NUMINOVA - Philosophizing Emptiness, Naming the Void and Empowering Science

Nov. 24, 2025

NUMINOVA -  Philosophising Emptiness, Naming the Void and Empowering Science

My colleague Vice Principal Radhakrishnan, who has made the Hardy-Ramanujam number (1729 - smallest number expressing the sum of two cubes) part of his email id,  waxed eloquent with passion and pride on the Indian contributions to the knowledge systems of the world - especially as we celebrate Ramanujam Day (December 14th).  He inspired the gathering of Math teachers of Indian schools of Doha who were on a Professional Development Programme (PDP) by highlighting the contributions from ancient India, beginning with Aryabhata (Aryabhateeyam) of the 6th century CE to the 19th century Math wizard Ramanujan. 

Mr Radhakrishnan 

Mr Sachin Seth, HoD

Ms Elizabeth, Headmistress

This is a laudable platform and Rajagiri Doha fields proud and glad hosting it and having good leadershhip in this domain - our Vice Principal, Mr Radhakrishnan a senior and seasoned mathematician and an advocate and expert in Vedic Mathematics, our Head Mistress, Ms Elizabeth, having a rich experience of teaching Math at the higher classes and our HoD, Mr Sachin, presently one of the most acclaimed Math teachers of Doha. All of them did presentations, which I believe were insightful. 

That was inspirational and made me look up further about it: 

Zero as a number

That emptiness or nullity could be a doctrine towards making meaning in life (Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna - Śūnyavāda ca. 2nd century CE) is a profound thinking originated in India - It is apparently juxtaposed with 'sat' (being) and 'ant' (end) or 'nityata' (eternity) as 'Śūnya' (null or void) or anant (eternal). It may lead to 'detachment' or 'attachment to nothing' as a means to 'liberation' (mukti). 

The philosophical concept gives shape to a practical concept in human engagement, expressed as 'kha' by Aryabhata (Aryabhateeyam) of the 6th century CE.  It was used as a placeholder in the place theory. It is further advanced into a number by Brahamagupta, who proposed 'shunya'.  His work, Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta, is said to have given the first ever rules of arithmetic which we now use as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  He proposed that a + 0 = a; a-0 = a; a x 0 = 0 and attempted the division by zero. 

The Chaturbhuj Temple of Gwaliar - '0' inscription - 2nd oldest inscription, rock carved, said to be of 876 CE. 

The very advanced centres of civilisation in India witness further development in the field of Mathematics in Līlāvatī, the famous mathematical treatise written by Bhāskara II (Bhaskaracharya), the 12th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer. His first and largest work, 'Siddhānta Śiromaṇi', deals mainly with arithmetic and basic algebra, written in verse. (The title Lila, apparently has nothing to do with Mathematics, and is perhaps the name of someone very close to Bhaskara). 

The Journey of Zero - India to the Oikos via Arabia and Europe

However, these concepts reached the Arab peninsula through the Arab traders, and there too emerged wizards who contributed their mite, and perhaps, shared it on the European continent (Al Andalus - Spain) where the Caliphate extended.  Al Khwarizimi is credited with authoring a work in Arabic: On Calculation with Hindu Numerals (820 CE), and the branch of Algorithm owes its name to him.  There is also the scholar, Al Kindi, who was instrumental in popularising the Indian numerals (HindSaa). 

From the Moorish Spain, the numbers travelled to Sicily and Venice in Italy through traders. And in Italy, we have the great Fibonacci with his Liber Abaci, identifying the famed Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio (the patterns in nature), acknowledging the greatness of the Indian numbers (numeri indorum). It further spread to the rest of the Europe to make it a world heritage, coming back to India in a much more organised and popular fashion with the advent of the Europeans on the Indian scene. 

It is amazing and a feel-good factor to realise the significance zero plays in modern science and life! We take it for granted! But there have been many minds that have worked behind this small but vitally significant number, and India shines bright amidst them. 

Kerala Mathematical Heritage

https://prasantamcmi.blogspot.com/2025/12/numinova-philosphizing-emptiness-naming.htmlRK also referred to something altogether unknown to me: 'Kerala school of Mathematics' - a scholarly tradition in Kochi-Thrissur-Malabar region between 14th and 17th centuries CE, with prominent scholars like Mādhava of Saṅgamagrāma (c. 1340–1425) — founder, Parameśvara, Nīlakaṇṭha Somayāji, Jyēṣṭhadeva, Acyuta Piṣāraṭi et al.  And they have recorded advanced concepts in Mathematics even before such concepts were being discussed by European scholars.  He said that Irinjalakkuda was a centre for this learning. 

A matter of pride indeed! 

However, would it suffice for Indians to be thus proud of a great scholarly heritage and blame the external conquering forces for the lack of further advancement of the Indian genius or disciplines? Often we do that and the same is reinforced by our leaders. After more than 75 years of being a free nation, united and integrated as one powerful democracy, it high time that our education promoted the culture of innovation, rather than rote learning of theories. Our learners must be have the training to go beyond the what, where, when and who to the realms or 'how and why' and even to 'why-not'. 

Celebrating the great Indian genius like Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920) should lead to a commitment to promote a probing and problem-posing culture, instead of mere smart learners and maintenance workers of what Bill Gates and Steve Jobbs create. The teachers of Indian schools should take a cue from Godfrey Harold Hardy, who could spot the genius in Ramanujam and promote it!

I cannot forget that the untrained genius had credited his unexplainable insights to his family deity, Namagiri Thayar (Goddess Mahalakshmi of Namakkal). That is humility worth a genius who accepts one's limitations and logically finds some higher source of wisdom. 

May attempts like NUMINOVA be instrumental in creating that quest for discovery and invention! 

P.S. Knowledge, that Puffs Up and not Necessarily Building Up: However, I was shattered by the attempt at humour by RK, who made fun of my insistence in minimsing damage to the Common Home by avoiding plastic to the extent possible. I was shocked and thoroughly disappointed at the way in which a senior teacher like him presenting it and making fun of it by saying that the seminar badges were laminated with the botheration of how I might react to it, and thus avoiding the same for my badge!! 

It was pitiably funny! First of all,  the stereotypical preoccupation with having the paraphernalia like some plastic-coated badge or, for that matter, any badge for a programme. It serves hardly any purpose - of elegance or identification, other than having a nuisance value in a programme of producing them, distributing them, and managing them (waste).  Second, in spite of the awareness that it is adding to the pollution on the planet, about which the scientific community and the world nations are increasingly becoming aware as a persistent polluter and a great health hazard, a teacher group is deciding in favour of a totally unwarranted and avoidable addition! I just pity!! 

Our valued RPS Math Team 

I asked him: if not the teachers, who else will take care of this? And if not Rajagiri, who else? I realise sustainability is still far away from the radar of a so-called good teacher!