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Title details for The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity by Amy Alznauer - Available

The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity

A Tale of the Genius Ramanujan

by Amy Alznauer
Daniel Miyares
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
A mango...is just one thing. But if I chop it in two, then chop the half in two, and keep on chopping, I get more and more bits, on and on, endlessly, to an infinity I could never ever reach. In 1887 in India, a boy named Ramanujan is born with a passion for numbers. He sees numbers in the squares of light pricking his thatched roof and in the beasts dancing on the temple tower. He writes mathematics with his finger in the sand, across the pages of his notebooks, and with chalk on the temple floor. "What is small?" he wonders. "What is big?" Head in the clouds, Ramanujan struggles in school—but his mother knows that her son and his ideas have a purpose. As he grows up, Ramanujan reinvents much of modern mathematics, but where in the world could he find someone to understand what he has conceived?

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 14, 2020

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781666550054
      • File size: 11808 KB
      • Duration: 00:24:35

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Soneela Nankani instills this audiobook with youthful wonder. She provides a distinct voice for each character and handles the Indian pronunciations with ease. A diverse soundtrack accompanies the narration, immersing listeners in the tale of Ramanujan, the boy who would reinvent modern mathematics. As he grew up, Ramanujan was so busy exploring numbers that he struggled with the rest of his schoolwork, even failing out of college. But after reaching out to Cambridge University, despite his lack of formal education, he received an invitation to England to share his ideas with other mathematicians. Sound effects, such as gentle rain, chalk on slate, and splashing water immerse listeners in this biography. A.K.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from March 16, 2020
      In his small Indian village, the child Ramanujan asks: “What is small?... What is big?” He contemplates this problem in creative ways: “A mango is like an egg. It is just one thing. But if I chop it in two, then chop the half in two, and keep on chopping, I get more and more bits... to an infinity I could never ever reach. Yet when I put them back together, I still have just one mango.” Alznauer deftly uses Ramanujan’s ponderings to illustrate complex mathematical concepts, including prime numbers, partitions, and infinite sums. Despite his brilliance (or perhaps because of it), Ramanujan struggles: “ ‘I am like the first man in the world with no one to hear me speak,’ he thought.” Eventually, his genius is recognized—and his work still sparks wonder among mathematicians today. Lush watercolors by Miyares capture the lyrical details of Ramanujan’s world. Ages 5–9.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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