I am not a fan of these types of proofs. Baez didn't explain how one would go about searching for this proof, he just happened to know that repeatedly using the differential operator on a seemingly random differential equation would create a pattern that resembles the original equation after using substitution repeatedly.
In other words, this presentation doesn't seem to teach me how to think like a mathematician, it seems more like showing me how mathematicians can find solutions that nobody else could ever find in a million years.
I guess that's the point when the topic is about Ramanujan, maybe?
In other words, this presentation doesn't seem to teach me how to think like a mathematician, it seems more like showing me how mathematicians can find solutions that nobody else could ever find in a million years.
I guess that's the point when the topic is about Ramanujan, maybe?