British mathematician who made foundational contributions to number theory and analysis — and who discovered and mentored Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Two contributions: (1) Mathematical: Hardy's work in analytic number theory (the Hardy-Littlewood Circle Method, the Hardy-Ramanujan asymptotic formula) produced results that shaped 20th-century mathematics. (2) The Ramanujan discovery: Hardy's recognition of Ramanujan's 1913 letter — understanding that its seemingly bizarre formulas represented genuine genius from a self-taught Indian clerk — and his decision to bring Ramanujan to Cambridge is one of the great acts of intellectual recognition in scientific history. Hardy later called this his greatest contribution to mathematics.
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