Showing posts with label indian history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label indian history. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Kerala School of Mathematics
We are all parochial at heart. This must be an adaptation or learned behavior to preserve and protect the group to which you belong. According to Amartya Sen, everyone has layers of identity which overlap. I may hate you because you are a Pakistani and I am an indian in one situation but in another situation, here in US, we might grow to like each other because from the point of view of Americans we are both South Asians.
It is really absurd how much parochial we can be and the group to which we show parochial tendency depends usually on the external environment.
So let me indulge in a little bit of parochialism here and glorify the achievements of my ancestors. And I feel I really am justified because they worked some of the most beautiful and complicated theorems in mathematics and yet they are largely unrecognized except in the rarefied atmosphere of high academicians.
I am talking about the Kerala School of Mathematics founded by Madhava of Sangamagrama. They had developed mathematics which was at the highest point reached by anyone in the middle ages.
It was an achievement which should be popularized more atleast back home in India.
Addendum: Found this more informative link on this subject.
http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~rajeev/canisiustalks.pdf
It is really absurd how much parochial we can be and the group to which we show parochial tendency depends usually on the external environment.
So let me indulge in a little bit of parochialism here and glorify the achievements of my ancestors. And I feel I really am justified because they worked some of the most beautiful and complicated theorems in mathematics and yet they are largely unrecognized except in the rarefied atmosphere of high academicians.
I am talking about the Kerala School of Mathematics founded by Madhava of Sangamagrama. They had developed mathematics which was at the highest point reached by anyone in the middle ages.
It was an achievement which should be popularized more atleast back home in India.
Addendum: Found this more informative link on this subject.
http://www.pas.rochester.edu/~rajeev/canisiustalks.pdf
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