This article will follow up one small thread of
Ramanujan's work which has
found a modern computational context, namely, one of his approaches to
approximating . Our experience has been that as we have come to understand
these pieces of Ramanujan's work, as they have become mathematically
demystified, and as we have come to realize the intrinsic complexity of these
results, we have come to realize how truly singular his abilities were.
This article attempts to present a considerable amount of material and, of
necessity, little is presented in detail. We have, however, given much more
detail than Ramanujan provided. Our intention is that the circle of ideas
will become apparent and that the finer points may be pursued through the
indicated references.