Numerical tables are ubiquitous in modern times; so much so that their significance as a repository of data is often overlooked. Up until recent times they have also been largely neglected by historians of science,dismissed as a mere plebian, rudimentary form of scientific activity. However historical numerical tables form a crucial part of primary source material for almost all astronomical traditions as they are a direct testament tocomputational trends and techniques used by early practitioners. The rise in popularity of numerical tables in India is particularly interesting given the emphasis on oral arts of memory in preserving knowledge. Indeed,from about 900 to 1800 CE dozens of table texts were produced throughout the Indian subcontinent. I will examine the emergence of this genre, survey a selection of key tabular works that flourished during this period, and explore some of the ways in which this new form of text impacted the ways in which Indian astronomy was advanced.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Clemency Montelle is a graduate from the Department of the History of Mathematics, Brown University, USA, which she completed as Fulbright scholar. She currently researches and teaches in the Department ofMathematics and Statistics at the University of Canterbury. Her consideration of the scientific achievements of early cultures is carried out by the examination and analysis of primary source material in Sanskrit, Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Cuneiform. Her first book, Chasing Shadows-Mathematics, Astronomy, and the Early History of Eclipse Reckoning", focusing on the theoretical treatment of eclipse phenomena in the ancient world, was recently published by Johns Hopkins University Press. She is currently immersed in an international project on the history of mathematical astronomy in Sanskrit sources supported by a five-year Rutherford Discovery Fellowship awarded by the Royal Society of New Zealand. At present, she is a Visiting Faculty at the Department of HSS.