About this series
Why DareToDiscover is here
Long before rockets or satellites, scholars across South Asia looked up at the sky — and changed the world. This illustrated picture book tells the stories of their stargazers, mathematicians, and teachers: people who learned to read the cosmos and, in doing so, laid the foundations for science as we know it today.
Brilliant South Asian minds
Featured in the book
At just 23, he wrote the Aryabhatiya — proving the Earth spins on its axis, computing the year’s length with stunning precision, and advancing the value of pi. His ideas traveled across centuries and continents.
He asked: “What if nothing could be a number?” His rules for zero — the foundation of our entire number system — traveled to Europe and gave us modern computing and binary code.
He believed knowledge should be shared and remembered — so he wrote mathematics as Sanskrit poetry. His sine formula, created without any technology, is still recognized in mathematics today.
From the city of Ujjain, he used stars and clouds to predict rainfall, earthquakes, and harvests. His encyclopedia Bṛhatsaṃhitā blended South Asian, Greek, and Roman knowledge into a great scientific work.
He wrote his greatest math book as a story for his daughter Lilavati. He discovered that dividing by zero produces infinity — and his work on algebra and trigonometry shaped mathematics in Europe for centuries.
He built the Jantar Mantar — a breathtaking outdoor observatory of giant stone instruments, including the Samrat Yantra, the world’s largest sundial. Its shadow still measures time to the second today.
Also in the book
The 1,500-year-old “Teachings of the Sun” — a text on eclipses, calendars, and trigonometry still used in South Asian calendar calculations today
South Asia’s ancient lunar star-map system — 27 sky neighborhoods used for timekeeping, farming, medicine, and ceremony for over 3,000 years
How a Persian scholar learned Sanskrit and introduced South Asian science to the Islamic world and beyond through his landmark Kitab al-Hind
At each reading
What to expect
A 30–45 min illustrated reading followed by Q&A with the author
A take-home sheet connecting the book to astronomy, math, and science concepts
Mercer County Library System, NJ
Reading locations
DareToDiscover is presenting this series across four branches. All events are free and open to the public.