The steady laminar flow and heat transfer of a second grade fluid over a radially stretching sheet is considered. The axisymmetric flow of a second grade fluid is induced due to linear stretching of a sheet. The heat transfer analysis has been carried out for two heating processes, namely (i) with prescribed surface temperature (PST-case) and (ii) prescribed surface heat flux (PHF-case). Introducing the dimensionless quantities the governing partial differential equations are transformed to ordinary differential equations. The developed non-linear differential equations are solved analytically using homotopy analysis method (HAM). The series solutions are developed and the convergence of these solutions is explicitly discussed. The analytical expressions for velocity and temperature are constructed and are shown graphically. The numerical values for the skin friction coefficient and the Nusselt number are entered in tabular form. Attention has been focused to the variations of the emerging parameters such as second grade parameter, Prandtl number and the Eckert number. Finally, comparison between the HAM and numerical solutions are also included and found in excellent agreement. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.