INDIA, October 13, 2016 (New Indian Express by Michel Danino): Studies of India’s ancient scientific accomplishments have seen two extremes: At one end of the spectrum, daydreamers fancy that the Vedas knew everything from electricity to interplanetary travel, that vimanas crisscrossed Indian skies millenniums ago, or that Aryabhata invented all mathematics. At the other end, gainsayers bristle at the thought that some science might not have emerged from the “Greek miracle:” Indian scientific advances can only be borrowed or derivative, its imperfections and errors alone being original contributions, while its rational elements ultimately stem from contact with the Greeks; Indian savants knew no experimental science, followed no proper axiomatic method, and in any case ended up in stagnation, while Europe galloped forth triumphantly and gave us the boon of “modern science.”
These two scenarios are repeated decade after decade, while serious scholars — both Indian and Western — quietly and patiently generate solid material which, in a normal world, should suffice to dismiss dreamers and gainsayers alike to the obscurity they deserve. Indeed, ridiculing the former is easy. Exposing the latter, however, is less commonly done, as they often conceal their biases or ignorance behind academic posts and imposing jargon. A recent case in point is Meera Nanda, who has been for some years on a self-appointed mission to expose all claims to knowledge by Hindu enthusiasts, nationalists, right-wingers or Hindutva activists. I will confine myself to discussing the considerable distortions in her two case studies of Indian mathematics: the case for early Indian knowledge of the Pythagoras theorem, and India’s claim to be “the birthplace of the sunya, or zero.”
Meera Nanda is no doubt entitled to her opinions and prejudices, but disregarding or concealing all material that runs counter to one’s choices is poor scholarship. Worse, misleading the lay public into believing that the genuine accomplishments of early and classical Indian mathematics and astronomy are no more than Hindutva-created fictions reflects a jaundiced view of the whole field.
Danino continues his rebuttal at “source” above and part II, a continuation of the article, is available at:
http://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2016/oct/14/gainsaying-ancient-indian-science-1527846–1.html