R Gopu, was born and brought up in Madras. He obtained a BE in Computer

Engineering from Arulmigu Kalasalingam College of Engineering (now a deemed

university) in Srivilliputhur and an MS in Computer Science from the Texas A&M

University in College Station, Texas, USA. He then worked in the US, as a software

engineer, mostly at Microsoft in Seattle.

Bored of software, he returned to India to pursue a career in writing and screenwriting.

But his interest turned in other directions, primarily history, and heritage, including the

history of science and technology. He lectures on these and other topics at various fora.

His articles on several topics have been published in national magazines like The

Week, the New Indian Express and Swarajya.

As part of the Tamil Heritage Trust he has attended several Site Seminars. He helped

organize its various programs including two day conferences on history and heritage

called Lecture Kacheris.

He has conducted tours of Mamallapurm, Orissa, Kanchipuram, Tanjavur,

Kumbakonam and the Madras Egmore Museum for several groups including schools

and colleges.

In 2016, Ramu Endowments bestowed on him, the Vedavalli Memorial Heritage Award

for services to Culture.

As part of the Madras Local History group, he participated in the Cooum and Adyar

cultural mappings.

He is one of the co founders of the Varahamihira Science Forum, which conducts

monthly lectures on science for the public. He conducts a course on Indian Astronomy

and Mathematics, for the general public.