Mathematics and society : numbers and measures in early modern South India / Senthil Babu D.
Publisher: Oxford : Oxford University Press, [2023]Copyright date: ©2022Description: 1 online resource : illustrations (black and white, and colour).Content type: text | still image Media type: computer Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9780190994341.Subject(s): Mathematics -- India, South -- History | Mathematics -- Social aspects -- India, South -- History | Mathematics

Item type | Current library | Copy number | Status | |
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ebook | House of Lords Library - Palace Online access | 1 | Available |
Previously issued in print: 2022.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
This title studies the regional tradition of mathematics in the Tamil-speaking areas of Southern India. It questions the established nature of Indian history of mathematics, which is based only on the Bhatta-Bhaskara tradition. Instead, it brings in practitioners like village accountants and school teachers as primary agents in the practice of mathematics. The author studies these hitherto unexplored historical sources and presents them in a new light. He talks about mathematics at the workplace, at the school, and at the village square in precolonial Tamil society. Finally, the author studies what happened to these practices when encountered by the colonial revenue administration and brings out a social history of mathematics in India.
Specialized.
Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on March 2, 2023).