Ramanujan
Dreamed 1905-09 by Srinavasa Ramanujan
While asleep, I had an unusual experience. There was a red screen formed by flowing blood, as it were. I was observing it. Suddenly a hand began to write on the screen. I became all attention. That hand wrote a number of elliptical integrals. They stuck to my mind. As soon as I woke up, I committed them to writing.As a fervent follower of Hinduism, Ramanujan was an enthusiastic expert in the interpretation of dreams. He simply saw no separation between mathematics and spirituality as his contact with discovery did not pass through reason alone, but rather through revelation; not through the logical demonstration of symbols, but through their beauty. It is likely that Ramanujan's fertile dream creativity, so rare in Western mathematicians, reflects particular aspccts of Indian mathematics, which had been characterized by a strong oral tradition, less symbolic restriction in the forming of concepts, and an intimate relationship to the gods.
SOURCES: Sidarta Ribeiro's The Oracle of Night: the History and Science of Dreams p.232-3. His sources: Ramanujan: Letters and Reminiscences v.1, Memorial Number (Muthialpet High School, 1968) and B. Krishnayya, Ramanujan: the Man and the Mathematician, 1967, p. 87. It's also in Kamelan's The Man Who Knew Infinity, Ch.3, p.120, from which I estimated the date.
World Dream Bank homepage - Art gallery - New stuff - Introductory sampler, best dreams, best art - On dreamwork - Books
Indexes: Subject - Author - Date - Names - Places - Art media/styles
Titles: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - IJ - KL - M - NO - PQ - R - Sa-Sh - Si-Sz - T - UV - WXYZ
Email: wdreamb@yahoo.com - Catalog of art, books, CDs - Behind the Curtain: FAQs, bio, site map - Kindred sites