Who discovered zero
Aryabhata
Born: , probably in Ashmaka |
Died: (at age 74), location unknown |
Nationality: Indian |
Famous For: Early mathematician who calculated the value of pi |
Aryabhata () was an Indian mathematician and astronomer.
He is generally considered to have begun the line of great Indian astronomer-mathematicians that flourished during the countrys classical period. Several of his calculations showed remarkable accuracy for the era, with some remaining the best available for many centuries. He is sometimes referred to as Aryabhata I, since several later scientists of the same name also produced notable works.
Aryabhata’s Early Life
Aryabhata came from southern India, but his precise place of birth is not known.
Some authorities suggest that Kerala is the most likely location, while others believe that Dhaka or Maharashtra are more probable. It is, however, generally accepted that he studied at an advanced level in Kusumapura in modern-day Patna, where he remained for some years.
A contemporary poem places Aryabhata as the manager of a scientific institution; the precise nature of the body is not given, but there are grounds for suspecting that it may have been linked to the astronomical observatory that was maintained there by the University of Nalanda.
The Aryabhatiya
While studying at the university, Aryabhata produced the Aryabhatiya, his major work.
Short information about aryabhatta mathematician Aryabhata is known for one very great work and this would be the Aryabhatiya. The 3rd Pada is the Kalakriya Pada consisting of 25 verses, where using varying units of time the count of days, weeks and months. Historians cannot be completely sure when he was born, but one of his works notes it was written around 3, years into the Kali Yuga, so a rough estimation about the time in which he was born can be ascertained. Some authorities suggest that Kerala is the most likely location, while others believe that Dhaka or Maharashtra are more probable.Written at the age of just 23, it ranges widely across mathematics and astronomy, but is particularly notable for its calculations regarding planetary periods. The value given for the length of the Earths astronomical day differs from the true value by only a matter of minutes.
Aryabhata also worked out a value for pi that equates to , very close to the approximations still used today.
Using this value, he was able to calculate that the Earth had a circumference of 24, miles. This is correct to within %, and remained the best figure available well into medieval times.
While working on the calculation of pi, it is possible that Aryabhata may also have discovered that numbers irrationality.
Short information about aryabhatta mathematician images This statement was given claiming there were two scientists named Aryabhata who lived during the same period. Aryabhata is famous for being a mathematician, astronomer and scientist in the classical age. During the Islamic Golden Age, the Arabian translation was specifically influential. Eclipses Aryabhata explained lunar and solar eclipses with scientific experiments.The relevant text is inconclusive on this point, but if he did establish the irrational nature of pi, he beat the first European mathematicians to do this by many hundreds of years.
The Aryabhatiya also contains solid work regarding the solar system. It states correctly that the light cast by planets and the moon is caused by sunlight reflecting off their surfaces, and that all planets follow elliptical orbits.
Aryabhata was also able to describe accurately the processes that lead to both solar and lunar eclipses.
Aryabhata’s Legacy
For several hundred years after its authors death, the Aryabhatiya was unknown in the West, although its Arabic translation in the 9th century was of great use to the scientists of the Islamic Golden Age.
The book was eventually translated into Latin shortly after The mathematical ideas contained within it were quickly adopted by Europeans, especially those dealing with areas and volumes, and with finding cube and square roots.
However, Aryabhatas astronomical findings had less impact, and it was left to later men such as Copernicus and Galileo to bring about the Western astronomical revolution.
The first Indian artificial was named Aryabhata in his honor, as was a new university in the state of Bihar.