Radha Charan Gupta

Radha Charan Gupta
R.C. Gupta in Jhansi in 2023, in a conversation with N. F. Declercq
Born	1935 Gursarai, Jhansi
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	University of Lucknow, Ranchi University
Awards	Padma Shri (2023) Kenneth O. May Prize (2009)
Scientific career
Fields	History of mathematics
Institutions	Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra
Doctoral advisor	T.A. Sarasvati Amma

Radha Charan Gupta (born 1935 in Gursarai, Jhansi, in present-day Uttar Pradesh) is an Indian historian of mathematics.

Early life of Radha Charan Gupta

Gupta graduated from the University of Lucknow, where he completed his bachelor's degree in 1955 and his master's degree in 1957. He earned his Ph.D. in the history of mathematics from Ranchi University in 1971.^[1] He did his dissertation work at Ranchi University with the historian of Indian mathematics T.A. Sarasvati Amma. Then he served as a lecturer at Lucknow Christian College (from 1957 to 1958). In 1958 he joined Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. In 1982 he was awarded a full professorship. He retired in 1995 as the Emeritus Professor of the history of mathematics and logic.^[1] He became a corresponding member of the International Academy of the History of Science in February 1995.^[2]

Works

In 1969 Gupta addressed^[3] interpolation in Indian mathematics. He wrote on Govindasvamin and his interpolation of sine tables. Furthermore, he contributed an article on the work of Paramesvara: "Paramesvara's rule for the circumradius of a cyclic quadrilateral".^[4]

In 2019, a collection of Gupta's papers was published as a book:

• Gupta, Radha Charan (2019). Ramasubramanian, K. (ed.). Gaṇitānanda: Selected Works of Radha Charan Gupta on History of Mathematics. Springer. doi:10.1007/978-981-13-1229-8.

Notable awards

In 1991 he was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, and in 1994 he became President of the Association of Mathematics Teachers of India.^[1] In 1979 he founded the magazine Ganita Bharati.^[5]

In 2009 he was awarded the Kenneth O. May Prize alongside the British mathematician Ivor Grattan-Guinness.^[6][7][8] He is notably the first Indian to get this prize.^[9]

In 2023, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for his contributions in the field of literature and education.^[10]

References