Astronomy and mathematics in ancient India

"Already in 1786, Sir William Jones, founder of the Asiatick Society in Calcutta, wrote "What their astronomical and mathematical writings contain, will not, I trust, remain long a secret: they are easily procured, and their importance cannot be doubted". Nevertheless, though India is nowadays a part of our daily media environment, its science, as ancient as Greek science, is still badly known and insufficiently included in history of science manuals. This book aims at helping to fill this gap by letting some of the best specialists in Indian astronomy and mathematics express themselves. They recount the evolution of these sciences, from the 'Aryabhatiya' (6th century) to the works of the Keralese astronomers-mathematicians (13-16th centuries), via treatises on prosody (14th century) and on astrolabe making produced since the same period. These treatises are described in association with the oldest Sanskrit astrolabe, preserved in Belgium."--P. [4] of cover.