Built in the 18th century, Jantar Mantar observatory in New Delhi is home to 13 astronomical instruments—the culmination of mathematical achievements spanning millennia, as you’ll discover during Heart of India.
"We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."
― Albert Einstein
Millennia before mathematics as we know it even existed, civilizations in the Indus Valley—now home to the Indian subcontinent—used numeric concepts to improve efficiencies in everyday life. As early as 3,000 BC, the Harappan civilization developed a standardized system of weights and measurements to make bricks for construction. Centuries later, following the Harappans’ decline, ancient Vedic texts known as the Sulbasutras described the geometric construction of religious fire-altars. The rules expanded upon the measuring techniques used in ancient brickmaking to create precise shapes associated with gifts from the gods.
These early mathematic contributions were very practical in nature, developed by priests and scholars. But by the third century BC, India turned to studying numbers for numbers’ sake—thus pioneering modern mathematics. Even the most basic concept of so-called Arabic numerals—a set of ten symbols with assigned values—evolved from ancient Indian Brahmi numerals. Why, then, do we think of Newton or Pythagoras before Bhaskara or Brahmagupta? Indeed, many advancements "discovered" by European mathematicians could be more accurately described as "rediscovered," having been pioneered in India centuries before.
Today, Indian scholars are at the forefront of every branch of mathematics, continuing a centuries-long tradition of achievement in the field. Here’s a look at how it began:
- Vedic literature introduced many of the roots of modern math 4,000 years ago, and the first math textbooks appeared as early as 1,000 BC.
- India is the birthplace of the use of zero, the decimal system, square roots and cube roots, and basic algebra.
- Indian mathematician Brahmagupta developed rules for negative numbers, framing them around the concept of debt. His European counterparts, however, rejected the idea, which held back their advancement for years.
- Geometrical equations appear on ancient temple walls and were outlined in more detail in a 5th century textbook.
- In the 12th century, an Indian scholar first referred to differential calculus, which appeared in book form two centuries later, and would not be replicated in England until the 17th century.
- Indian astrologers were the first to determine Earth's circumference, to argue that the sun was a star, and that the planets that orbited this star comprised a solar system; they were also the first to posit a theory of gravity.
- In some of the earliest writings in Sanskrit, the philosophers argued that all physical elements of life were common of tiny particles and the particles could be split, but only to a finite point, upon which their energy would be released; this presaged the eventual discovery of atoms.
- In roughly 800 BC, Indian physician Shushruta-Samahita published the first surgical compendium covering multiple kinds of procedures from organ removal to cataract surgery to what we now call plastic surgery.
- Mariners have India to thank for the first nautical compass, a fish-shaped magnet that floated on the surface of oil. For centuries, it was simply called "the fish machine," a prosaic name for a profound advance.
Learn about India’s significant contributions to math, science, and engineering during Heart of India.
