Mathematics and Society

Description

This book studies the regional tradition of mathematics in the Tamil-speaking areas of Southern India. It questions the established nature of Indian history of mathematics, which is based only on the Bhatta-Bhaskara tradition. Instead, it brings in practitioners like village accountants and school teachers as primary agents in the practice of mathematics. The author studies these hitherto unexplored historical sources and presents them in a new light. He talks about mathematics at the workplace, at the school, and at the village square in precolonial Tamil society. Finally, the author studies what happened to these practices when encountered by the colonial revenue administration and brings out a social history of mathematics in India.

About the author:

Senthil Babu D. is a historian in the Department of Social Sciences, French Institute of Pondicherry, India. Having completed his PhD from the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, he is currently involved in shaping a research programme in the regional and vernacular mathematical traditions in India. His other interests include the historical study of the changing relationship between nature, knowledge, and labour in Indian history. He is also a member of the Politically Mathematics Collective, India [https://www.politicallymath.in] and a member of the Editorial Board of the series, Verum Factum: Studies in Political Epistemology [https://verumfactum.it]

Table of contents

Contents
Acknowledgments
List of Tables and Images
Note on Abbreviations
Note On Transliteration And Conventions
Introduction
Chapter I: Mathematics Beyond the Canon
Chapter II: Mathematics of the Practitioner
Chapter III: Memory and Mathematics in Tinnai Schools
Chapter IV: Mathematics Pedagogy for a Public: The Colonial Transition
Conclusion: Mathematics and Its Images of the Public
Bibliography
Appendices
Appendix I: Numbers, Weights and Measures in the Tamil System
Appendix II: A Brief Note on Tamil Numerical Notation
Appendix III: Ponnilakkam, Nellilkkam, Encuvati
Appendix IV: List of Text Books Used for the Study