History of Indian Astronomy: The Siamese Manuscript

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

The Siamese Manuscript holds the distinction of being the very first document relating to Indian Astronomy to reach Europe in a pristine form. Some fragments of Indian Astronomy had undoubtedly reached Europe in earlier times, but those tidbits were likely received in a highly altered form due to difficulties in translation, and the so-called cultural barrier. The Siamese Manuscript helped overcome this barrier by being a compendium of Indian astronomical knowledge in plain Siamese. The timing of the arrival of the manuscript in Europe was significant. After a couple hundred years the Renaissance was finally bearing fruit, and European intellectual prowess was at a peak. The deeper principles of Indian Astronomy, which had gone over the heads of the Greeks and the Arabs who first encountered them, could now be fully understood and appreciated for the first time by people outside India.