Our ancient scientists

India is the land of Science, Technology, Mathematics etc. Some of the Ancient Scientists who worked for the man kind are here.

3. Nagarjuna(931AD)wasbornatfortDaihak
inGujarat.
HiswritingsareRASARATNAKARA,
ayurvedic treatisesUTTARATANTRA,
AROGYAMANJARI, KAKSHAPUTATANTRA,
YOGASARA&YOGASTAK.
Inhistreatise,healsolistedtheapparturesthat
wasusedbyearlieralchemists,thepossibilityof
transmutationofbasemetalsintogold.
Tilltodaythesemethodsareusedto
manufactureimitationjewelry.

4. Aryabhatabelongtotheperiodof476-550AD.
OneofhismajorworkswasAryabhattiya
writtenin499AD.
Thebookdealtwithmanytopicslike
Astronomy, Spherical
Trigonometry,Arithmetic,Algebra&Plane
Trigonometry.
Aryabhata’scomputationoftheEarth’s
circumferenceas39,968.0582KMwasonly0.2%
smallerthantheactualvalue40,075.0167KM.
Thisapproximationwasasignificant
improvementoverthecomputationbyGreek’s
whosecalculationerroris5-10%.

5. Kanadabelongstotheperiodof600
BCE.
Hewasthefounderof“VAISHESHIK
DARSHAN” oneofthesixprinciple
philosophiesofIndia.
Hestatedthat“Everyobjectofcreation
ismadeofatomswhichinturnconnectwith
eachothertoformmolecules.”
Hisstatementusheredintheatomic
theoryforthefirsttimeeverinthe
world,nearly2500yearsbeforeJohn
Dalton.

6. Bhaskarawasbornin1114ADinVijayapura.
Hewrote
LilavationMathematics,
BijaganitaonAlgebra,
SiddhantaSiromanionMathematical
Astronomy,
VasanabhasyaofMitaksaraviewson
SiddhantaSiromani.
HegavethenumbersfromEka(1)toParardha
(10^17).
WheretheEnglishcouldcalculateuptomillions&
billions(10^9).

7. •Pingalapresentsthefirst
everknowndescriptionof
BinaryNumeralSystem.
•Hisdiscussionofthe
combinators of
meter,correspondstothe
binomialtheorem.
•Pingala’sworkalsocontains
thebasicideaofFibonacci
number(calledMaatraameru).

8. •Manavabelongedto750-690BC.
•Manava’s Sulabhasutra, like all the
Sulabhasutra’s,containedapproximateconstructionofcircles
fromrectangles&Squaresfromcircles.

9. •Katyayanabelongto3
rd
centuryBC.
•HedealtwiththeSulabhasutrascomposedofright
sidedtriangles,rectangles&Rhombuses.
•HistextonSulabhasutrasdealtwithgeometry,&
extendedthetreatmentofthePythagoreantheorem.

10. Charakathe“FatherofAnatomy”
wasof300BC.
Hewasthefirstphysicianto
presentthe concept of
digestion,metabolism&immunity.
Heknewthefundamentalsof
geneticslikesexdetermination&few
causesofgeneticdisorders.
Charakawroteabookcalled
CharakaSamhitawhichcontained
120Chapters.

11. •Baudhayana(800BC)wasnotedas
theearliestauthorofSulabhasutras.
•HisbookiscalledasBaudhayana
Sulabhasutras.
•TheknownPythagoreanTheoremis
believedtohavebeeninventedby
Baudhayana.
•Thistheoremisusedtocalculate
RightAngledTriangle.

12. •Aryabhata-II(around920AD)hadcomposed
Mahasiddhanta,abookonmathematicalastronomy.
•Itcontained18chapters.
•Thefirst12chapterscontainastronomy,thelongitudesof
planets,eclipsesofsun&moon,therising&settingof
planets.
•InMahasiddhantahegivesinabouttwentyversesdetailed
rulestosolveequationslikeby=ax+c.

13. •Paniniwasborninpresentday
Pakistan(nearRawalpindi).
•HewasaSanskritgrammarian
whogaveacomprehensive&
scientific theory of
Phonetics,Phonology&Morphology.
•AtreatisecalledAstadhyayiis
Panini’smajorwork.
•The construction of
sentences,compound nouns
etc.,explainedinamannersimilarto
modernworld.

14. •ThedharmasutraofApastamba(600BC)formsalarger
KalpasutraofApastamba.
•ThemathematicsgiveninSulabhasutrasistheretoenablethe
accurateconstructionofaltarsneededforsacrifice.
•ThegenerallinearequationissolvedintheApastamba
Sulabhasutra’s.
•Healsogivesremarkablyaccuratevaluefornamely
1+1/3+1/(3*4)-1/(3*4*34)whichgivesananswerupto5
decimalplacesexactly.

15. •Themathematicianwhofirstframedrulesofoperationforzerowas
Bramhagupta.
•Hewasthefounderofabranchofhighermathematicscalled
“NumericalAnalysis”.
•HedeclaredinhisbookBramhaguptasiddhantathatadditionor
subtractionofzerotoorfromanyquantity,negativeorpositivedoesn’t
affectit.
•Aboutgravitationhesaidthat“bodiesfalltowardsearthasitisthe
natureoftheearthtoattractbodies,justasitisthenatureofwaterto
flow.”

16. DivanjiVarahamihra(505-587AD)wrote
PanchasiddhatikaBrihatsamhitha.
Varahamihramade someimportant
mathematicaldiscoveries.
HisBrihatsamhithadiscussesthetopicslike
heavenlybodies,theirmoments &
conjunctions,meteorologicalphenomena.
Hisclaimthatplants&termitesserveas
indicatorsofgroundwaterisnowreceiving
attentioninscientificworld.

17. SageParasaraiscalledtheFatherof
Botany.
Heclassifiedfloweringplantsinto
variousfamilies2000yearsbefore
Linnaeus.
Parasaradescribedplantcells-inner&
outerwalls,sap-colormatterwhichnot
visibletothenakedeye.
Nearly3000yearsafterRobertHooke
usingamicroscopedescribedtheouter&
innerwalls&sapcolormaterial.

18. AcharyaKapila(Fatherof
Cosmology)wasthefounderof
SankhyaPhilosophy.
Hisextraordinary&extrasensory
perceptions,observations&revelation
onthesecretsofcreation,broughthim
therecognitionasFatherof
Cosmology.
Hispioneeringworkthrewlighton
thenature&principlesofultimate
Soul.

19. Susrutawasthefirstphysicianto
advocatewhatistodayknownas
“Caesarean”operation.
HewroteabookcalledSusrutaSamhita.
Ithasdescriptionof1120illness,700
medicinalplants,adetailedstudyon
Anatomy,64preparationsfrommineral
sources&57preparationsbasedonanimal
sources.
Hewasexpertinremovingurinary
stones,locating&treatingfractures&eye
operationsforcataract.

20. Patanjali(2
nd
CenturyBC)isthe
compileroftheYogaSutrasan
importantcollectionofaphorismson
Yogapractice.
Researchisinprogressin
laboratoriesallovertheworldtoprobe
furtherthemeritsofyoga.
WhatPatanjaliadvocatedseveral
centuriesisnowreceivingattentionit
deserves.