Yes, Tharoor has presented a fine case for our ancient scientific tradition with his characteristic elegance. Thanks for sharing it, Ganesh bhai. You may, if you like, also read A Concise History of Science in India by DM Bose, SN Sen and BV Subbarayappa, published by Universities Press. I found it to be very useful. It sticks to the facts, and does not flex muscles. Or sinews for that matter. Another excellent book, this one on the mathematics and astronomy of Kerala was written by Prof K. Kunhunni Raja who was a professor of philosophy at the Theosophical Society; incidentally he had a D.Phil from London University. I was fortunate to have met him a couple of years before he passed away. It is more of a monograph and less of a book, and studiously avoids references to bogus stuff such as astrology, and restricts itself to astronomy and mathematics alone! Seshadri Kumar Debashish Skeptic, Sajith Unni and Ganesh Veluswami you may find the above references interesting. Prof Raja has dwelt at length on the mathematical output of those days, but stopped short of making sweeping statements like We Malayalis Indians discovered calculus and the like. If only the Vanar Sena and their cheerleaders were capable of reading!
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 15:42:16 +0000