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- Title
The Seminal Contribution of K. S. Shukla to our Understanding of Indian Astronomy and Mathematics.
- Authors
SRINIVAS, M. D.
- Abstract
In this article we shall highlight some of the important contributions to the study of Indian astronomy and mathematics made by Prof. Kripa Shankar Shukla (1918 - 2007), on the occasion of his birth centenary. Shukla was a student of Prof. A. N. Singh (1905 - 1954) at Lucknow University and was also fortunate to have come in close contact with Prof. Singh's renowned collaborator Bibhutibhusan Datta (1888-1958). Dr. Shukla became the worthy successor of Prof. Singh to lead the research programme on Indian astronomy and mathematics at Lucknow University. Prof. Shukla brought out landmark editions of twelve important source-works of Indian astronomy and mathematics. A remarkable feature of many of these editions is that they also include lucid English translations and detailed explanatory notes. This is indeed one of the greatest contributions of Prof. Shukla since, till the 1960s, there had been very few editions of the classical source-works of Indian astronomy which also included a translation as well as explanatory notes. The editions of Shukla have become standard textbooks for the study of development of Indian astronomy during the classical SiddhÀntic period from °ryabhaÇa to OErÁpati. Prof. Shukla also wrote over forty important research articles, which have ushered in an entirely new perspective on the historiography of Indian astronomy and mathematics. We shall discuss in some detail the following seminal contributions of Prof. Shukla: (i) Correct explanation of the manda-saÉskÀra (equation of centre) in Indian astronomy, including the computation of the avioeiÈÇa-mandakarõa (iterated manda-hypotenuse) and its significance. (ii) Correction of the faulty readings and translations of some of the crucial verses giving the number of civil days and other parameters of a yuga, as presented in the 1978 edition of YavanajÀtaka by David Pingree. (iii) Publication of a revised and updated version of Part III of the 'History of Hindu Mathematics' by B. B. Datta and A. N. Singh.
- Subjects
ASTRONOMY; HISTORY of mathematics; MATHEMATICS
- Publication
Ganita Bharati: Bulletin of the Indian Society for History of Mathematics, 2018, Vol 40, Issue 1, p17
- ISSN
0970-0307
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.32381/GB.2018.40.01.2