Journal for the History of Science

Journal for the History of Science

Yukio Ohashi’s Studies on Indian Astronomy

Document Type : Viewpoint/Perspective/Opinion

Author
Michio Yano
Professor Emeritus of Kyoto Sangyo University
10.22059/jihs.2020.81308
Abstract
Yukio Ohashi (1955–2020) was a historian of science specializing in the history of Indian astronomy. His primary areas of research focused on three major topics: the development of astronomical observations in Vedic and post-Vedic India, astronomical instruments in classical Siddhāntas, and the early history of the astrolabe in India. In his scholarly work, Ohashi critically reassessed some of David Pingree’s findings regarding Indian astronomy. He demonstrated that many achievements in Indian astronomy were not merely derived from older external traditions—such as Babylonian or Egyptian systems—but rather emerged directly from indigenous Indian astronomical computations.
Keywords
Indian Astronomy
Vedic Astronomy
Yukio Ohashi
Neugebauer, O. (1956). “The Transmission of Planetary Theories in Ancient and Medieval Astronomy.” ScriptaMathematica. pp. 165–192. [Reprint in Neugebauer, Astronomy and History, Springer- Verlag, 1983, pp. 129–155.]
ـــــــــــــــ . (1962). The Astronomical Tables of Al-Khwārizmī. København.
Neugebauer, O. and Pingree, D. (1970). The Pañcasiddhāntikā ofVarāhamihira. København.
Van der Waerden, B. L. (1961). “Ausgleichspunkt, ”Methode der Perser” und indische Planetenrechnung.” Archive forHistory of Exact Sciences, Vol.1, No. 2, pp. 107–121.
Journal for the History of Science
Volume 18, Issue 2 - Serial Number 29
December 2020
Pages 585-593