India has a strong and ancient tradition of astronomy, which seamlessly merges with the current activities in Astronomy and Astrophysics in the country. While the younger generation of astronomers and students are reasonably familiar with the current facilities and the astronomical research, they might not have an equally good knowledge of the rich history of Indian astronomy. This particular volume, brought out as a part of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of Indian National Science Academy, concentrates on selected aspects of historical development of Indian astronomy in the form of six invited chapters. Two of the chapters – by Balachandra Rao and M.S. Sriram – cover ancient astronomy and the development of calculus in the ancient Kerela text Yuktibhasa. The other four chapters by B.V. Sreekantan, Siraj Hasan, Govind Swarup and Jayant Narlikar deal with the contemporary history of Indian astronomy covering space astronomy, optical astronomy, radio astronomy and developments in relativistic astrophysics. These chapters, written by experts in the field, provide an in-depth study of the subject and make this volume quite unique.

The Siamese Manuscript holds the distinction of being the very first document relating to Indian Astronomy to reach Europe in a pristine form. Some fragments of Indian Astronomy had undoubtedly reached Europe in earlier times, but those tidbits were likely received in a highly altered form due to difficulties in translation, and the so-called cultural barrier. The Siamese Manuscript helped overcome this barrier by being a compendium of Indian astronomical knowledge in plain Siamese. The timing of the arrival of the manuscript in Europe was significant. After a couple hundred years the Renaissance was finally bearing fruit, and European intellectual prowess was at a peak. The deeper principles of Indian Astronomy, which had gone over the heads of the Greeks and the Arabs who first encountered them, could now be fully understood and appreciated for the first time by people outside India.

Indian scientific achievements in the early twentieth century are well known, with a number of heralded individuals making globally recognized strides in the field of astrophysics. Covering the period from the foundation of the Asiatick Society in 1784 to the establishment of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in 1876, Sen explores the relationship between Indian astronomers and the colonial British. He shows that from the mid-nineteenth century, Indians were not passive receivers of European knowledge, but active participants in modern scientific observational astronomy.

This volume presents a collection of some of the seminal articles of Professor K. S. Shukla who made immense contributions to our understanding of the history and development of mathematics and astronomy in India. It consists of six parts: Part I constitutes introductory articles which give an overview of the life and work of Prof. Shukla, including details of his publications, reminiscences from his former students, and an analysis of his monumental contributions. Part II is a collection of important articles penned by Prof. Shukla related to various aspects of Indian mathematics. Part III consists of articles by Bibhutibhusan Datta and Avadhesh Narayan Singh—which together constitute the third unpublished part of their History of Hindu Mathematics—that were revised and updated by Prof. Shukla. Parts IV and V consist of a number of important articles of Prof. Shukla on different aspects of Indian astronomy. Part VI includes some important reviews authored by him and a few reviews of his work. Given the sheer range and depth of Prof. Shukla’s scholarship, this volume is essential reading for scholars seeking to deepen their understanding of the rich and varied contributions made by Indian mathematicians and astronomers.

Explore the eighteenth-century Indian astronomical observatories called the Jantar Mantars, massive, stunning structures built to observe and understand the heavens Between 1724 and 1730, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur constructed five astronomical observatories, called Jantar Mantars, in northern India. The four remaining observatories are an extraordinary fusion of architecture and science, combining elements of astronomy, astrology, and geometry into forms of remarkable beauty. The observatories’ large scale and striking geometric forms have captivated the attention of architects, artists, scientists, and historians worldwide, yet their purpose and use remain largely unknown to the public. In this book, Barry Perlus’s visually driven exploration brings readers to the Jantar Mantars and creates an immersive experience. Panoramas plunge the viewer into a breathtaking 360-degree space, while pages of explanatory illustrations describe the observatories and the workings of their many instruments. The book provides the experience of visiting the sites, the historical context of the Jantar Mantars, and an understanding of their scientific and architectural innovations.

The mysteries of the fifth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam have long puzzled students of Vedic cosmography and astronomy. Confronted with a description of the universe that seems much at variance with the information provided by our senses and standard astronomical calculations, foreign observers and even Indian commentators from the middle ages up to the present have concluded that the Bhagavatam`s account elaborated in other Puranas must be mythological. On the other hand the same persons have been much impressed with vedic astronomical treatises the jyotisasastras which provide remarkably accurate measurements of the solar system.