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Mathematical Treasure: Kaye’s History of Indian Mathematics

Author(s): 
Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University)

George R. Kaye (1866-1929) was a British civil servant and Orientalist. During his service in India, he collected material on the development of mathematics in the region. In 1915, he published a brief history of the subject entitled Indian Mathematics. This was the first popular western reference on this subject. Kaye has come under strong criticism for his Eurocentric bias in his interpretation of Indian accomplishments, and modern scholarship would seem to support this opinion.

Title page of Indian Mathematics by George Kaye

The Table of Contents below provides an outline of the topics considered in the book.

Table of Contents from Indian Mathematics by George Kaye

The images above were obtained through the courtesy of the University of California Libraries. The work may be viewed in its entirety in the Internet Archive.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (The Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Kaye’s History of Indian Mathematics," Convergence (July 2017)