A History of Kerala School of Astronomy by K V Sarma (1972)

History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy (in perspective) is the first definitive book giving a comprehensive description of the contribution of Kerala to astronomy and mathematics. The book was authored by K. V. Sarma who was a Reader in Sanskrit at Vishveshvaranand Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies, Panjab University, Hoshiarpur, at the time of publication of the book (1972). The book, among other things, contains details of the lives and works of about 80 astronomers and mathematicians belonging to the Kerala School. It has also identified 752 works belonging to the Kerala school. Even though C. M. Whish, an officer of East India Company, had presented a paper on the achievements of the mathematicians of Kerala School as early as 1842, western scholars had hardly taken note of these contributions. Much later in the 1940s, C. T. Rajagopal and his associates made some efforts to study and popularize the discoveries of Whish. Their work was lying scattered in several journals and as parts of books. Even after these efforts by C. T. Rajagopal and others, the view that Bhaskara II was the last significant mathematician pre-modern India had produced had prevailed among scholars, and surprisingly, even among Indian scholars. It was in this context K. V. Sarma published his book as an attempt to present in a succinct form the results of the investigations of C. T. Rajagopal and others and also the findings of his own investigations into the history of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics.

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