He goes on to say, “I dilate on this simply to convince you that you will not be able to follow my methods of proof... [based on] a single letter.” He says that his first goal is just to get someone like Hardy to verify his results—so he’ll be able to get a scholarship, since “I am already a half starving man. To preserve my brains I want food...” Ramanujan makes a point of saying that it was Hardy’s first category of results—ones that were already known—that he’s most pleased about, “For my results are verified to be true even though I may take my stand upon slender basis.” In other words,
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