Scientific Literature in Sanskrit: Papers of the 13th World Sanskrit Conference (Vol. 1)

by S.R. Sarma and Gyula Wojtilla

David Pingree and G. Jan Meulenbeld have made us aware of the enormous volume and the astonishing diversity of Sanskrit literature on Jyotihsastra and Ayurveda respectively through their monumental works, Census of the Exact Science and History of Indian Medical Literature. Literature on other scientific subjects, though not so stupendous, is still very large. This rich diversity of Sanskrit scientific literature is reflected in the papers presented in Section 8 on Scientific Literature of the 13th World Sanskrit Conference, held at Edinburgh on 10-14 July 2006, which are collected in this volume. These ten papers cover a wide spectrum of areas like astronomy, mathematics, divination, alchemy, gemmology, musicology and perfumery.

S. R. Sarma was formerly Prof. of Sanskrit at Aligarh Muslim Univ.; after retirement he has been the editor of the Indian Journal of History of Science and visiting prof. at Kyoto Univ., University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and Harvard University. The focus of his research is on the history of mathematics, astronomy and astronomical instruments in India. His recent publications include The Archaic and the Exotic: Studies in the History of Indian Astronomical Instruments (2008), Sanskrit Astronomical Instruments in the Maharaja Sayajirao Univ. of Baroda (2009), and (jointly with Takanori Kusuba,, Takao Hayashi and Michio Yano) Ganitasara-kaumudi, the Moonlight of the Essences of Mathematics, by Thakkura Pheru (2009).