Posted on: 2 August 2012

Ancient Indian Mathematics – A Conspectus
By Professor S.G. Dani
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

India has had a long tradition of more than 3000 years of pursuit of Mathematical ideas, starting from the Vedic age. The Sulvasutras (which included Pythagoras theorem before Pythagoras), the Jain works, the base 10 representation (along with the use of 0), names given to powers of 10 up to 1053, the works of medieval mathematicians motivated by astronomical studies, and finally the contributions of the Kerala school that came strikingly close to modern mathematics, represent the various levels of intellectual attainment.

There is now increasing awareness around the world that as one of the ancient cultures, India has contributed substantially to the global scientific development in many spheres, and mathematics has been one of the recognized areas in this respect. The country has witnessed steady mathematical developments over most part of the last 3,000 years, throwing up many interesting mathematical ideas well ahead of their appearance elsewhere in the world, though at times they lagged behind, especially in the recent centuries. Here are some episodes from the fascinating story that forms a rich fabric of the sustained intellectual endeavour.

Read more:

http://bit.ly/Nb9RKJ

Image:
Portion of a dedication tablet in a rock-cut Vishnu temple in Gwalior built in 876 AD. The number 270 seen in the inscription features the oldest extant zero in India.
Courtesy: Bill Casselman


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Namaste,knowledge is Uni versal and appears at some places it has at sometimes it is not greek or indian although in these two places it has found often, fertile ground.

GREAT

หลักฐานเลขศูนย์ที่เก่าที่สุด พบในจารึกที่ Gwalior, ปีค.ศ. ๘๗๖

ในจารึกระบุเลข ๒๗๐ ตรงกลางบรรทัดที่สอง

This is the oldest inscribed zero, but older texts (like Brahmagupta's works) do describe the zero at a more ancient time, too.

The Gwalior fort, with lots of Intriguing history, has the first 'dated' record of the symbol 'zero' used in a decimal number system. See also: http://www.ams.org/samplings/feature-column/fcarc-india-zero However, (not noted in the above ams link), the earliest notice to this temple inscription was brought about by Babu Rajendra Lal Mitra in the year 1862 in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. XXXI, No. 4, Plate II, next to page 396.

Great link! Thanks Devashish Deb.

प्रिय मित्र श्री भूपत शूट जी, गणित में भारत के योगदान को अब विश्व में स्वीराकार्यता प्राप्त हो रही है. पहले अरब में गणित को "हिंदसः" कहा जाता था. शब्द "शून्य" का अपभ्रंश "सिफ्र" तथा योरूप में "जीरो" हो गया. आज भी कूट भाषा को "सयिफर" अंग्रेजी मैं कहा जाता है. अब यह प्रमाणिक रूप से सिद्ध है की पाइथोगोरस से पूर्व ही भारतीयों ने उस थ्योरम को सिद्ध कर लिया था. इसके साथ ही इस्फेरिकल त्रिग्नोमातरी का आधार पर गणित ज्योतिष में कई खोजें भारतीय गणितज्ञों ने पश्चिम से बहुत पहले ही कर लीं थीं, जिसमें पृथ्वी का गोल होना और पृथ्वी का सूर्य की कक्षा में घूमना भी सम्मिलित है.

deny a mother her right to name her child, is a very old male dominated problem. Kashmir, sharda script, more than 90% of all known sanskrit documents written are in sharda script. Attempts, have been made to rewrite history, yes! Bhatta tribe.however, archeology is here and there. Time is witness. Avoid the truth, can not deny it. Himalaya is great. H.i.g