Issued by India

Issued on Dec 22, 2012

Issued for : India Post is happy to issue a Commemorative Postage Stamp on National Mathematics Day.

Credits:
Stamp/FDC/Brochure/cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.3 Million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : India Security Press, Nashik

About : 

• Mathematics can be described as the study of quantity, numbers and space. In many ways, mathematics can be regarded as the mother science. Mathematics is an essential tool in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine, and the social sciences. Applied mathematics, the branch of mathematics concerned with application of mathematical knowledge to other fields such as physics, economics and biology, inspires and makes use of new mathematical discoveries and has also led to the development of entirely new mathematical disciplines, such as statistics and game theory.
• The national workshop on Ancient Indian Mathematics with special reference to Vedic Mathematics and Astronomy, passed a resolution on 25^th September, 2010 recommending that 22^nd December i.e. the birth anniversary of mathematics legend Srinivasa Ramanujan be observed as ‘National Mathematics Day‘ every year. The Government of India has since resolved to celebrate the said day, as the National Mathematics Day every year so as to focus the attention of people to mathematics education and its applications. National Mathematics Day is dedicated to Srinivasa Ramanujan (22^nd December, 1887 – 26^th April, 1920) an Indian mathematician and autodidact, who with almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made substantial contribution to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions. Ramanujan is placed in the same league as legendary mathematicians such as Euler, Gauss, Newton and Archimedes.
• Born and raised in Erode, Tamil Nadu, Ramanujan first encountered formal mathematics at the age of 10, demonstrated a natural ability and mastered books on advanced trigonometry and even discovered theorems of his own. By 17, he conducted his own mathematical research on Bernoulli numbers and the Euler-Mascheroni constant. In 1912-1913, he sent samples of his theorems to three academics at the ‘University of Cambridge‘. Only G.H. Hardy recognized the brilliance of his work subsequently inviting him to visit and work with him at Cambridge.
• During his short lifetime, he independently compiled nearly 3900 results, both original and highly unconventional, such as the Ramanujan Prime and the Ramanujan Theta Function that inspired a vast amount of further research. Recently, his formulae have found applications in crystallography and string theory. The Ramanujan Journal, an international publication, was
  launched to publish work in all areas of mathematics influenced by his work.
• The 125^th birth anniversary celebrations of Ramanujan commenced on 22^nd December, 2011 and would be closing on the 22^nd December, 2012. Celebration of National Mathematics Day every year will connect Ramanujan‘s life and work to the people of India and thereby inspire a large section of young Indians. The year 2012 is being celebrated as the National Mathematical Year.
• Text : Based on the material received from the proponent.

The post Indian National Mathematics Day 2012 appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Dec 26, 2011

Issued for : India Post pays homage to this mathematical genius by issuing a commemorative postage stamp.

Credits :
Stamp/FDC : Brahm Prakash
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.3 Million

Printing Process : Wet Offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan

Born on Dec 22, 1887 at Erode, Tamil Nadu, India

Died on Apr 26, 1920  at Kumbakonam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

About : 

• Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920) belongs to the pantheon of great mathematicians of India whose lineage stretches back at least 25 centuries, and whose contributions to the development of mathematical sciences have often been pioneering and revolutionary.
• Ramanujan was born in Erode in Tamil Nadu, on December 22, 1887. Later his family moved to Kumbakonam, a town about 160 kms from Chennai where he did his schooling. Ramanujan‘s life took a definitive turn towards mathematics when he was 15 years old, when he came across an old mathematics manual “Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics” 2. Vol. (1880-86) by George Shoobridge Carr. The book was written in an open style, which allowed Ramanujan to teach himself.
• Ramanujan was unemployed for a long time and lack of sufficient means of livelihood haunted him in his early youth. His marriage in 1909 prompted him to seek a permanent employment, and after some struggle he obtained a clerical post with the Madras Port Trust at Chennai.
• Meanwhile, Ramanujan‘s mathematical work continued vigorously, covering areas like Bernoulli numbers, hypergeometric series, elliptic functions etc. Ramanujan also began to pose and solve problems in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society. His research paper on Bernoulli numbers published in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society in 1911 was well received, and he gained recognition for the originality and brilliance of his work. Lack of university education was no more a handicap, as he became known in academic circles as a mathematical genius.
• With recognition came a scholarship from the University of Madras. Ramanujan had started corresponding through some well wishers with mathematicians in England regarding his studies and research. One of them, Godfrey H Hardy became keenly interested in his work and went on to have a significant influence on his life. Ramanujan travelled to England in 1914 under a grant from Trinity College, Cambridge, where an extraordinary collaboration started between him and Hardy. Though his health was a persistent irritant, he continued his work and published papers in reputed journals in England and other parts of Europe.
• Ramanujan had an instinctive knowledge of mathematics, most of which he had worked out by himself. He had only the vaguest idea, however, of what constitutes a mathematical proof. Some of his theorems on the theory of prime numbers, though brilliant, were completely wrong. But his mastery of certain areas of mathematics, it was widely accepted, was unequaled by any contemporary mathematician. In 1918 he became the first Indian to be elected to the Royal Society of London. He was also elected a Fellow of Trinity College Cambridge, the same year.
• Ramanujan‘s health had worsened during his stay in England. In 1917 he contacted tuberculosis. He returned to India in 1919 but despite medical treatment, did not survive for long. He breathed his last on April 26, 1920, in Kumbakonam.
• Text : P.N. Ranjit Kumar (Based on the input furnished by the proponent).

The post Srinivasa Ramanujan 2011 appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Jul 31, 2008

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative postage stamp on Shri Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Suresh Kumar
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint condition

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Stamps Printed : 0.4 Million

Printing Process : Wet–offset

Printer : Security Printing Press, Hyderabad

Name : Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi

Born on Jul 31, 1907 at Kosben, Portuguese India [now Goa, India]

Died on Jun 29, 1966 at Pune, Maharashtra, India

About : 

• Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi was Mathematician, statistician and Sanskritist, who contributed in genetics by introducing Kosambi’s Map function. He was well known for his work in Numismatics and for compiling critical editions of some ancient Sanskrit texts.
• Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi was born in 1907 at Kosben in Goa. After few years of schooling in India, in 1918 Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi went to Massachusetts. There he spent a year in the Grammar School and was admitted to the Cambridge High and Latin School in 1920. He did well in his final school examination. He was one of the few candidates who were exempted on their merit from passing an entrance examination essential at the time to enter into Harvard University. He joined the University in 1924, but eventually postponed his studies and returned to India. In January 1926, Kosambi returned to the US with his father. Shri Kosambi studied Mathematics under George David Birkhoff who wanted him to concentrate on Mathematics but ambitious Kosambi instead took many diverse courses excelling in each of them. In 1929, Harvard University awarded him Bachelor of Arts Degree with summa cum laude. He was also granted membership to the esteemed Phi Beta Kappa Society, the oldest undergraduate honours organization in the United States.
• On return to India Shri Kosambi obtained the post of Professor at the Banaras Hindu University. He taught German along with Mathematics. In 1930 he published his first research paper “Precession of an Elliptic Orbit” in the Indian Journal of Physics in 1930.
• In 1931 he got married to Nalini and also obtained job at the Aligarh Muslim University. During his two years stay in Aligarh, he produced eight research papers in the general Aura of Differential Geometry and Path Spaces. His fluency in several European languages allowed him to publish some of his early papers in French, Italian and German journals.
• In 1933 he joined Deccan Education Society’s Fergusson College in Pune, where he taught mathematics for the next 12 years.
• In 1944 he published a small article of 4 pages titled “The estimation of Map Distance from Recombination values” in Annals of Eugenics, in which he introduced what later came to be known as Kosambi’s Map function.
• One of the most important contribution of Kosambi to statistics is the widely known technique called Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD).
• In 1945, Homi J. Bhabha invited Kosambi to join Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) as Professor of Mathematics. In 1948-49 he was sent to England and the US as UNESCO Fellow to study the theoretical and technical aspects of the Computer.
• After his return to India, he was increasingly drawn into the World Peace Movement. He became a tireless crusader of peace, campaigning against the nuclearization of the world. His activism in the Peace Movement took him to Beijing, Helsinki and Moscow and he also pursued diverse research interests too, which culminated in his book “An Introduction to the study of Indian History” (1956).
• Shri Kosambi exit Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1962 and concentrated on his research in ancient Indian history culminating into his book “The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India” which was published in 1965. He also utilized his time in archaeological studies and contributed in the field of statistics and number through his article on Mathematics was published in Feb 1965 in Scientific American.
• In June 1964, Shri Kosambi was appointed as a Scientist Emeritus on the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• He got involved in many historical, scientific and archaeological projects. On June 29, 1966 he died in Pune. He was posthumously decorated with ‘Hari Om Ashram’ Award by the Government of India’s University Grants Commission in 1980.
• Text : Material provided by the proponent.

The post Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Aug 30, 2004

Issued for : The Department of Posts is proud to issue a commemorative postage stamp on this colossus whose work is regarded as one of the greatest monuments of human intelligence.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Kamleshwar Singh
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Mint Condition

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 500 Paise

Print Quantity : 0.4 Million

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : India Security Press, Nashik

About : 

• India’s contribution to the scientific, technological, literary and mathematical advancements of the world is undeniably monumental. Beginning with the Indus Valley Civilisation through the Vedic and Mauryan ages to the Golden Age of Indian Culture during the Gupta period, Indian scholars capitalised on the patronage extended to them and carved out an environment that was conducive to intensive research and a vigorously brilliant outburst of knowledge and learning. A particularly important development in the history of science in India was influenced by the accomplishments of Panini, one of the greatest grammarians of all time whose work revolutionised the use of language not only in India but also in the rest of the world.
• Panini was born in Shalatula, a town near Taxila on the Indus River in the present-day North-West Province in Pakistan. The dates given for Panini’s birth range from the Fourth to the Seventh Century BC. However, it is believed that he was born about 520 BC and died about 460 BC. His mother Dakshi and father Pani initiated him into the worship of Lord Shiva and tradition has it that the Lord himself revealed the form of grammar through the sound of his drum – those intricate formulaic Shiva Sutras that initiated unfolding of complex structures.
• The word ‘Sanskrit’ means ‘complete’ or ‘perfect’ and Sanskrit was not only the classical literary language of the Indian Hindus, it was also thought of as the divine language or language of the Gods. Panini’s brilliant account of the structure of the Sanskrit language seeks to provide a complete, maximally concise and theoretically consistent analysis. It unfolds a theory of human language where the infinite language is generated by a finite grammar which modern linguistics acknowledges as the complete, generative grammar of any language yet written.
• Panini’s comprehensive theory of the phonetics, phonology and morphology of Sanskrit language relies on patterns found in the language. Features of language are categorised according to their similarities and then form the subject matter of the set of ordered morphological rules which constitute the bulk of the work. Inherent in the analytic approach employed by Panini are the concepts of phoneme and morpheme. Paninian grammar is notably descriptive, it does not attempt to tell people what they should speak and write but what people actually did say and write.
• Panini gives formal production rules and definitions to describe Sanskrit grammar. There are four major components of his grammar: (i) ‘Astadhyayi’ or ‘Astaka’ which is Panini’s major work of eight chapters, each subdivided into quarter chapters; it is an ordered system of around 4000 rules formulated in the Sutra form, remarkable for their brevity and charity; (ii) ‘Sivasutras’ which are classes of phonological segments, which allow for statements on processes in the sound system to be made in a natural way. (iii) ‘Dhatupatha’ a list of about 2000 verbal roots, with sub classification and diacritic markers encoding morphological and syntactic properties, (iv) ‘Ganapatha’ classes of lexical items idiosyncratically subject to various rules. While none of the components is intelligible in isolation, together they constitute a complete integrated system of grammar.
• Today, Panini’s grammar has been compared to Euclid’s geometry and his constructions can be seen as comparable to modern definitions of a mathematical function. G.G. Joseph, a renowned mathematician argues in ‘The Crest of the Peacock’ that the algebraic nature of Indian mathematics arises as a consequence of the structure of the Sanskrit language. In particular, he suggests that algebraic reasoning, the Indian way of representing numbers by words, and ultimately the development of modern number systems in India, are linked through the structure of language. Thus, Panini’s work provided an example of a scientific notational model that could have propelled later mathematicians to use abstract notations in characterising algebraic equations and presenting algebraic theorems and results in a scientific format.
• Panini’s rules are said to be perfect – that is, they perfectly describe the Sanskrit morphology, and are regarded as so clear that computer scientists have made use of them to teach computers to understand Sanskrit. Panini uses metarules, transformations, and recursion in such sophistication that his grammar has the computing power equivalent to a Turing machine. In this sense Panini may be considered the father of computing machines. As such Panini should be thought of as the forerunner of the modern formal language theory used to specify computer languages. It is remarkable that concepts, which are fundamental to today’s theoretical computer science, should have their origin with an Indian genius around 2500 years ago.

The post Panini appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Aug 26, 1993

Issued for : The Department of Posts is proud to issue a special postage stamp to mark the centenary of election to British Parliament of this great pioneer of India’s struggle for freedom.

Design Credit :
Stamp : India Security Press based on design supplied by the sponsors.
FDC & Cancellation : Mrs. Alka Sharma, Artist, Department of Posts

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Multi Colour

Denomination : 600 Paise

Overall size : 3.34 x 2.88 cms.

Printing size : 2.93 x 2.53 cms.

Perforation : 13½ x 14

Paper : Indigenous un W/M gravure coated gummed stamp paper in reels width 47 cms.

Number of stamps Printed : 0.6 Million

Number per issue sheet : 42

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printers : India Security Press

About : 

• Dadabhai Naoroji, proudly remembered as “the Grand Old Man of India”, was born in Bombay on the 4^th September 1825. He became a scholar at The Elphinstone Institution (now Elphinstone College) and had a brilliant academic career. At an early age he was appointed as Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at the same institution.
  
• On 27^th June 1855, Dadabhai sailed for England to join the first Indian business firm of the mercantile Cama family. In 1859 he established his own business firm under the name of Dadabhai Naoroji & Co.
  
• During his time in England, Dadabhai endeavoured to educate the British public of their responsibilities as rulers of India. He delivered speeches and published articles to support his oppositions to the unjust and oppressive British regime in India. In 1867 he helped to establish the East India Association of which he became the Honorary Secretary. The purpose of the Association was to keep Britain well-informed of India’s plight and needs and to secure fair treatment for the Indian people. This was his first political move and his colleagues were not slow in realising his nationalist aspirations. Dadabhai’s ideas were put into a classic volume titled ‘Poverty and Un–British rule in India’. Later, Dadabhai was one of the members of the Royal Commission that was appointed to look into the charges made in this book.
  
• Dadabhai was elected to British Parliament on the 5^th July, 1892 as a Liberal from the Central Finsbury Constituency, the first Asian to enter the hallowed House of Commons. He immediately championed various causes in the House of Commons. His speeches and writings both in England and in India on political reforms spearheaded the early phase of the freedom struggle.
  
• Dadabhai was one of the moving spirits of the Indian National Congress. He took part in the inauguration of the Indian National Congress held in Bombay in 1865. Dadabhai was thrice elected President of the Congress.
  
• Dadabhai Naoroji had attempted to keep the freedom movement on a moderate path during the formative years of the Congress. However his experience of the British political system and years of dealing with British Establishment led to increasing disillusionment. In 1904 Dadabhai demanded ‘Swaraj’. “Self–government is the only and chief remedy”, he declared, “In Self–government is our hope, strength and greatness.”
  
• Dadabhai passed away at the ripe old age of 93 on 30^th June 1917. As Sir Dinshaw Wacha said, “There is no doubt Dadabhai served his country with a sacrifice and singleness of purpose which was rare. A devout follower of Zoroastor he faithfully followed the ethics of that great prophet – pure in thought, word and deed”.

The post Dadabhai Naoroji – Election to the House of Commons appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Jun 29, 1993

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to issue a stamp in honour of this great statistician.

Design : The FDC depicting the cover of the Second Five-Year Plan Document, is a tribute to his contributions to the Five-Year Plans, and also recalls his famous D² statistic.

Design Credits :
Stamp : India Security Press, Nashik
FDC & Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Single Colour

Denomination : 100 Paise

Overall size : 4.06 x 2.73 cms.

Printing size : 3.71 x 2.38 cms.

Perforation : 13 x 13

Paper : Indigenous un W/M gravure coated gummed Stamp paper in sheet 50.8 x 53.5 cms.

Number of stamps Printed : 0.6 Million

Number per issue sheet : 40

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : India Security Press

Name : Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis

Born on Jun 29, 1893 at Calcutta, Bengal, British India

Died on Jun 28, 1972 at Calcutta, West Bengal, India

About : 

• Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis was born in Calcutta on 29^th June, 1893. He had his education in Calcutta University and later in Cambridge University. He was ‘a physicist by training, a statistician by instinct and a planner by conviction.’
• He set up the Statistical Laboratory in the Presidency College Calcutta and also founded the Indian Statistical Institute for advanced research and training in statistics. He also started ‘Sankhya‘ the Indian journal of statistics in 1933. In 1950, he established the National Sample Survey for periodic collection of socio-economic data through sample surveys.
• Mahalanobis viewed statistics ‘as a key technology for increasing the efficiency of human efforts in the widest sense’. He pursued this objective in his theoretical as well as applied work in statistics. His famous work on D² statistic, known as Mahalanobis Distance, arose out of his investigations on anthropometric problems. In the matter of samples and survey techniques his most well-known contributions are the concept of optimum sample design, interpenetrating network of samples and pilot surveys.
• Mahalanobis‘s greatest contribution to national development was in ushering in a new way of thinking in India on economic planning. As a Member of Planning Commission from 1952 to 1967 he was closely associated with the Indian Planning process. The Draft Second Five-Year Plan, prepared by Mahalanobis, marks a critical watershed in the evolution of planning in developing countries and has served as a model for all subsequent Five-Year Plans in India.
• Mahalanobis received numerous awards from academic societies all over the world. He was also honoured with Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India. Mahalanobis was a multi-faced personality and he was a great lover of art and literature. He was closely associated with the poet Rabindranath Tagore and was one of the two Secretaries of Vishwabharati when it was founded. He wrote a number of literary and philosophical articles in Bengali and English.
• Text Source :– Ministry of Planning, Department of Statistics.

The post Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Mar 14, 1979

Issued for : The P & T Department feels privileged to bring out a commemorative postage stamp on the birth centenary of this great scientist.

Description of Design : The design of the stamp is horizontal and depicts a portrait of the personality.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Blue Black

Denomination : 100 Paise

Overall size : 3.91 X 2.90 cms.

Printing size : 3.55 X 2.54 cms.

Perforation : 13 X 13

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked stamp paper

Number printed : 20,00,000

Number per issue sheet : 35

Printing process : Photogravure

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press

Name : Albert Einstein

Born on Mar 14, 1879 at Ulm, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire

Died on Apr 18, 1955 at Princeton, New Jersey, United States

About : 

• Physicist, mathematician, humanitarian, Albert Einstein is one of the greatest scientists of all times. His theories established a new concept of the physical world and led to such advances as harnessing atomic energy.
• In 1905, when barely 25, Einstein published his famous theory of relativity. It included his revolutionary expression of the relation between mass and energy. This he stated in a brief, but highly profound, equation, E = mc².
• The generalised theory of gravitation or non-symmetric unified field theory was independently developed by Einstein in 1945.
• A Nobel Prize winner in 1921, Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879. By 1913 his fame was so great that the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute named him its director and in 1914 he was elected a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He went to the United States in 1932 and eventually settled in Princeton, New Jersey, at the Institute for Advanced Studies. He became a U.S. citizen in 1940.
• Albert Einstein was skilled in many fields of endeavour, but he was dedicated to his work in science. “What is really beautiful is science!“ he once said. “It is a great gift if one is permitted to work in science for his whole life.“
• Einstein died on April 18, 1955, at the age of 76.

The post India on Albert Einstein appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Jul 21, 1973

Issued for :
Centenary Series
A set of four stamps are being brought out to commemorate the centenary of the death of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, the well-known poet of Bengal, the centenary of the birth of Vishnu Digambar Paluskar, the eminent musician of India, the centenary of the discovery of leprosy bacillus, and the quin-centenary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus, the world renowned scientist.

The P&T Department feels honoured to bring out these stamps in the Centenary Series being issued on 21-7-73.

Description of Design : The stamp is horizontal and depicts the portrait of Nicolaus Copernicus. By the side of the portrait the Heliocentric Universe is shown.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Blue & Max. red brown

Denomination : Re. 1

Overall size : 3.91 x 2.90 cms.

Printing Size : 3.56 x 2.54 cms.

Perforation : 13 x 13

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked Adhesive Stamp paper in sheets

Quantity printed : 1.5 Million

Number per issue sheet : 35

Printing Process : Photogravure process

Designed and Printed at : India Security Press, Nasik Road

Name : Nicolaus Copernicus

Born on Feb 19, 1473 at Toruń (Thorn), Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland

Died on May 24, 1543 at Frombork (Frauenburg), Prince–Bishopric of Warmia, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland

About : 

• The most eminent polish Scholar, creator of the heliocentric theory of the universe, astronomer, mathematician, economist and physician, Nicolaus Copernicus was born on February 19^th, 1473 in Torun into a burgher family. He studied astronomy, law, medicine and theology at universities in Cracow, Bologna, Padua and Ferrara. In 1503, after completing his studies, he returned to Poland where he remained till the end of his days. In 1510, he settled in Frombork where he was appointed canon of the Warmia Chapter. He conducted his astronomical observations there and wrote his main works. About the same time, he presented an outline of his theory of the structure of the universe in his dissertation entitled “Commentariolus“.
• His most important work which contained a discourse on astronomy based on the heliocentric system, was written over the years 1515 – 1533; it appeared in print under the title “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium” in 1543 in Nuremberg. This work revolutionised the then prevailing views on the structure of the universe and laid the foundation for the new cosmology.
• Copernicus also displayed keen interest in problems of economics. Educated in many disciplines, Copernicus represents one of the most brilliant minds of the European Renaissance.

The post India on Nicolaus Copernicus appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Feb 19, 1973

Design : The stamp which is horizontal in format and depicts the famous Polish astronomer Copernicus whose 500^th Birth Anniversary is being celebrated all over the world.

The design of the stamp is basically based on a painting in which Copernicus is shown in his observatory making some astronomical observations. All sort of astronomical instruments, maps, telescope and books are scattered around him. A church and other buildings of the city against a blue sky can be seen in the back-ground. The caption “500^th Birth Anniversary of Copernicus” appears in red at the fixit of the picture. The word ‘Pakistan‘ in Urdu and English appears in Blue Colour at the top in vertical position in the white panel at right side of the picture. The denomination “20 Paisa” with “Postage” underneath appear at the foot of this panel in black.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : 20 Paisa

Colour : Magenta, Blue, Light Brown and Black

Size of Stamp : 44.5 x 32.5 mm

Size of Print : 41.5 x 29.5 mm

Perforation Gauge : 13 x 13 (c)

Quantity Printed : 10,00,000

Number of Stamps in each sheet : 50

Process of Printing : Litho Offset

Printers : The Pakistan Security Printing Corporation Limited, Karachi

Name : Nikolaus Kopernikus

Born on Feb 19, 1473 at Toruń (Thorn), Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland

Died on May 24, 1543 at Frombork (Frauenburg), Prince–Bishopric of Warmia, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland

About : 

• COPERNICUS or KOPPERNIGK, NICOLAS (1473-1543), Polish astronomer, was born Feb. 19, 1473, at Thorn in Prussian Poland, where his father, a native of Cracow, had settled as a wholesale trader. Nicolas was virtually adopted by his uncle Lucas Watzelrode, later (1489) bishop of Ermeland. He studied mathematical science at the University of Cracow under Albert Brudzewski (1445-97), and incidentally acquired some skill in painting. At the age of 23 he repaired to Bologna, and there varied his studies of canon law by attending the astronomical lectures of Domenico Maria Novara (1454-1504). At Rome, in the Jubilee year 1500, he himself lectured with applause; but having been nominated in 1497 canon of the cathedral of Frauenburg, he recrossed the Alps in 1501 with the purpose of obtaining further leave of absence for the completion of his academic career. Late in 1501 he entered the medical school of Padua, where he remained until 1505, having taken a doctor’s degree in canon law at Ferrara on May 31, 1503. After his return to Poland he resided at the episcopal palace of Heilsberg as his uncle’s physician until the bishop‘s death on March 29, 1512. He then retired to Frauenburg, and attended to his capitular duties. He never took orders, but acted continually as the representative of the chapter under harassing conditions, administrative and political; he was besides commissary of the diocese of Ermeland; his medical skill, always at the service of the poor, was frequently in demand by the rich; and he laid a scheme for the reform of the currency before the Diet of Graudenz in 1522. Yet he found time to elaborate a new system of astronomy, by the adoption of which man’s outlook on the universe was fundamentally changed.
• The main lines of his great work were laid down at Heilsberg; at Frauenburg, from 1513, he sought, with scanty instrumental means, to test by observation the truth of the views it embodied (see ASTRONOMY: History). His dissatisfaction with Ptolemic doctrines was of early date; and he returned from Italy, where so called Pythagorean opinions were then freely discussed in strong and irrevocable possession of the heliocentric theory. The treatise in which it was set forth, virtually finished in 1530, began to be known through the circulation in manuscript of a Commentariolus, or brief popular account of its purport, written by Copernicus in that year. Johann Albrecht Widmanstadt lectured upon it in Rome; Clement VII, approved, and Cardinal Schonberg transmitted to the author a formal demand for full publication. But his assent to this was only extracted from him in 1540 by the importunities of his friends, especially of his enthusiastic disciple George Joachim Rheticus (1514-76), who printed, in the Narratio prima (Danzig, 1540), a preliminary account of the Copernican theory, and simultaneously sent to the press at Nuremberg his master’s complete exposition of it in the treatise entitled De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543). But the first printed copy reached Frauenburg barely in time to be laid on the writer’s death-bed. Copernicus was seized with apoplexy and paralysis towards the close of 1542, and died on May, 24, 1543, happily unconscious that the fine Epistle, in which he had dedicated his life’s work to Paul III, was marred of its effect by an anonymous preface, slipt in by Andreas Osiander, with a view to disarming prejudice by insisting upon the purely hypothetical character of the reasonings it introduced. The trigonometrical section of the book had been issued as a separate treatise (Wittenberg, 1542) under the care of Rheticus. The only work published by Copernicus on his own initiative was a Latin version of the Greek epistles of Theophylact (Cracow, 1509). His treatise De monetae cudendae ratione (1526) (first printed in 1816), written by order of King Sigismund I, is an exposition of the principles on which it was proposed to reform the currency of the Prussian provinces of Poland.
• Issued by: The Director-General, Pakistan Post Office, Karachi.

The post Pakistan on Nicolas Copernicus appeared first on iStampGallery.

Issued by India

Issued on Oct 16, 1972

Issued for : From this year, the P & T Department has introduced a new ‘Centenary Series‘ of postage stamps to commemorate the centenaries of personalities which fall during the year. The P & T Department feels honoured to bring out in this series the special postage stamps this year for the following personalities on the October 16, 1972.

1. Vemana : 3^rd Centenary
2. Bertrand Russell : Birth Centenary
3. T. Prakasam : Birth Centenary
4. Bhai Vir Singh : Birth Centenary

Design : The photograph of Bertrand Russell has been reproduced in the stamp with the courtesy of M/s Keystone Press Agency Ltd., 4 Red Lion Court, London EC-4.

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Colour : Blue Black

Denomination : Rs. 1.45

Overall size : 3.34 x 2.88 cms.

Printing size : 2.987 x 2.524 cms.

Perforation : 13½ x 14

Watermark : Printed on unwatermarked Adhesive Stamp paper

Number Printed : Three million

Number per issue sheet : 42

Printing Process : Photogravure

Designed and printed at : India Security Press, Nasik Road

Name : Bertrand Arthur William Russell

Born on May 18, 1872 at Trellech, Monmouthshire, United Kingdom

Died on Feb 2, 1970 at Penrhyndeudraeth, Caernarfonshire, Wales, United Kingdom

About : 

• As a dreamer of world peace, Bertrand Russell could say “I see in my mind’s eye a great wave of happiness sweeping over the human race, as the old night of hate and fear become dispersed. I see a new Golden Age the like of which has never been seen since history began. All this is possible. It needs only that man should choose to live rather than to die.“
• The philosopher and mathematician, Bertrand Russell, was born on May 18, 1872. He studied Mathematics and Moral Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge and was appointed as Lecturer in the same College. In 1908 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society. He was a pacifist and during the First World War he suffered for his views.
• As a Member of the Labour Party, Bertrand Russell visited Russia and wrote a book on his impressions of the U.S.S.R. – “The Practice and Theory of Bolshevism“. He then visited China, studied Chinese life and thought. On his return he wrote a book “The Problem of China“.
• Bertrand Russell was author of more than fifty books, many of them on mathematics, philosophy and other academic subjects, but many also deal with sociological problems.
• He was active in many directions. A stimulating speaker and lecturer, he frequently took part in the BBC‘s “Brains Trust” programmes and was invited by it to deliver the inaugural series of Reith Lectures in 1947. Temperamentally sympathetic to the Indian struggle for liberty, Russell became Chairman of the Indian League formed in Britain to help the Indians and their claim for self-government.
• During his later years, Russell was a moving spirit in the formation of various bodies working for world peace. He was a founder of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and founded in 1963 the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation and the Atlantic Peace Foundation with the object of developing international resistance to the threat of nuclear war.
• Bertrand Russell was married four times and had three children. He lived latterly at Plas Penrhyn in North Wales, where he died on February 2, 1970 in his 98^th year.

The post India on Bertrand Russell appeared first on iStampGallery.