The number 1729 is known as the Ramanujan Number. It was
Ramanujan who discovered that it is the smallest number that can be expressed
as the sum of two cubes in two different ways.
1729 is the natural number following 1728 and preceding
1730. 1729 is the Hardy-Ramanujan number after a famous anecdote of British
mathematician G.H Hardy regarding a visit to the hospital to sec the Indian
mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan
Hardy’s Words:
“ I remember once going to see him when he was ill at Putney.
I had ridden in taxi cab number 1729 and remarked that the number 1729 seemed
to be rather dull one. I hoped it was an unfavorable number. ‘No’, he replied.
It is a very interesting number. It is the smallest number expressed as the sum
of two cubed in two different ways.
By
Sunitha
Dept of Mathematics.
