The Beginnings
The great Indian mathematician Aryabhata (476-529) wrote the Aryabhatiya ─ a volume of 121 verses. Apart from discussing astronomy, he laid down procedures of arithmetic, geometry, algebra and trigonometry. He calculated the value of Pi at 3.1416 and covered subjects like numerical squares and cube roots. Aryabhata is credited with the emergence of trigonometry through sine functions. Around the beginning of the fifteenth century Madhava (1350-1425) developed his own system of calculus based on his knowledge of trigonometry. He was an untutored mathematician from Kerala, and preceded Newton and Liebnitz by a century. |
Aryabhata |
The twentieth-century genius Srinivas Ramanujan (1887-1920) developed a formula for partitioning any natural number, expressing an integer as the sum of squares, cubes, or higher power of a few integers.
Origin of Zero and the Decimal System The zero was known to the ancient Indians and most probably the knowledge of it spread from India to other cultures. Brahmagupta (598-668),who had worked on mathematics and astronomy, was the head of the astronomy observatory in Ujjain, which was at that point of time, the foremost mathematical centre in India; he andBhaskar the second (1114-1185), who reached understanding on the number systems and solving equations, have together provided many rules for arithmetical operations with the zero. |
Srinivas Ramanujan |
Varahamihira (505-668) who was educated in Kapitthaka and was one of the patrons of the school of mathematics in Ujjain, worked on Hindu astronomy beforeAryabhata.He wrote manuals called Panchasiddhantika which refer to the addition and subtraction of zero.
Vasubhandu (around 400 AD), who was born into a Hindu family but later converted to Buddhism, expressed his belief that the stars were representative of the zero and placed there by the Creator to remind humankind of the transience of the world and all beings. The symbols for nine numerals and a symbol for zero were well-established by the fifth century AD. The decimal system is believed to have originated in India. Arab Mathematicians – Al Khawarizmi and Al-Nasavi in 825 AD and 1025 AD respectively – refer to it as ta-rikh ai Hindi and al-amal al-Hindi. |
Panchasiddhantika |
The Three Pramanas The acquisition of mathematical knowledge and competence covers three aspects that are in fact the mainstay for mastering any discipline: a) Pratyaksha i.e. perception These three together are known as pramanas. |
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History of Geometry
The science of geometry originated in India in connection with the construction of the altars meant for Vedic sacrifices. Sulbas are studies in early Hindu geometry. The Sulbas or the Sulba Sutras are the manuals for the construction of the altars for worship.Dr Bibhutibhushan Datta, author of History of Hindu Mathematics, in his The Science of the Sulba has described a number of postulates, which must have been tacitly assumed by the geometers of the Sulba for the geometric operations. The postulates of the Sulba are connected with the division of figures such as straight lines, rectangles, circles and triangles. |
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The postulates
Overall, many core mathematics formulae and theorems originate from India. The roots of the present progress in algebra and astronomy can all be traced back to the work done by our ancient mathematicians. |