (UTC)

No. India, while under the British, WAS a separate country. It was a British colony and was referred to as "India" even then. --JavaHurricane (talk) 12:36, 17 November 2019 (UTC)

I think the closest you'll get is Hardy's remark in Ramanujan: Twelve Lectures on Subjects Suggested by his Life and Work: 
The formulae (1.10)—(1.13) are on a different level and obviously both difficult and deep. An expert in elliptic functions can see at once that (1.13) is derived somehow from the theory of “complex multiplication”, but (1.10)—(1.12) defeated me completely; I had never seen anything in the least like them before.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.159.248.94 (talk) 20:45, 29 February 2020 (UTC) 

It is customary to include a person's name in their language of origin/"mother tongue" -- see Grigori Perelman, Mikhail Leonidovich Gromov, Shiing-Shen Chern, Shin'ichirō Tomonaga etc. Why does User:Limit-theorem feel that Ramanujan's should not be included? This user may explain himself here. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 123.201.57.124 (talk) 19:04, 17 July 2020 (UTC)

Please see MOS:INDICSCRIPTS for the reason. Favonian (talk) 19:06, 17 July 2020 (UTC)

Hi there, please take note that Ramanujan's name in Tamil characters is ஸ்ரீனிவாச ராமானுஜன் not the one stated there. Also the meaning of his name comes Ramanujacharya, a Sri Vaishnava exponent and a branch of Hinduism which Ramanuja's family follows. Please take note  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pavarms (talk • contribs) 11:15, 12 April 2021 (UTC) 

Let's open the discussion to get references or comments from those who know Tamil.Limit-theorem (talk) 12:14, 12 April 2021 (UTC)

The text reads ” Of his thousands of results, all but a dozen or two have now been proven correct.”
But looking at the source in footnote 8 it is ” There are a number of misprints. I did not count the number of serious mistakes but it is an extremely small number - maybe five or ten out of over 3,000 results.”
Shouldn’t it therefore be ”incorrect” instead of ”correct” 94.254.111.144 (talk) 20:35, 25 September 2021 (UTC)

The first quote is saying that all of the results are correct, minus about 12 or 24.  The second quote is saying that the number if mistakes is small.  They are saying the same thing.  RudolfRed (talk) 23:34, 25 September 2021 (UTC)

an illness then widespread in Madras, than tuberculosis. 90.253.57.18 (talk) 01:09, 22 November 2021 (UTC)

Of his thousands of results, all but a dozen or two have now been proven 90.253.57.18 (talk) 01:18, 22 November 2021 (UTC)

The use of "born" (as in Srinivasa Ramanujan born Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar) is silly. He never changed his name. Yes, Indian patronymics are unfamiliar to some Anglophone readers, but this is like saying "John Smith, born John David Smith". Robertus Avunculus (talk) 13:48, 10 February 2022 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Heartmusic678 (talk) 16:50, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

Currently the main article says that Ramanujan was studying for an F.A. degree, which is expanded as "Fellow of Arts." I have not read any long biography of his, so can't say for certain, but I am sure that FA actually stood for "First Examination in Arts," which was the exam at the end of the first year of a Bachelor of Arts programme. The scheme for degrees in Indian universities at that time was based on that of the University of London. Putting FA after your name was risky, because it implied you had dropped out of a BA course, and it could be lampooned as "Failed BA."NRPanikker (talk) 03:59, 8 May 2022 (UTC)

Under Adulthood in India, subheading Pursuit of career in mathematics, there is a broken reference tag:
"With Aiyer's help, Ramanujan had his work published in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society.<ref">Kanigel 1991, p. 86</ref>"
Removing the quotation mark in the opening tag should fix the issue. 192.77.143.182 (talk) 16:39, 30 September 2022 (UTC)

Done. Thanks for the suggestion. Limit-theorem (talk) 22:33, 30 September 2022 (UTC)

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

Srinivasa Ramanujan - OPC - 2 (cleaned).jpg
Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 18:39, 2 October 2022 (UTC)

On the page, it said "Ramanujan was shown how to solve cubic equations in 1902; he developed his own method to solve the quartic. In the following year, he tried to solve the quintic, not knowing that it could not be solved by radicals."
This sentence may be considered "Ramanujan developed his own method to solve quartic after he was shown to solve the cubic equations in 1902."
But in the book "Man Who Knew Infinity" p.27, it said, "Ramanujan learned from an older boy how to solve cubic equations." and no mention of solving the quartic equations.
And in the book "Ramanujan's Notebooks IV" by B. Berndt, Chap. 22 Elementary Results, Entry 20, p.31, explains the new method for solving quartic equations.
I presume that there is a time gap between learning how to solve cubic equations and developing a new method for solving quartic equations.
1. So I think the sentence "Ramanujan was shown how to solve cubic equations in 1902; he developed his own method to solve the quartic." has to be changed to 
"Ramanujan was shown how to solve cubic equations in 1902 and he went on to find his own method to solve the quartic. and later in his life he found his own method."
2. Also, "In the following year, he tried to solve the quintic" needs a reference. Askif2 (talk) 01:33, 13 October 2022 (UTC)

 Partly done: It took me awhile to parse what the problem you wanted to fix was, but I got it in the end. I have added [1] as the citation for Ramanujan attempting to solve the quintic per the sentence he tried (and of course failed) to solve the quintic. I have re-written the sentence to clarify that he did not develop a personal method for solving quartics immediately following getting taught how to solve cubics. I mark this as partly done only because I did not use your proposed text word-for-word. Thank you for your contributions, and happy editing! —Sirdog (talk) 06:22, 29 October 2022 (UTC)
Thank you for your considerations for my suggestions! Askif2 (talk) 15:03, 6 November 2022 (UTC)

Citizenship from British India to Indian please 2601:647:4800:F7B0:AC01:3ABA:19FC:D4B (talk) 05:09, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

 Not done: "British Indian" refers to the British Raj, which is more accurate than "Indian" would be. Actualcpscm (talk) 10:21, 12 November 2022 (UTC)

The following content was recently removed from lede, because this is better explained in article body. That content is archived here for future references:
A deeply religious Hindu, Ramanujan credited his substantial mathematical capacities to divinity, and said his family goddess, Namagiri Thayar, revealed his mathematical knowledge to him. He once said, "An equation for me has no meaning unless it expresses a thought of God."

 —CX Zoom[he/him] (let's talk • {C•X}) 07:57, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

needs links to "the man who knew infinity" film and book 73.170.203.143 (talk) 22:41, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

The film is linked to from Srinivasa Ramanujan#In popular culture and the book is linked from Srinivasa Ramanujan#Selected publications on Ramanujan and his work. Per MOS:SEEALSO, links that are in the article body should not be repeated in the See also section. —CX Zoom[he/him] (let's talk • {C•X}) 10:20, 3 January 2023 (UTC)

Please change the infobox main image from "Srinivasa Ramanujan - OPC - 2 (cleaned).jpg" to "Srinivasa Ramanujan- Add. MS a947.jpg". The image source has updated their license to CC BY 4.0.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Srinivasa_Ramanujan-_Add._MS_a947.jpg DappledHistory (talk) 14:13, 19 June 2023 (UTC)

 Not done for now: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the {{Edit semi-protected}} template. The current image looks better to me, and they are both marked public domain so it is not clear why you are asking for CC 4.0 license?  RudolfRed (talk) 23:15, 20 June 2023 (UTC)

They're just not necessary. Azbookmobile (talk) 21:04, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

Citation proving he left to England in 1914. Sushidude21! (talk) 01:54, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Tollens (talk) 02:21, 10 September 2023 (UTC)

The Ramanujan Machine is a distributed computing project that has its own article. It would be fairly relevant to have a hyperlink included on this page to the corresponding Wiki page (below). Though it was started by present-day mathematicians, the algorithm(s) were created in honor of him and use similar strategies that he would have employed to find conjectures similar to the ones he sought after. I was thinking add it to 'See Also'. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramanujan_machine Unfazed 799 (talk) 02:53, 26 February 2024 (UTC)

In the phrase "Ramanujan and his mother moved back to Kumbakonam, and he was enrolled in Kangayan Primary School.", the word 'Kangayan' is supposed to be spelled 'Kangayam' which is a place that actually exists in the Erode district of Tamil Nadu, unlike 'kangayan'. Also Kangayam is a town near karur district as mentioned in the following lines. Also Following are the link(s) to support my request :
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangeyam 2405:201:E049:78CE:78BF:5FDD:CAEE:D67E (talk) 17:17, 7 August 2024 (UTC)

 Not done for now: I suspect that Kangayam might be a more proper romanization but I'm unfortunately having difficulties sourcing it, as the Kangayan Primary school mentioned is in Kumbakonam, so I can't guarantee it refers to the same thing. Do you know of any Tamil sources that mention the school so that the proper spelling can be ascertained?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by CloakedFerret (talk • contribs) 06:52, 8 August 2024 (UTC)

Can we add his FRS title to his name in the first sentence? All the other mathematicians pages are like that, so from Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar to Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar. And that was not his "award" as stated in the table on the right, it was his title. No other mathematician has that as his "award". Buc1234 (talk) 16:21, 9 September 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. M.Bitton (talk) 00:02, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
Well it is a well known fact, it can be found here: https://www.nature.com/articles/105494a0
also in this text in more full: https://zenodo.org/records/1429646 188.252.172.218 (talk) 20:27, 10 September 2024 (UTC)
 Not done: Per MOS:POSTNOM, post-nominal letters are not to be included in lead sentences. And the lead sentence for our article on the Fellowship of the Royal Society says it is an award, so I don't believe the infobox needs changing. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 20:38, 23 September 2024 (UTC)

Cepelewicz, Jordana (October 21, 2024). "Math Is Still Catching Up to the Mysterious Genius of Srinivasa Ramanujan". Quanta Magazine. Simons Foundation. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
Cheers! « Gonzo fan2007 (talk) @  20:06, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

The state where he born is not mentioned, Erode which is a direct in the state of Tamil Nadu. Please add Tamil Nadu in his birth place detail HarishVijendiran (talk) 09:13, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

 Already done M.Bitton (talk) 18:35, 1 November 2024 (UTC)

There is no pronunciation guide given for Ramanujan's name. I've heard it pronounced in many documentaries as rah-MON-ah-jhon, although recently I heard a British physicist pronounce it as ram-ah-NOO-jen, which seems to me to be an incorrect British-ism of his name. Any guidance here, hopefully from a native speaker? — Loadmaster (talk) 18:35, 29 November 2024 (UTC)

Hello. I've also wondered how it's pronounced among his social peers in India. The one source I've treated as authoritative is Christopher Sykes's documentary 'Letters From an Indian Clerk'. The clincher is that Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar appears and  speaks of Ramanujan, pronouncing it 'rah-MON-ah-jhon'. Until it's demonstrated to me to the contrary, I must presume that Chandrasekhar knows how to pronounce it.

In the movie "The Man Who Knew Infinity" the character of Hardy said that on a scale of mathematical ability, he would be rated at 1, Hilbert at 10, and Ramanujan at 100. If that's true and not an artistic license, it ought to be included. Van.snyder (talk) 23:26, 6 August 2025 (UTC)
I wrote this before I noticed the remark by Erdős. It can be removed but I do not see how to remove it.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Van.snyder (talk • contribs) 23:46, 6 August 2025 (UTC) 

Please remove tamil Brahman Iyengar, its a castist denotion and with current political scenario in tamil nadu. It will be good to remove any caste reference from pages of several top figures 49.37.213.237 (talk) 18:24, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

 Not done: No idea what a "castist denotion" is, nor why a current political event should have any impact on how a historical figure from the early 20th century is described on Wikipedia. Day Creature (talk) 23:04, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

MindYourDecisions is a youtuber with 3.2 million subscribers. He has just published a video about the pronunciation of Ramanujan's name and has invited people to restore the link to what is said to be the correct audio at c:File:Srinivasa ramanujan wikipedia.ogg. That was present in the article on 14 April 2020 but was removed by Nardog in 04:08, 14 April 2020. I don't have an opinion on the matter at the moment. Johnuniq (talk) 10:58, 19 September 2025 (UTC)