Hyderabad: President Pratibha Patil on Thursday inaugurated the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM 2010) here with a call to promote mathematics amongst the younger generation. She said that study of mathematics inculcates the habit of rational thought and promotes scientific temper.

"The need for understanding mathematics is necessary in all walks of life, be it engineering, science, finance or social sciences. We also recognize the profound cultural dimension the study of mathematics has," she said.

Organized under the aegis of the International Mathematical Union every four years, the event is being hosted in India for the first time.

Mathematicians from all over the world are gathered at Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) to discuss developments in this discipline.

As many as 3,000 delegates from 86 countries are attending the nine-day conference, which is being held for the third time in Asia since its inception in 1897.

Patil said India has a rich mathematical heritage and it has been accorded a primary position among intellectual pursuits.

"India's engagement with mathematics goes back to some 3,000 years," she said, quoting an ancient Sanskrit verse.

She noted that India has been at the forefront in contributing to innovations in arithmetic, algebra and geometry at different periods. "The Pythagoras Theorem finds a place in Baudhayana Sulva Sutra, a work dating back to 8th Century BC. The concept of zero or shunya originated from India," she said.

She further added, "The contributions of Aryabhatta and Brahmagupta to the development of Algebra and Astronomy in the 6th and 7th Centuries are well recognised. In the 12th Century there was Bhaskaracharya. His work 'Leelavati' was the main source in medieval India for learning algebra and arithmetic. The book formulates mathematical problems in verse form addressed to Leelavati, Bhaskara's daughter. It was through scholars from the Middle East that renaissance Europe became acquainted with these Indian developments."

Pointing out that India has recognized the importance of science as a vehicle for human progress since its independence, President Patil observed, "Mathematics, the language of science and its advancement, is an integral part of India's science policy. Mathematics is a science, but nevertheless stands a little apart from other sciences. Yet, it is mathematical intervention that decisively confers the label 'science' to any intellectual discipline. Mathematics, hence, permeates all sciences."

"Mathematics has had a big role in the development of computer science and information technology. There are myriad applications of mathematics in technology and the mathematics used there is reaching higher and higher levels of sophistication," she added. IANS