Moderator note: It would be good if you could define what you mean by "Vedic mathematics". Do you mean mathematics in the Vedic texts? or is it the mathematics of the late achArya bhArati tIrtha? My recommendations for the thread are the following:
1) Ideally broaden the topic to include all Indian mathematics and astronomy, Vedic and post Vedic.
2)If you just want to discuss bhArati tIrtha's mathematics then specifically say so in the title.
3)If you want to just collect links then you may use the link archiving facility instead of a new thread.
If admins permit, I would like to collect information on vedic mathematics in this thread. Thank you
k.ram , I have broadened the title of this thread to include all the sciences of Indian antiquity. For now this will prevent thread proliferation, if we get a lot of contributions on Vedic Mathematics we will change the topic again to Mathematics, If you have a problem with this , email me Kaushal
I have read Shri Bharathi krishna Thirtha's work, but I am not sure if it is a complete work and was also wondering about all the other contributions, hence I just called it vedic mathematics. Please do (renaming or any other advise) as you see fit. Thank you.
Vedic Mathematics is becoming increasingly popular as more and more people are introduced to the beautifully unified and easy Vedic methods. The purpose of this Newsletter is to provide information about developments in education and research and books, articles, courses, talks etc., and also to bring together those working with Vedic Mathematics. If you are working with Vedic Mathematics - teaching it or doing research - please contact us and let us include you and some description of your work in the Newsletter. Perhaps you would like to submit an article for inclusion in a later issue or tell us about a course or talk you will be giving or have given.
If you are learning Vedic Maths, let us know how you are getting on and what you think of this system.
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This issueâs article is taken from a longer article by Andrew Nicholas. The full article can be viewed at www.vmacademy.com
INDIAâS SYSTEM OF MENTAL MATHEMATICS
THE VEDIC IDEAL
In the vedic system, the work is done mentally. This stems from the tradition being an oral one.
In practice, today, the initial problem or question is usually written down and the answer or solution also. The work being done mentally, a one-line answer results. This is the vedic ideal.
BACKGROUND
But what is this word âvedicâ? It refers to an ancient period in Indiaâs history. Tradition has it that the system of the vedas covered all branches of knowledge. Originally an oral tradition, it began to be written down around 1600 or 1700BC, according to western scholars. Over the next thousand years four vedas, as they were called, were recorded - rig-veda, yajur-veda, sama-veda and atharva-veda.
An appendix to this last contained a section headed âGanita Sutrasâ, i.e. mathematical formulae, or principles. In the nineteenth century scholars began to look at it, but could make no sense of what they found there: statements such as, âIn the reign of King Kamsa, famine, pestilence, and insanitary conditions prevailed.â
Then a brilliant south Indian scholar, Shri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji (1884-1960), began a detailed investigation. He concluded that the above statement about King Kamsa was a cryptic form of the decimal fraction for 1/17, using letters to represent single-digit numbers, much as we might use the letter A to represent 1, and B to represent 2, etc.
Having obtained one clue, further investigation led him to conclude that the whole of mathematics is based on 16 sutras, and he finally wrote 16 volumes on the topic.
Then events intervened. He was virtually forced into becoming a Shankaracharya. Hindu India has four of these top religious leaders - a bit like having four Popes.
The upshot was that he left his beloved vedic mathematics alone for many years. Returning to the subject in the 1950âs, it emerged that the 16 volumes had been lost. On realising this, he decided to re-write them all, and began by writing a book intended to introduce the whole series. Ill health stopped him from getting any further, and he died in 1960. This introductory book is now all that we have by him. It was first published in 1965.
DIFFERENT IDEAS ABOUT NUMBER
Western version
When measuring weight, the bigger the number, the greater the weight. Similarly for temperature, length, electric current etc. We are used to the idea that larger numbers are weightier.
Vedic version
In the vedic system, numbers are viewed differently. An analogy is telephone numbers, which we donât associate with quantity. They are patterns of digits acting as addresses.
Similarly, when working to a base of ten (as we normally do), the vedic system deals with the single-digit numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, up to 9, together with the zero, arranged in different patterns. For example, we donât divide by 52, we divide by 5, and take account of the 2 afterwards. This shift of focus eliminates the heaviness, or weight, associated with the common view of numbers. The vedic mathematician considers a number such as 52 as 5 and 2 in succession.
IS VEDIC MATHEMATICS CURRENTLY USED IN INDIA?
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT DEVELOPMENTS THERE?
To answer the first question first, yes and no. It is used there to some extent. Here is a brief account of the developments.
Tirthaji died in 1960
âVedic Mathematicsâ was published in 1965
Before going to India in 1981 I wrote to all Indian universities to find out what more was known about the subject. About 30% of them replied. No one could tell me anything more about it. Evidently the subject was being neglected. However, one or two letters pointed me to Tirthajiâs last residence and ashram in Nagpur. Visiting there, I was invited to return the following year to teach a fortnightâs course.
These days, the subject can be taught in schools, alongside the conventional system. Where this is done, I am told, the pupils have no problem with learning the two approaches side-by-side - the western and the vedic.
There is also a passionate debate raging about the status of Tirthajiâs system. Some argue that it is historically accurate, despite the lack of normal historical evidence. Others argue that, lacking evidence for its historical validity, it should be dismissed - despite the fact that, mathematically, it works.
My view (which I am not alone in holding) is that it is a reconstruction. At present we are unable to say for sure that it is historically accurate - nor to prove that it is not. This is because we are dealing with an oral tradition, and it is no surprise that written evidence may not be available.
WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL OF THE SYSTEM?
Tirthaji points out that it normally takes about 16 years to go from first steps in mathematics to a Degree in the subject. (e.g. from age 5 to age 21). But he states that with the vedic system the course in its entirety could be done in about two years! Of course, at present we donât have all the material thatâs needed available.
Needless to say, however, this would benefit everybody - not least those who are not interested in mathematics and would prefer to spend less time on it!
I think, myself, that once vedic mathematics begins to win general acceptance it will lead people to question other academic disciplines. Are rapid methods available in other subjects? If so, are they being used, and if not can they be developed?
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NEWS
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New course in london
Following the successful recent course at Imperial College another introductory course is to take place at the Regency Hotel, Queenâs Gate, London, SW7 5AG, on five Mondays from 29th April 2002. Time: 7.00 to 8.30 pm. Course fee: 30 pounds (20 pounds, students and concessions). Enquiries: tel. 020 8688 2642. Topics covered: Squares and Cubes, pi and the Vedic numeral code, Easy Calculus, Fibonacci within Nature, Mathematics and Mind.
BUSINESS APPLICATION OF A VM SUTRA
âBusiness Indiaâ has published an interesting article by Chetan Dalal entitled âPractical application of Vedic mathematics â Vedic mathematics has certain visual solutions which could be applied in problem solvingâ. This is on the application of Anurupye Shunyam Anayat (zero value of one of the variables in Simultaneous equations where the other variables are in perfect proportion to constants) illustrated in an Insurance claim. The article ends:
âThis illustration . . . emphasizes on the simplicity of the tenets of the sutras of vedic mathematics. Perhaps research and intensive study of vedic scriptures might reveal even more advanced applications. What is illustrated above is a very elementary application of the sutra. The depth and richness of the vedic knowledge is beyond description. Greater research and more teamwork in sharing of ideas and interpretation may provide revolutionary results.â
It would be good to see more such applications of the Vedic Sutras.
MULTIPLICATION ON THE FINGERTIPS
A lot of interest was taken in the article in the last newsletter. Mr. Carlos Javier Maya from Mexico has given an idea for doing multiplications of 2 digit by 2 digit on the hands when the multiplier is 19. Mrs Sharma is developing the methods further and is currently conducting a series of courses on Vedic Mathematics.
Dr Abhijit Das in Mumbai, India, has also been researching this area, but without using fingers. We hope to have an article by him for the next newsletter.
COSMIC CALCULATOR COURSE NOW AVAILABLE
As stated in the last newsletter this Vedic Maths course, that covers the National Curriculum for England and Wales, can now be obtained. In India you can purchase whatever you need from Motilal Banarsidass shops and presumably from other bookshops.
The ISBNâs are as follows:
Full set: 81-208-1871-7
Book 1: 81-208-1862-8
Book 2: 81-208-1863-6
Book 3: 81-208-1864-4
Teachers Guide: 81-208-1865-2
Answer Book 1: 81-208-1866-0
To purchase the course in the UK contact:
Motilal Books, PO Box 324, Borehamwood, WD6 1NB
Tel: 0208 905 1244
Mailto:info@mlbduk.com
Price 39.75 pounds
For the USA contact:
THE SACRED SCIENCE INSTITUTE who have the books on order.
If you want to know about Vedic Mathematics Workshops or research in India send an email to Mr R. P. Jain at mlbd@vsnl.com
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CORRESPONDENCE
Email:
First of all I am thankful to those who are behind this effort of rejuvenating vedic science or mathematics.
I have learned very few mathema-tactics when I was giving some scholarship exams in 4 th standard. These were taught to me by my Nanny at that time. I could score 99/100 in that exam. and much of it due to use of vedic maths. But afterwards I never pursued it. I have done engineering and after so much of years have passed now I have decided to study vedic maths from scratch. I have done tutorials from your site and they are simply best to add my interest. So please subscribe me as student and pls. guide me what next I should do.
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Your comments about this Newsletter are invited.
If you would like to send us details about your work or submit an article for inclusion please let us know on news@vedicmaths.com
Previous issues of this Newsletter can be copied from the Web Site: www.vedicmaths.org
Issue 1: An Introduction
Issue 2: "So What's so Special about Vedic Mathematics?"
Issue 3: Sri Bharati Krsna Tirthaji: More than a Mathematical Genius
Issue 4: The Vedic Numerical Code
Issue 5: "Mathematics of the Millennium"- Seminar in Singapore
Issue 6: The Sutras of Vedic Mathematics
Issue 7: The Vedic Square
Issue 8: The Nine Point Circle
Issue 9: The Vedic Triangle
Issue 10: Proof of Goldbach's Conjecture
Issue 11: Is Knowledge Essentially Simple?
Issue 12: Left to Right or Right to Left?
Issue 13: The Vinculum and other Devices
Issue 14: 1,2,3,4: Pythagoras and the Cosmology of Number
Issue 15: A Descriptive Preparatory Note on the Astounding Wonders of Ancient
Indian Vedic Mathematics
Issue 16: Vedic Matrix
Issue 17: Vedic Sources of Vedic Mathematics
Issue 18: 9 by 9 Division Table
Issue 19: âMaths Mantraâ
Issue 20: Numeracy
Issue 21: Only a Matter of 16 Sutras
Issue 22: Multiplication on the Fingertips
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this Newsletter simply send an email to that
effect to news@vedicmaths.com
Please pass a copy of this Newsletter on (unedited) to anyone you think may
k.ram: Sometime back I had math book on [url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0313232008/ref=pd_sbs_b_1/103-4184427-1687010?v=glance&s=books&n=507846"]Trachtenberg Speed System[/url] which basically thought same things. Don't have that book with me anymore to check if this guy lifted these techniques from Vedic Mathematics.
Viren, I used to have that book too long time ago. Yes some techniques do seem similar. I would not speculate further than that. <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
I too have read a bit of Trachtenberg Speed System for basic mathematics and if I recall correctly the author wrote it while in jail. In the appendix he gives mathematical proofs (distributive law, etc. IIRC) of the techniques he used.
I bought it for a few rupees from a footpath hawker in Connaught Place in Delhi, but the amazon page linked to above shows a different cover and a price of $68.95. Amazing!
[quote name='Jaspreet' date='Oct 16 2003, 02:59 PM'] I bought it for a few rupees from a footpath hawker in Connaught Place in Delhi, but the amazon page linked to above shows a different cover and a price of $68.95. Amazing! [/quote]
Had same observation Jaspreet. I must have paid less than Rs 25 in Mumbai for that.
Not about vedic math, but a great mathematical genius. Graduate
Quote:The man who 'discovered' Everest
  By Soutik Biswas
BBC News OnlineÂ
One day in 1852 in British-ruled India, a young man burst into an office in the northern Dehra Dun hill town and announced to his boss: "Sir, I have discovered the highest mountain in the world!"
Radhanath Sickdhar was an intrepid mathematician from Calcutta
After four long and arduous years of unscrambling mathematical data, Radhanath Sickdhar had managed to find out the height of Peak XV, an icy peak in the Himalayas.
The mountain - later christened Mount Everest after Sir George Everest, the surveyor general of India - stood at 29,002 feet (8,840 metres).
Sickdhar's feat, unknown to many Indians, is now part of the Great Arc Exhibition in London's vibrant Brick Lane.
The Indian Government-sponsored exhibition celebrates 200 years of the mapping of the Indian subcontinent.
The exercise, which was called "one of the most stupendous works in the whole history of science" was begun by William Lambton, a British army officer, in Madras in 1802.
The survey involved several thousand Indians and was named the Great Trigonometrical Survey (GTS) in 1819.
Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, is 29,035 ft high today
It covered more than 1,600 miles and countless people died during the work. Tigers and malaria were the main causes of death.
Sickdhar, who was 39 when he made his discovery, was one of the survey's largely unsung heroes.
The man from Calcutta was called a "computer" since he worked on computation of data collected by survey parties.
He was promoted to the position of "chief computer" because of his good work.
'Rare genius'
"Mathematical skills were essential for Sickdhar's work and he was acknowledged by George Everest as a mathematician of rare genius," British historian John Keay, author of two books on the subject, told BBC News Online.
"His greatest contribution to the computation was in working out and applying the allowance to be made for a phenomenon called refraction - the bending of straight lines by the density of the Earth's atmosphere," said Mr Keay.
"Like George Everest himself, [Sickdhar] may have never seen [Mount Everest]."
It was first identified as a possible contender for the world's highest peak in 1847 when surveyors glimpsed it from near Darjeeling.
Sir George Everest found Sickdhar a rare mathematical genius
Several observations were recorded over the next three years by different survey parties.
But the announcement that it was the highest - thanks to Sickdhar's efforts - was delayed until 1856 as calculations had to be checked repeatedly.
Sickdhar, the son of a Bengali Brahmin, was born in October 1813 in Jorasanko, Calcutta's old city.
He studied mathematics at the city's renowned Hindoo College and had a basic knowledge of English.
A workaholic, Sickdhar never married, instead dedicating his life to knotty mathematical calculations.
George Everest was always full of praise for the number-crunching genius.
He wrote that Sickdhar was a "hardy, energetic young man, ready to undergo any fatigue, and acquire a practical knowledge of all parts of his profession.
"There are a few of my instruments that he cannot manage; and none of my computations of which he is not thoroughly master. He can not only apply formulate but investigate them."
Mount Everest has risen higher since Sickdhar's findings.
In 1955, the mountain "grew" by 26 ft to 29,028 ft (or by 8 m to 8,848 m).
Mount Everest grew another 7 ft (2 m) in 1999 after researchers analysed fresh data from the mountain.
Today, the world's highest mountain stands 29,035 ft (8,850 m) high.
The philosophy of pa~nchshikha asurAyana a~ngirasa and sulabhA prAdhani
The essence of hindu atomism is seen in sulabhA's discourse , to the king of mithilA, dharmadhvaja jAnaka. sulabhA was a student of he student of pa~nchshika asurAyaNa.
Whether it emerges from the manifest, or the unmanifest, or a combination of two principles or of four principles, the knowers term the basis of all existence to be prakR^iti
seyaM prakR^itiravyaktA kalAbhirvyaktatA.n gatA .
aha.n cha tvaM cha rAjendra ye chApyanye sharIriNaH .. 115..
Myself and yourself, oh indra of the rajanyas, and other entities that occupy space are as result of prakR^iti.
bindunyAsAdayo.avasthAH shukrashonita sambhavAH .
yAsAmeva nipAtena kalalaM nAma jAyate .. 116..
A point formed by the union the spermatic and female principles is beginning of our existence. It then transforms itself into the primary embryonic globule called kalala
The kalala divides to a state with numerous bubbles called (arbuda), and the the arbuda gives rise to an elongated sheath like form (peshi). From the peshi, emerges the a~NgA, where the rudiments of all the organs are seen, from this form differentiates the external elements like hair and nails.
sampUrNe navame mAse jantorjAtasya maithila .
jAyate nAma rUpatva.n strI pumAnveti li~NgataH .. 118..
Upon the expiration of the 9th month emerges a neonate, Oh Maithila. It is female or male depending on the li~nga it had developed.
jAtamAtra.n tu tadrUpaM dR^iShTvA tAmranakhA~Nguli .
kaumAra rUpamApanna.n rUpato na palabhyate .. 119..
When a being issues forth from the womb it has nails and fingers of the hue of blood. The next step is infancy when the form seen at birth changes.
anena kramayogena pUrvaM pUrvaM na labhyate .. 120..
from infancy, youth is reached and from that old age is reached. As the creature advances from stage to stage irreversibly, there is constant change in the body.
vartate sarvabhUteShu saukShmyAttu na vibhAvyate .. 121..
This is because the body is made of minute particles which serve diverse functions and undergo changes, that are hard to perceive from second to second.
na chaiShAmapyayo rAja.NllakShyate prabhavo na cha .
The birth and death of these particles is continous, with one leading to the other, just as the changes in flame of a burning lamp, oh King.
tasyApyevaM prabhAvasya sadashvasyeva dhAvataH .
ajasra.n sarvalokasya kaH kuto vA na vA kutaH .. 123..
Thus is the existence of the body of all creatures, with their elements constantly in rapid locomotion like a good horse in run. Ever state comes and goes.
As fire come from the contact of wood pieces or sun's (rays) through bead, some combinations of the fundamental elements gives rise to the constituents of bodies.
I found this contribution by Prasenjit medhi on the net.
I have included a few important details about just a few of the most famous ancient Indian mathematicians from past years. To my mind, the most important and most influential of these figures were Aryabhatta and Panini. Aryabhatta had an excellent understanding of the Keplerian Universe more than a thousand years before Kepler, while Panini made a remarkable analysis of language, namely Sanskrit, which was not matched for 2,500 years, until the modern Bacchus form, in the 20th century.
Aryabhata wrote Aryabhatiya , finished in 499, which is a summary of Hindu mathematics up to that time, written in verse. It coveres astronomy,spherical trigonometry, arithmetic, algebra and plane
trigonometry.Aryabhata gives formulas for the areas of a triangle and a circle which are correct, but the formulas for the volumes of a sphere and a pyramid are wrong.
Aryabhatiya also contains continued fractions, quadratic equations, sums ofpower series and a table of sines. Aryabhata gave an accurate approximation for pi (equivalent to 3.1416) and was one of
the first known to use algebra. He also introduced the versine ( versin = 1 - cos) into trigonometry.
Aryabhata also wrote the astronomy text Siddhanta which taught that the apparent rotation of the heavens was due to the axial rotation of the Earth. The work is written in 121 stanzas. It gives a
quite remarkable view of the nature of the solar system.
Aryabhata gives the radius of the planetary orbits in terms of the radius of the Earth/Sun orbit as essentially their periods of rotation around the Sun. He believes that the Moon and planets shine
by reflected sunlight, incredibly he believes that the orbits of the planets are ellipses. He correctly explains the causes of eclipses of the Sun and the Moon.
His value for the length of the year at 365 days 6 hours 12 minutes 30 seconds is an overestimate since the true value is less than 365 days 6 hours.
References (4 books/articles) References for Aryabhata the Elder
1.Dictionary of Scientific Biography 2.Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica 3.B Datta, Two Aryabhatas of al-Biruni, Bull. Calcutta Math. Soc. 17 (1926), 59-74. 4.H-J Ilgauds, Aryabhata I, in H
Wussing and W Arnold, Biographien bedeutender Mathematiker (Berlin, 1983).
Bhaskara represents the peak of mathematical knowledge in the 12th Century and reached an understanding of the number systems and solving equations which was not to be reached in Europe for several
centuries. Baskara was head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, the leading mathematical centre in India at that time.He understood about 0 and negative numbers. He knew that x^2 = 9 had two
solutions. He gives the formula <Picture: sqrt>(a<Picture: + or - ><Picture: sqrt><img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' /> = <Picture: sqrt>((a+<Picture: sqrt>(a<Picture: ^2>-<img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' />)/2) <Picture: + or - > Picture: sqrt>((a-<Picture:
sqrt>(a<Picture: ^2>-<img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' />)/2).Baskara also studied Pell's equation x^2=1+py^2 for p=8, 11, 32, 61 and 67.When p = 61 he found the solutions x =1776319049, y = 22615390. He studied many Diophantine
problems.
Bhaskara's mathematical works include Lilavati (The Beautiful) and Bijaganita (Seed Counting) while he also wrote on astronomy, for example Karanakutuhala (Calculation of Astronomical Wonders).
References (3 books/articles) References for Bhaskara
1.Dictionary of Scientific Biography 2.Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica 3.B Datta, The two Bhaskaras, Indian Historical Quarterly 6 (1930), 727-736.
Brahmagupta was head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain which was the foremost mathematical centre of ancient India.
He wrote important works on mathematics and astronomy. He wrote Brahmasphuta- siddhanta (The Opening of the Universe), in 21 chapters, at Bhillamala in 628. His second work on mathematics and
astronomy is Khandakhadyaka written in 665.Brahmagupta's understanding of the number systems was far beyond others of the period. He developed some algebraic notation. He gave remarkable formulas
for the area of a cyclic quadrilateral and for the lengths of the diagonals in terms of the sides.
Brahmagupta also studied arithmetic progressions, quadratic equations,theorems on right-angled triangles, surfaces and volumes.
The remaining chapters deal with solar and lunar eclipses, planetary conjunctions and positions of the planets. Brahmagupta believed in a static Earth and he gave the length of the year as 365 days
6 hours 5 minutes 19 seconds in the first work, changing the value to 365 days 6 hours 12 minutes 36 seconds in the second book. This second values os not, of course, an improvement on the first
since the true length of the years if less than 365 days 6 hours.
One has to wonder whether Brahmagupta's second value for the length of the year is taken from Aryabhata since the two agree to within 6 seconds, yet are about 24 minutes out.
References (4 books/articles) References for Brahmagupta
1.Dictionary of Scientific Biography 2.Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica 3.B Datta, Brahmagupta, Bull. Calcutta Math. Soc. 22 (1930),39-51. 4.H T Colebrooke, Algebra, with Arithmetic and
Mensuration from the Sanscrit of Brahmagupta and Bhaskara (1817).
The dates given for Panini are pure guesses. Experts give dates in the 4th,5th and 6th century BC.
Panini was a Sanskrit grammarian who gave a comprehensive and scientific theory of phonetics, phonology, and morphology. Sanskrit was the classical literary language of the Indian Hindus.
In a treatise called Astadhyayi Panini distinguishes between the language of sacred texts and the usual language of communication. Panini gives formal production rules and definitions to describe
Sanskrit grammar. The construction of sentences, compound nouns etc. is explained as ordered rules operating on underlying structures in a manner similar to modern theory.
Panini should be thought of as the forerunner of the modern formal language theory used to specify computer languages. The Backus Normal Form was discovered independently by John Backus in 1959,
but Panini's notation is equivalent in its power to that of Backus and has many similar properties.
Reference (One book/article) References for Panini
Sripati wrote on astronomy and mathematics. His mathematical work is undertaken with applications to astronomy in mind, for example a study of spheres.His works include Dhikotidakarana (1039), a
work on solar and lunareclipses, Dhruvamanasa (1056), a work on calculating planetary longitudes,eclipses and planetary transits, Siddhantasekhara a major work on astronomy in 19 chapters. The
titles of Chapters 13, 14, and 15 are Arithmetic, Algebra and On the Sphere. Sripati obtained more fame in astrology than in other areas.
Rajagopal was educated in Madras, India. He Graduated in 1925 from the Madras Presidency College with Honours in mathematics.
He spent a short while in the clerical service, another short while teaching in Annamalai University then, from 1931 to 1951, he taught in the Madras Christian College. Here he gained an
outstanding reputation as a teacher of classical analysis.
In 1951 Rajagopal was persuaded to join the Ramanujan Institute of Mathematics then, four years later, he became head of the Institute. Under his leadership the Institute became the major Indian
mathematics research centre.
Rajagopal studied sequences, series, summability. He published 89 papers in this area generalising and unifying Tauberian theorems.
He also studied functions of a complex variable giving an analogue of a theorem of Landau on partial sums of Fourier series. In several papers he studied the relation between the growth of the mean
values of an entire function and that of its Dirichlet series.
A final topic to interest him was the history of medieval Indian mathematics. He showed that the series for tan^-1 (x) discovered by Gregory and those for sin x and cos x discovered by Newton were
known to the Hindus 150 years earlier. He identified the Hindu mathematician Madhava as the first discoverer of these series.
Rajagopal is described in [1] as follows:-
Rajagopal was a teacher par excellence and a reliable and inspiring research guide. No words can adequately describe his modesty. Rational thinking and interest in psychic studies were two
attributes which he imbibed with pride from his teacher Ananda Rau.
References (4 books/articles)
References for Cadambathur Tiruvenkatacharlu Rajagopal
1.C T Rajagopal, Bull. London Math. Soc. 13 (5) (1981), 451-458. 2.C T Rajagopal: September 8, 1903, to April 25, 1978, J. Anal. 1 (1993), vii. 3.Y Sitaraman, Professor C T Rajagopal (1903-1978),
J. Math. Phys. Sci. 12(5) (1978), i-xvi. 4.M S Rangachari, Prof. C T Rajagopal, Indian J. Math.22 (1) (1980), i-xxix.
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