 Chaudhuri was profoundly influenced by Braudel's approach and remained in close touch with the French historian until the latter's death in 1985.The Cambridge University Press contract led to the publication in 1985 of T"he Trade and Civilisation in Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750" and "Asia before Europe" in 1990.Whereas "Trade and Civilisation" mainly follows the traditional descriptive method of a historian, "Asia before Europe" is a study, using mathematical set theory, of the dynamic interaction between economic life, society, and civilisation in the regions around and beyond the Indian Ocean during the period from the rise of Islam to 1750.