A more detailed account of calculus without limits for those with a background in formal maths is here in this series of six presentations at the maths department of the Universiti Sains Malaysia in early Feb.
Got a little time off only on my last day in Penang, when I visited the charming snake temple. Saw a huge python, the monocular cobra, king cobra, and pit vipers, all on the loose.
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After seeing the Three Idiots, I felt I should blog about my experiences with IIT. I was always more interested in science than in engineering, and was put off further after seeing (and hearing) how my brother lived at IIT, Powai where he then was. I shuddered at the thought of spending five prime years of my life there. (Those days the course was five years.) I gave the IIT entrance test under parental duress, and on the explicit condition that I would not be forced to join if I cleared it. I spent about a week preparing, and did clear it, but did not join. (Since, today, people readily tell lies, they may not believe me, so my call letter is given below.) (more…)
Most people dread or dislike learning mathematics. What a pity for a subject which means by derivation the “science of learning”! On my theory, math became difficult, when it got entangled with the post-Crusade Christian theology of reason, used as a weapon against Islam. The way to make math easy, therefore, is to disentangle it Read more…
My new books: Is Science Western in Origin? (Multiversity and Citizens International, Penang, Dissenting Knowledges Pamphlet Series No. 8, ed. Vinay Lal) and (Daanish Books, New Delhi) will be released by Dr Ashis Nandy and Shri Prabhash Joshi at Hindi Bhawan, New Delhi (Near Gandhi Peace Foundation, ITO), at 6 Read more…
Dear Mr Pitroda,
It was nice to meet you again at the FICCI gathering a few days ago.
There wasn’t enough time for me to clarify what I was saying, so let me do so here.
1. First, I agree with you that a major change is needed in the current system of higher education and research.
2. However, for the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) to make the right recommendations, you need to know the real causes of past failures. So what went wrong? I could find no NKC document which studied the past record of knowledge management in India, as I have done.
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The review of Cultural Foundations of Mathematics which appeared in The Hindu on 12 Feb. http://www.thehindu.com/br/2008/02/12/stories/2008021250101700.htm