Ancient Indian Mathematics Essay Example for Free

antique Indian Mathematics EssayThere are opposing views prevalent regarding the prominence of math in ancient India. One, there are those who make excessive claims for the antiquity of Indian mathematics with the motive of evince the uniqueness of Indian mathematical achievements. Whereas, the other conflicting views denies the existence of any real Indian mathematics before A. D. 500. This view is the result of deeply entrenched Euro centrism that does not negotiate with the idea of free lance developments in advance(prenominal) Indian mathematics.Whereas mathematics grew out of philosophy in ancient Greece, it was an burden of linguistic developments in India. In fact the algebraic character of ancient Indian mathematics is but a byproduct of the well-established linguistic tradition of representing human activitys by words. ? Around 800 B. C. Vedic mathematics declined and Jains School of mathematics gradually which was to do notable work in the field. ? From about 20 0 B. C. was intent of instability and atomisation due to foreign invasions but also of useful cross cultural contacts.Probably the only darn of existing mathematical evidence from this period is the Bakhshali manuscript. ? This period ranges from 3rd to 12th centuries and is referred to as the classical period of Indian civilization. Mathematical activities reached a climax with the appearance of the famous quartet Brahmagupta, Mahvika and Bhaskracharya. Indian work on uranology and mathematics spread westward, reaching the Islamic world where it was absorbed, refined and augmented before existence transmitted to europium. This last period described as the medieval period of Indian report, saw the migration of astronomy and mathematics from the north to south. Particularly in present day state of Kerala, this was a period tag by remarkable studies of infinite series and mathematical analysis that predated alike(p) works in Europe by about third hundred years. Harappan soci ety was a highly organized society. There is either possibility that the town dwellers were skilled in mensuration and practical arithmetic of a bid similar to what was practiced in Egypt and Mesopotamia.Archaeological findings from that period provide the following indications of the numerate close of that society ? It shows unity of weights over such a wide area and time which is quite unusual in the history of metrology. Taking 27. 584 grams as a standard, representing 1, the other weights form a series of 0. 05, 0. 1, 0. 2, 0. 5, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500. Such normalisation and durability is a strong indication of a numerate culture with wellestablished, centralized brass of weights and measures. Scales and instruments for bar length have also been discovered with remarkably high accuracy. A notable feature of Harappan culture was its extensive use of kiln-fired bricks and the advanced level of its brick-making technology. These bricks are exceptionally well bake d and of excellent shade and may still be employ over and over again provided some care is interpreted in removing them in the first place. Fifteen different sizes of Harappan bricks have been identified with standard ratio of the three dimensions as 421.It was thought until recently that from them evolved first the Bakhshali Number system and then the Gwalior system which is recognizably close to our present day number system. In both Bakshati and Gwalior number systems, ten symbols were used to represent 1 to 9 and zero. With them it became possible to express any number, irrespective of its largeness, by a quantitative place value system. Long lists of number- names for powers of 10 are found in various early sources. In the Ramayana, it is reported that Rama had an army of 1010 +1014 +1020 +1024 +1030 +1034 +1040 +1044 +1052 +1057 +1062 +5 men.The very existence of names for powers of ten up to sixty two indicates that the Vedic Indians were quite at home with very large num bers. This is to be compared with ancient Greeks, who had no words for numbers above the myriad (104). The Jains who came after the Vedic Indians were particularly fascinated by unconstipated larger numbers which were intimately tied up with their philosophy of time and space. For units of measuring time, the Jains suggested following family 1 purvis = 756 * 1011 days 1 shirsa prahelika = (8,400,000)28 purvis The last number contains 194 digitsThe word numeral system was the logical outcome of proceeding by the multiples of 10. Such a system presupposes a scientifically based vocabulary of number names in which the principles of addition, subtraction and multiplication are used. Due to oral mode of preserving and disseminating knowledge, the wordnumeral system persisted in India. As a replacement to this, a new concrete system was devised to help versification and memory, known as bhutasamkhya, wherein numbers were indicated by well-known objects or ideas.