Science was not anathema to ancient Hindus. Hindu religion
always encouraged scientific spirit and this is the reason why Hinduism has
stood up to the challenges of modern science better than any other religion.
Here is a list of ancient Hindu scientists whose contribution to modern science
and mathematics can never be ignored.
Baudhayana –
Lived around 800 BC
Subject – Mathematics
Books – Sulbasutra – contains calculation of pi, Pythagoras theorem,
circling the square, square root of 2 etc
His contribution – calculating pi
Susruta –
Lived around 600 BC
Subject – Medicine – Surgery – Plastic Surgery – Rhinoplasty
Books – Susruta Samhita – mentions about over 1100 disease
including fevers of 26 types, 8 types of jaundice, 20 kind of urinary
complaints. More than 760 medicinal plants are recorded in the work.
His contribution – Father of plastic surgery.
Acharya Kanad –
Lived around 600 BC
His contribution – originated the idea of atom an
indestructible particle of matter (Paramanu or anu)
Acharya Charaka –
Lived around 300 BC
Subject – Ayurveda
Books – Charaka Samhita – the most ancient and authoritative
work on Ayurveda.
His contribution – First to discuss the role of digestion,
metabolism and immunity in maintaining good health.
Aryabhatta –
Lived around (476 – 550 AD)
Subject – Mathematics and Astronomy
Books – Aryabhattiya – summary of the mathematics of his
time.
His contribution –
Zero and place value system in Mathematics,
explanation of lunar eclipse and solar eclipse,
rotation of Earth on its axis,
reflection of light by moon,
sinusoidal functions,
solution of single variable quadratic equation,
value of π correct to 4 decimal places,
circumference of Earth to 99.8% accuracy,
calculation of the length of sidereal year
Varahamihira –
Lived around 6th
Century AD
Subject – Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrology
Books – Pancha-Siddhantika
Books – Pancha-Siddhantika
His contribution – A version of Pascal's triangle and worked
on magic squares.
Bhaskara I –
Lived around 7th
Century AD
Subject – Mathematics and Astronomy
Books – Aryabhaitiyabhasya
His contribution – Gave a unique and remarkable rational approximation
of the sine function
Representation of numbers in a positional system.
Brahmaguta –
Lived around 7th Century AD
Subject – Mathematics and Astronomy
Books – Sulbasutra – contains calculation of pi, Pythagoras theorem,
circling the square, square root of 2 etc
His contribution – Rules to compute with zero
Solution to linear equation and general quadratic equation
Formula for cyclic quadrilaterals.
Lalla –
Lived around 750 AD
Subject – Mathematics and Astronomy
Books – Shishyadhividdhidatantra
His contribution – Application of mathematics to astronomy
Find out more about Lalla
Sridhara –
Lived around 9th century AD
Subject –
Mathematics
Books – Ganitasara
and Ganitapanchavimashi
His contribution – first to give a formula for solving
quadratic equations.
Bhaskara II –
Bhaskaracharya
Lived in 12th Century AD
Subject – Mathematics and Astronomy
Books – Siddhanta Shiromani,
His contribution – Discovery of the principles of
differential calculus and its application to astronomical problems and
computations.
Find out more about Bhaskara II
Madhava –
Lived (1350
AD to 1425 AD)
Subject – Mathematics
His contribution - Important advances in infinite series
including finding the expansions for trigonometric functions.
Chitrabhanu –
Lived during the 16th century
Subject – Mathematics
His contribution - Gave integer solutions to twenty-one
types of systems of two algebraic equations.