But by age 12, he was inventing sophisticated theorems and unwittingly duplicating some results of European mathematicians of the previous century. At 16, encouraged by one of his teachers, Ramanujan sent off a letter to the renowned pure mathematician GW Hardy at Cambridge University. Born into a conservative religious environment in Jhang — then a village-town — this child prodigy rapidly outpaced his teachers. Salam sourced his inspiration to his religious beliefs, while Ramanujan claimed direct transmission from his gods. It is also irrelevant here that Salam thought of himself as a Muslim whereas, by Pakistani law, he is not.

Source: The Nation Bangkok February 18, 2018 18:00 UTC