A Mathematician's Apology

Content Warning: This section briefly discusses suicide.

The author of the book’s Foreword, C. P. Snow, first met Hardy at Christ’s College, Cambridge University, in 1931. Their first words were about cricket: Hardy grilled Snow on his ideas for playing the game. Snow passed this “exam” and soon was Hardy’s companion in the stands at the cricket pitch. In addition, Snow describes how their friendship became “intellectually the most valuable friendship of my life” (12).

Despite having a mind of great clarity, Hardy didn’t consider himself a genius, though he believed that, for a time, he was the fifth-best pure mathematician in the world. Hardy believed his finest moments were his collaborations with the great mathematicians Ramanujan and Littlewood. Snow considers Hardy’s greatest achievement his ability to turn works of the intellect into works of art.

Hardy had many eccentricities—he hated social introductions, avoided being photographed, and covered mirrors wherever he stayed—that stemmed from his lifelong shyness. Nonetheless, he was competitive, winning top honors at every school he attended, and his “anti-narcissism” took a back seat when he spoke about moral issues. Among them were his atheism, to which he adhered scrupulously, despising religion and refusing to attend services normally required of college members.