Rangarathnam Gopu, was born and brought up in Madras. He followed up a BE in Computer Engineering with an MS in Computer Science from the Texas A&M University. He then worked in the US, as a software engineer, mostly at Microsoft in Seattle.

On his return to India, his interests turned towards 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.

He has conducted heritage tours of Mamallapuram, Kanchipuram, Orissa, Ajanta, Ellora, Tanjavur, Badami, Hampi  and the Madras Egmore Museum for several groups including schools and colleges. He was a cultural consultant for the Routes and Roots exhibition, as part of the 2023 G-20 summit.