''A Passage to Infinity: Medieval Indian Mathematics from Kerala and Its Impact'' is a 2009 book by

George Gheverghese Joseph George Gheverghese Joseph, also known as G. G. Joseph is an Indian-born African mathematician who is a specialist in the history of mathematics. His works are mainly focused on the achievements of Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics and th ...

chronicling the social and mathematical origins of the

Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics The Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics or the Kerala school was a school of Indian mathematics, mathematics and Indian astronomy, astronomy founded by Madhava of Sangamagrama in Kingdom of Tanur, Tirur, Malappuram district, Malappuram, K ...

. The book discusses the highlights of the achievements of Kerala school and also analyses the hypotheses and conjectures on the possible transmission of Kerala mathematics to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

An outline of the contents

# Introduction # The Social Origins of the Kerala School # The Mathematical Origins of the Kerala School # The Highlights of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

Astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

# Indian Trigonometry: From Ancient Beginnings to

Nilakantha The word Nilakantha may refer to: * Shiva, one of the principal deities of Hinduism * ''Nilakantha'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders * Neelakantha Chaturdhara (Nīlakaṇṭha Caturdhara), seventeenth-century commentator on the ''Mahābhārat ...

Squaring the Circle Squaring the circle is a problem in geometry first proposed in Greek mathematics. It is the challenge of constructing a square with the area of a circle by using only a finite number of steps with a compass and straightedge. The difficulty ...

: The Kerala Answer # Reaching for the Stars: The

Power Series In mathematics, a power series (in one variable) is an infinite series of the form \sum_^\infty a_n \left(x - c\right)^n = a_0 + a_1 (x - c) + a_2 (x - c)^2 + \dots where ''an'' represents the coefficient of the ''n''th term and ''c'' is a const ...

for

Sine In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is oppo ...

s and Cosines # Changing Perspectives on

Indian Mathematics Indian mathematics emerged in the Indian subcontinent from 1200 BCE until the end of the 18th century. In the classical period of Indian mathematics (400 CE to 1200 CE), important contributions were made by scholars like Aryabhata, Brahmagupta ...

# Exploring Transmissions: A Case Study of Kerala Mathematics # A Final Assessment

References

Further references

*In association with the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

's 350th anniversary celebrations in 2010, Asia House presented a talk based on ''A Passage to Infinity''. See : *For an audio-visual presentation of George Gheverghese Joseph's views on the ideas presented in the book, see : *

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bus ...

talks to George Gheverghese Joseph on ''The Passage to Infinity''. See : *Review of "A PASSAGE TO INFINITY: Medieval Indian Mathematics from Kerala and its impact" by M. Ram Murty in Hardy-Ramanujan Journal, 36 (2013), 43–46. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Passage to Infinity Hindu astronomy Indian mathematics Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics Astronomy books

An outline of the contents

See also

References

Further references