31–40 of 51 posts
Why is this article at the top of the page ? As so many people have pointed out - he is neither an unknown nor has there been any recent incident/discovery which would require a re-iteration of his "geniusness".
White guilt.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
However I do agree that Indians have done a bad in terms of Marketing our selves. What is this "we", and since when are people brands? Bit parochial and jingoist eh? Nations are an illusion, and better image "betterment" can be done by caring for one's immediate neighbor. Don't succumb to regionalist propaganda that serve none other than the ruling classes; all earth is yours, and all (wo)men your kin.
Tell that to the Chinese.
[...]Hardy contacted the Indian Office to plan for Ramanujan's trip to Cambridge. Secretary Arthur Davies of the Advisory Committee for Indian Students met with Ramanujan to discuss the overseas trip. In accordance with his Brahmin upbringing, Ramanujan refused to leave his country to "go to a foreign land." So much for being a Math genius. Disclaimer: I am an Indian.
Newton was supposed to have been an absolute coward. As a member of parliament the only thing he mentioned, during any session, was a request to open the window. Feynman was a womanizer who was known to sleep with wives of colleagues. His biography "Genius" is a pretty good read by the way. Genius doesnt mean "adventurous" or "virtuous" or "worldly". Its just one facet of a human.
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"Snake Charmers" is not a brand image "We" wanted nor created. It is the product of ignorant western minds. Compared to other eastern cultures (chinese and japanese at least) India has suffered from mis-understanding and underwhelming understanding for a long time. You only have to read English literature on India from 18 and 19th century to realize the extent of misinformation generated by the British to legitimise…
Of ignorance - the article mentions "dying of illness, malnutrition and possibly liver infection in 1920 at the age of 32." ... I smell some ignorance on our part - we don't have much goodwill to take care of geniuses. The current state of higher education (with major emphasis on mugging, apart from minute number of good colleges) is killing many more geniuses. I find a 1st year Computer Science student very keen in…
He's dad should have read more statistics. As far as I know Computer Science does not land you more jobs, or higher paying jobs, than physics or maths. (And it's relatively easy to get a CS job with a degree in math or physics.)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Snake Charmers" is not a brand image "We" wanted nor created. It is the product of ignorant western minds. Compared to other eastern cultures (chinese and japanese at least) India has suffered from mis-understanding and underwhelming understanding for a long time. You only have to read English literature on India from 18 and 19th century to realize the extent of misinformation generated by the British to legitimise…
Of ignorance - the article mentions "dying of illness, malnutrition and possibly liver infection in 1920 at the age of 32." ... I smell some ignorance on our part - we don't have much goodwill to take care of geniuses. The current state of higher education (with major emphasis on mugging, apart from minute number of good colleges) is killing many more geniuses. I find a 1st year Computer Science student very keen in…
I largely agree with your comment on present day situation. We can do lot better in promoting Basic Sciences.
If you count him as unknown then you might as well count just about every other Mathematician other than Newton as an unknown as well.
If you count him as unknown then you might as well count just about every other Mathematician other than Newton as an unknown as well.
Ramanujan was also mentioned in "Good Will Hunting". However I do agree that Indians have done a bad in terms of Marketing our selves. Our brand image over some time has been: Some time Back: Snake Charmers and Kings Now: Bangalore(Outsourcing) & Spicy Food
However I do agree that Indians have done a bad in terms of Marketing our selves. What is this "we", and since when are people brands? Bit parochial and jingoist eh? Nations are an illusion, and better image "betterment" can be done by caring for one's immediate neighbor. Don't succumb to regionalist propaganda that serve none other than the ruling classes; all earth is yours, and all (wo)men your kin.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
However I do agree that Indians have done a bad in terms of Marketing our selves. What is this "we", and since when are people brands? Bit parochial and jingoist eh? Nations are an illusion, and better image "betterment" can be done by caring for one's immediate neighbor. Don't succumb to regionalist propaganda that serve none other than the ruling classes; all earth is yours, and all (wo)men your kin.
Oh lighten up. Americans have a lovely variety of stereotypical images - fat McDonalds consumers, Texan bullies, imperialists, the Japanese apparently think we "all smell like butter" or some such. Its kidding, and when done by friends is supposed to be answered good-naturedly.