Indian mathematicians discovered infinite series in 1350 | Hacker News Reader

Indian mathematicians discovered infinite series in 1350

physorg.com

45 pointspg13 comments

I suppose this is the first real post of Hacker News?

Whenever I study the history of science, I'm always left with a longing for a time machine. Alt-history is fascinating: what level of technology could humanity have achieved today if certain intellectual disasters could be avoided?

A humble request of a time traveler would be to ensure a continuous line of knowledge. Forgotten and rediscovered knowledge are such forces of friction and backsliding. Better communication over larger geographical areas would certainly have helped. It would be like a distributed backup system.

I live in Kerala .A word about present academic situation here:

The good old days are far gone . Quality of education is going downhill,as very few practitioners teach the subjects in colleges.Locally, teaching as a profession is considered as a low grade one , compared to engineering and medical professions by majority.This low social status coupled with poor pay has resulted in a situation,where teaching as a profession has become the last of all choices.

A system that do not appreciate innovation is in place, and is oriented ONLY towards getting high academic scores. This is sad. I wish things got better.

[I haven't studied anywhere outside Kerala, so i don't know about the situation elsewhere in India.Please don't conclude this as the situation in India, in general]

This is really interesting news. It is sad in a way that so much of the previous efforts have been wasted due to differences in cultures, invasion, wars, disease etc. Imagine Newton studying this math when he was a kid... he would be working on other problems and everyone would be better off. Just amazes how much the ancient civilizations achieved with the resources they had and makes me appreciate them more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_computing_2400_BC-1...

This is surprising. Indian mathematicians invented the 0, binary, formal language specs, logarithms... I wonder what changed.

If you mean what changed in recent times - imperial rule. It has been only 60 years since India has been independent.

This was a negative?

India was made up of numerous warring states, until one massive war that turned them into a possession of Britain. I'm not aware of how their economic situation changed after that, but if Africa is any indicator... http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2007/08/country...

I am not sure if it was all negative... I am sure the British brought good things to India. I do believe a century long British rule changed the focus and stifled innovation and free thought. How would it have gone had the British never ruled... hard to tell.

The British came centuries later in 1600. They unified the country, brought a common language, railways, administration etc.

Many people say that far greater damage was wrought by the many Muslim emperors and invasions.

By the time the British came, Indian Science was over.

Did the British rule of Britain have the same effect? How, then, could they have produced Newton and Babbage when Indian mathematicians were on the same path centuries (or millennia!) earlier?

Just to stir the pot a bit - whenever I hear debates about empires, colonialism etc, I'm always reminded of the phrase, 'What have the Romans ever done for us?'.

Wrong/disputed attributions are everywhere. Just a part of history. Human history, because humans care about the attributions.

And Edison invented the lightbulb, Gutenberg the printing press, etc. etc. Sigh for a second. Now go make something.

It is well known that all scientific knowledge was given to us by aliens.

yes but remember, most Indians are LEGAL Aliens ;)

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