The Indian clerk
by David Leavitt · first published 2007
100% recommend
January, 1913, Cambridge. G.H. Hardy – eccentric, charismatic and considered the greatest British mathematician of his age – receives a mysterious envelope covered with Indian stamps. Inside he finds a rambling letter from a self-professed mathematical genius who claims to be on the brink of solving the most important mathematical problem of his time. Hardy determines to learn more about this mysterious Indian clerk, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a decision that will profoundly affect not only his own life, and that of his friends, but the entire history of mathematics. Set against the backdrop of the
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…already read Cryptonomicon (see more here: http://jseliger.com/2006/11/29/cryptonomicon ), you're going in the right direction, but you should skip the Baroque cycle and Anathem. * David Leavitt's The Indian Clerk deals extensively with math (http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/the-indian-clerk). * Joel Spolsky's The Best Software Writing isn't fiction but is worth reading. * I'll reiterate Tom Wolf's The…
on “Ask HN: Recommend any good business/hacker fiction?” ↗Though it's more historical fiction than non-fiction, I would also recommend: http://www.amazon.com/Indian-Clerk-Novel-David-Leavitt/dp/15...
on “Modern math solves Ramanujan’s ‘vision’ - may clarify black holes” ↗I'd like to mention David Leavitt's The Indian Clerk: historical fiction about Hardy and Ramanujan. I enjoyed it very much.
on “125th Birthday of Ramanujan” ↗…Goldback's Conjecture" & "Logicomix" (both by Apostolos Doxiadis), 2."Chaos" by James Gleick, 3. "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers" by Paul Hoffman 4. "A Mathematician's Apology" by G.H. Hardy 5. "The Indian Clerk" (fiction) by David Leavitt (about GH Hardy & Ramanujan) 6. "Genius at Play" by Siobhan Roberts (about John Conway). Normally I stay away from pop-math books with the words "The mind of..." or "Genius"…
on “Ask HN: Books that made you fascinated to learn more mathematics?” ↗