The following is an extract of an article that appeared in an American daily 10 days before:While Western history has traditionally taught the Greeks were responsible for advances in mathematics, for things like irrational and prime numbers, Indian history has another story to tell.
Nearly a century before Pythagoras, a Greek philosopher and mathematician, Vedic priest scholars had already discovered much of what the Greeks have been given credit for. These scholars made vast contributions to the field of mathematics, dated from 800 to 500 B.C., for the purposes of religion and astronomy.
Winona State University Professor Joyati Debnath will talk about how a period some have referred to as "primitive" was anything but - and they have the mathematical equations and expressions to prove it. "They were constructing sacrificial and burial altars in the shape of falcons and tortoises from square and rectangular layers of bricks - they were skilled craftsmen," Debnath said.
The Vedic period wasn't using the mathematics as philosophy, rather the priests were solving complex real life problems - like constructing sacrificial altars, burial monuments, relative size of the planets, length of the day, conduct of marriage and sacred laws.
Debnath described the problem: How do you make a burial structure that looks like a tortoise or a falcon, using nothing but rectangular bricks, stake and a cord? In other words, how do you make circles and triangles out of squares and rectangles?
To solve the problems, the priests had to have an advanced mathematical understanding of numbers that could tell them precisely how to arrange and trim bricks so that they came together in symmetrical ways. The measurements for the geometrical constructions were performed by drawing arcs with different radii and centers using a cord or "sulba."
P.S: Why cant we be taught Vedic Mathematics in our schools? Does it need a "White Certificate" or Will learning mathematics as explained in vedic texts question our "secular" image? (Another Post on Vedic Mathematics soon!)
Source: Winona Daily
The Mathematical System is too rigid to change.
ReplyDeleteThe System is full of politicians who resist change. All this has to go.
We believe in what u are saying but the politicians have their own games. Wehave been struggling with this for the last few y ears.
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gaurav Tekriwal
President
Visavis the art. "The Problem called "Highly Progressive Hindus" " (which I did enjoy reading,and with which I am in essential agreement): While nearly 80 to 90 percent of Indians in the West have just a modicum of understanding of their culture, it is only that deep. You cannot expect that the highest achievements in a truly balanced expression through art or science can come only from the spiritual springs activated by one's native culture. It is heartening in this context, that innumerable opportunities for learning and imbibing Indian, essentially Hindu, culture are now available, in the form of cultural associations, temples, and not the least, the internet medium (all of which depend on individual taste for deriving benefit). Most Indians have gone to the US/West to eke out a living, many of them due to a craze since they could have done that job even staying here. Only a few went, or still go there, for benefiting from the wholesome environment there offers excellent opportunities for research (and, maybe, the appreciation for it) that they can undertake in various fields. (To take top notch examples, both Nobel winners Cahndrasekhar S. and Venki Ramakrishnan settled there for this reason, after they prosecuted their education upto university on the native soil)But, predominantly among the people who go and or settle there merely to earn money, hardly are able to mingle and get assimilated by the "immigrant, diversified culture" of the US., and choose to retain their native culture of which, moreover, most only have a superficial or just pretensious acquintance or liking. While it is not at all bad to engage in a studied exchange and interaction - personally and in public - in cultural matters, the fact is that many Indians gone there during the last couple or decades or so, have had too meagre an actual and living exposure to our native culture. The general feeling among Americans however is that Asians, foremost among them the Chinese followed by Indians, and then the orest, are deeply dedicated to their families and family values which lie in the cultural sphere. There is a reservation or fear among Indians not to expose their individual characteristics, and not many know how to strike that balance between exposing native culture with the need to appear 'American' (and, Americanism is such a fluid concept, everything to everybody). The Hindus from India barring a few isolated cases, do not want to put on the Bhindi or the Chandan on their foreheads, even if it is offerd in temples, even if they are offered it in the temples, and this is how they seem to have understood that balance. Those who do not philosophise that they do not care for the forms or show of their culture, but would rather just keep that spirit within themsleves without show. Most ladies visiting temples come in saris but would not come with Bhindi (or accept it inside). The only consolation for such other Hindus who feel rather dismayed by these tendencies is that even peoples hailing from other cultures who have settled there, also share these same tendencies (maybe Muslims are a bit 'bolder'). (Based on my total of 2 years' observations in the US with an academic angle.)
ReplyDeleteA serious mistake rectified:
ReplyDeleteYou cannot expect THE ANY AVERAGE INDIAN, MORE SO ONE WHO LIVES ABROAD, TO HAVE UNDERSTOOD that the highest achievements in a truly balanced expression through art or science can come only from the spiritual springs activated by one's native culture