Prasad Nikam

Personal notes by Prasad Nikam

I am a product manager and engineer writing about product architecture, systems thinking, frontier technology, and the history of science — tracing how foundational ideas become working systems.

History of Science September 13, 2026 38-Minute Comprehensive Read

The First Notch & The Broken Loaf

How Mud, Monsoons, and Imperial Rations Forged the Architecture of Number (c. 20,000 – 1500 BCE)

How humanity learned to calculate through failing floods, divided bread, and imperial weights — from the Ishango bone to the Vedic fire altar.

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Essays

A chronological ledger of published pieces.

Sep 21, 2026 The Sovereign Engine How Inflation, Embargoes, Rogue Reasoning, and the War for Code Forged Modern AI (2022–2026) Computing & AI Sep 19, 2026 The Architecture of Attention How Corporate Wars, Cheap Capital, and a Rogue Paper Built the Modern Oracle (2012–2022) Computing & AI Sep 15, 2026 The Winter of the Silicon Mind How the World Built the Brain While Looking the Other Way (1993–2012) Computing & AI Sep 12, 2026 The Migrating Fire How Ambition, Coal, and Capital Built the Modern Mind History of Science

Writer & Technologist

About the Author

Product Manager & Engineer

Prasad Nikam works on product management craft and software infrastructure, with a curiosity-driven interest in foundational ideas — product architecture, systems thinking, frontier technology, and the history of science.

These notes collect long-form inquiries into how foundational ideas become working systems.

The First Notch & The Broken Loaf

Essays

Prasad Nikam

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