My Mathematical Universe: People, Personalities, And The Profession

Book excerpt: This is an autobiography and an exposition on the contributions and personalities of many of the leading researchers in mathematics and physics with whom Dr Krishna Alladi, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Florida, has had personal interaction with for over six decades. Discussions of various aspects of the physics and mathematics academic professions are included.Part I begins with the author's unusual and frequent introductions as a young boy to scientific luminaries like Nobel Laureates Niels Bohr, Murray Gell-Mann, and Richard Feynman, in the company of his father, the scientist Alladi Ramakrishnan. Also in Part I is an exciting account of how the author started his research investigations in number theory as an undergraduate, and how contact and collaboration with the great Paul Erdős as a student influenced him in his career.In-depth views of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and several major American Universities are given, and fascinating descriptions of the work and personalities of some Field Medalists and eminent mathematicians are provided.Part II deals with the author's tenure at the University of Florida where he initiated several programs as Mathematics Chair for a decade, and how he has served the profession in various capacities, most notably as Chair of the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize Committee and Editor-in-Chief of The Ramanujan Journal.The book would appeal to academicians and the general public, since the author has blended academic and scientific discussions at a non-technical level with descriptions of destinations in his international travels for work and pleasure. The reader is invited to dig as deep as desired and is guaranteed to be treated to whimsical stories and personal peeks at some of the great luminaries of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.