Vedic Mathematics Perhaps the most striking feature of the Vedic system is its coherence.

Instead of a hotch-potch of unrelated techniques the whole system is beautifully interrelated and unified: the general multiplication method, for example, is easily re ersed to allow one-line di isions and the simple squaring method can be re ersed to gi e one-line square roots. !nd these are all easily understood. "his unifying quality is ery satisfying, it makes mathematics easy and en#oyable and encourages inno ation.In the Vedic system $difficult$ problems or huge sums can often be sol ed immediately by the Vedic method. "hese striking and beautiful methods are #ust a part of a complete system of mathematics which is far more systematic than the modern $system$. Vedic %athematics manifests the coherent and unified structure of mathematics and the methods are complementary, direct and easy."he simplicity of Vedic %athematics means that calculations can be carried out mentally &though the methods can also be written down'. (ut the real beauty and effecti eness of Vedic %athematics cannot be fully appreciated without actually practising the system. )ne can then see that it is perhaps the most refined and efficient mathematical system possible. Amazing Science (Part 1) Preamble *hen we look at scientists who are credited with the most important ideas of our time we find mainly +reeks, ,uropeans, !mericans listed. -et western history seems to ha e been arbitrarily begun during the +reek era. In fact, when we extend the boundaries of history to iew the longer span of history we find some ama.ing de elopments predating /modern/ history originating in India more than 0,111 years ago. "he ancient thinkers of India were not only scientists and mathematicians, but also deeply religious, esteemed saints of their time. *hile it may surprise some to think of religious sages as mundane scientists, the Indian iew is that religion &uni ersal' and science are but two sides of the same coin - in short2semantics. *hether one calls a natural phenomena wind or the wind god - Vayu - one is speaking of the same thing. -et it seems that ha ing a spiritual foundation not only brought out important disco eries still in use today, but these disco eries also were helpful without causing harm or destruction. In fact this article will cite the origins of some ama.ing and here-to-for mis-credited disco eries as coming from India. 3ome examples include so-called !rabic numerals, the concept of the .ero, so-called Pythagorean theory, surgery and more. It may seem astonishing, but the ancient texts are there to show the thinking and writing of these great Indian thinkers. *hy is India not credited4 It seems that in the *est we ha e a condescending, ,uro- or +reco-centric iew that ci ili.ations older than +reece were unci ili.ed barbarians. "his notion was further melded into our collecti e psyche through 5ollywood$s portrayal of ancient cultures. )ne only has to look at old "ar.an mo ies to see ancient tribes shown as barbaric, superstitious idol worshipping people. "ar.an himself was shown to be a non-speaking animal-like person. In fact, in the original books, "ar.an was a well-educated and highly eloquent speaker. 6hau inistic misrepresentation exists e en today. 7early e ery book written on the history of mathematics is equally biased. "he one bright spot is the 6rest of the Peacock. , en this year, during the recent 5indu festi al, the 8umbha %ela - the largest human gathering in history &91 million people' the modern-day press mainly reported on the most negati e aspects of the e ent. It was not credited as the largest gathering, nor was it pointed out that for : week, the area was the worlds largest city &larger population than ;ondon, "ehran, <io, Paris, 6hicago, (ei#ing, 5yderabad and =ohannesburg put together'. Virtually no one spoke of the sacredness of the e ent, the hardships people endured for this holy e ent. >urther, the whole e ent went off without a hitch - adequate food, water, electricity - a mar el by any standards. "here were more than :?,111 tons of flour, 9,@11 tons of rice, A1,111 public toilets, :A hospitals, ?0 electric power centers, A1,111 police, :,1B1 fire hydrants and much more. <arely was an ardent de otee inter iewed or photographed. Instead reporters and cameramen only focused on the minority elements - naked sadhus smoking gan#a &mari#uana' and implying prayers were to some lesser god. (ut it sells newspapers and "V news. In truth, the Indian media showed an equal amount of bias and lack of cultural pride. In short the media still portrays India in a deeply condescending manner. (ut I digress. "he point is that westerners ha e been brought up for decades incorrectly iewing ancient ci ili.ations as intellectually and culturally inferior to modern man. 3o it is no surprise to be surprised in learning some of the greatest disco eries not only came from India, but from ancient India. It shakes the ery foundations of pre#udicial beliefs. 5ere are but a few examples of India$s enlightened thinkers. Amazing Science Cosmology & psychology !ccording to India$s ancient texts, around ?111 (6, sage 8apil founded both cosmology and psychology. 5e shed light on the 3oul, the subtle elements of matter and creation. 5is main idea was that essential nature &prakrti' comes from the eternal &purusha' to de elop all of creation. 7o deeper a iew of the cosmos has e er been de eloped. >urther, his philosophy of 3ankhya philosophy also co ered the secret le els of the psyche, including mind, intellect and ego, and how they relate to the 3oul or !tma. Medicine (Ayurveda), Aviation !round @11 (6, 3age (haradwa#, was both the father of modern medicine, teaching !yur eda, and also the de eloper of a iation technology. 5e wrote the -antra 3ar as a, which co ers astonishing disco eries in a iation and space sciences, and flying machines - well before ;eonardo CaVinchi$s time. 3ome of his flying machines were reported to fly around the earth, from the earth to other planets, and between uni erses. 5is

designs and descriptions ha e left a huge impression on modern-day a iation engineers. 5e also discussed how to make these flying machines in isible by using sun and wind force. "here are much more fascinating insights disco ered by sage (haradwa#. Medicine, Surgery, paediatrics, gynaecology anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, em!ryology, !lood circulation !round this era and through D11 (6, many great de elopments occurred. In the field of medicine &!yur eda', sage Ci odasa Chanwantari de eloped the school of surgeryE <ishi 8ashyap de eloped the speciali.ed fields of paediatrics and gynaecology. ;ord !treya, author of the one of the main !yur edic texts, the 6harak 3amhita, classified the principles of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, embryology, blood circulation and more. 5e discussed how to heal thousands of diseases, many of which modern science still has no answer. !long with herbs, diet and lifestyle, !treya showed a correlation between mind, body, spirit and ethics. 5e outlined a charter of ethics centuries before the 5ippocratic oath. "hinoplasty, amputation, caesarean and cranial surgeries, anesthesia, anti!iotic her!s *hile ;ord !treya is recogni.ed for his contribution to medicine, sage 3ushrut is known as the />ather of surgery/. , en modern science recogni.es India as the first country to de elop and use rhinoplasty &de eloped by 3ushrut'. 5e also practiced amputation, caesarean and cranial surgeries, and de eloped :A0 surgical instruments including scalpels, lancets, and needles. ;ord !treya - author of 6harak 3amhita. 6irca @th - Fth century (6,. Perhaps the most referred to <ishiGphysician today "he 6harak 3amhita was the first compilation of all aspects of ayur edic medicine including diagnoses, cures, anatomy, embryology, pharmacology, and blood circulation &excluding surgery'. 5e wrote about causes and cures for diabetes, "(, and heart diseases. !t that time, ,uropean medicine had no idea of these ideas. In fact, e en today many of these disease causes and cures are still unknown to modern allopathic medicine. )ther unique quality of !yur eda is that it unco ers and cures the root cause of illness, it is safe, gentle and inexpensi e, it sees F stages of disease de elopment &where modern medicine only sees the last two stages', it treats people in a personali.ed manner according to their dosha or constitution and not in any generic manner. >urther, !yur eda being the science of $life$, !trea was quick to emphasi.e, proper nutrition according to dosha, and perhaps abo e all else, that there was a mindGbodyGsoul relationship and that the root cause of all diseases and the best medicine for all conditions is spiritual and ethical life. <ishi 3ushrut is known as the father of surgery H author of 3ushrut 3amhita. 6irca 0 - Dth century (6,. 5e is credited with performing the world$s first rhinoplasty, using anesthesia and plastic surgery. 5e used surgical instruments - many of them look similar to instruments used todayE and discussed more than ?11 types of surgical operations. )ne of the !yur edic surgical practices being used today in India in ol es dipping sutures into antibiotic herbs so when sewed into the person, the scar heals quicker and pre ent infection. "he modern surgical world owes a great debt to this great surgical sage. I7oteE "he following institution offers more knowledge on the sub#ect of !yur edaJ Atomic theory 3age 8anad &circa F11 (6,' is recogni.ed as the founder of atomic theory, and classified all the ob#ects of creation into nine elements &earth, water, light or fire, wind, ether, time, space, mind and soul'. 5e stated that e ery ob#ect in creation is made of atoms that in turn connect with each other to form molecules nearly A,011 years before =ohn Calton. >urther, 8anad described the dimension and motion of atoms, and the chemical reaction with one another. "he eminent historian, ".7. 6olebrook said, /6ompared to scientists of ,urope, 8anad and other Indian scientists were the global masters in this field./ Chemistry alchemical metals In the field of chemistry alchemical metals were de eloped for medicinal uses by sage 7agar#una. 5e wrote many famous books including <as <atnakar, which is still used in India$s !yur edic colleges today. (y carefully burning metals like iron, tin, copper, etc. into ash, remo ing the toxic elements, these metals produce quick and profound healing in the most difficult diseases. Astronomy and mathematics 3age !ryabhatt &b. D9F 6,' wrote texts on astronomy and mathematics. 5e formulated the process of calculating the motion of planets and the time of eclipses. !ryabhatt was the first to proclaim the earth was round, rotating on an axis, orbiting the sun and suspended in space. "his was around :,111 years before 6opernicus. 5e was a geometry genius credited with calculating pi to four decimal places, de eloping the trigonomic sine table and the area of a triangle. Perhaps his most important contribution was the concept of the .ero. Cetails are found in 3hul a sutra. )ther sages of mathematics include (audhayana, 8atyayana, and !pastamba. Astronomy, geography, constellation science, !otany and animal science Varahamihr &DBB - 0@9 6,' was another eminent astronomer. In his book, Panschsiddhant, he noted that the moon and planets shine due to the sun. %any of his other contributions captured in his books (ruhad 3amhita and (ruhad =atak, were in the fields of geography, constellation science, botany and animal science. >or example he presented cures for arious diseases of plants and trees. 8nowledge of botany &Vrksh-!yur eda' dates back more than 0,111 years, discussed in India$s <ig Veda. 3age Parashara &:11 (6,' is called the /father of botany/ because he classified flowering plants into arious families, nearly A,111 years before ;annaeus &the modern father of taxonomy'. Parashara described plant cells

- the outer and inner walls, sap color-matter and something not isible to the eye - an as a. 7early A,111 years -later <obert 5ooke, using a microscope described the outer and inner wall and sap color-matter. Alge!ra, arithmetic and geometry, planetary positions, eclipses, cosmography, and mathematical techniques. force of gravity In the field of mathematics, (haskaracharya II &:::D - ::@? 6,' contributed to the fields of algebra, arithmetic and geometry. "wo of his most well known books are ;ila ati and (i#aganita, which are translated in se eral languages of the world. In his book, 3iddhant 3hiromani, he expounds on planetary positions, eclipses, cosmography, and mathematical techniques. !nother of his books, 3urya 3iddhant discusses the force of gra ity, 011 years before 3ir Isaac 7ewton. 3age 3ridharacharya de eloped the quadratic equation around BB: 6,. #he $ecimal !ncient India in ented the decimal scale using base :1. "hey number-names to denote numbers. In the Bth century 6,, an !rab mathematician, !l-8hwari.mi, learned 3anskrit and wrote a book explaining the 5indu system of numeration. In the :Ath century 6, the book was translated into ;atin. "he (ritish used this numerical system and credited the !rabs - mislabelling it $!rabic numerals$. /*e owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific disco ery could ha e been made./ - !lbert ,instein. Metallurgy India was the world-leader in %etallurgy for more than 0,111 years. +old #ewellery is a ailable from ?,111 (6,. (rass and bron.e pieces are dated back to :,?11 (6,. ,xtraction of .inc from ore by distillation was used in India as early as D11 (6, while ,uropean *illiam 6ampion patented the process some A,111 years later. 6opper statues can be dated back to 011 6,. "here is an iron pillar in Celhi dating back to D11 6, that shows no sign of rust or decay. "here are two unique aspects to India$s ancient scientists. >irst their disco eries are in use today as some of the most important aspects of their fieldE and are alidated by modern technological machines. 3econd, their disco eries brought peace and prosperity rather than the harm and destruction of many of our modern disco eries. Cue to their intense spiritual life, they de eloped such power of discrimination & i ek'. 3pirituality gi es helpful direction and science brings speed. *ith a core of spirituality, modern scientists$ disco eries can quickly bring only helpful ideas to help humanity. *hile ,instein is credited with the idea that one can tra el faster than the speed of light, it was written about centuries before in the ancient Vedic literature. Perhaps it was ,instein$s association with the famed Indian physicist, (ose that led to his introduction to the iews about the speed of light. "hrough deep meditation and reading the ancient Vedic texts, who knows what our modern-day scientists will disco er4 "here are two points here, the first is that India should be proud of its ama.ing achie ements and be properly credited, and second is that India lea es a blueprint, compass and map for how to de elop safe and helpful disco eries for the future betterment of mankind. %acteria& Viruses "his mobile and immobile uni erse is food for li ing creatures. "his has been ordained by the gods. "he ery ascetics cannot support their li es without killing creatures. In water, on earth, and fruits, there are innumerable creatures. It is not true that one does not slaughter them. *hat higher duty is there than supporting one$s life4 "here are many creatures that are so minute that their existence can only be inferred. *ith the falling of the the eyelids alone, they are destroyed. Physiology >rom "he %ahabharata, 3anti Par a, 3ection 666KKI <eproduced from Page $,mpty 6hamber$ "he constituent elements of the body, which ser e di erse functions in the general economy, undergo change e ery moment in e ery creature. "hose changes, howe er, are so minute that they cannot be noticed. "he birth of particles, and their death, in each successi e condition, cannot be marked, ) king, e en as one cannot mark the changes in the flame of a burning lamp. *hen such is the state of the bodies of all creatures, - that is when that which is called the body is changing incessantly e en like the rapid locomotion of a steed of good mettle- who then has come whence or not whence, or whose is it or whose is it not, or whence does it not arise4 *hat connection does there exist between creatures and their own bodies4 I7ote: "he fact of continual change of particles in the body was well known to the 5indu sages. "his disco ery is not new of modern physiology. ,lsewhere it has been shown that 5ar eyLs great disco ery about the circulation of the blood was not unknown to the <ishis. "he instance mentioned for illustrating the change of corporal particles is certainly a ery apt and happy one. "he flame of a burning lamp, though perfectly steady &as in a bree.eless spot', is really the result of the successi e combustion of particles of oil and the successi e extinguishments of such combustion.J Science o' Speech >rom "he %ahabharata, 3anti Par a, 3ection 666KKI 3ulabha said: ) king, speech ought always to be free from the nine erbal faults and the nine faults of #udgment. It should also, while setting forth the meaning with perspicuity, be possessed of the eighteen wellknown merits.

(rom #he Chhandogya )panishad KVIII. ii. A?-AF :.7arada approached 3anatkumara and said: M3ir, teach me.N M6ome and tell me what you know,N he replied, Mand then I will teach you what is beyond that.N A.M3ir, I know the <ig-Veda, the -a#ur-Veda, the 3ama-Veda and !thar an the fourthE and also the ItihasaPurana as the fifth. I know the Veda of the Vedas & i.., grammar', the rules for the propitiation of the Pitris &ancestors', the science of numbers, the science of portents, the science of time, the science of logic, ethics and politics, the science of the gods, the science of scriptural studies, the science of the elemental science, the science of weapons, the science of the stars, the science of snake-charming and the fine arts O all these, 3ir, I know,N ?.M(ut, 3ir, with all these I am only a knower of words, not a knower of the 3elf. I ha e heard from holy men like you that he who knows the 3elf crosses o er sorrow. I am in sorrow. Co, 3ir, help me to cross o er to the other side of sorrow.N D."o him he then said: MVerily, whate er you ha e learned here is only a name. M"hat which is Infinite O that, indeed, is happiness. "here is no happiness in anything that is finite. "he Infinite alone is happiness. (ut this Infinite one must desire to understand.N Amazing Science (Part *) #he "uins o' +alanda )niversity !round A911 years ago, as early as 911 (6, there existed a giant Pni ersity at "akshashila, located in the northwest region of India. 7ot only Indians but also students from as far as (abylonia, +reece, 3yria, !rabia and 6hina came to study. F@ different streams of knowledge were on the syllabus.,xperienced masters taught a wide range of sub#ects. Vedas, ;anguage, +rammar, Philosophy, %edicine, 3urgery, !rchery, Politics, *arfare, !stronomy, !ccounts, commerce, >uturology, Cocumentation, )ccult, %usic, Cance, "he art of disco ering hidden treasures, etc. "he minimum entrance age was :F and there were :1,011 students. "he panel of %asters included renowned names like 8autilya, Panini, =i ak and Vishnu 3harma. #a,ila )niversity "akshashila, &later corrupted as "axila',one of the topmost centers of education at that time in India became 6hanakyaLs breeding ground of acquiring knowledge in the practical and theoretical aspect. "he teachers were highly knowledgeable who used to teach sons of kings. It is said that a certain teacher had :1: students and all of them were princesQ "he ni ersity at "axila was well ersed in teaching the sub#ects using the best of practical knowledge acquired by the teachers. "he age of entering the uni ersity was sixteen. "he branches of studies most sought after in around India ranged from law, medicine, warfare and other indigenous forms of learning. "he four Vedas, archery, hunting, elephant-lore and :@ arts were taught at the uni ersity of "axila. 3o prominent was the place where 6hanakya recei ed his education that it goes to show the making of the genius. "he ery requirements of admission filtered out the outlawed and people with lesser credentials. !t a time when the Cark !ges were looming large, the existence of a uni ersity of "axilaLs grandeur really makes India stand apart way ahead of the ,uropean countries who struggled with ignorance and total information blackout. >or the Indian subcontinent "axila stood as a light house of higher knowledge and pride of India. In the present day world, "axila is situated in Pakistan at a place called <awalpindi. "he uni ersity accommodated more than :1,111 students at a time. "he uni ersity offered courses spanning a period of more than eight years. "he students were admitted after graduating from their own countries. !spiring students opted for electi e sub#ects going for in depth studies in speciali.ed branches of learning. !fter graduating from the uni ersity, the students are recogni.ed as the best scholars in the subcontinent. It became a cultural heritage as time passed. "axila was the #unction where people of different origins mingled with each other and exchanged knowledge of their countries. "he uni ersity was famous as /"axila/ uni ersity, named after the city where it was situated. "he king and rich people of the region used to donate la ishly for the de elopment of the uni ersity. In the religious scriptures also, "axila is mentioned as the place where the king of snakes, Vasuki selected "axila for the dissemination of knowledge on earth. 5ere it would be essential to mention briefly the range of sub#ects taught in the uni ersity of "axila. &:' 3cience, &A' Philosophy, &?' !yur eda, &D' +rammar of arious languages, &0' %athematics, &F' ,conomics, &9' !strology, &@' +eography, &B' !stronomy, &:1' 3urgical science, &::' !gricultural sciences, &:A' !rchery and !ncient and %odern 3ciences. "he uni ersity also used to conduct researches on arious sub#ects. Mathematics -ero .#he Most Po/er'ul #ool India in ented the Rero, without which there would be no binary system. 7o computersQ 6ounting would be clumsy and cumbersomeQ "he earliest recorded date, an inscription of Rero on 3ankheda 6opper Plate was found in +u#arat, India &0@0-0@F 6,'. In (rahma-Phuta-3iddhanta of (rahmagupta &9th century 6,', the Rero is lucidly explained and was rendered into !rabic books around 991 6,. >rom these it was carried to ,urope in the @th century. 5owe er, the concept of Rero is referred to as 3hunya in the early 3anskrit texts of the Dth century (6, and clearly explained in PingalaLs 3utra of the And century.

0eometry In ention of +eometry "he word +eometry seems to ha e emerged from the Indian word S+yaamitiL which means measuring the ,arth &land'. !nd the word "rigonometry is similar to S"rikonamitiL meaning measuring triangular forms. ,uclid is credited with the in ention of +eometry in ?11 (6, while the concept of +eometry in India emerged in :111 (6,, from the practice of making fire altars in square and rectangular shapes. "he treatise of 3urya 3iddhanta &Dth century 6,' describes ama.ing details of "rigonometry, which were introduced to ,urope :A11 years later in the :Fth century by (riggs. #he Value o' P1 in 1ndia "he ratio of the circumference and the diameter of a circle are known as Pi, which gi es its alue as ?,:DA@09:. "he old 3anskrit text (audhayana 3hulba 3utra of the Fth century (6, mentions this ratio as approximately equal to ?. !ryabhatta in DBB, 6, worked the alue of Pi to the fourth decimal place as ?.:D:F. 6enturies later, in @A0 6, !rab mathematician %ohammed Ibna %usa says that /"his alue has been gi en by the 5indus &Indians'/. Pythagorean #heorem or %audhayana #heorem2 "he so-called Pythagoras "heorem O the square of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle equals the sum of the square of the two sides O was worked out earlier in India by (audhayana in (audhayana 3ulba 3utra. 5e describes: /"he area produced by the diagonal of a rectangle is equal to the sum of the area produced by it on two sides./ I7ote: +reek writers attributed the theorem of ,uclid to PythagorasJ Mathematics "he Cecimal :11(6, the Cecimal system flourished in India /It was India that ga e us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by means of ten symbols &Cecimal 3ystem'2.a profound and important idea which escaped the genius of !rchimedes and !pollonius, two of the greatest men produced by antiquity./ -;a Place <aising :1 to the Power of 0? "he highest prefix used for raising :1 to a power in todayLs maths is SCL for :1 to a power of ?1 &from +reek Ceca'. *hile, as early as :11 (6, Indian %athematicians had exact names for figures upto :1 to the power of 0?. ekam T: dashakam T:1 shatam T:11 &:1 to the power of :1' sahasram T:111 &:1 power of ?' dashasahasram T:1111 &:1 power of D' lakshaha T:11111 &:1 power of 0' dashalakshaha T:111111 &:1 power of F' kotihi T:1111111 &:1 power of 9' ayutam T:111111111 &:1 power of B' niyutam T &:1 power of ::' kankaram T &:1 power of :?' i aram T &:1 power of :0' paraardhaha T &:1 power of :9' ni ahaaha T &:1 power of :B' utsangaha T &:1 power of A:' bahulam T &:1 power of A?' naagbaalaha T &:1 power of A0' titilambam T &:1 power of A9' ya asthaana pragnaptihi T &:1 power of AB' hetuheelam T &:1 power of ?:' karahuhu T &:1 power of ??' het indreeyam T &:1 power of ?0' samaapta lambhaha T &:1 power of ?9' gananaagatihi' T &:1 power of ?B' nira adyam T &:1 power of D:' mudraabaalam T &:1 power of D?' sar abaalam T &:1 power of D0' ishamagnagatihi T &:1 power of D9' sar agnaha T &:1 power of DB' ibhutangamaa T &:1 power of 0:' tallaakshanam T &:1 power of 0?' &In !nuyogdwaar 3utra written in :11 (6, one numeral is raised as high as :1 to the power of :D1'. Astronomy Indian astronomers ha e been mapping the skies for ?011 years.

1333 4ears %e'ore Copernicus 6opernicus published his theory of the re olution of the ,arth in :0D?. ! thousand years before him, !ryabhatta in 0th century &D11-011 6,' stated that the ,arth re ol es around the sun, /#ust as a person tra elling in a boat feels that the trees on the bank are mo ing, people on earth feel that the sun is mo ing/. In his treatise !ryabhatteeam, he clearly states that our earth is round, it rotates on its axis, orbits the sun and is suspended in space and explains that lunar and solar eclipses occur by the interplay of the sun, the moon and the earth. #he 5a/ o' 0ravity & 1633 4ears %e'ore +e/ton "he ;aw of +ra ity was known to the ancient Indian astronomer (haskaracharya. In his 3urya 3iddhanta, he notes: /)b#ects fall on earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. therefore, the earth, the planets, constellations, the moon and the sun are held in orbit due to this attraction/. It was not until the late :9th century in :F@9, :A11 years later, that 3ir Isaac 7ewton redisco ered the ;aw of +ra ity. Measurement o' #ime In 3urya 3iddhanta, (haskaracharya calculates the time taken for the earth to orbit the sun to B decimal places. (haskaracharya T ?F0.A0@90FD@D days. %odern accepted measurement T ?F0.A0BF days. (etween (haskaracharyaLs ancient measurement :011 years ago and the modern measurement the difference is only 1.111@0 days, only 1.111AU. *7333#8 o' a Second to 7 *6 %illion 4ears India has gi en the idea of the smallest and the largest measure of time. 8rati 8rati T ?D,111th of a second : "ruti T ?11th of a second A "ruti T : ;u A ;u T : 8shana ?1 8shana T : Vipal F1 Vipal T : Pal F1 Pal T : +hadi &AD minutes' A.0 +adhi T : 5ora &: hour' AD 5ora T : Ci as &: day' 9 Ci as T : saptaah &: week' D 3aptaah T : %aas &: month' A %aas T : <utu &: season' F <utu T : Varsh &: year' :11 Varsh T : 3hataabda &: century' :1 3hataabda T : sahasraabda D?A 3ahasraabda T : -ug &8aliyug' A -ug T : Cwaaparyug ? -ug T : "retaayug D -ug T : 8rutayug :1 -ug T : %ahaayug &D,?A1,111 years' :111 %ahaayug T : 8alpa : 8alpa T D.?A billion years Plastic Surgery 1n 1ndia 6933 4ears :ld 3hushruta, known as the father of surgery, practised his skill as early as F11 (6,. 5e used cheek skin to perform plastic surgery to restore or reshape the nose, ears and lips with incredible results. %odern plastic surgery acknowledges his contributions by calling this method of rhinoplasty as the Indian method. 16; #ypes :' Surgical 1nstruments /"he 5indus &Indians' were so ad anced in surgery that their instruments could cut a hair longitudinally/. %<3 Plunket 3hushruta worked with :A0 kinds of surgical instruments, which included scalpels, lancets, needles, catheters, rectal speculums, mostly concei ed from #aws of animals and birds to obtain the necessary grips. 5e also defined arious methods of stitching: the use of horseLs hair, fine thread, fibres of bark, goatLs guts and antLs heads. *33 $i''erent :perations 3hushruta describes the details of more than ?11 operations and DA surgical processes. In his compendium 3hushruta 3amhita he minutely classifies surgery into @ types: !haryam T extracting solid bodies (hedyam T excision 6hhedyam T incision !eshyam T probing ;ekhyam T scarification Vedhyam T puncturing

Visraa yam T e acuating fluids 3i yam T suturing "he ancient Indians were also the first to perform amputation, caesarean surgery and cranial surgery. >or rhinoplasty, 3hushruta first measured the damaged nose, skilfully sliced off skin from the cheek and sutured the nose. 5e then placed medicated cotton pads to heal the operation. 1ndia<s Contri!utions Ac=no/ledged Contri!utions /It is true that e en across the 5imalayan barrier India has sent to the west, such gifts as grammar and logic, philosophy and fables, hypnotism and chess, and abo e all numerals and the decimal system./ *ill Curant &!merican 5istorian, :@@0-:B@:' 5anguage /"he 3anskrit language, whate er be its antiquity, is of wonderful structure, more perfect than the +reek, more copious than the ;atin and more exquisitely refined than either/. 3ir *illiam =ones &(ritish )rientalist, :9DF-:9BD' Philosophy VIf I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully de eloped some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point out to India/. %ax %uller &+erman 3cholar, :@A?-:B11 "eligion /"here can no longer be any real doubt that both Islam and 6hristianity owe the foundations of both their mystical and their scientific achie ements to Indian initiati es/. - Philip <awson &(ritish )rientalist' Atomic Physics /!fter the con ersations about Indian philosophy, some of the ideas of Wuantum Physics that had seemed so cra.y suddenly made much more sense/. *. 5eisenberg &+erman Physicist, :B1:-:B9F' Surgery /"he surgery of the ancient Indian physicians was bold and skilful. ! special branch of surgery was de oted to rhinoplasty or operations for impro ing deformed ears, noses and forming new ones, which ,uropean surgeons ha e now borrowed/. 5iterature /In the great books of India, an ,mpire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the oice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the questions that exercises us/. Panini>s grammar has !een evaluated 'rom various points o' vie/ A'ter all these di''erent evaluations, 1 thin= that the grammar merits asserting that it is one o' the greatest monuments o' human intelligence - An evaluation of Panini's contribution by Cardona Amazing Science (Part 7)(y = = )$6onnor and , > <obertson (orn: about 0A1 (6 in 3halatula &near !ttock', now Pakistan Cied: about DF1 (6 in India Panini was born in 3halatula, a town near to !ttock on the Indus ri er in present day Pakistan. "he dates gi en for Panini are pure guesses. ,xperts gi e dates in the Dth, 0th, Fth and 9th century (6 and there is also no agreement among historians about the extent of the work which he undertook. *hat is in little doubt is that, gi en the period in which he worked, he is one of the most inno ati e people in the whole de elopment of knowledge. *e will say a little more below about how historians ha e gone about trying to pinpoint the date when Panini li ed. Panini was a 3anskrit grammarian who ga e a comprehensi e and scientific theory of phonetics, phonology, and morphology. 3anskrit was the classical literary language of the Indian 5indus and Panini is considered the founder of the language and literature. It is interesting to note that the word /3anskrit/ means /complete/ or /perfect/ and it was thought of as the di ine language, or language of the gods. ! treatise called Astadhyayi (or Asta=a ) is Panini$s ma#or work. It consists of eight chapters, each subdi ided into quarter chapters. In this work Panini distinguishes between the language of sacred texts and the usual language of communication. Panini gi es formal production rules and definitions to describe 3anskrit grammar. 3tarting with about :911 basic elements like nouns, erbs, owels, consonants he put them into classes. "he construction of sentences, compound nouns etc. is explained as ordered rules operating on underlying structures in a manner similar to modern theory. In many ways Panini$s constructions are similar to the way that a mathematical function is defined today. =oseph writes in IAJ:Sans=rit>s potential 'or scienti'ic use /as greatly enhanced as a result o' the thorough systemisation o' its grammar !y Panini :n the !asis o' ?ust under 7333 sutras @rules e,pressed as aphorismsA, he !uilt virtually the /hole structure o' the Sans=rit language, /hose general >shape> hardly changed 'or the ne,t t/o thousand years An indirect conseBuence o' Panini>s e''orts to increase the linguistic 'acility o' Sans=rit soon !ecame apparent in the character o' scienti'ic and mathematical literature

=oseph goes on to make a con incing argument for the algebraic nature of Indian mathematics arising as a consequence of the structure of the 3anskrit language. In particular he suggests that algebraic reasoning, the Indian way of representing numbers by words, and ultimately the de elopment of modern number systems in India, are linked Panini should be thought of as the forerunner of the modern formal language theory used to specify computer languages. "he (ackus 7ormal >orm was disco ered independently by =ohn (!68P3 in :B0B, but Panini$s notation is equi alent in its power to that of (!68P3 and has many similar properties. It is remarkable to think that concepts which are fundamental to today$s theoretical computer science should ha e their origin with an Indian genius around A011 years ago. !t the beginning of this article we mentioned that certain concepts had been attributed to Panini by certain historians which others dispute. )ne such theory was put forward by ( Indra#i in :@9F. 5e claimed that the (rahmi numerals de eloped out of using letters or syllables as numerals. "hen he put the finishing touches to the theory by suggesting that Panini in the eighth century (6 &earlier than most historians place Panini' was the first to come up with the idea of using letters of the alphabet to represent numbers. "here are a number of pieces of e idence to support Indra#i$s theory that the (rahmi numerals de eloped from letters or syllables. 5owe er it is not totally con incing since, to quote one example, the symbols for :, A and ? clearly don$t come from letters but from one, two and three lines respecti ely. , en if one accepts the link between the numerals and the letters, making Panini the originator of this idea would seem to ha e no more behind it than knowing that Panini was one of the most inno ati e geniuses that world has known so it is not unreasonable to belie e that he might ha e made this step too. "here are other works which are closely associated with the !stadhyayi which some historians attribute to Panini, others attribute to authors before Panini, others attribute to authors after Panini. "his is an area where there are many theories but few, if any, hard facts. *e also promised to return to a discussion of Panini$s dates. "here has been no lack of work on this topic so the fact that there are theories which span se eral hundreds of years is not the result of lack of effort, rather an indication of the difficulty of the topic. "he usual way to date such texts would be to examine which authors are referred to and which authors refer to the work. )ne can use this technique and see who Panini mentions. "here are ten scholars mentioned by Panini and we must assume from the context that these ten ha e all contributed to the study of 3anskrit grammar. "his in itself, of course, indicates that Panini was not a solitary genius but, like 7ewton, had /stood on the shoulders of giants/. 7ow Panini must ha e li ed later than these ten but this is absolutely no help in pro iding dates since we ha e absolutely no knowledge of when any of these ten li ed. *hat other internal e idence is there to use4 *ell of course Panini uses many phrases to illustrate his grammar and these ha e been examined meticulously to see if anything is contained there to indicate a date. "o gi e an example of what we mean: if we were to pick up a text which contained as an example /I take the train to work e ery day/ we would know that it had to ha e been written after railways became common. ;et us illustrate with two actual examples from the !stadhyayi which ha e been the sub#ect of much study. "he first is an attempt to see whether there is e idence of +reek influence. *ould it be possible to find e idence which would mean that the text had to ha e been written after the conquests of !lexander the +reat4 "here is a little e idence of +reek influence, but there was +reek influence on this north east part of the Indian subcontinent before the time of !lexander. 7othing conclusi e has been identified. !nother angle is to examine a reference Panini makes to nuns. now some argue that these must be (uddhist nuns and therefore the work must ha e been written after (uddha. ! nice argument but there is a counter argument which says that there were =aina nuns before the time of (uddha and Panini$s reference could equally well be to them. !gain the e idence is inconclusi e. "here are references by others to Panini. 5owe er it would appear that the Panini to whom most refer is a poet and although some argue that these are the same person, most historians agree that the linguist and the poet are two different people. !gain this is inconclusi e e idence. ;et us end with an e aluation of Panini$s contribution by 6ardona in I:J:Panini>s grammar has !een evaluated 'rom various points o' vie/ A'ter all these di''erent evaluations, 1 thin= that the grammar merits asserting that it is one o' the greatest monuments o' human intelligence !rticle by: = = )$6onnor and , > <obertson 3chool of %athematics and 3tatistics Pni ersity of 3t !ndrews, 3cotland http:GGwww-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.ukGhistoryG%athematiciansGPanini.html /Panini, famous grammarian of the 3anskrit language, li ed in India some time between the 9th and the Dth centuries (.6. >ollowing in the steps of the (rahmi alphabet makers, he became the most renowned of the grammarians. 5is work on 3anskrit, with its D,:F@ rules, is outstanding for its highly systematic methods of analy.ing and describing language. "he birth of linguistic science in *estern ,urope in the :Bth century was due largely to the ,uropean disco ery of Panini$s 3anskrit grammar, making linguistics a science. "he modern science of linguistics is the basis for producing alphabets for languages yet unwritten today./ =!!<3 !lphabet %useum(ox AD@*axhaw, 76 A@:9? Panini$s grammar &Fth century (6, or earlier' pro ides D,111 rules that describe the 3anskrit of his day completely. "his grammar is acknowledged to be one of the greatest intellectual achie ements of all time. "he great ariety of language mirrors, in many ways, the complexity of nature and, therefore, success in describing

a language is as impressi e as a complete theory of physics. It is remarkable that Panini set out to describe the entire grammar in terms of a finite number of rules. 3cholars ha e shown that the grammar of Panini represents a uni ersal grammatical and computing system. >rom this perspecti e it anticipates the logical framework of modern computers. )ne may speak of a Panini machine as a model for the most powerful computing system. 3ource: 3taal, >. :B@@. Pni ersals. 6hicago: Pni ersity of 6hicago Press. Panini was a 3anskrit grammarian who ga e a comprehensi e and scientific theory of phonetics, phonology, and morphology. 3anskrit was the classical literary language of the Indian 5indus. In a treatise called !stadhyayi Panini distinguishes between the language of sacred texts and the usual language of communication. Panini gi es formal production rules and definitions to describe 3anskrit grammar. "he construction of sentences, compound nouns etc. is explained as ordered rules operating on underlying structures in a manner similar to modern theory. Panini should be thought of as the forerunner of the modern formal language theory used to specify computer languages. "he (ackus 7ormal >orm was disco ered independently by =ohn (ackus in :B0B, but Panini$s notation is equi alent in its power to that of (ackus and has many similar properties. http:GGhistory.math.csusb.eduG%athematiciansGPanini.html The Iron Pillar that oes !ot "ust #he Cautiliya Arthasastra Minerals and Metals and Dthno!iological 1n'ormation in Cautilya>s Arthasastra It is surprising that e en in the I %illennium (6, they had de eloped an elaborate terminology for different metals, minerals and alloys. (rass &arakuta' was known, so also steel & rattu', bron.e &kamsa', bell-metal &tala' was an alloy of copper with arsenic, but tin-copper alloy was known as trapu. ! bewildering ariety of #ewellery was also classified and gi en distincti e names. Information and instructions about arious other aspects of social life, including man$s relationship with animals and plants.,thnobiological Information contained in the !rthasastra. It deals with forests, plants, animals, animal husbandry including eterinary suggestions, agriculture medicinal-industrial commercial importance and application of flora and fauna, and the uses of plants and animals in biological and chemical warfare, besides weapon making and other military uses. "he 8autiliya !rthasastra, a 3anskrit work of the c. Dth century (.6., is more known for its contents on politics and statecraft. (ut the book contains information and instructions about arious other aspects of social life, including man$s relationship with animals and plants. "he present monograph of Prof. P. 3ensarma is an excellent treatise in lucid ,nglish on the ,thnobiological Information contained in the !rthasastra. It deals with forests, plants, animals, animal husbandry including eterinary suggestions, agriculture medicinal-industrial commercial importance and application of flora and fauna, and the uses of plants and animals in biological and chemical warfare, besides weapon making and other military uses. #he Corrosion "esistant 1ron Pillar o' $elhi "he pillarXo er se en metres high and weighing more than six tonnesXwas erected by 8umara +upta of +upta dynasty that ruled northern India in !C ?A1-0D1. ,xperts at the Indian Institute of "echnology ha e resol ed the mystery behind the :,F11-year-old iron pillar in Celhi, which has ne er corroded despite the capital$s harsh %etallurgists at 8anpur II" ha e disco ered that a thin layer of /misawite/, a compound of iron, oxygen and hydrogen, has protected the cast iron pillar from rust. "he protecti e film took form within three years after erection of the pillar and has been growing e er so slowly since then. !fter :,F11 years, the film has grown #ust one-twentieth of a millimeter thick, according to <. (alasubramaniam of the II". In a report published in the #ournal 6urrent 3cience (alasubramanian says, the protecti e film was formed catalytically by the presence of high amounts of phosphorous in the ironXas much as one per cent against less than 1.10 per cent in today$s iron. "he high phosphorous content is a result of the unique iron-making process practiced by ancient Indians, who reduced iron ore into steel in one step by mixing it with charcoal. %odern blast furnaces, on the other hand, use limestone in place of charcoal yielding molten slag and pig iron that is later con erted into steel. In the modern process most phosphorous is carried away by the slag. "he pillarXo er se en metres high and weighing more than six tonnesXwas erected by 8umara +upta of +upta dynasty that ruled northern India in !C ?A1-0D1. 3tating that the pillar is /a li ing testimony to the skill of metallurgists of ancient India/, (alasubramaniam said the /kinetic scheme/ that his group de eloped for predicting growth of the protecti e film may be useful for modeling long-term corrosion beha iour of containers for nuclear storage applications "he Celhi iron pillar is testimony to the high le el of skill achie ed by ancient Indian iron smiths in the extraction and processing of iron. "he iron pillar at Celhi has attracted the attention of archaeologists and corrosion technologists as it has withstood corrosion for the last :F11 years. http:GGwww.iitk.ac.inGinfocellG!rchi eGdirno :GironYpillar.html Minerals and Metals in Cautilya>s Arthasastra It is interesting to note that 8autilya prescribes that the state should carry out most of the businesses, including mining. 7o pri ate enterprise for 8autilyaQ )ne is ama.ed at the breadth of 8autilya$s knowledge. "hough primarily it is treatise on statecraft, it gi es detailed descriptions and instructions on geology, agriculture,

animal husbandry, metrology etc. Its encyclopedic in its co erage and indicates that all these sciences were quite de eloped and systemati.ed in India e en A011 years ago. It is surprising that e en in the I %illennium (6, they had de eloped an elaborate terminology for different metals, minerals and alloys. (rass &arakuta' was known, so also steel & rattu', bron.e &kamsa', bell-metal &tala' was an alloy of copper with arsenic, but tincopper alloy was known as trapu. ! bewildering ariety of #ewellery was also classified and gi en distincti e names. "he chapter begins with the importance of $mines and metals$ in the society and here we are told that one of the most crucial statements in the !rthasastra is that gold, sil er, diamonds, gems, pearls, corals, conchshells, metals, salt and ores deri ed from the earth, rocks and liquids were recogni.ed as materials coming under the pur iew of mines. "he metallic ores had to be sent to the respecti e %etal *orks for producing $twel e kinds of metals and commodities$. "hough the authors wish to show the importance of mines and metals in the society, yet what they point to is their importance for the state and the powers that the state exercised o er them. Perhaps, 8autilya himself did not treat the matter so and focused to show its importance for the state alone as the book !rthasastra is on statecraft and not on society. "he next section deals with the gem minerals and is treated more extensi ely than others. *e wonder if it is not due to the fact that the gem minerals reflected the richness of Indian kings. 5ere we are told that %anidhatu or the gem minerals were characteri.ed in the !rthasastra as $clear, smooth, lustrous, and possessed of sound, cold, hard and of a light color$. ,xcellent pearl gems had to be big, round, without a flat surface, lustrous, white, hea y, and smooth and perforated at the proper place. "here were specific terms for different types of #ewellery: 3irsaka &for the head, with one pearl in the centre, the rest small and uniform in si.e', a aghataka &a big pearl in the center with pearls gradually decreasing in si.e on both sides', indracchanda &necklace of :11@ pearls', mana aka &A1 pearl string', ratna ali & ariegated with gold and gems', apa artaka &with gold, gems and pearls at inter als', etc. Ciamond & a#ra' was disco ered in India in the pre-6hristian era. "he !rthasastra described certain types of generic names of minerals red saugandhika, green aidurya, blue indranila and colorless sphatika. Ceep red spinel or spinel ruby identified with saugandhika, actually belongs to a different &spinel' family of minerals. %any other classes of gems could ha e red color. "he bluish green ariety of beryl is known as aquamarine or bhadra, and was mentioned in the !rthasastra as uptpala arnah &like blue lotus'. "he !rthasastra also mentions se eral subsidiary types of gems named after their color, lustre or place of origin. Vimalaka shining pyrite, white-red #yotirasaka, &could be agate and carnelian', lohitaksa, black in the centre and red at the fringe &magnetiteE and hematite on the fringe4', sasyaka blue copper sulphate, ahicchatraka from !hicchatra, suktichurnaka powdered oyster, ksira aka, milk coloured gem or lasuna and bukta pulaka &with chatoyancy or change in lustre' which could be cat$s eye, a ariety of chrysoberyl, and so on. "he authors further mention that at the end was mentioned kacamani, the amorphous gems or artificial gems imitated by coloring glass. "he technique of maniraga or imparting colour to produce artificial gems was specifically mentioned. *e are told that the !rthasastra also mentions the uses of se eral non-gem mineral and materials such as pigments, mordants, abrasi es, materials producing alkali, salts, bitumen, charcoal, husk, etc. Pigments were in use such as an#an ,& antimony sulphide', manahsil & red arsenic sulphide', haritala, &yellow arsenic sulphide' and hinguluka &mercuric sulphide', 8astsa &green iron sulphate' and sasyaka, blue copper sulphate. "hese minerals were used as coloring agents and later as mordants in dyeing clothes. )f great commercial importance were metallic ores from which useful metals were extracted. "he !rthasastra did not pro ide the names of the constituent minerals beyond referring to them as dhatu of iron &"iksnadhatu', copper, lead, etc. 5a ing re iewed the literary e idence the authors maintain that the !rthasastra is the earliest Indian text dealing with the mineralogical characteristics of metallic ores and other mineral-aggregate rocks. It recogni.es ores in the earth, in rocks, or in liquid form, with excessi e color, hea iness and often-strong smell and taste. ! gold-bearing ore is also described. 3imilarly, the sil er ore described in the !rthasastra seems to be a complex sulphide ore containing sil er &colour of a conch-shell', camphor, imalaka &pyrite4'. "he !rthasastra describes the sources and the qualities of good grade gold and sil er ores. 6opper ores were stated to be $hea y, greasy, tawny &chalcopyrite left exposed to air tarnishes', green &color of malachite', dark blue with yellowish tint &a.urite', pale red or red &nati e copper'. ;ead ores were stated to be grayish black, like kakamecaka &this is the color of galena', yellow like pigeon bile, marked with white lines &quart. or calcite gangue minerals' and smelling like raw flesh &odour of sulphur'. Iron ore was known to be greasy stone of pale red colour, or of the colour of the sindu ara flower &hematite'. !fter describing the abo e metallic ores or dhatus of specific metals, the !rthasastra writes: In that case aikrntaka metal must be iron itself which used to be produced by the 3outh Indians starting from the magnetite ore. It is not certain whether aikrntaka metal was nickel or magnetite based iron. *as it the beginning of the famous *oot. steel4 "he !rthasastra mentions specific uses of arious metals of which gold and sil er recei e maximum attention. "he duties of su arna-adhyaksah, the $3uperintendent of +old, are defined. 5e was supposed to establish industrial outfits and employ sau arnikas or goldsmiths, well ersed in the knowledge of not only gold and sil er, but also of the alloying elements such as copper and iron and of gems which had to be set in the gold and sil er wares. +old smelting was known as su arnapaka. Various ornamental alloys could be prepared by mixing ariable proportions of iron and copper with gold, sil er and s eta tara or white sil er which contained

10

gold, sil er and some coloring matter. "wo parts of sil er and one part of copper constituted triputaka. !n alloy of equal parts of sil er and iron was known as ellaka. +old plating &t astrkarma' could be done on sil er or copper. ;ead, copper or sil er ob#ects were coated with a gold-leaf &acitakapatra' on one side or with a twin-leaf fixed with lac etc. +old, sil er or gems were embedded &pinka' in solid or hollow articles by pasting a thick pulp of gold, sil er or gem particles and the cementing agents such as lac, ermilion, red lead on the ob#ect and then heating. "he !rthasastra also describes a system of coinage based on sil er and copper. "he masaka, half masaka, quarter masaka known as the kakani, and half kakani, copper coins &progressi ely lower weights' had the same composition, i.., one-quarter hardening alloy and the rest copper. "he !rthasastra specifies that the Cirector of %etals &lohadhyakasa' should establish factories for metals &other than gold and sil er' i.., copper, lead, tin, aikrntaka, arakuta or brass, ratta &steel', kamsa &bron.e', tala &bell-metal' and loha &iron or simply metal', and the corresponding metal-wares. In the Vedic era, copper was known as lohayasa or red metal. 6opper used to be alloyed with arsenic to produce tala or bell metal and with trapu or tin to produce bron.e. Rinc in India must ha e started around D11 (6 in "axila. Rawar mines in <a#asthan also gi e similar e idence. Vaikrntaka has been referred to some times with rata, which is identified by many scholars including 8angle, as steel. )n the top of it, tiksna mentioned as iron, had its ore or dhatu, and the metal was used as an alloying component. Iron prepared from 3outh Indian magnetite or aikrantakadhatu was wrongly belie ed to be a different metal. Pages 'rom the history o' the 1ndian su!&continentE Science and Mathematics in 1ndia 8istory o' Mathematics in 1ndia 1ndic Mathematics & 1ndia and the Scienti'ic "evolution *hy, one might ask, did ,urope take o er thousand years to attain the le el of abstract mathematics achie ed by Indians such as !aryabhatta4 "he answer appears to be that ,uropeans were trapped in the relati ely simplistic and concrete geometrical mathematics de eloped by the +reeks. It was not until they had, ia the !rabs, recei ed, assimilated and accepted the place- alue system of enumeration de eloped in India that they were able to free their minds from the concrete and de elop more abstract systems of thought. "his de elopment thus triggered the scientific and information technology re olutions which swept ,urope and, later, the world. "he role played by India in the de elopment is no mere footnote, easily and inconsequentially swept under the rug of ,urocentric bias. "o do so is to distort history, and to deny India one of it$s greatest contributions to world ci ili.ation. Pages 'rom the history o' the 1ndian su!&continentE Science and Mathematics in 1ndia In all early ci ili.ations, the first expression of mathematical understanding appears in the form of counting systems. 7umbers in ery early societies were typically represented by groups of lines, though later different numbers came to be assigned specific numeral names and symbols &as in India' or were designated by alphabetic letters &such as in <ome'. !lthough today, we take our decimal system for granted, not all ancient ci ili.ations based their numbers on a ten-base system. In ancient (abylon, a sexagesimal &base F1' system was in use. #he $ecimal System in 8arappa In India a decimal system was already in place during the 5arappan period, as indicated by an analysis of 5arappan weights and measures. *eights corresponding to ratios of 1.10, 1.:, 1.A, 1.0, :, A, 0, :1, A1, 01, :11, A11, and 011 ha e been identified, as ha e scales with decimal di isions. ! particularly notable characteristic of 5arappan weights and measures is their remarkable accuracy. ! bron.e rod marked in units of 1.?F9 inches points to the degree of precision demanded in those times. 3uch scales were particularly important in ensuring proper implementation of town planning rules that required roads of fixed widths to run at right angles to each other, for drains to be constructed of precise measurements, and for homes to be constructed according to specified guidelines. "he existence of a gradated system of accurately marked weights points to the de elopment of trade and commerce in 5arappan society. Mathematical Activity in the Vedic Period In the Vedic period, records of mathematical acti ity are mostly to be found in Vedic texts associated with ritual acti ities. 5owe er, as in many other early agricultural ci ili.ations, the study of arithmetic and geometry was also impelled by secular considerations. "hus, to some extent early mathematical de elopments in India mirrored the de elopments in ,gypt, (abylon and 6hina . "he system of land grants and agricultural tax assessments required accurate measurement of culti ated areas. !s land was redistributed or consolidated, problems of mensuration came up that required solutions. In order to ensure that all culti ators had equi alent amounts of irrigated and non-irrigated lands and tracts of equi alent fertility - indi idual farmers in a illage often had their holdings broken up in se eral parcels to ensure fairness. 3ince plots could not all be of the same shape - local administrators were required to con ert rectangular plots or triangular plots to squares of equi alent si.es and so on. "ax assessments were based on fixed proportions of annual or seasonal crop incomes, but could be ad#usted upwards or downwards based on a ariety of factors. "his meant that an understanding of geometry and arithmetic was irtually essential for re enue administrators. %athematics was thus brought into the ser ice of both the secular and the ritual domains. !rithmetic operations &+anit' such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, squares, cubes and roots are enumerated in the 7arad Vishnu Purana attributed to Ved Vyas &pre-:111 (6'. ,xamples of geometric knowledge &rekha-ganit' are to be found in the 3ul a-3utras of (audhayana &@11 (6' and !pasthmaba &F11 (6' which describe techniques for the construction of ritual altars in use during the Vedic era. It is likely that

11

these texts tapped geometric knowledge that may ha e been acquired much earlier, possibly in the 5arappan period. (audhayana$s 3utra displays an understanding of basic geometric shapes and techniques of con erting one geometric shape &such as a rectangle' to another of equi alent &or multiple, or fractional' area &such as a square'. *hile some of the formulations are approximations, others are accurate and re eal a certain degree of practical ingenuity as well as some theoretical understanding of basic geometric principles. %odern methods of multiplication and addition probably emerged from the techniques described in the 3ul a3utras. Pythagoras - the +reek mathematician and philosopher who li ed in the Fth 6 (.6 was familiar with the Ppanishads and learnt his basic geometry from the 3ul a 3utras. !n early statement of what is commonly known as the Pythagoras theorem is to be found in (audhayana$s 3utra: "he chord which is stretched across the diagonal of a square produces an area of double the si.e. ! similar obser ation pertaining to oblongs is also noted. 5is 3utra also contains geometric solutions of a linear equation in a single unknown. ,xamples of quadratic equations also appear. !pasthamba$s sutra &an expansion of (audhayana$s with se eral original contributions' pro ides a alue for the square root of A that is accurate to the fifth decimal place. !pasthamba also looked at the problems of squaring a circle, di iding a segment into se en equal parts, and a solution to the general linear equation. =ain texts from the Fth 6 (6 such as the 3urya Pragyapti describe ellipses. %odern-day commentators are di ided on how some of the results were generated. 3ome belie e that these results came about through hit and trial - as rules of thumb, or as generali.ations of obser ed examples. )thers belie e that once the scientific method came to be formali.ed in the 7yaya-3utras - proofs for such results must ha e been pro ided, but these ha e either been lost or destroyed, or else were transmitted orally through the +urukul system, and only the final results were tabulated in the texts. In any case, the study of +anit i.e mathematics was gi en considerable importance in the Vedic period. "he Vedang =yotish &:111 (6' includes the statement: /=ust as the feathers of a peacock and the #ewel-stone of a snake are placed at the highest point of the body &at the forehead', similarly, the position of +anit is the highest amongst all branches of the Vedas and the 3hastras./ &%any centuries later, =ain mathematician from %ysore, %aha iracharya further emphasi.ed the importance of mathematics: /*hate er ob#ect exists in this mo ing and non-mo ing world, cannot be understood without the base of +anit &i.e. mathematics'/.' Panini and (ormal Scienti'ic +otation ! particularly important de elopment in the history of Indian science that was to ha e a profound impact on all mathematical treatises that followed was the pioneering work by Panini &Fth 6 (6' in the field of 3anskrit grammar and linguistics. (esides expounding a comprehensi e and scientific theory of phonetics, phonology and morphology, Panini pro ided formal production rules and definitions describing 3anskrit grammar in his treatise called !sthadhyayi. (asic elements such as owels and consonants, parts of speech such as nouns and erbs were placed in classes. "he construction of compound words and sentences was elaborated through ordered rules operating on underlying structures in a manner similar to formal language theory. "oday, Panini$s constructions can also be seen as comparable to modern definitions of a mathematical function. + + =oseph, in "he crest of the peacock argues that the algebraic nature of Indian mathematics arises as a consequence of the structure of the 3anskrit language. Ingerman in his paper titled Panini-(ackus form finds Panini$s notation to be equi alent in its power to that of (ackus - in entor of the (ackus 7ormal >orm used to describe the syntax of modern computer languages. "hus Panini$s work pro ided an example of a scientific notational model that could ha e propelled later mathematicians to use abstract notations in characteri.ing algebraic equations and presenting algebraic theorems and results in a scientific format. Philosophy and Mathematics Philosophical doctrines also had a profound influence on the de elopment of mathematical concepts and formulations. ;ike the Ppanishadic world iew, space and time were considered limitless in =ain cosmology. "his led to a deep interest in ery large numbers and definitions of infinite numbers. Infinite numbers were created through recursi e formulae, as in the !nuyoga Cwara 3utra. =ain mathematicians recogni.ed fi e different types of infinities: infinite in one direction, in two directions, in area, infinite e erywhere and perpetually infinite. Permutations and combinations are listed in the (hag ati 3utras &?rd 6 (6' and 3athananga 3utra &And 6 (6'. =ain set theory probably arose in parallel with the 3yad ada system of =ain epistemology in which reality was described in terms of pairs of truth conditions and state changes. "he !nuyoga Cwara 3utra demonstrates an understanding of the law of indeces and uses it to de elop the notion of logarithms. "erms like !rdh !ached , "rik !ached, and 6hatur !ached are used to denote log base A, log base ? and log base D respecti ely. In 3atkhandagama arious sets are operated upon by logarithmic functions to base two, by squaring and extracting square roots, and by raising to finite or infinite powers. "he operations are repeated to produce new sets. In other works the relation of the number of combinations to the coefficients occurring in the binomial expansion is noted. 3ince =ain epistemology allowed for a degree of indeterminacy in describing reality, it probably helped in grappling with indeterminate equations and finding numerical approximations to irrational numbers. (uddhist literature also demonstrates an awareness of indeterminate and infinite numbers. (uddhist mathematics was classified either as +arna &3imple %athematics' or 3ankhyan &5igher %athematics'. 7umbers were deemed to be of three types: 3ankheya &countable', !sankheya &uncountable' and !nant &infinite'.

12

Philosophical formulations concerning 3hunya - i.e. emptiness or the oid may ha e facilitated in the introduction of the concept of .ero. *hile the .ero &bindu' as an empty place holder in the place- alue numeral system appears much earlier, algebraic definitions of the .ero and it$s relationship to mathematical functions appear in the mathematical treatises of (rahmagupta in the 9th 6 !C. !lthough scholars are di ided about how early the symbol for .ero came to be used in numeric notation in India, &Ifrah arguing that the use of .ero is already implied in !ryabhatta' tangible e idence for the use of the .ero begins to proliferate towards the end of the +upta period. (etween the 9th 6 and the ::th 6, Indian numerals de eloped into their modern form, and along with the symbols denoting arious mathematical functions &such as plus, minus, square root etc' e entually became the foundation stones of modern mathematical notation. #he 1ndian +umeral System !lthough the 6hinese were also using a decimal based counting system, the 6hinese lacked a formal notational system that had the abstraction and elegance of the Indian notational system, and it was the Indian notational system that reached the *estern world through the !rabs and has now been accepted as uni ersal. 3e eral factors contributed to this de elopment whose significance is perhaps best stated by >rench mathematician, ;aplace: /"he ingenious method of expressing e ery possible number using a set of ten symbols &each symbol ha ing a place alue and an absolute alue' emerged in India. "he idea seems so simple nowadays that its significance and profound importance is no longer appreciated. It$s simplicity lies in the way it facilitated calculation and placed arithmetic foremost amongst useful in entions./ (rilliant as it was, this in ention was no accident. In the *estern world, the cumbersome roman numeral system posed as a ma#or obstacle, and in 6hina the pictorial script posed as a hindrance. (ut in India, almost e erything was in place to fa or such a de elopment. "here was already a long and established history in the use of decimal numbers, and philosophical and cosmological constructs encouraged a creati e and expansi e approach to number theory. Panini$s studies in linguistic theory and formal language and the powerful role of symbolism and representational abstraction in art and architecture may ha e also pro ided an impetus, as might ha e the rationalist doctrines and the exacting epistemology of the 7yaya 3utras, and the inno ati e abstractions of the 3yada ada and (uddhist schools of learning. 1n'luence o' #rade and Commerce, 1mportance o' Astronomy "he growth of trade and commerce, particularly lending and borrowing demanded an understanding of both simple and compound interest which probably stimulated the interest in arithmetic and geometric series. (rahmagupta$s description of negati e numbers as debts and positi e numbers as fortunes points to a link between trade and mathematical study. 8nowledge of astronomy - particularly knowledge of the tides and the stars was of great import to trading communities who crossed oceans or deserts at night. "his is borne out by numerous references in the =ataka tales and se eral other folk-tales. "he young person who wished to embark on a commercial enture was ine itably required to first gain some grounding in astronomy. "his led to a proliferation of teachers of astronomy, who in turn recei ed training at uni ersities such as at 8usumpura &(ihar' or P##ain &6entral India' or at smaller local colleges or +urukuls. "his also led to the exchange of texts on astronomy and mathematics amongst scholars and the transmission of knowledge from one part of India to another. Virtually e ery Indian state produced great mathematicians who wrote commentaries on the works of other mathematicians &who may ha e li ed and worked in a different part of India many centuries earlier'. 3anskrit ser ed as the common medium of scientific communication. "he science of astronomy was also spurred by the need to ha e accurate calendars and a better understanding of climate and rainfall patterns for timely sowing and choice of crops. !t the same time, religion and astrology also played a role in creating an interest in astronomy and a negati e fallout of this irrational influence was the re#ection of scientific theories that were far ahead of their time. )ne of the greatest scientists of the +upta period - !ryabhatta &born in D9F !C, 8usumpura, (ihar' pro ided a systematic treatment of the position of the planets in space. 5e correctly posited the axial rotation of the earth, and inferred correctly that the orbits of the planets were ellipses. 5e also correctly deduced that the moon and the planets shined by reflected sunlight and pro ided a alid explanation for the solar and lunar eclipses re#ecting the superstitions and mythical belief systems surrounding the phenomenon. !lthough (haskar I &born 3aurashtra, Fth 6, and follower of the !smaka school of science, 7i.amabad, !ndhra ' recogni.ed his genius and the tremendous alue of his scientific contributions, some later astronomers continued to belie e in a static earth and re#ected his rational explanations of the eclipses. (ut in spite of such setbacks, !ryabhatta had a profound influence on the astronomers and mathematicians who followed him, particularly on those from the !smaka school. %athematics played a ital role in !ryabhatta$s re olutionary understanding of the solar system. 5is calculations on pi, the circumferance of the earth &FA@?A miles' and the length of the solar year &within about :? minutes of the modern calculation' were remarkably close approximations. In making such calculations, !ryabhatta had to sol e se eral mathematical problems that had not been addressed before, including problems in algebra &bee#-ganit' and trigonometry &trikonmiti'. (haskar I continued where !ryabhatta left off, and discussed in further detail topics such as the longitudes of the planetsE con#unctions of the planets with each other and with bright starsE risings and settings of the planetsE and the lunar crescent. !gain, these studies required still more ad anced mathematics and (haskar I expanded on the trigonometric equations pro ided by !ryabhatta, and like !ryabhatta correctly assessed pi to be an irrational number. !mongst his most important contributions was his formula for calculating the sine function which was BBU accurate. 5e also did pioneering work on indeterminate equations and considered for the first time quadrilaterals with all the four sides unequal and none of the opposite sides parallel.

13

!nother important astronomerGmathematician was Varahamira &Fth 6, P##ain' who compiled pre iously written texts on astronomy and made important additions to !ryabhatta$s trigonometric formulas. 5is works on permutations and combinations complemented what had been pre iously achie ed by =ain mathematicians and pro ided a method of calculation of n6r that closely resembles the much more recent Pascal$s "riangle. In the 9th century, (rahmagupta did important work in enumerating the basic principles of algebra. In addition to listing the algebraic properties of .ero, he also listed the algebraic properties of negati e numbers. 5is work on solutions to quadratic indeterminate equations anticipated the work of ,uler and ;agrange. Dmergence o' Calculus In the course of de eloping a precise mapping of the lunar eclipse, !ryabhatta was obliged to introduce the concept of infinitesimals - i.e. tatkalika gati to designate the infinitesimal, or near instantaneous motion of the moon, and express it in the form of a basic differential equation. !ryabhatta$s equations were elaborated on by %an#ula &:1th 6' and (haskaracharya &:Ath 6' who deri ed the differential of the sine function. ;ater mathematicians used their intuiti e understanding of integration in deri ing the areas of cur ed surfaces and the olumes enclosed by them. Applied Mathematics, Solutions to Practical Pro!lems Ce elopments also took place in applied mathematics such as in creation of trigonometric tables and measurement units. -ati rsabha$s work "iloyapannatti &Fth 6' gi es arious units for measuring distances and time and also describes the system of infinite time measures. In the Bth 6, %aha iracharya & %ysore' wrote +anit 3aar 3angraha where he described the currently used method of calculating the ;east 6ommon %ultiple &;6%' of gi en numbers. 5e also deri ed formulae to calculate the area of an ellipse and a quadrilateral inscribed within a circle &something that had also been looked at by (rahmagupta' "he solution of indeterminate equations also drew considerable interest in the Bth century, and se eral mathematicians contributed approximations and solutions to different types of indeterminate equations. In the late Bth 6, 3ridhara &probably (engal' pro ided mathematical formulae for a ariety of practical problems in ol ing ratios, barter, simple interest, mixtures, purchase and sale, rates of tra el, wages, and filling of cisterns. 3ome of these examples in ol ed fairly complicated solutions and his Patiganita is considered an ad anced mathematical work. 3ections of the book were also de oted to arithmetic and geometric progressions, including progressions with fractional numbers or terms, and formulas for the sum of certain finite series are pro ided. %athematical in estigation continued into the :1th 6. Vi#ayanandi &of (enares, whose 8aranatilaka was translated by !l-(eruni into !rabic' and 3ripati of %aharashtra are amongst the prominent mathematicians of the century. "he leading light of :Ath 6 Indian mathematics was (haskaracharya who came from a long-line of mathematicians and was head of the astronomical obser atory at P##ain. 5e left se eral important mathematical texts including the ;ila ati and (i#aganita and the 3iddhanta 3hiromani, an astronomical text. 5e was the first to recogni.e that certain types of quadratic equations could ha e two solutions. 5is 6hakrawaat method of sol ing indeterminate solutions preceded ,uropean solutions by se eral centuries, and in his 3iddhanta 3hiromani he postulated that the earth had a gra itational force, and broached the fields of infinitesimal calculation and integration. In the second part of this treatise, there are se eral chapters relating to the study of the sphere and it$s properties and applications to geography, planetary mean motion, eccentric epicyclical model of the planets, first isibilities of the planets, the seasons, the lunar crescent etc. 5e also discussed astronomical instruments and spherical trigonometry. )f particular interest are his trigonometric equations: sin&a Z b' T sin a cos b Z cos a sin bE sin&a - b' T sin a cos b - cos a sin bE #he Spread o' 1ndian Mathematics "he study of mathematics appears to slow down after the onslaught of the Islamic in asions and the con ersion of colleges and uni ersities to madrasahs. (ut this was also the time when Indian mathematical texts were increasingly being translated into !rabic and Persian. !lthough !rab scholars relied on a ariety of sources including (abylonian, 3yrian, +reek and some 6hinese texts, Indian mathematical texts played a particularly important role. 3cholars such as Ibn "ariq and !l->a.ari &@th 6, (aghdad', !l-8indi &Bth 6, (asra', !l-8hwari.mi &Bth 6. 8hi a', !l-Wayarawani &Bth 6, %aghreb, author of 8itab fi al-hisab al-hindi', !l-Pqlidisi &:1th 6, Camascus, author of "he book of 6hapters in Indian !rithmetic', Ibn-3ina &! icenna', Ibn al-3amh &+ranada, ::th 6, 3pain', !l-7asawi &8hurasan, ::th 6, Persia', !l-(eruni &::th 6, born 8hi a, died !fghanistan', !l-<a.i &"eheran', and Ibn-!l-3affar &::th 6, 6ordoba' were amongst the many who based their own scientific texts on translations of Indian treatises. <ecords of the Indian origin of many proofs, concepts and formulations were obscured in the later centuries, but the enormous contributions of Indian mathematics was generously acknowledged by se eral important !rabic and Persian scholars, especially in 3pain. !bbasid scholar !l-+aheth wrote: / India is the source of knowledge, thought and insightN. !l-%aoudi &B0F !C' who tra elled in *estern India also wrote about the greatness of Indian science. 3aid !l-!ndalusi, an ::th 6 3panish scholar and court historian was amongst the most enthusiastic in his praise of Indian ci ili.ation, and specially remarked on Indian achie ements in the sciences and in mathematics. )f course, e entually, Indian algebra and trigonometry reached ,urope through a cycle of translations, tra elling from the !rab world to 3pain and 3icily, and e entually penetrating all of ,urope. !t the same time, !rabic and Persian translations of +reek and ,gyptian scientific texts became more readily a ailable in India #he Cerala School

14

!lthough it appears that original work in mathematics ceased in much of 7orthern India after the Islamic conquests, (enaras sur i ed as a center for mathematical study, and an important school of mathematics blossomed in 8erala. %adha a &:Dth 6, 8ochi' made important mathematical disco eries that would not be identified by ,uropean mathematicians till at least two centuries later. 5is series expansion of the cos and sine functions anticipated 7ewton by almost three centuries. 5istorians of mathematics, <a#agopal, <angachari and =oseph considered his contributions instrumental in taking mathematics to the next stage, that of modern classical analysis. 7ilkantha &:0th 6, "irur, 8erala' extended and elaborated upon the results of %adha a while =yesthade a &:Fth 6, 8erala' pro ided detailed proofs of the theorems and deri ations of the rules contained in the works of %adha a and 7ilkantha. It is also notable that =yesthade a$s -uktibhasa which contained commentaries on 7ilkantha$s "antrasamgraha included elaborations on planetary theory later adopted by "ycho (rahe, and mathematics that anticipated work by later ,uropeans. 6hitrabhanu &:Fth 6, 8erala' ga e integer solutions to twenty-one types of systems of two algebraic equations, using both algebraic and geometric methods in de eloping his results. Important disco eries by the 8erala mathematicians included the 7ewton-+auss interpolation formula, the formula for the sum of an infinite series, and a series notation for pi. 6harles *hish &:@?0, published in the "ransactions of the <oyal !siatic 3ociety of +reat (ritain and Ireland' was one of the first *esterners to recogni.e that the 8erala school had anticipated by almost ?11 years many ,uropean de elopments in the field. -et, few modern compendiums on the history of mathematics ha e paid adequate attention to the often pioneering and re olutionary contributions of Indian mathematicians. (ut as this essay amply demonstrates, a significant body of mathematical works were produced in the Indian subcontinent. "he science of mathematics played a pi otal role not only in the industrial re olution but in the scientific de elopments that ha e occurred since. 7o other branch of science is complete without mathematics. 7ot only did India pro ide the financial capital for the industrial re olution &see the essay on coloni.ation' India also pro ided ital elements of the scientific foundation without which humanity could not ha e entered this modern age of science and high technology. +otesE #athematics and #usic$ Pingala &?rd 6 !C', author of 6handasutra explored the relationship between combinatorics and musical theory anticipating %ersenne &:0@@-:FD@' author of a classic on musical theory. Mathematics and ArchitectureE Interest in arithmetic and geometric series may ha e also been stimulated by &and influenced' Indian architectural designs - &as in temple shikaras, gopurams and corbelled temple ceilings'. )f course, the relationship between geometry and architectural decoration was de eloped to it$s greatest heights by 6entral !sian, Persian, "urkish, !rab and Indian architects in a ariety of monuments commissioned by the Islamic rulers. #ransmission o' the 1ndian +umeral System : , idence for the transmission of the Indian 7umeral 3ystem to the *est is pro ided by =oseph &6rest of the Peacock':[ Wuotes 3e erus 3ebokht &FFA' in a 3yriac text describing the /subtle disco eries/ of Indian astronomers as being /more ingenious than those of the +reeks and the (abylonians/ and /their aluable methods of computation which surpass description/ and then goes on to mention the use of nine numerals. [ Wuotes from ;iber abaci &(ook of the !bacus' by >ibonacci &::91-:A01': "he nine Indian numerals are ...with these nine and with the sign 1 which in !rabic is sifr, any desired number can be written. &>ibonaci learnt about Indian numerals from his !rab teachers in 7orth !frica' 1n'luence o' the Cerala School: =oseph &6rest of the Peacock' suggests that Indian mathematical manuscripts may ha e been brought to ,urope by =esuit priests such as %atteo <icci who spent two years in 8ochi &6ochin' after being ordained in +oa in :0@1. 8ochi is only 91km from "hrissur &"richur' which was then the largest repository of astronomical documents. *hish and 5yne - two ,uropean mathematicians obtained their copies of works by the 8erala mathematicians from "hrissur, and it is not inconcei able that =esuit monks may ha e also taken copies to Pisa &where +alileo, 6a alieri and *allis spent time', or Padau &where =ames +regory studied' or Paris &where %ersenne who was in touch with >ermat and Pascal, acted as an agent for the transmission of mathematical ideas'. 1ndic Mathematics and the Scienti'ic "evolution /"he study of mathematics in the *est has long been characteri.ed by a certain ethnocentric bias, a bias which most often manifests not in explicit racism, but in a tendency toward undermining or eliding the real contributions made by non-*estern ci ili.ations. "he debt owed by the *est to other ci ili.ations, and to India in particular, go back to the earliest epoch of the /*estern/ scientific tradition, the age of the classical +reeks, and continued up until the dawn of the modern era, the renaissance, when ,urope was awakening from its dark ages./ Cr +ray goes on to list some of the most important de elopments in the history of mathematics that took place in India, summari.ing the contributions of luminaries such as !ryabhatta, (rahmagupta, %aha ira, (haskara and %aadha a. 5e concludes by asserting that /the role played by India in the de elopment &of the scientific re olution in ,urope' is no mere footnote, easily and inconsequentially swept under the rug of ,urocentric bias. "o do so is to distort history, and to deny India one of its greatest contributions to world ci ili.ation./ Ce elopment of Philosophical "hought and 3cientific %ethod in !ncient india Philosophical Ce elopment from Ppanishadic "heism to 3cientific <ealism 5istory of the Physical 3ciences in India Indic #athematics India and the %cientific "evolution

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1 Math and Dthnocentrism "he study of mathematics in the *est has long been characteri.ed by a certain ethnocentric bias, a bias which most often manifests not in explicit racism, but in a tendency toward undermining or eliding the real contributions made by non-*estern ci ili.ations. "he debt owed by the *est to other ci ili.ations, and to India in particular, go back to the earliest epoch of the /*estern/ scientific tradition, the age of the classical +reeks, and continued up until the dawn of the modern era, the renaissance, when ,urope was awakening from its dark ages. "his awakening was in part made possible by the redisco ery of mathematics and other sciences and technologies through the medium of the !rabs, who transmitted to ,urope both their own lost heritage as well as the ad anced mathematical traditions formulated in India. +eorge +he arughese =oseph, in an important article entitled />oundations of ,urocentrism in %athematics,/ argued that /the standard treatment of the history of non-,uropean mathematics is a product of historiographical bias &conscious or otherwise' in the selection and interpretation of facts, which, as a consequence, results in ignoring, de aluing or distorting contributions arising outside ,uropean mathematical traditions./ &:B@9::D' Cue to the legacy of colonialism, the exploitation of which was ideologically #ustified through a doctrine of racial superiority, the contributions of non-,uropean ci ili.ations were often ignored, or, as =oseph argued, e en distorted, in that they were often misattributed as ,uropean, i.e. +reek, contributions, and when their contributions were so great as to resist such treatment, they were typically de alued, considered inferior or irrele ant to *estern mathematical traditions. "his tendency has not only led to the de aluation of non-*estern mathematical traditions, but has distorted the history of *estern mathematics as well. In so far as the contributions from non-*estern ci ili.ations are ignored, there is the problem of accounting for the de elopment of mathematics purely within the *estern cultural framework. "his has led, as 3abetai Pnguru has argued, toward a tendency to read more ad anced mathematical concepts into the relati ely simplistic geometrical formulations of +reek mathematicians such as ,uclid, despite the fact that the +reeks lacked not only mathematic notation, but e en the place- alue system of enumeration, without which ad anced mathematical calculation is impossible. 3uch ethnocentric re isionist history resulted in the attribution of more ad anced algebraic concepts, which were actually introduced to ,urope o er a millennium later by the !rabs, to the +reeks. !nd while the contributions of the +reeks to mathematics was quite significant, the tendency of some math historians to #ump from the +reeks to renaissance ,urope results not only in an ethnocentric history, but an inadequate history as well, one which fails to take into account the full history of the de elopment of modern mathematics, which is by no means a purely ,uropean de elopment. 6 Vedic Altars and the FPythagorean theoremF ! perfect example of this sort of misattribution in ol es the so-called Pythagorean theorem, the well-known theorem which was attributed to Pythagoras who li ed around 011 (6,, but which was first pro en in +reek sources in ,uclid$s +eometry, written centuries later. Cespite the scarcity of e idence backing this attribution, it is not often questioned, perhaps due to the mantra-like frequency with which it is repeated. 5owe er, 3eidenberg, in his :B9@ article, shows that the thesis that +reece was the origin of geometric algebra was incorrect, /for geometric algebra existed in India before the classical period in +reece./ &:B9@:?A?' It is now generally understood that the so-called /Pythagorean theorem/ was understood in ancient India, and was in fact pro ed in (audhayana$s 3hul a 3utra, a text dated to circa F11 (6,. &:B9@:?A?'. 8nowledge of mathematics, and geometry in particular, was necessary for the precise construction of the complex Vedic altars, and mathematics was thus one of the topics co ered in the brahmanas. "his knowledge was further elaborated in the kalpa sutras, which ga e more detailed instructions concerning Vedic ritual. 3e eral of these treat the topic of altar construction. "he oldest and most complete of these is the pre iously mentioned 3hul a 3utra of (audhaayana. !s this text was composed about a century before Pythagoras, the theory that the +reeks were the source of +eometric algebra is untenable, while the hypothesis that India was ha e been a source for +reek geometry, transmitted ia the Persians who traded both with the +reeks and the Indians, looks increasingly plausible. )n the other hand, it is quite possible that both the +reeks and the Indians de eloped geometry. 3eidenberg has argued, in fact, that both seem to ha e de eloped geometry out of the practical problems in ol ing their construction of elaborate sacrificial altars. &3ee 3eidenberg :BFA and :B@?' * -ero and the Place Value System >ar more important to the de elopment of modern mathematics than either +reek or Indian geometry was the de elopment of the place alue system of enumeration, the base ten system of calculation which uses nine numerals and .ero to represent numbers ranging from the most minuscule decimal to the most inconcei ably large power of ten. "his system of enumeration was not de eloped by the +reeks, whose largest unit of enumeration was the myriad &:1,111' or in 6hina, where :1,111 was also the largest unit of enumeration until recent times. 7or was it de eloped by the !rabs, despite the fact that this numeral system is commonly called the !rabic numerals in ,urope, where this system was first introduced by the !rabs in the thirteenth century. <ather, this system was in ented in India, where it e idently was of quite ancient origin. "he -a#ur eda 3amhitaa, one of the Vedic texts predating ,uclid and the +reek mathematicians by at least a millennium, lists names for each of the units of ten up to :1 to the twelfth power &paraardha'. &3ubbarayappa :B91:DB' ;ater (uddhist and =ain authors extended this list as high as the fifty-third power, far exceeding their +reek contemporaries, who lacking a system of enumeration were unable to de elop abstract mathematical

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concepts. "he place alue system of enumeration is in fact built into the 3anskrit language, where each power of ten is gi en a distinct name. 7ot only are the units ten, hundred and thousand &da.a, .ata, sahasra' named as in ,nglish, but also ten thousand, hundred thousand, ten million, hundred million &ayuta, lak3a, koti, yarbuda', and so forth up to the fifty-third power, pro iding distinct names where ,nglish makes use of auxillary bases such as thousand, million, etc. Ifrah has commented that (y gi ing each power of ten an indi idual name, the 3anskrit system ga e no special importance to any number. "hus the 3anskrit system is ob iously superior to that of the !rabs &for whom the thousand was the limit', or the +reeks and 6hinese &whose limit was ten thousand' and e en to our own system &where the names thousand, million etc. continue to act as auxillary bases'. Instead of naming the numbers in groups of three, four or eight orders of units, the Indians, from a ery early date, expressed them taking the powers of ten and the names of the first nine units indi idually. In other words, to express a gi en number, one only had to place the name indicating the order of units between the name of the order of units immediately immediately below it and the one immediately abo e it. "hat is exactly what is required in order to gain a precise idea of the place- alue system, the rule being presented in a natural way and thus appearing self-explanatory. "o put it plainly, the 3anskrit numeral system contained the ery key to the disco ery of the place- alue system. &A111:DAB' !s Ifrah has shown at length, there is little doubt that our place- alue numeral system de eloped in India &A111:?BB-D1B', and this system is embedded in the 3anskrit language, se eral aspects of which make it a ery logical language, well suited to scientific and mathematical reasoning. 7or did this system exhaust Indian ingenuityE as an 7ooten has shown, Pingala, who li ed circa the first century (6,, de eloped a system of binary enumeration con ertible to decimal numerals, described in his 6handah.aastra. 5is system is quite similar to that of ;eibni., who li ed roughly fourteen hundred years later. &3ee Van 7ooten' India is also the locus of another closely related an equally important mathematical disco ery, the numeral .ero. "he oldest known text to use .ero is a =ain text entitled the ;oka ibhaaga, which has been definitely dated to %onday A0 !ugust D0@ 6,. &Ifrah A111:D:9-: B' "his concept, combined by the place- alue system of enumeration, became the basis for a classical era renaissance in Indian mathematics. "he Indian numeral system and its place alue, decimal system of enumeration came to the attention of the !rabs in the se enth or eighth century, and ser ed as the basis for the well known ad ancement in !rab mathematics, represented by figures such as al-8hwari.mi. It reached ,urope in the twelfth century when !delard of (ath translated al-8hwari.mi$s works into ;atin. &3ubbarayappa :B91:DB' (ut the ,uropeans were at first resistant to this system, being attached to the far less logical roman numeral system, but their e entual adoption of this system led to the scientific re olution that began to sweep ,urope beginning in the thirteenth century. D. ;uminaries of 6lassical Indian %athematics Arya!hata "he world did not ha e to wait for the ,uropeans to awake from their long intellectual slumber to see the de elopment of ad anced mathematical techniques. India achie ed its own scientific renaissance of sorts during its classical era, beginning roughly one thousand years before the ,uropean <enaissance. Probably the most celebrated Indian mathematicians belonging to this period was !aryabhat.a, who was born in D9F 6,. In DBB, when he was only A? years old, !aryabhat.a wrote his !aryabhatiya, a text co ering both astronomy and mathematics. *ith regard to the former, the text is notable for its for its awareness of the relati ity of motion. &3ee 8ak p. :F' "his awareness led to the astonishing suggestion that it is the ,arth that rotates the 3un. 5e argued for the diurnal rotation of the earth, as an alternate theory to the rotation of the fixed stars and sun around the earth &Pingree :B@:::@'. 5e made this suggestion approximately one thousand years before 6opernicus, e idently independently, reached the same conclusion. *ith regard to mathematics, one of !aryabhat.a$s greatest contributions was the calculation of sine tables, which no doubt was of great use for his astronomical calculations. In de eloping a way to calculate the sine of cur es, rather than the cruder method of calculating chords de ised by the +reeks, he thus went beyond geometry and contributed to the de elopment of trigonometry, a de elopment which did not occur in ,urope until roughly one thousand years later, when the ,uropeans translated Indian influenced !rab mathematical texts. !aryabhat.a$s mathematics was far ranging, as the topics he co ered include geometry, algebra, trigonometry. 5e also de eloped methods of sol ing quadratic and indeterminate equations using fractions. 5e calculated pi to four decimal places, i.e., ?.:D:F. &Pingree :B@::09' In addition, !aryabhat.a /in ented a unique method of recording numbers which required perfect understanding of .ero and the place- alue system./ &Ifrah A111:D:B' +i en the astounding range of ad anced mathematical concepts and techniques co ered in this fifth century text, it should be of no surprise that it became extremely well known in India, #udging by the large numbers of commentaries written upon it. It was studied by the !rabs in the eighth century following their conquest of 3ind, and translated into !rabic, whence it influenced the de elopment of both !rabic and ,uropean mathematical traditions. "he mathematical part of the !ryabhatiya co ers arithmetic, algebra, plane trigonometry and spherical trigonometry. It also contains continued fractions, quadratic equations, sums of power series and a table of sines. ;et us examine some of these in a little more detail. >irst we look at the system for representing numbers which !ryabhata in ented and used in the !ryabhatiya. It consists of gi ing numerical alues to the ?? consonants of the Indian alphabet to represent :, A, ?, ... , A0, ?1, D1, 01, F1, 91, @1, B1, :11. "he higher numbers are denoted by these consonants followed by a owel to obtain :11, :1111, .... In fact the system allows numbers up to :1:@ to be represented with an alphabetical

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notation. Ifrah in I?J argues that !ryabhata was also familiar with numeral symbols and the place- alue system. 5e writes in I?J:it is e,tremely li=ely that Arya!hata =ne/ the sign 'or zero and the numerals o' the place value system #his supposition is !ased on the 'ollo/ing t/o 'actsE 'irst, the invention o' his alpha!etical counting system /ould have !een impossi!le /ithout zero or the place&value systemG secondly, he carries out calculations on sBuare and cu!ic roots /hich are impossi!le i' the num!ers in Buestion are not /ritten according to the place&value system and zero 7ext we look briefly at some algebra contained in the !ryabhatiya. "his work is the first we are aware of which examines integer solutions to equations of the form by T ax Z c and by T ax - c, where a, b, c are integers. "he problem arose from studying the problem in astronomy of determining the periods of the planets. !ryabhata uses the kuttaka method to sol e problems of this type. "he word kuttaka means /to pul erise/ and the method consisted of breaking the problem down into new problems where the coefficients became smaller and smaller with each step. "he method here is essentially the use of the ,uclidean algorithm to find the highest common factor of a and b but is also related to continued fractions. !ryabhata ga e an accurate approximation for p. 5e wrote in the !ryabhatiya the following:!dd four to one hundred, multiply by eight and then add sixty-two thousand. the result is approximately the circumference of a circle of diameter twenty thousand. (y this rule the relation of the circumference to diameter is gi en. "his gi es p T FA@?AGA1111 T ?.:D:F which is a surprisingly accurate alue. In fact p T ?.:D:0BAF0 correct to @ places. If obtaining a alue this accurate is surprising, it is perhaps e en more surprising that !ryabhata does not use his accurate alue for p but prefers to use :1 T ?.:FAA in practice. !ryabhata does not explain how he found this accurate alue but, for example, !hmad I0J considers this alue as an approximation to half the perimeter of a regular polygon of A0F sides inscribed in the unit circle. 5owe er, in IBJ (ruins shows that this result cannot be obtained from the doubling of the number of sides. !nother interesting paper discussing this accurate alue of p by !ryabhata is IAAJ where =ha writes:!ryabhata I$s alue of p is a ery close approximation to the modern alue and the most accurate among those of the ancients. "here are reasons to belie e that !ryabhata de ised a particular method for finding this alue. It is shown with sufficient grounds that !ryabhata himself used it, and se eral later Indian mathematicians and e en the !rabs adopted it. "he con#ecture that !ryabhata$s alue of p is of +reek origin is critically examined and is found to be without foundation. !ryabhata disco ered this alue independently and also realised that p is an irrational number. 5e had the Indian background, no doubt, but excelled all his predecessors in e aluating p. "hus the credit of disco ering this exact alue of p may be ascribed to the celebrated mathematician, !ryabhata I. *e now look at the trigonometry contained in !ryabhata$s treatise. 5e ga e a table of sines calculating the approximate alues at inter als of B1 GAD T ? D0$. In order to do this he used a formula for sin&nZ:'x - sin nx in terms of sin nx and sin &n-:'x. 5e also introduced the ersine & ersin T : - cosine' into trigonometry. )ther rules gi en by !ryabhata include that for summing the first n integers, the squares of these integers and also their cubes. !ryabhata gi es formulas for the areas of a triangle and of a circle which are correct, but the formulas for the olumes of a sphere and of a pyramid are claimed to be wrong by most historians. >or example +anitanand in I:0J describes as /mathematical lapses/ the fact that !ryabhata gi es the incorrect formula V T !hGA for the olume of a pyramid with height h and triangular base of area !. 5e also appears to gi e an incorrect expression for the olume of a sphere. 5owe er, as is often the case, nothing is as straightforward as it appears and ,lfering &see for example I:?J' argues that this is not an error but rather the result of an incorrect translation. "his relates to erses F, 9, and :1 of the second section of the !ryabhatiya and in I:?J ,lfering produces a translation which yields the correct answer for both the olume of a pyramid and for a sphere. 5owe er, in his translation ,lfering translates two technical terms in a different way to the meaning which they usually ha e. *ithout some supporting e idence that these technical terms ha e been used with these different meanings in other places it would still appear that !ryabhata did indeed gi e the incorrect formulas for these olumes. 7ow we ha e looked at the mathematics contained in the !ryabhatiya but this is an astronomy text so we should say a little regarding the astronomy which it contains. !ryabhata gi es a systematic treatment of the position of the planets in space. 5e ga e FA@?A miles as the circumference of the earth, which is an excellent approximation. 5e belie ed that the apparent rotation of the hea ens was due to the axial rotation of the ,arth. "his is a quite remarkable iew of the nature of the solar system which later commentators could not bring themsel es to follow and most changed the text to sa e !ryabhata from what they thought were stupid errorsQ !ryabhata gi es the radius of the planetary orbits in terms of the radius of the ,arthG3un orbit as essentially their periods of rotation around the 3un. 5e belie es that the %oon and planets shine by reflected sunlight, incredibly he belie es that the orbits of the planets are ellipses. 5e correctly explains the causes of eclipses of the 3un and the %oon. "he Indian belief up to that time was that eclipses were caused by a demon called <ahu. 5is alue for the length of the year at ?F0 days F hours :A minutes ?1 seconds is an o erestimate since the true alue is less than ?F0 days F hours. (haskara who wrote a commentary on the !ryabhatiya about :11 years later wrote of !ryabhata:!ryabhata is the master who, after reaching the furthest shores and plumbing the inmost depths of the sea of ultimate knowledge of mathematics, kinematics and spherics, handed o er the three sciences to the learned world. !rticle by: = = )$6onnor and , > <obertson

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%rahmagupta (orn in 0B@ 6, in <a#astan in *estern India, (rahmagupta founded an influential school of mathematics which ri aled !aryabhat.a$s. 5is best known work is the (rahmasphuta 3iddhanta, written in FA@ 6,, in which he de eloped a solution for a certain type of second order indeterminate equation. "his text was translated into !rabic in the eighth century, and became ery influential in !rab mathematics. &3ee 8ak p. :F' Mahavira %ahaa iira was a =ain mathematician who li ed in the ninth century, who wrote on a wide range of mathematical topics. "hese include the mathematics of .ero, squares, cubes, square-roots, cube-roots, and the series extending beyond these. 5e also wrote on plane and solid geometry, as well as problems relating to the casting of shadows. &Pingree :B@::F1' %haas=ara (haaskara was one of the many outstanding mathematicians hailing from 3outh India. (orn in :::D 6, in 8arnataka, he composed a four-part text entitled the 3iddhanta Riromani. Included in this compilation is the (ii#agan.ita, which became the standard algebra textbook in 3anskrit. It contains descriptions of ad anced mathematical techniques in ol ing both positi e and negati e integers as well as .ero, irrational numbers. It treats at length the /pul eri.er/ &kut.t.akaara' method of sol ing indeterminate equations with continued fractions, as well as the so-called /Pell$s equation & argaprakr.ti' dealing with indeterminate equations of the second degree. 5e also wrote on the solution to numerous kinds of linear and quadratic equations, including those in ol ing multiple unknowns, and equations in ol ing the product of different unknowns. &Pingree :B@:, p. FD' In short, he wrote a highly sophisticated mathematical text that proceeded by se eral centuries the de elopment of such techniques in ,urope, although it would be better to term this a redisco ery, since much of the <enaissance ad ances of mathematics in ,urope was based upon the disco ery of !rab mathematical texts, which were in turn highly influenced by these Indian traditions. Maadhava "he 8erala region of 3outh India was home to a ery important school of mathematics. "he best known member of this school %aadha a &c. :DDD-:0D0', who li ed in 3angamagraama in 8erala. Primarily an astronomer, he made history in mathematics with his writings on trigonometry. 5e calculated the sine, cosine and arctangent of the circle, de eloping the world$s first consistent system of trigonometry. &3ee 5ayashi :BB9:9@D-9@F' 5e also correctly calculated the alue of p to ele en decimal places. &Pingree :B@::DB1' "his is by no means a complete list of influential Indian mathematicians or Indian contributions to mathematics, but rather a sur ey of the highlights of what is, #udged by any fair, unbiased standard, an illustrious tradition, important both for its own internal elegance as well as its influence on the history of ,uropean mathematical traditions. "he classical Indian mathematical renaissance was an important precursor to the ,uropean renaissance, and to ignore this fact is to fail to grasp the history of latter, a history which was truly multicultural, deri ing its inspiration from a ariety of cultural roots. "here are in fact, as >rits 3taal has suggested in his important &:BB0' article, /"he 3anskrit of 3cience/, profound similarities between the social contexts of classical India and renaissance ,urope. In both cases, important re olutions in scientific thought occurred in complex, hierarchical societies in which certain elite groups were granted freedom from manual labor, and thus the opportunity to dedicate themsel es to intellectual pursuits. In the case of classical India, these groups included certain brahmins as well as the (uddhist and =ain monks, while in renaissance ,urope they included both the monks as well as their secular deri ati es, the uni ersity scholars. *hy, one might ask, did ,urope$s take o er thousand years to attain the le el of abstract mathematics achie ed by Indians such as !aryabhatta4 "he answer appears to be that ,uropeans were trapped in the relati ely simplistic and concrete geometrical mathematics de eloped by the +reeks. It was not until they had, ia the !rabs, recei ed, assimilated and accepted the place- alue system of enumeration de eloped in India that they were able to free their minds from the concrete and de elop more abstract systems of thought. "his de elopment thus triggered the scientific and information technology re olutions which swept ,urope and, later, the world. "he role played by India in the de elopment is no mere footnote, easily and inconsequentially swept under the rug of ,urocentric bias. "o do so is to distort history, and to deny India one of it$s greatest contributions to world ci ili.ation. his memory.

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