RSA Security Conference Theme is Vedic Math

Every year, the RSA Conference is built around a different historical
theme which highlights a significant use, or misuse, of information
security. In 2006, the theme is centered on ancient Vedic
mathematics, and a mathematical Sage named Aryabhatta.

Modern Codes in Ancient Sutras

In 499 CE, in Kusumpura, capital of the Gupta Empire in classical
India, a young mathematician named Aryabhatta published an
astronomical treatise written in 118 Sanskrit verses. A student of
the Vedic mathematics tradition that had slowly emerged in India
between 1500 and 900 BC, Aryabhatta, only 23, intended merely to give
a summary of Vedic mathematics up to his time. But his slender
volume, the Aaryabhat.iiya, was to become one of the most brilliant
achievements in the history of mathematics, with far-ranging
implications in the East and West.

Aryabhatta correctly determined the axial rotation of the earth. He
inferred that planetary orbits were elliptical, and provided a valid
explanation of solar and lunar eclipses. His theory of the relativity
of motion predated Einstein's by 1400 years. And his studies in
algebra and trigonometry, which laid the foundations for calculus,
influenced European mathematicians 1,000 years later, when his texts
were translated into European languages from 8th century Arabic
translations of the Sanskrit originals.

Today, the work of information security professionals affects the
global business community in ways as profound and far-reaching as the
seminal calculations of Aryabhatta. Join us at the RSA Conference
2006 to celebrate the mathematical achievements of ancient India, and
discover unprecedented approaches to securing your business and
applications.

http://2006.rsaconference.com/us/conference/theme.aspx