Patanjali Lecture at UMass Dartmouth's Center for Indic Studies by Dr. Richard Thompson on May 5-6, 2004

[Guest guest]

Bal Ram Singh <bsingh

>bsingh

>Patanjali Lecture at UMass Dartmouth's Center for Indic Studies by

>Dr. Richard Thompson on May 5-6, 2004

>Sun, 02 May 2004 17:11:13 -0400

>

>Dear friends:

>

>Please note that this Patanjali Lecture series brings out a prominent

>scholar to UMass Dartmouth campus to speak on an advance topic. The speaker

>this year is Dr. Richard Thompson, a Ph.D. from Cornell in Probability and

>Mathematical Modelling, who will be speaking on astronomical encodings he

>has developed from an Ancient Indian text. He has written several books,

>including one on the topic, and has also produced a multimedia documentary

>on the Mysteries of the Sacred Universe. We are very fortunate to have

>opportunity to hear him speak on this subject. The field of cosmology is

>gaining interest among scientists, both life and physical scientists. I

>hope you will be able to avail this opportunity.

>

>For those of you who can not make it, the lecture will be posted on the

>web.

>

>Bal Ram

>

>The Center for Indic Studies, UMass Dartmouth

>

>invites you to the Third

>

> PATANJALI Lecture Series seminar on

>

>Popular lecture: The Encoding of Astronomical Knowledge in an Ancient

>Sanskrit Text

>

>Wednesday, May 5, 2004

>Time: 7 PM (Coffee at 6:30 PM)

>Place: Dion 115

>

>

>Technical lecture: An Accurate Map of the Solar System in an Ancient

>Sanskrit Text

>Place: Library Browsing Area

>Thursday, May 6, 2002

>Time: 12:00 - 1:00 PM (Coffee and Cookies at 11:30 AM)

>

>* Snacks will be served *

>

> By

>Dr. Richard Thompson

>

>

>

>

>

>Dr. Richard Thompson, a Ph.D. in mathematics from Cornell University is a

>prolific author on many peer-reviewed articles on mathematical and computer

>modeling, and has written several books including the following:

>1. Computer Simulations of Self-Organization in Biological Systems, with

>N.S. Goel. London: Croome Helm, 1988; 2. Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden

>History of the Human Race, Torch Publishing, 1998; 3. Mysteries of the

>Sacred Universe, Alachua: Govardhana Hill, 2000; 4. Maya: The World as

>Virtual Reality, Alachua: Govardhana Hill, 2003.

>

>

>

>

>

>Popular Lecture, Wednesday, May 5, 2004 at 7 PM

>

>The Encoding of Astronomical Knowledge in an Ancient Sanskrit Text

>

>From the flat earth to the sun's chariot, traditional spiritual texts seem

>wedded to outmoded cosmologies that show, at best, the scientific

>limitations of their authors. The Bhagavata Purana, one of the classical

>scriptures of Hinduism, seems at first glance to be no exception. However,

>a closer examination of this text reveals unexpected depths of knowledge in

>ancient cosmology. This knowledge is encoded in the form of multiple

>interpretations of the text, each of which is supported by a series of

>textual statements. Although this creates a contradictory impression for

>the modern reader, it is typical of ancient modes of expression, in which

>several meanings are packed into one text or work of art.

>

>

>Technical Lecture, Thursday, May 6, 2004 at noon:

>

>An Accurate Map of the Solar System in an Ancient Sanskrit Text

>

>The Bhagavata Purana presents a system of cosmic geography consisting of

>ring-shaped features labeled as oceans and islands. This system looks like

>an elaborate account of a flat earth, with precise dimensions of

>geographical features given in terms of a unit of distance called the

>yojana. However, when these dimensions are carefully examined, they reveal

>a map of the solar system out to Uranus, with accurate values for the

>closest and greatest distance of each planet from the earth. This suggests

>that the so-called primitive cosmology of the Bhagavatam encodes advanced

>scientific knowledge of the solar system that was not matched in recent

>times until the nineteenth century. In addition, the correlation between

>planetary distances and features in the cosmological map allows us to

>calculate an accurate value for the length of the yojana. It turns out that

>there is historical evidence for the actual use of this particular unit of

>measure in countries ranging from ancient Egypt to Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

>

>

>For further information, please contact Bal Ram Singh

>

>

>Bal Ram Singh, Ph.D.

>Director, Center for Indic Studies

>University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

>285 Old Westport Road

>Dartmouth, MA 02747

>

>Phone: 508-999-8588

>Fax: 508-999-8451

>Email: bsingh

>

>Internet address: http://www.umassd.edu/indic

 

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