My Search for Ramanujan: How I Learned to Count

Book 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.”

Table of Contents

Part I: My Life Before Ramanujan
Chapter 1: Tiger Boy
Chapter 2: My Parents’ Generation
Chapter 3: My Childhood (1970–1984)
Chapter 4: An Unexpected Letter
Chapter 5: My Escape

Part II: The Legend of Ramanujan
Chapter 6: Little Lord
Chapter 7: A Creative Genius
Chapter 8: An Addiction
Chapter 9: The Goddess
Chapter 10: Purgatory
Chapter 11: Janaki
Chapter 12: I Beg to Introduce Myself
Chapter 13: These Formulas Defeated Me Completely
Chapter 14: Permission from the Goddess
Chapter 15: Together at Last
Chapter 16: Culture Shock
Chapter 17: Triumph over Racism
Chapter 18: English Malaise
Chapter 19: Homecoming
Chapter 20: The Tragic End

Part III: My Life Adrift
Chapter 21: I Believe in Santa
Chapter 22: College Boy
Chapter 23: Erika
Chapter 24: The Pirate Professor
Chapter 25: Growing Pains

Part IV: Finding My Way
Chapter 26: My Teacher
Chapter 27: Hitting Bottom
Chapter 28: A Miracle
Chapter 29: My Hardy
Chapter 30: Hitting My Stride
Chapter 31: Bittersweet Reunion
Chapter 32: I Count Now
Chapter 33: The Idea of Ramanujan
Chapter 34: My Spirituality

中文：

书名：寻找拉马努扬：我是如何学会数数的

小野健二是二战后来到美国的一位著名日本数学家的儿子，他从小就被寄予很高的期望，但很少受到赞扬。为了反抗高压锅般的生活，肯决定从高中辍学，走自己的路。为了得到父亲的认可，他引用了印度著名数学神童斯里尼瓦萨·拉马努詹的传记，他的父亲尊敬他，因为他一心一意地致力于数学，他曾两次从大学退学。

小野描述了他在大学和研究生的坎坷道路，将Ramanujan的故事与他自己的故事交织在一起，并讲述了在关键时刻，他是如何受到Ramanujan的启发，并在导师的指导下，鼓励他追求探索Ramanujan数学遗产的兴趣。

从1914年把拉马努詹带到剑桥的伟大的英国数学家G·H·哈代开始，小野继续了其他人所没有的东西，他把自己的数学生涯献给了理解拉马努詹是如何在短暂的一生中发现了如此多深刻的数学真理的，拉马努詹认为这些真理是作为印度教女神的幻象送给他的。正是拉马努詹最终促成了小野和他父母之间的和解。

小野对拉马努扬的探索跨越了三大洲，并与那些生活在全球乃至整个二十世纪甚至更远的数学家相遇。在这个过程中，肯有了许多令人着迷的发现。其中最重要和最令人惊讶的是他自己的人性。

目录表

第一部分：我在拉马努詹之前的生活
第一章：老虎男孩
第二章：我父母的一代
第三章：我的童年(1970-1984)
Chapter 4: An Unexpected Letter
第五章：我的逃亡

第二部分：拉马努扬的传说
第六章：小领主
Chapter 7: A Creative Genius
第八章：上瘾
第九章：女神
第十章：炼狱
第11章：Janaki
第十二章：我想自我介绍一下
第十三章：这些公式完全把我难住了
第十四章：中国女神的许可
Chapter 15: Together at Last
第十六章：文化冲击
Chapter 17: Triumph over Racism
Chapter 18: English Malaise
第十九章：返校节
第20章：悲剧结局

第三部分：我随波逐流的生活
第21章：我相信圣诞老人
第22章：大学男生
第23章：埃里卡
第24章：海盗教授
第二十五章：成长的烦恼

第四部分：找到我的路
第26章：我的老师
第二十七章：触底
Chapter 28: A Miracle
第29章：我的哈代
Chapter 30: Hitting My Stride
第三十一章苦乐参半的团圆
第32章：我现在开始数
Chapter 33: The Idea of Ramanujan
Chapter 34: My Spirituality