Of Ancient Star-Gazers and Story-Spinners | Raj Vedam | TEDxUTAustin

Long before the printing press and Google, families passed down knowledge through stories. Stories or myths, through their familiar twists and catchy characters, impart knowledge about the world and crucial moral lessons. Engineer and researcher Dr. Raj Vedam explores the hidden science behind the ancient stories that we often dismiss as myths. Dr. Raj Vedam, a graduate of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Oregon State University, Corvallis, is an Electrical Engineer with over 25 years of experience in Power, Electronic Design Automation, and Oil and Gas industries, and the author of several journal and conference papers and patents. His research interests include optimization, analytics and artificial intelligence. He is a reviewer for engineering journals, as well as an external examiner for doctoral thesis in engineering. He has deep interest in prehistory, the history of astronomy and mathematics, and the spread of knowledge, arts, culture and philosophies across cultures. Dr. Vedam researches and critiques the narratives of civilizations, and applies scientific methods to validate historical narratives. He is a founder-member and Director of the think-tank, Indian History Awareness Research (IHAR). This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx