WEBVTT
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The number 1729 appears ordinary, but according
00:00:08.050 --> 00:00:11.509
to a famous story, mathematician G .H. Hardy
00:00:11.509 --> 00:00:17.370
once took a taxi cab numbered 1729 while visiting
00:00:17.370 --> 00:00:22.530
Servonavus Ramanujan in the hospital. Hardy remarked
00:00:22.530 --> 00:00:27.089
that the number seemed dull, but Ramanujan immediately
00:00:27.089 --> 00:00:31.329
replied that it was very interesting. It is the
00:00:31.329 --> 00:00:34.149
smallest possible number that can be written
00:00:34.149 --> 00:00:38.270
as the sum of two positive cubes in two different
00:00:38.270 --> 00:00:42.929
ways. In other words, 1 cubed plus 12 cubed equals
00:00:42.929 --> 00:00:48.310
9 cubed plus 10 cubed. Ramanujan saw structure
00:00:48.310 --> 00:00:52.409
where others saw, let's call it an unremarkable
00:00:52.409 --> 00:00:57.219
number. His notebooks contained thousands of
00:00:57.219 --> 00:01:01.479
identities and formulas and observations, and
00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:05.040
many of these were developed with little access
00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:08.760
to advanced mathematical training or even a community
00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:13.400
that was capable of evaluating his work. But
00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:17.939
his gift did not make his life easy. As a young
00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:20.840
man in India, Ramanujan lived with financial
00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:24.180
insecurity. and he struggled to find a place
00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:27.359
in institutions that did not know what to do
00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:30.939
with his unusual abilities. So he eventually
00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:33.420
sent examples of his work to Hardy at Cambridge.
00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.099
Hardy recognized their significance, and he helped
00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:41.560
bring him to England. That recognition changed
00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:45.219
Ramanujan's mathematical life, but it did not
00:01:45.219 --> 00:01:49.159
remove his vulnerability. He lived far from his
00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:51.799
family and culture during the First World War,
00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:56.239
and he faced difficulty obtaining food that was
00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:59.540
compatible with his diet, and he experienced
00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:03.859
serious and prolonged illness. He returned to
00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:07.439
India in 1919 and unfortunately died the following
00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:13.719
year at the young age of 32. Stories about genius
00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:17.900
often imply that extraordinary talent, can overcome
00:02:17.900 --> 00:02:22.460
any circumstance. Ramanujan's life suggests something
00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:26.060
maybe a little more sobering. Ability does not
00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:29.860
eliminate the need for food and health and friendship
00:02:29.860 --> 00:02:34.460
or welcome and care. A person may be capable
00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:38.159
of astonishing insight, but still be physically
00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:42.719
or emotionally fragile. Nor should we say that
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.639
hardship created Ramanujan's mathematics. Poverty
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.879
did not make his formulas more beautiful, and
00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:54.280
isolation did not improve his health. His suffering
00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:57.139
may have become part of the meaning of his life,
00:02:57.259 --> 00:02:59.680
but that does not make the suffering desirable.
00:03:00.259 --> 00:03:03.780
We can admire what he accomplished without treating
00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:08.000
deprivation as the price that genius ought to
00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.219
pay. But the story also contains a hopeful form
00:03:12.219 --> 00:03:16.460
of recognition. Hardy could not remove every
00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:20.719
hardship, but he did take Ramanujan's ideas seriously.
00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:25.740
He read his unfamiliar mathematics, and he responded
00:03:25.740 --> 00:03:28.840
to the person behind it. And then he helped create
00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:34.740
a place where Ramanujan could work. So, who has
00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:38.139
taken your abilities seriously when others did
00:03:38.139 --> 00:03:43.479
not? Or, whose overlooked gift might require
00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:48.080
your attention? Sometimes hope begins when one
00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:51.500
person looks at what others have dismissed as
00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:56.180
ordinary and says, yep, there is something important
00:03:56.180 --> 00:03:56.659
here.
00:00:01.929 --> 00:00:08.050
The number 1729 appears ordinary, but according
00:00:08.050 --> 00:00:11.509
to a famous story, mathematician G .H. Hardy
00:00:11.509 --> 00:00:17.370
once took a taxi cab numbered 1729 while visiting
00:00:17.370 --> 00:00:22.530
Servonavus Ramanujan in the hospital. Hardy remarked
00:00:22.530 --> 00:00:27.089
that the number seemed dull, but Ramanujan immediately
00:00:27.089 --> 00:00:31.329
replied that it was very interesting. It is the
00:00:31.329 --> 00:00:34.149
smallest possible number that can be written
00:00:34.149 --> 00:00:38.270
as the sum of two positive cubes in two different
00:00:38.270 --> 00:00:42.929
ways. In other words, 1 cubed plus 12 cubed equals
00:00:42.929 --> 00:00:48.310
9 cubed plus 10 cubed. Ramanujan saw structure
00:00:48.310 --> 00:00:52.409
where others saw, let's call it an unremarkable
00:00:52.409 --> 00:00:57.219
number. His notebooks contained thousands of
00:00:57.219 --> 00:01:01.479
identities and formulas and observations, and
00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:05.040
many of these were developed with little access
00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:08.760
to advanced mathematical training or even a community
00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:13.400
that was capable of evaluating his work. But
00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:17.939
his gift did not make his life easy. As a young
00:01:17.939 --> 00:01:20.840
man in India, Ramanujan lived with financial
00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:24.180
insecurity. and he struggled to find a place
00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:27.359
in institutions that did not know what to do
00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:30.939
with his unusual abilities. So he eventually
00:01:30.939 --> 00:01:33.420
sent examples of his work to Hardy at Cambridge.
00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.099
Hardy recognized their significance, and he helped
00:01:37.099 --> 00:01:41.560
bring him to England. That recognition changed
00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:45.219
Ramanujan's mathematical life, but it did not
00:01:45.219 --> 00:01:49.159
remove his vulnerability. He lived far from his
00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:51.799
family and culture during the First World War,
00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:56.239
and he faced difficulty obtaining food that was
00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:59.540
compatible with his diet, and he experienced
00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:03.859
serious and prolonged illness. He returned to
00:02:03.859 --> 00:02:07.439
India in 1919 and unfortunately died the following
00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:13.719
year at the young age of 32. Stories about genius
00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:17.900
often imply that extraordinary talent, can overcome
00:02:17.900 --> 00:02:22.460
any circumstance. Ramanujan's life suggests something
00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:26.060
maybe a little more sobering. Ability does not
00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:29.860
eliminate the need for food and health and friendship
00:02:29.860 --> 00:02:34.460
or welcome and care. A person may be capable
00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:38.159
of astonishing insight, but still be physically
00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:42.719
or emotionally fragile. Nor should we say that
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.639
hardship created Ramanujan's mathematics. Poverty
00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:49.879
did not make his formulas more beautiful, and
00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:54.280
isolation did not improve his health. His suffering
00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:57.139
may have become part of the meaning of his life,
00:02:57.259 --> 00:02:59.680
but that does not make the suffering desirable.
00:03:00.259 --> 00:03:03.780
We can admire what he accomplished without treating
00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:08.000
deprivation as the price that genius ought to
00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:12.219
pay. But the story also contains a hopeful form
00:03:12.219 --> 00:03:16.460
of recognition. Hardy could not remove every
00:03:16.460 --> 00:03:20.719
hardship, but he did take Ramanujan's ideas seriously.
00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:25.740
He read his unfamiliar mathematics, and he responded
00:03:25.740 --> 00:03:28.840
to the person behind it. And then he helped create
00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:34.740
a place where Ramanujan could work. So, who has
00:03:34.740 --> 00:03:38.139
taken your abilities seriously when others did
00:03:38.139 --> 00:03:43.479
not? Or, whose overlooked gift might require
00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:48.080
your attention? Sometimes hope begins when one
00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:51.500
person looks at what others have dismissed as
00:03:51.500 --> 00:03:56.180
ordinary and says, yep, there is something important
00:03:56.180 --> 00:03:56.659
here.
