"The years between 18 and 25 are the critical years in a mathematician's career, and the damage had been done. Ramanujan's genius never had again its chance of full development. ... a mathematician is often comparatively old at 30, and his death may be less of a catastrophe than it seems. Abel died at 26 and, although he would no doubt have added a great deal more to mathematics, he could hardly have become a greater man. The tragedy of Ramanujan was not that he died young, but that, during his five unfortunate years, his genius was misdirected, side-tracked, and to a certain extent distorted."