Aryabhata Biography
Born: 476 CE, Kusumapura
(Pataliputra)
Died: 550 CE, India
Nationality: Indian
Books: Aryabhatiya
Main interests: Mathematics, Astronomy
Influenced: Lalla, Bhāskara I, Brahmagupta, Varāhamihira
Died: 550 CE, India
Nationality: Indian
Books: Aryabhatiya
Main interests: Mathematics, Astronomy
Influenced: Lalla, Bhāskara I, Brahmagupta, Varāhamihira
Aryabhata, a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer,
was born in 476 CE. His birthplace is believed to be Kusumapura or Pataliputra,
which is present-day Patna, Bihar. Although the cause of his death is unknown,
he passed away in 550 CE.
Indian mathematicians excelled for thousands of years, and eventually even
developed advanced techniques like Taylor series before Europeans did, but they
are denied credit because of Western ascendancy. Among the Hindu mathematicians,
Aryabhata was known as Arjehir by Arabs, may be most famous.
Direct details of Aryabhata's work are
known only from the Aryabhatiyam. The name "Aryabhatiyam"
is due to later commentators. Aryabhata himself may not have given it a name.
Aryabhata correctly insisted that the
earth rotates about its axis daily, and that the apparent movement of the stars
is a relative motion caused by the rotation of the earth, contrary to the
then-prevailing view, that the sky rotated. This is indicated in the
first chapter of the Aryabhatiyam, where he gives the number of rotations of the earth in
a yuga and made more explicit in his gola chapter.
Solar and lunar eclipses were
scientifically explained by Aryabhata. He states that the moon and planets shine by reflected sunlight. He
explains eclipses in terms of shadows cast by and falling on Earth. Thus,
the lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon enters into the Earth's shadow.
Aryabhata gave an approximate value of pi (π). He
stated that π = 62832/20000, which is approximately equal to
3.1416. He may have come to the conclusion that π is an irrational
number.
In the second part of the Aryabhatiyam, he wrote that
"Add four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add
62,000."
By this rule the circumference of a circle with a diameter of
20,000 can be calculated.
From the above rule,
the ratio of the circumference
to the diameter = ((4 + 100) × 8 + 62000)/20000
= 62832/20000 = 3.1416, which is correct to five significant figures.
Aryabhata’s Major Contributions to Mathematics
Aryabhata’s major contributions to mathematics are given below:
Approximation of π
Aryabhata was one of the first mathematicians to approximate the
value of π (pi), which is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
He calculated it as 3.1416, which is close to the modern value of π.
Concept of Zero and Place Value System
Aryabhata is credited with inventing the concept of
zero and the place value system. The introduction of zero as a number
revolutionized the field of mathematics and made it easier to perform
mathematical operations.
Cube Roots and Square Roots
Aryabhata also made contributions to the study of square roots
and cube roots. He provided methods for finding the square and cube roots of
numbers, which were significant advances in the field of mathematics.
Area of Triangle
Aryabhata made significant contributions to the field of
geometry, including the study of the area of triangles. He provided formulas
for calculating the area of triangles based on the lengths of their sides,
which have since become standard formulas used in geometry.
Trigonometry
Aryabhata was one of the first mathematicians to make major
contributions to the field of trigonometry. He provided a systematic approach
to the study of triangles and developed methods for calculating trigonometric
ratios, such as sine and cosine.
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