Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

As a part of a special research summer school for school students at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, a team of students constructed a Manayantra, a traditional Indian instrument for measuring angles in the sky, dating back two centuries. This talk will discuss how it was made, calibrated, and used for measurements during the project by the students. It will also explore how incorporating such traditional instruments from centuries ago, which are easily made, can be used as pedagogical tools to expose students to hands-on astronomical practices and link them with modern astronomy. Such projects are also an excellent method of learning about the history of astronomy and how scientific knowledge was produced in the pre-telescopic era.

About Shubha B.S

Shubha B S works on astronomy-related ancient manuscripts at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics under its COSMOS-Mysore project. Her interest is in both the field of astronomy and mathematics. She is a member of the IAU. Her primary interests are astronomy education, learning archaic scripts to translate the manuscript and exploring the pedagogical tools from Indian astronomical manuscripts and texts.