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Cultural Studies of Science Education

, Volume 11, Issue 2, pp 515–526 | Cite as

Indian Astronomy: the missing link in Eurocentric history of Astronomy

  • Shirin Haque
  • Deva Sharma
Op-Ed
  • 395 Downloads

Abstract

A comprehensive history of Astronomy should show in reasonable chronological order, the contributions from wherever they arise in the world, once they are reliably documented. However, the authors note that consistently, the extremely rich contributions from Ancient Indian scholars like Aryabatha and Bhramagupta are omitted in Eurocentric education and syllabi. It is speculated whether religious underpinnings could have been responsible for its suppression in the past. An appeal is made to represent the history of Astronomy in Eurocentric versions, to be inclusive of Indian Astronomy as accurately and completely as possible in science education.

Keywords

Ancient Indian Astronomy History of Astronomy Ancient astronomers Eurocentric Astronomy Astronomy education 

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of PhysicsUniversity of the West IndiesSt. AugustineTrinidad and Tobago
  2. 2.The Professional CentreTrinidad and Tobago Institute of ArchitectsPort of SpainTrinidad and Tobago

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