Place Value System and ZERO

The place-value system, first seen in the 3rd-century Bakhshali Manuscript, was clearly in place in
his work. While he did not use a symbol for zero, the French mathematician Georges Ifrah explains
that knowledge of zero was implicit in Aryabhata’s place-value system as a place holder for the
powers of ten with null coefficients.
However, Aryabhata did not use the Brahmi numerals. Continuing the Sanskritic tradition from Vedic
times, he used letters of the alphabet to denote numbers, expressing quantities, such as the table of
sines in a mnemonic form.

Approximation of π
Aryabhata worked on the approximation for pi (π), and may have come to the conclusion that is
irrational. In the second part of the Aryabhatiyam (gaṇitapāda 10), he writes :

caturadhikam śatamaṣṭaguṇam dvāṣaṣṭistathā sahasrāṇām

ayutadvayaviṣkambhasyāsanno vṛttapariṇāhaḥ.
Translation : “Add four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add 62,000. By this rule the circumference
of a circle with a diameter of 20,000 can be approached.”
This calculates to 3.1416 close to the actual value Pi (3.14159).
Aryabhata used the word āsanna (approaching / approximating), to mean that not only is this an
approximation but that the value is incommensurable (or irrational).
This is quite a sophisticated insight, because the irrationality of pi(π) was proved only in 1761 by
Johann Heinrich Lambert.
After Aryabhatiya was translated into Arabic (during 820 CE) this approximation was mentioned
in Al-Khwarizmi‘s book on algebra.

Contributions in Trigonometry
In Ganitapada 6, Aryabhata gives the area of a triangle as :

tribhujasya phalashariram samadalakoti bhujardhasamvargah

Translation : “for a triangle, the result of a perpendicular with the half-side is the area.”
Aryabhata discussed the concept of sine in his work by the name of ardha-jya, which literally means
“half-chord (half-wave)“. For simplicity, people started calling it jya.
When Arabic writers translated his works from Sanskrit into Arabic, they referred it as jiba.
However, in Arabic writings, vowels are omitted, and it was abbreviated as jb.
Later writers substituted it with jaib, meaning “pocket” or “fold (in a garment)“.
Later in the 12th century, when Gherardo of Cremona translated these writings from Arabic into
Latin, he replaced the Arabic jaib with its Latin counterpart, sinus, which means “cove” or “bay“;
thence comes the English SINE.
Alphabetic code has been used by him to define a set of increments. If we use Aryabhata’s table and
calculate the value of sin(30) (corresponding to hasjha) which is 1719/3438 = 0.5; the value is
correct. His alphabetic code is commonly known as the Aryabhata cipher.
Aryabhata’s contributions in Astronomy
Aryabhata’s system of astronomy was called the audAyaka system, in which days are reckoned from
sunrise, dawn at lanka or “equator“.
Some of his later writings on astronomy, which apparently proposed a second model (or ardha-
rAtrikA, midnight) are lost but can be partly reconstructed from the discussion in
Brahmagupta’s khanDakhAdyaka.
In some texts, he seems to ascribe the apparent motions of the heavens to the Earth’s rotation and
he may have believed that the planet’s orbits as elliptical rather than circular.

Motions of the Solar System

In the first chapter of his book Aryabhatia, he insisted that the earth rotates about its axis daily, and
that the apparent movement of the stars is a relative motion caused by the rotation of the earth,
contrary to the then-prevailing view in other parts of the world, that the sky rotated.
Here, he gives the number of rotations of the earth in a yuga, and made more explicit in
his gola chapter.

Eclipses
Lunar and Solar eclipses were scientifically explained by Aryabhata by stating that the Moon and
planets shine by reflected sunlight.
Instead of the prevailing cosmogony in which eclipses were caused by pseudo-planetary nodes
Rahu and Ketu, he explains eclipses in terms of shadows cast by and falling on Earth. Thus, the
lunar eclipse occurs when the moon enters into the Earth’s shadow and solar eclipse occurs when
Moon intersects Sunrays from falling on Earth.
He discussed the size and extent of the Earth’s shadow (verses gola.38–48) and then provides the
computation and the size of the eclipsed part during an eclipse. Later Indian astronomers improved
on the calculations, but Aryabhata’s methods provided the core.
His computational paradigm was so accurate that 18th-century scientist Guillaume Le Gentil, during
a visit to Pondicherry, India, found the Indian computations of the duration of the lunar eclipse of 30
August 1765 to be short by 41 seconds, whereas his charts (by Tobias Mayer, 1752) were long by
68 seconds.

Sidereal Periods
Considered in modern English units of time, Aryabhata calculated the sidereal rotation (the rotation
of the earth referencing the fixed stars) as 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds; whereas the
modern value is 23:56:4.091. Similarly, his value for the length of the sidereal year at 365 days, 6
hours, 12 minutes, and 30 seconds (365.25858 days) is an error of 3 minutes and 20 seconds over
the length of a year (365.25636 days).

Heliocentrism
Aryabhata advocated an astronomical model in which the Earth turns on its own axis. His model also
gave corrections (the śīgra anomaly) for the speeds of the planets in the sky in terms of the mean
speed of the sun.
Aryabhata’s calculations were based on an underlying heliocentric model, in which the planets orbit
the Sun, though this has been rebutted.

The Decimal System

The decimal notation is an outstanding innovation both in its sheer brilliance of abstract thought and as
a practical invention. In the words of the French mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace (1814 CE):

“It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by means of ten symbols, each
symbol receiving a value of position as well as an absolute value; a profound and important idea which
appears so simple to us now that we ignore its true merit. But its very simplicity, the great ease which it
has lent to all computations, puts our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions; and we shall
appreciate the grandeur of this achievement the more when we remember that it escaped the genius of
Archimedes and Apollonius, two of the greatest men produced by antiquity.” (Quoted in (Dantzig, 1930),
p. 19)

Due to the simplicity of the decimal notation, children all over the world can now learn basic arithmetic
at an early age. This has been a major factor in the proletarisation of considerable scientific and
technical knowledge, earlier restricted only to a gifted few.
Numeral Notations

Indians, as early as 500 BCE, had devised a system of different symbols for
every number from one to nine. This notation system was adopted by the
Arabs who called it the hind numerals. Centuries later, this notation system
was adopted by the western world who called them the Arabic numerals as it
reached them through the Arab traders.

Fibbonacci Numbers
The Fibonacci numbers and their sequence first appear in Indian mathematics
as mātrāmeru, mentioned by Pingala in connection with the Sanskrit tradition
of prosody. Later on, the methods for the formation of these numbers were
given by mathematicians Virahanka, Gopala and Hemacandra , much before
the Italian mathematician Fibonacci introduced the fascinating sequence to
Western European mathematics.
An excerpt from a well researched book titled The “Venus Blueprint: Uncovering the
Ancient Science of Sacred Spaces” has illustrated it very well, and an excerpt of it (Page 50
to be precise) is presented below:
As we can see, Fibonacci Series & its extension i.e Pascal’s Triangle, were already described
by Pingala 2500 years ago as part of Chandas Shastra, with reference to Matra-Meru, & the
concept has been used by Sanskrit Poets for 2000+ years.

Not only by Sanskrit poets, but by Indian classical musicians (including Hindustani &
Carnatic forms) as well.
Binary Numbers
Binary numbers is the basic language in which computer programs are
written. Binary basically refers to a set of two numbers, 1 and 0,
the combinations of which are called bits and bytes. The binary number
system was first described by the Vedic scholar Pingala, in his
book Chandahśāstra, which is the earliest known Sanskrit treatise on prosody
( the study of poetic metres and verse).
Rishi Pingala (in Chandaḥśāstra 8.23) has assigned the following combinations of zero and one to
represent various numbers, much in the same way as the present day computer programming
procedures.

0 0 0 0 numerical value = 1

1 0 0 0 numerical value = 2

0 1 0 0 numerical value = 3

1 1 0 0 numerical value = 4

0 0 1 0 numerical value = 5

1 0 1 0 numerical value = 6

0 1 1 0 numerical value = 7

1 1 1 0 numerical value = 8

0 0 0 1 numerical value = 9

1 0 0 1 numerical value = 10

0 1 0 1 numerical value = 11

1 1 0 1 numerical value = 12

0 0 1 1 numerical value = 13

1 0 1 1 numerical value = 14

0 1 1 1 numerical value = 15

1 1 1 1 numerical value = 16
Rishi Pingala is credited with using binary numbers in the form of short and long syllables (the latter
equal in length to two short syllables), a notation similar to Morse code. Pingala used the Sanskrit
word śūnya explicitly to refer to zero.

Chakravala method of Algorithms

http://firstip.org/legendary-scientists/rishi-pingala-inventor-of-binary-numbers2nd-century-bc

The chakravala method is a cyclic algorithm to solve indeterminate quadratic

equations, including the Pell’s equation. This method for obtaining integer
solutions was developed by Brahmagupta, one of the well known
mathematicians of the 7th century CE. Another mathematician, Jayadeva later
generalized this method for a wider range of equations, which was
further refined by Bhāskara II in his Bijaganita treatise.

Ruler Measurements
Excavations at Harappans sites have yielded rulers or linear measures made
from ivory and shell. Marked out in minute subdivisions with amazing
accuracy, the calibrations correspond closely with the hasta increments of 1
3/8 inches, traditionally used in the ancient architecture of South
India. Ancient bricks found at the excavation sites have dimensions that
correspond to the units on these rulers.

A Theory of Atom
One of the notable scientists of the
ancient India was Kanad who is
said to have devised the atomic
theory centuries before John Dalton
was born. He speculated the
existence of anu or a small
indestructible particles, much like
an atom. He also stated
that anu can have two states —
absolute rest and a state of motion.
He further held that atoms of same substance combined with each other in a
specific and synchronized manner to produce dvyanuka (diatomic molecules)
and tryanuka(triatomic molecules).

Wootz Steel
A pioneering steel alloy matrix developed in India, Wootz steel is a crucible
steel characterized by a pattern of bands that was known in the ancient world
by many different names such as Ukku, Hindwani and Seric Iron. This steel
was used to make the famed Damascus swords of yore that could cleave a
free-falling silk scarf or a block of wood with the same ease. Produced by the
Tamils of the Chera Dynasty, the finest steel of the ancient world was made
by heating black magnetite ore in the presence of carbon in a sealed clay
crucible kept inside a charcoal furnace.
Smelting of Zinc
India was the first to smelt zinc by the distillation process, an advanced
technique derived from a long experience of ancient alchemy. The ancient
Persians had also attempted to reduce zinc oxide in an open furnace but had
failed. Zawar in the Tiri valley of Rajasthan is the world’s first known ancient
zinc smelting site. The distillation technique of zinc production goes back to
the 12th Century AD and is an important contribution of India to the world of
science.

Plastic Surgery
Written by Sushruta in 6th Century
BC, Sushruta Samhita is considered
to be one of the most
comprehensive textbooks on ancient
surgery. The text mentions various
illnesses, plants, preparations and
cures along with complex techniques
of plastic surgery. The Sushruta
Samhita ’s most well-known
contribution to plastic surgery is the
reconstruction of the nose, known also as rhinoplasty.

Cataract Surgery
The first cataract surgery is said to have been performed by the ancient Indian
physician Sushruta, way back in 6th century BCE. To remove the cataract
from the eyes, he used a curved needle, Jabamukhi Salaka, to loosen the
lens and push the cataract out of the field of vision. The eye would then be
bandaged for a few days till it healed completely. Sushruta’s surgical works
were later translated to Arabic language and through the Arabs, his works
were introduced to the West.

Ayurveda
Long before the birth of Hippocrates, Charaka authored a foundational
text, Charakasamhita, on the ancient science of Ayurveda. Referred to as the
Father of Indian Medicine,
Charaka was was the first physician to
present the concept of digestion,
metabolism and immunity in his book.
Charaka’s ancient manual on
preventive medicine remained a
standard work on the subject for two
millennia and was translated into many
foreign languages, including Arabic
and Latin.

Iron-Cased Rockets
The first iron-cased rockets were
developed in the 1780s by Tipu Sultan of
Mysore who successfully used these
rockets against the larger forces of the
British East India Company during the
Anglo-Mysore Wars. He crafted long iron
tubes, filled them with gunpowder and
fastened them to bamboo poles to create
the predecessor of the modern rocket.
With a range of about 2 km, these rockets were the best in the world at that
time and caused as much fear and confusion as damage. Due to them, the
British suffered one of their worst ever defeats in India at the hands of Tipu.