The story of Srinivasa Ramanujan, the Madras railway clerk who was one of the greatest of all mathematicians. Ever.

With a failed formal education Ramanujan invented his own maths symbols and worked on a small chalkboard, but rejuvenated much of modern maths with dozens of inspirational theorems. Mathematicians are still working to prove the theorems in his many notebooks.

Ramanujan worked in Cambridge, UK, for five years from 1914. Poor diet and cold winters ruined the health of this intriguing mathematician who ate only lentils and attributed his theorems to the ancient Indian goddess Namijira. He died at just 32, months after he returned to his home town of Kumbakonam. Click for more on Ramanujan. Click the picture to buy the book.