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Calculus
created in India 250 years before
Newton: study
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Researchers
in England may have finally settled
the centuries-old debate over who
gets credit for the creation of
calculus. For years, English scientist
Isaac Newton and German philosopher
Gottfried Leibniz both claimed credit
for inventing the mathematical system
sometime around the end of the seventeenth
century. Now, a team from the universities
of Manchester and Exeter says it
knows where the true credit lies
- and it's with someone else completely.
The "Kerala school," a little-known
group of scholars and mathematicians
in fourteenth century India, identified
the "infinite series" - one of the
basic components of calculus - around
1350. Dr. George Gheverghese Joseph,
a member of the research team, says
the findings should not diminish
Newton or Leibniz, but rather exalt
the non-European thinkers whose
contributions are often ignored.
"The beginnings of modern maths
is usually seen as a European achievement
but the discoveries in medieval
India between the fourteenth and
sixteenth centuries have been ignored
or forgotten," he said. "The brilliance
of Newton's work at the end of the
seventeenth century stands undiminished
- especially when it came to the
algorithms of calculus. "But other
names from the Kerala School, notably
Madhava and Nilakantha, should stand
shoulder to shoulder with him as
they discovered the other great
component of calculus - infinite
series." He argues that imperialist
attitudes are to blame for suppressing
the true story behind the discovery
of calculus. "There were many reasons
why the contribution of the Kerala
school has not been acknowledged,"
he said. "A prime reason is neglect
of scientific ideas emanating from
the Non-European world, a legacy
of European colonialism and beyond."
However, he concedes there are other
factors also in play. "There is
also little knowledge of the medieval
form of the local language of Kerala,
Malayalam, in which some of most
seminal texts, such as the Yuktibhasa,
from much of the documentation of
this remarkable mathematics is written,"
he admits. Joseph made the discovery
while conducting research for the
as-yet unpublished third edition
of his best-selling book The
Crest of the Peacock: the Non-European
Roots of Mathematics.
Courtesy:
www.cbc.ca, August 14, 2007
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Calculus
from Kerala School
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A
little-known school of scholars
in southern India discovered one
of the founding principles of modern
mathematics hundreds of years before
Sir Isaac Newton, to whom the finding
is currently attributed, according
to new research findings announced
here. George Gheverghese Joseph,
an academic and author, says the
'Kerala School' identified the 'infinite
series', one of the basic components
of calculus, circa 1350. The discovery
is attributed in books to Sir Isaac
Newton and Gottfried Leibnitz at
the end of the 17th century, the
University of Manchester reported
on in its website. The Manchester-Exeter
universities team said the Kerala
School had also discovered what
amounted to the Pi series and used
it to calculate Pi correct to 9,
10 and later 17 decimal places.
And there is strong circumstantial
evidence that Indians passed on
their discoveries to mathematically
savvy Jesuit missionaries who visited
India during the 15th century. That
knowledge, the researchers argue,
may have been passed on to Newton.
The research was carried out by
Dr. Joseph, Honorary Reader, School
of Education at The University of
Manchester and Dennis Almeida, Teaching
Fellow at the School of Education,
The University of Exeter. Dr. Joseph,
who hails from Kerala, made the
finding while trawling through obscure
Indian papers for a third edition
of his book The Crest of the
Peacock: the Non-European Roots
of Mathematics, the report said.
Forgotten
Dr.
Joseph said: "The beginnings of
modern maths is usually seen as
a European achievement but the discoveries
in medieval India between the 14th
and 16th centuries have been ignored
or forgotten… The brilliance of
Newton's work at the end of the
17th century stands undiminished
- especially when it came to the
algorithms of calculus. But other
names from the Kerala School, notably
Madhava and Nilakantha, should stand
shoulder to shoulder with him as
they discovered the other great
component of calculus - infinite
series." Dr. Joseph attributed the
non-acknowledgment of the contribution
of the Kerala school to the neglect
of scientific ideas emanating from
the Non-European world, "a legacy
of European colonialism and beyond."
Courtesy:
www.hindu.com, August 14, 2007
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Foreign
students put India on the global
education map
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In
the years from 5th-13th century
AD, eastern India's ancient university
of Nalanda was home to foreign students
from as far away as China. Thousands
of years later, history spills over
to the modern-day Indian nation
that continues the tradition of
being a centre of educational excellence
and a lodestone for students from
all over the world. Sixty years
after it attained independence,
India boasts of 310 universities
and 16,000 colleges offering the
widest spectrum of courses. Its
centres of higher learning like
the Indian Institutes of Management
(IIMs) and the Indian Institutes
of Technology (IITs) are global
brandnames. Adding to the quality
of education is the fact that English
is the generally accepted mode of
teaching and living standards are
economical - attracting thousands
of students from at least 100 countries.
A large number of students come
to India from countries like Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Fiji,
Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kenya,
Ghana, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia,
Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Somalia,
Sri Lanka, Suriname, Syria and even
the US. "They (the global populace)
look at the Indian education system
with trust," said Educational Consultants
India Limited (Ed. CIL), a body
under the Human Resource Development
(HRD) ministry. "India is today
recognised as a world centre for
education. Indian entrepreneurs
are making waves throughout the
world. Their ideas, technical knowledge
and entrepreneurship have yielded
unprecedented growth in income,
employment and wealth. The credit
goes to the sound and practical
educational foundation they have
received in India," they said.It's
a rapidly increasing phenomenon.
A case in point is southern Karnataka's
Mysore University where at least
1,200 foreign students study, up
from only 150 four years ago. Vice
Chancellor J. Shashidhara Prasad
attributes the spurt to the IT revolution
and India's economy that is growing
at over nine percent.
"The
quality education provided by many
universities in our country is increasingly
getting noticed. When I became the
vice chancellor, there were around
150 foreign students. The trend
is growing." Of course, it's a lot
to do with the arithmetic of education
as well. The Mysore University,
for instance, offers an MBA degree
for Rs.150,000 (approx $3,750) as
against $12,000 to $15,000 in Europe,
Australia or in the US. Director
of the prestigious IIM-Ahmedabad
Bakul H. Dholakia disclosed that
his institute had student exchange
programmes with 50 others in the
world. "Yes, India is becoming a
global destination of education.
Our education is at par with any
major institute of the world. Our
students are increasingly getting
global attention and job offers
and this is a good yardstick of
our quality. "Currently, IIM-A has
student exchange programmes with
exactly 50 institutes across the
continents. Some students stay in
our campus to pursue a fulltime
one-year MBA programme. India is
progressing and there is no full
stop," Dholakia said. Tyler William
Walker from the US perhaps best
represents the trend of students
from a developed country opting
for India. Walker, who is doing
his M.Phil in Hindi from New Delhi's
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU),
said: "I came to India first as
an exchange student during my stint
at California University and then
joined JNU for a full time course
in Hindi. While students from developing
countries come to India to get quality
education because it costs less,
students from developed nations
come for variety." Williams, who
is vice president of the university's
student union, is only one of eight
American students in JNU. "The culture,
the languages and even the social
set up of India attract students
here," he said, adding that there
were only two students from the
US three years ago. For Shadi Sarrokhyani
from Iran, who is doing her PhD
in English Literature from JNU,
the Indian experience is "amazing"."India's
quality of education and relatively
cheap costs not to mention the secure
socio political situation in the
country are the primary reasons
for an increasing number of students
coming to India," she said. "I have
been in India for more than seven
years and it has been a unique experience.
The democratic way of living and
the rich culture of the country
have helped us cope with the course
curriculum," said the student, who
came to India through a scholarship
provided by the India Council of
Cultural Relations (ICCR). Though
she applied through the Indian embassy
in Tehran, Shadi said many in her
country were paying their way through
and JNU alone had 30 students from
Iran. Added Tasazul Ali from Syria,
who has been in the Indian capital
for the last two years pursuing
a Masters in Computer Application
(MCA) at the Jamia Hamdard University:
"Some of my friends were studying
here and they told me about the
facilities available. I came to
India on their recommendation and
I am very impressed." Khalid Abdallah
from Sudan who has pursued various
degrees from various universities
in India estimates that there are
around 3,000 students from his country
in Hyderabad, 800 in Pune, 400 in
Bangalore and 200 in Chennai. ED.CIL
said the global recognition of Indian
education is helping the cause of
Indian students as well. "The courses
and professionals trained in Indian
educational institutes are recognised
the world over - 200 of the Fortune
500 companies regularly participate
in campus placements in Indian institutions,"
the body said.
Courtesy:
www.indiainteracts.com, August 03,
2007
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