Ancient Indian mathematics had other influences: Amartya Sen

He was speaking at the Infosys Science Foundation Award ceremony

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Nobel laureate and renowned economist Amartya Sen on Monday said while ancient Indian mathematics changed the face of the world of mathematics, it had influences from Babylonians, Greeks and Romans.

"The golden age of Indian mathematics, which changed the face of mathematics in the world, was roughly from the fifth to 12th century, and its beginning was directly inspired by what we Indians were learning from work done in Babylon, Greece and Rome," Sen said.

Sen made the observation in his speech on the occasion of Infosys Science Foundation Award ceremony in Kolkata, days after Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan said mathematical concepts like the Pythagoras theorem and algebra were first developed by Indians, but we had “sophisticatedly” allowed the Greeks and Arabs to stake claim to the same.

The minister's comment during the inauguration of the 102nd edition of the Indian Science Congress last week, elicited mixed reaction from experts. "And just as Indian mathematicians learned something from Babylonians, Greeks and Romans, they also taught some brilliantly new ideas to mathematicians elsewhere in the world," Sen noted.

He, however, in his speech did not comment on the specific mathematical theories, Harsh Vardhan had mentioned.