The Importance and Role of India in Maths by Saajid Khan (7W)
Some of the greatest breakthroughs and mathematicians have come from India, for example, π, the first ever usage of zero, trigonometry, linear and quadratic equations, sine tables and many, many, more.
Chants from the early Vedic period (before 1000 BC) made numbers from tens to hundreds to trillions and they also made some operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, squares, cubes and roots. A 4th Century AD Sanskrit text says that the Buddha counting numbers up to 10 53 . As there are about 10 80 atoms in the whole universe, this is as close to infinity as anyone in the world came to. It also shown
that the size of an atom, which comes incredibly close to the actual size of a carbon atom (about 70 trillionths of a metre). As early as the 8th Century BC (long before Pythagoras) a text known as the ‘Sulba Sutras’ listed some simple Pythagorean triples. The Sulba Sutras also contain solutions of linear and quadratic equations (Extremely complicated!) and give a remarkably accurate figure for the square root of 2, founded by adding 1 + 1 ⁄ 3 + 1 ⁄ (3 x 4) - 1 ⁄ (3 x 4 x 34)
, which is a value of 1.4142156, to 5 decimal
The evolution of Hindu-Arabic numerals.
places.
In the early 3rd or 2nd century BC, Jain (believers of Jainism,) mathematicians recognized five different types of infinities: infinite in one direction, in two directions, in area, infinite everywhere and continuously infinite. Ancient Buddhist literature demonstrates an awareness of unknown and infinite numbers, with numbers said to be of three types: countable, uncountable and infinite.
Like the Chinese, the Indians early discovered the benefits of a decimal place value number system, and were using it before about the 3rd Century AD. They perfected the system, especially the written symbol of the numerals. The Indians were also responsible for the first usage of a circle. The character for the number zero is usually credited to a 9th Century AD engraving in a temple in
Gwalior (Central India.) The use of zero as a number which could be used in calculations and mathematical investigations would revolutionize mathematics.
The earliest use of a circle character for the number zero was in India.
Brahmagupta (a famous Indian mathematician) recognized the basic mathematical rules for dealing with zero: 1 + 0 = 1; 1 - 0 = 1; and 1 x 0 = 0). He also established rules for dealing with negative numbers, and
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