G. H. Hardy

G. H. Hardy
FRS
Hardy, c. 1927
Born
Godfrey Harold Hardy

(1877-02-07)7 February 1877
Cranleigh, Surrey, England
Died1 December 1947(1947-12-01) (aged 70)
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
Known forHardy–Weinberg principle
Hardy–Ramanujan asymptotic formula
Critical line theorem
Hardy–Littlewood tauberian theorem
Hardy space
Hardy notation
Hardy–Littlewood inequality
Hardy's inequality
Hardy's theorem
Hardy–Littlewood circle method
Hardy field
Hardy–Littlewood zeta function conjectures
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society[1]
Smith's Prize (1901)
Royal Medal (1920)
De Morgan Medal (1929)
Chauvenet Prize (1932)
Sylvester Medal (1940)
Copley Medal (1947)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge
University of Oxford
Academic advisorsA. E. H. Love
E. T. Whittaker
Doctoral studentsMary Cartwright
I. J. Good
Edward Linfoot
Cyril Offord
Harry Pitt
Richard Rado
Robert Rankin
Donald Spencer
Tirukkannapuram Vijayaraghavan
E. M. Wright
Other notable studentsSydney Chapman
Edward Titchmarsh Ethel Newbold

Godfrey Harold Hardy FRS[1] (7 February 1877 – 1 December 1947)[2] was an English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis.[3][4] In biology, he is known for the Hardy–Weinberg principle, a basic principle of population genetics.

G. H. Hardy is usually known by those outside the field of mathematics for his 1940 essay A Mathematician's Apology, often considered one of the best insights into the mind of a working mathematician written for the layperson.

Charles F. Wilson, Srinivasa Ramanujan (centre), G. H. Hardy (extreme right), and other scientists at Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, c. 1910s

Starting in 1914, Hardy was the mentor of the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, a relationship that has become celebrated.[5] Hardy almost immediately recognised Ramanujan's extraordinary albeit untutored brilliance, and Hardy and Ramanujan became close collaborators.[6] In an interview by Paul Erdős, when Hardy was asked what his greatest contribution to mathematics was, Hardy unhesitatingly replied that it was the discovery of Ramanujan.[7] In a lecture on Ramanujan, Hardy said that "my association with him is the one romantic incident in my life".[8]: 2 

  1. ^ a b Titchmarsh, E. C. (1949). "Godfrey Harold Hardy. 1877–1947". Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society. 6 (18): 446–461. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1949.0007. S2CID 162237076.
  2. ^ GRO Register of Deaths: DEC 1947 4a 204 Cambridge – Godfrey H. Hardy, aged 70
  3. ^ O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "G. H. Hardy", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
  4. ^ G. H. Hardy at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  5. ^ THE MAN WHO KNEW INFINITY: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan Archived 5 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  6. ^ Littlewood, J.E.; Bollobás, B. (1986). Littlewood's Miscellany (Rev. ed.). Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-33058-9.
  7. ^ Alladi, Krishnaswami (19 December 1987), "Ramanujan—An Estimation", The Hindu, Madras, India, ISSN 0971-751X. Cited in Hoffman, Paul (1998), The Man Who Loved Only Numbers, Fourth Estate, pp. 82–83, ISBN 1-85702-829-5
  8. ^ Hardy, G. H. (1999). Ramanujan: Twelve Lectures on Subjects Suggested by his Life and Work. Providence, RI: AMS Chelsea. ISBN 978-0-8218-2023-0.