This is an autobiography and an exposition on the contributions and personalities of many of the leading researchers in mathematics and physics with whom Dr Krishna Alladi, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Florida, has had personal interaction with for over six decades. Discussions of various aspects of the physics and mathematics academic professions are included.

Part I begins with the author's unusual and frequent introductions as a young boy to scientific luminaries like Nobel Laureates Niels Bohr, Murray Gell-Mann, and Richard Feynman, in the company of his father, the scientist Alladi Ramakrishnan. Also in Part I is an exciting account of how the author started his research investigations in number theory as an undergraduate, and how contact and collaboration with the great Paul Erdős as a student influenced him in his career.

In-depth views of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and several major American Universities are given, and fascinating descriptions of the work and personalities of some Field Medalists and eminent mathematicians are provided.

Part II deals with the author's tenure at the University of Florida where he initiated several programs as Mathematics Chair for a decade, and how he has served the profession in various capacities, most notably as Chair of the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize Committee and Editor-in-Chief of The Ramanujan Journal.

The book would appeal to academicians and the general public, since the author has blended academic and scientific discussions at a non-technical level with descriptions of destinations in his international travels for work and pleasure. The reader is invited to dig as deep as desired and is guaranteed to be treated to whimsical stories and personal peeks at some of the great luminaries of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Contents:

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  Foreword written by George Andrews (member of The National Academy of Sciences)

  
  


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  Development as a Mathematician:

  
  
  
  
  • Boyhood Contact with Eminent Scientists
  
  
  • Decision to Pursue Mathematical Research
  
  
  • Graduate Student Days at UCLA (1975–78)
  
  
  • First Job at the University of Michigan (1978–81)
  
  
  • Visits to Princeton and Austin (1981–83)
  
  
  • To Be or Not to Be
  
  
  • Major Change in My Life and in My Research
  
  
  
  


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  Chairmanship and the Ongoing Ramanujan Mission:

  
  
  
  
  • Some Major Programs and Initiatives (1998–2008)
  
  
  • Riding the Wave as Chair: Ups and Downs
  
  
  • Post Chairmanship
  
  
  • Some Special Conferences and Events
  
  
  • Fostering the Legacy of Ramanujan
  
  
  • Collaboration with Erdős, Andrews, and Gordon
  
  
  
  

Readership: University professors, graduate, undergraduate, high school students, general public interested in events in the academic world.

Key Features:

• Written not only for members of the mathematical discipline but also the wider academic community and the general public


• In-depth discussion of various aspects of the academic profession


• Appealing descriptions of the personalities of eminent researchers


• Fascinating accounts of international travel destinations