G. H. Hardy
G. H. Hardy | |
|---|---|
Hardy, c. 1927 | |
| Born | Godfrey Harold Hardy 7 February 1877 Cranleigh, Surrey, England |
| Died | 1 December 1947 (aged 70) Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England |
| Alma mater | Winchester College Trinity College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Hardy–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 |
| Awards | Smith's Prize (1901) Royal Medal (1920) De Morgan Medal (1929) Chauvenet Prize (1932) Sylvester Medal (1940) Copley Medal (1947) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge University of Oxford |
| Academic advisors | A. E. H. Love E. T. Whittaker |
| Doctoral students | Mary Cartwright I. J. Good Edward Linfoot Cyril Offord Harry Pitt Richard Rado Robert Rankin Donald Spencer Tirukkannapuram Vijayaraghavan E. M. Wright |
| Other notable students | Sydney Chapman Edward Titchmarsh Ethel Newbold |
Godfrey Harold Hardy FRS (7 February 1877 – 1 December 1947) was an English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis. In biology, he is known for the Hardy–Weinberg principle, a basic principle of population genetics.
Hardy is famed 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. The novelist Graham Greene ranked it with the notebooks of Henry James as "the best account of what it was like to be a creative artist."
Starting in 1914, Hardy was the mentor of the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, a relationship that has become celebrated. Hardy almost immediately recognised Ramanujan's extraordinary albeit untutored brilliance, and Hardy and Ramanujan became close collaborators. When asked by a young Paul Erdős what his greatest contribution to mathematics was, Hardy unhesitatingly replied that it was the discovery of Ramanujan. He remarked that on a scale of mathematical ability, his ability would be 25, Littlewood would be 30, Hilbert would be 80, and Ramanujan would be 100. In a lecture on Ramanujan, Hardy said that "my association with him is the one romantic incident in my life".