Indian History: GENERAL
PREVIEW OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING & EDUCATION
SCINECE & TECHNOLOGY
Knowledge of science and technology, however, got linked with
religionand social relations. Relying primarily on pragmatism some intellectuals
in India acquired intuitive awarness of scientific temper. In view of absence of
experiment, some insights became ridiculous.
Knowledge of science was known from very ancient times,
although science, as we know today, was not known in India till modern times.
The archaeological remains of the Indus Valley reveal knowledge of applied
sciences. Scientific techniques were used in irrigation, Metallurgy, making of
fired bricks and pottery, and simple recknowing and measurement of areas and
volumes.
It contrast more is know about Aryan achievements in the
field of astronomy, mathamatcis and medicine. Chinese records indicate knowledge
of a dozen books of Indian origin. Brahmagupta's Sidhanta as well as Charaka's
and Susrata's Samhitas were translated int Arabic in the 9th or 10th centuries
A.D.
In ancient Indian mathematics was known by the general name of ganita, which
included arthimatcs, geometry, algebra, astronomy and astrology. It was
Aryabhata, who gave a new direction to trigonometry. The decimal system too was
an innovation of India.
By the third century B.C. mathematics, astronomy and medicine
began to develop separately. In the fielf of mathematics ancient Indians made
three distinct contributions, the notation system, the decimal system and the
use of zero. The earliest epigraphic evidence of the use of decimal system
belongs to the fifth century A.D. Before these numerals appeared in the West
they had been used in India for centuries. They are found in the inscriptions of
Ashoka in the third century B.C.
Indians were the first to use the decimal system. The famous mathematics
Aryabhata. (A.D. 476-500) was acquinated with it. The Chinese learnt this system
from the Buddhist missionaries, and the western world borrowed it from the
Arabas when they came incontact with India. Zero was discovered by Indians
inabout the second century B.C. From the very beginning Indian mathematicians
considered zero as a separate numeral, and it was used in this sense in
arithmatics. In Arabia the earliest use of zero appears in A.D. 873. The Arabs
learnt and adopted it from India and spread it in Europe. So far as Algebra is
concerned both Indians and Greeks contributed to it, but in Western Europe its
knowledge was borrowed not from Greece but from the Arabs who had acquired it
from India.
In the second century B.C. Apastemba contributed to practical
geometry for the construction of altars on which the kings could offer
sacrifices. It describes acute angle, obtuse angle, right angle etc. Aryabhata
formulated the rule for finding the area of a trinangle, which led to the origin
of trigonometry. The most famous work of his time is the Suryasiddanta the like
of which was not found in Contemporary ancient east.
During the Gupta period mathematics was developed to such an
extent and more advanced than any other nation of antiquity. Quite early India
devised a rudimentary algebra which led to more calculations than were possible
for the Greeks and led to the study of number for its own sake. The earliest
inscription regarding the data by a system of nine digits and a zero is dated as
595 A.D. Evidently the system was known tomathematicians some centuries before
it was employed in inscriptions. Indian mathematicians such as Brahmagupta (7th
century), Mahavira (9th century) and Bhaskara (12th century) made several
discoveries which were known to Europe only after Renaissance. The understood
the importance of positive and negative quantities, evolved sound system of
estracting squares and cube roots and could solve quadratic and certaint types
of indeterminate equations. Aryabhata gave approximate value of pie. It was more
accurate than that of the Greeks. Also some strides were made in trigonometry,
ephrical geometry and calculus. Chiefly in astronomy the mathematical
implications of zero and infnity were fully realized unlike anywhere in the
world.
Amont the various branches of mathematics, Hindus gave
astronomy the highest place of honour. Suryasidhanta is the best know book on
Hindu astronomy. The text was later modeified two or three times between 500
A.D. and 1500 A.D. The system laid down in the book can even now be used to
predict eclipse within an error of two or three hours.
The most renowed scholars of astronomy were Aryabhata and
Varhamihira. Aryabhata belonged to the fifth century, and Varahamihira to the
sixth. Aryabhata calculated the position of the planets according to the
Babylonian method. He discovered the cause of lunar and solar eclipses. The
circumstances of the earth which he measured on the basis of the speculation is
considered to be correct even now. He pointed out that the sun is stationary and
the earth rotates around it. The book of Aryabhata is the Aryabhatiya.
Varhimihira's well-known work is called Brihatsamhita which belongs to the sixth
century A.D. Varhaihira stated that the moon rotates around the earth and the
earth rotates around the earth rotates around the sun. He utilized several Greek
works to explain the movement of the plantes and some other astronomical
problems. Although Greek knowledge influenced Indian astronomy, there is no
doubt that Indian pursued the subject further and made use of it in their
ovservations of the planets.
Aryabhata wrote a book when he was barely 23 years.
Varhmihira of the sixth century wrote a summary of five asronomical books
current wrote a summary of five astronomical books current in his time.
Brahamagupta of the seventh century A.D. appreciated the value of observation
and astronomy and his book was translated into Arabic. One last great scientist
was Bhaskara II. One of the chapters in the book Sidhanta Shiromani, dealing
with mathematics, is the well-known work of Lilavait.
Nevertheless, Indian viws on the origina and evolution of the
universe was matter of religion rather than of science. The cosmic schemes of
Hindus and Jains in fundamentals were the same. All postulated a flat earth
although Indian astronomers came to know that this was incorrect early in the
Christian era. The idea of flat such remained for religious pruposes.
Regarding astronomy proper it was studied as a Vedanta. Its
name was Jyotisa. A rimitive kind of astronomy was developed mainly for the
purpose of settling the dates and times at which periodical sacrifices were to
be performed. Serverall Greek words gained momentum in sankrit through knowledge
of Greek astronomy. The sixth century astronomer Varahamihira called one of his
five astronomical systems as Romaka Sidhanta. It is only western astronomy that
introduced in Indian the sign of the Zodaic. The seven-day week, the hour, and
several other ideas. Later, Indian astronomers made some advances on the
knowledge of the Greeks and passed on their knowledge with that of mathematics
via the Arabs to Europe. As early as seventh century, a Syrian astronomer knew
