Famous mathematicians of India

The relationship between India and mathematics is not new. It goes back to the golden age between 1200 BC and 400 AD to 1200 AD when the great mathematicians of India made major contributions to the field. India has given the world the decimal system, zero, algebra, advanced trigonometry, negative numbers and much more. Mathematicians from a school in Kerala expanded trigonometry in the 15th century. This happened two centuries before the invention of calculations in Europe. The Veda texts of the Vedic period are also evidence of the use of numbers. The mathematics of the Vedic period found in most of the Vedic texts is traditional. Sanskrit is the main language in which mathematical work was done in ancient and medieval India. Not only this but the use of mathematics can also be seen in prehistoric times. Evidence of practical use of mathematics is also found in the excavations of Indus Valley Civilization such as Harappa and Mohenjo Daro. The decimal system was used in civilization for weight ratios such as 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500. They used the most stable dimensions of BRICS in the form of 4:2:1. We had many famous mathematicians in the Vedic period, the classical period from 400 to 1200 and modern India.

Aryabhata

Who would not have heard about Aryabhata, the famous mathematician of the Vedic era? He was born in 476 AD. His birthplace cannot be said with confidence, but it could be present-day Maharashtra or Dhaka.

He wrote Aryabhata which contains the basic principles of mathematics through 332 verses. If put in simple words, Aryabhata I have given us quadratic equations, trigonometry, sine table, cosine table, versine table, spherical trigonometry, astronomical constants, arithmetic, algebra etc.

He is the one who said that the Earth rotates on its own axis every day and not the Sun. He explained the concept of solar and lunar eclipses scientifically.

Pingla

Another popular mathematician who contributed greatly to the field of mathematics is Pingala. He wrote Chhanda Shastra in Sanskrit. He explained Pascal's triangle without the knowledge of Binomial Theorem.

Katyayan

Katyayana was the last mathematician of the Vedic period, and he wrote the Katyayana Sulabh Sutra. He explained the calculation of the square root of 2 to five correct decimal places. He made notable contributions to geometry and Pythagorean theory.

Jaidev

This famous mathematician of the ninth century developed the cyclic method which is known as 'Chakravala'.

Mahavira

This ninth century South Indian mathematician contributed greatly towards solving quadratic and cubic equations.

Brahmagupta

This Indian mathematician did very good astronomical work. He gave the Brahmagupta theorem and the Brahmagupta Sutra on which the popular Heran Sutra is based. Brahmagupta also gave four methods of multiplication.

Bhaskar I

He was the first mathematician in India who wrote numbers in decimal form in Hindu and Arabic style.

Bhaskaracharya

Do you know who said that if a number is divided by zero the result will be infinity? Yes, you are right. Bhaskaracharya, also known as Bhaskara II, had given this concept. He also explained about zero, permutation and combination and Surdus.

Bhaskaracharya also explained why the Earth appears flat, because one hundredth of its circle appears straight.

S Ramanujam

He is a very famous mathematician of modern India. His method of studying pi is a major contribution to mathematics.

Apart from these, there are many mathematicians of modern India who have contributed in this field. Like Thirukkanpuram Vijayaraghavan (1902-1955), Harish Chandra (1920-1983), MS Narasimhan born in 1932, VN Bhat (1938-2009), Amit Garg born in 1978, L Mahadevan etc.