These
college students found Ramanujan solving their (college level)
mathematical problems with effortless ease. Ramanujan had shorter,
crisper methods than those used by the college professors. To
encourage him, these boarders borrowed for him George Schoobridge
Carr’s 'Synopsis'. This book listed without proofs 4865
formulae in algebra, trigonometry, analytical geometry and calculus.
This compendium according to Ramanujan’s contemporaries
was an inspiring source book and it is conjectured that Ramanujan
not only proved for himself each of these formulae but also derived
many new results and recorded them as and when he obtained them
in his Notebooks. Teachers and students found Ramanujan solving
their difficult mathematical problems effortlessly by shorter
methods. Ramanujan could recite long lists
of Numbers. He taught Magic Squares,
Calculus, Arithmetic, Algebra and Trigonometry
to students.
