[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Polity, law and society](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity) › [History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930) › v6.c82.167 # History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.167 History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c82.167 - **Language:** English ### [v6.c82.167](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.167) I should request all Western authors interested in Indology and dazzled by some writings of a few Greeks to ponder deeply over the following words of Sir Norman Lockyer in his 'Dawn of Astronomy' (1894) 'Anaximander told us that the earth was cylindrical in shape and every place that was then known was situated on the flat end of the cylinder, and Plato, on the ground that the cube was the most perfect geometrical figure, imagined the earth to be a cube, the part of the earth known to the Greeks being on the upper surface In these matters the vaunted Greek mind was little in advance of the predecessors of the Vedic priests' (p. 8). If the Greeks forged ahead in one or two branches, there were several other peoples in the world that far surpassed them in other equally important matters. I would also recommend to them to read carefully what Sarton says in his Preface (p. IX) to 'A history of Science' where he charges Western writers with unpardonable omissions viz. ignoring the scientific efforts of Egypt, Mesopotamia and other countries and assuming childishly that science began in Greece and secondly hiding the superstitions which surrounded eminent Greeks. Writers at least in the 19th and 20th centuries should have no reason to run down one people and praise to the skies another people, but their endeavour should be to arrive at well-documented, well-balanced, impartial and cautious judgments upon the achievements of ancient peoples of the world - [Previous: v6.c82.166](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.166) - [Next: v6.c82.168](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.168) - [Up: v6.c82](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.167](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.167) · Pramāṇa