Great Indian Scientists From Ancient to Modern Ages - PART 1

Tweet

I am feeling very proud as an Indian to publish this article. Our India has many great scientist in thousands of years before and they were invented all most all the latest technologies in these days, but many facts were disappeared because of some rude principles in Hinduism, Religious crusades and British ruling in India.

I am just trying to give our scientists list from ancient to modern ages.

Note: Here "BCE" means "Before Common era" or "christian Era".
"CE" means "Common era" or "Christian Era"
Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE these
dates will be in descending order.
CE dates will be in ascending order.

ACHARYA KANADA ( 3000 B.C. to 1000 B.C or 6th Century BCE) 
Expertise : Atomic Theary

ACHARYA KANADA was a Hindu sage and philosopher. He probably lived around the 2nd century BCE, while other sources claim he lived in the 6th Century BC. But some sources are saying that he belongs to the age of 600BCE.

Many believe that Kanada originated the concept of atom. An interesting story states that this theory occurred to him while he was walking with food in his hand. As he nibbled at the food in his hand, throwing away the small particles, it occurred to him that he could not divide the food into further parts and thus the idea of a matter which cannot be divided further came into existence. He called that indivisible matter as ' Anu ' .i.e. atom. Adherents of the school of philosophy founded by Kanada considered the atom to be indestructible, and hence eternal. They believed atoms to be minute objects invisible to the naked eye which come into being and vanish in an instant. This Indian concept of the atom was developed independently and possibly prior (depending on which dates one accepts for the life of Kanada) to the development of the idea in the Greco-Roman world. Indian theories about the atom are greatly abstract and enmeshed in philosophy as they were based on logic and not on personal experience or experimentation.
According to author Dilip M. Salwi, "if Kanada’s sutras are analysed, one would find that his atomic theory was far more advanced than those forwarded later by the Greek philosophers, Leucippus and Democritus."

ACHARYA CHARAK (3rd to 2nd century BCE) Expertise: Medicine

Acharya Charak has been crowned as the Father of Medicine. His renowned work, the "Charak Samhita", is considered as an encyclopedia of Ayurveda. His principles, diagoneses, and cures retain their potency and truth even after a couple of millennia. When the science of anatomy was confused with different theories in Europe, Acharya Charak revealed through his innate genius and enquiries the facts on human anatomy, embryology, pharmacology, blood circulation and diseases like diabetes, tuberculosis, heart disease, etc. In the "CharakSamhita" he has described the medicinal qualities and functions of 100,000 herbal plants. He has emphasized the influence of diet and activity on mind and body. He has proved the correlation of spirituality and physical health contributed greatly to diagnostic and curative sciences. He has also prescribed
and ethical charter for medical practitioners two centuries prior to the Hippocratic oath. Through his genius and intuition, Acharya Charak made landmark contributions to Ayurvedal. He forever remains etched in the annals of history as one of the greatest and noblest of rishi-scientists.

Image Source: pharmacy-technician.net

ACHARYA SUSHRUTA (600 BCE) 
Expertise: Medicine & Plastic Surgery

A genius who has been glowingly recognized in the annals of medical science. Born to sage Vishwamitra, Acharya Sudhrut details the first ever surgery procedures in "Sushrut Samhita" a unique encyclopedia of surgery. He is venerated as the father of plastic surgery and the science of anesthesia. When surgery was in its infancy in Europe, Sushrut was performing Rhinoplasty (restoration of a damaged nose) and other challenging operations. In the "Sushrut Samhita," he prescribes treatment for twelve types of fractures and six types of dislocations. His details on human embryology are simply amazing. Sushrut used 125 types of surgical instruments including scalpels, lancets, needles, Cathers and rectal speculums; mostly designed from the jaws of animals and birds. He has also described a number of stitching methods; the use of horse's hair as thread and fibers of bark. In the "Sushrut Samhita," and fibers of bark. In the "Sushrut Samhita," he details 300 types of operations. The ancient Indians were the pioneers in amputation, caesarian and cranial surgeries. Acharya Sushrut was a giant in the arena of medical science.

Sushruta lays down the basic principles of plastic surgery by advocating a proper physiotherapy before the operation and describes various methods or different types of defects, viz., (1) release of the skin for covering small defects, (2) rotation of the flaps to make up for the partial loss and (3) pedicle flaps for covering complete loss of skin from an area. He has mentioned various methods including sliding graft, rotation graft and pedicle graft. Nasal repair or rhinoplasty has been described in greater detail, which to this day has stood the test of time and is mentioned as the Indian method of rhinoplasty in the books of plastic surgery. Lastly, labioplasty too has received his attention. In short, all the principles of plastic surgery, viz., accuracy, precision, economy, haemostasis and perfection find an important place in Sushruta's writings on this subject.

Baudhayana (800 BC - 740 BC)

Expertise:  Mathematics

Baudhayana was the author of one of the earliest Sulbasutras: documents containing some of the earliest Indian  mathematics. He belongs to the age of 800BC - 740BC.

He wrote the Sulbasutra to provide  rules for religious rites and it would appear an almost certainty that Baudhayana himself would be a Vedic priest. The mathematics given in the Sulbasutras is there to enable the accurate construction of altars needed for sacrifices. It  is clear from the writing that Baudhayana, as well as being a priest, must have been a skilled craftsman. He must have  been himself skilled in the practical use of the mathematics he described as a craftsman who himself constructed  sacrificial altars of the highest quality.

The Sulbasutra of Baudhayana contains geometric solutions (but not algebraic ones) of a linear equation in a single unknown. Quadratic equations of the forms ax² = c and ax² + bx = c appear.

Several values of π occur in Baudhayana's Sulbasutra since when giving different constructions Baudhayana uses different approximations for constructing circular shapes. Constructions are given which are equivalent to taking π equal to
 ⁶⁷⁶/₂₂₅ (where ⁶⁷⁶/₂₂₅ =3.004), ⁹⁰⁰/₂₈₉ (where ⁹⁰⁰/₂₈₉ =3.114)and to ¹¹⁵⁶/₃₆₁ (where ¹¹⁵⁶/₃₆₁ = 3.202).
None of these is particularly accurate but, in the context of constructing altars they would not lead to noticeable errors. An interesting, and quite accurate, approximate value for √2 is given in Chapter 1 verse 61 of Baudhayana's Sulbasutra. The Sanskrit text gives in words what we would write in symbols as

√2 = 1 + ¹/₃ + ¹/_(3×4) - ¹/_(3×4×34)= ⁵⁷⁷/₄₀₈

which is, to nine places, 1.414215686. This gives √2 correct to five decimal places. This is surprising since, as we mentioned above, great mathematical accuracy did not seem necessary for the building work described. If the approximation was given as

√2 = 1 + ¹/₃ + ¹/_(3×4)

then the error is of the order of 0.002 which is still more accurate than any of the values of π. Why then did Baudhayana feel that he had to go for a better approximation?

Manava (750BC - 690 BC)

Expertise:  Mathematics

Manava was the author of one of the Sulbasutras: documents containing some of the earliest Indian mathematics. He belongs  to the age of 750BC - 690 BC.

Manava was the author of one of the Sulbasutras. Manava's Sulbasutra, like all the Sulbasutras, contained approximate constructions of circles from rectangles, and squares from circles, which can be thought of as giving approximate values of π. There appear therefore different values of π throughout the Sulbasutra, essentially every construction involving circles leads to a different such approximation. Manava's work which give π = 25/8 = 3.125.

Apastamba (600 BC - 540 BC)

Expertise:  Mathematics

Apastamba was the author of one of the most interesting of the Indian Sulbasutras from a mathematical point of view. He belongs to the age of 600BC.

The general linear equation was solved in the Apastamba's Sulbasutra. He also gives a remarkably accurate value for √2 namely

1 + ¹/₃ + ¹/_(3×4) - ¹/_(3×4×34).

which gives an answer correct to five decimal places. As well as the problem of squaring the circle, Apastamba considers the problem of dividing a segment into 7 equal parts.

Panini (520 BC - 460 BC)

Expertise:  phonetics, phonology, morphology

Panini was a Sanskrit grammarian who gave a comprehensive and scientific theory of phonetics, phonology, and morphology. He belongs to the age of 520 BC. Panini was born in Shalatula, a town near to Attock on the Indus river in present day Pakistan.

Sanskrit was the classical literary language of the Indian Hindus and Panini is considered the founder of the language and literature. It is interesting to note that the word "Sanskrit" means "complete" or "perfect" and it was thought of as the divine language, or language of the gods.

A treatise called Astadhyayi (or Astaka ) is Panini's major work. It consists of eight chapters, each subdivided into quarter chapters. In this work Panini distinguishes between the language of sacred texts and the usual language of communication. Panini gives formal production rules and definitions to describe Sanskrit grammar. Starting with about 1700 basic elements like nouns, verbs, vowels, consonants he put them into classes. The construction of sentences, compound nouns etc. is explained as ordered rules operating on underlying structures in a manner similar to modern theory.In many ways Panini's constructions are similar to the way that a mathematical function is defined today.

Panini should be thought of as the forerunner of the modern formal language theory used to specify computer languages. The Backus Normal Form was discovered independently by John Backus in 1959, but Panini's notation is equivalent in its power to that of Backus and has many similar properties. It is remarkable to think that concepts which are fundamental to today's theoretical computer science should have their origin with an Indian genius around 2500 years ago.

At the beginning of this article we mentioned that certain concepts had been attributed to Panini by certain historians which others dispute. One such theory was put forward by B Indraji in 1876. He claimed that the Brahmi numerals developed out of using letters or syllables as numerals. Then he put the finishing touches to the theory by suggesting that Panini in the eighth century BC (earlier than most historians place Panini) was the first to come up with the idea of using letters of the alphabet to represent numbers.

There are a number of pieces of evidence to support Indraji's theory that the Brahmi numerals developed from letters or syllables. However it is not totally convincing since, to quote one example, the symbols for 1, 2 and 3 clearly do not come from letters but from one, two and three lines respectively. Even if one accepts the
link between the numerals and the letters, making Panini the originator of this idea would seem to have no more behind it than knowing that Panini was one of the most innovative geniuses that world has known so it is not unreasonable to believe that he might have made this step too.

There are other works which are closely associated with the Astadhyayi which some historians attribute to Panini, others attribute to authors before Panini, others attribute to authors after Panini. This is an area where there are many theories but few, if any, hard facts.

We also promised to return to a discussion of Panini's dates. There has been no lack of work on this topic so the fact that there are theories which span several hundreds of years is not the result of lack of effort, rather an indication of the difficulty of the topic. The usual way to date such texts would be to examine which authors are referred to and which authors refer to the work. One can use this technique and see who Panini mentions.

There are ten scholars mentioned by Panini and we must assume from the context that these ten have all contributed to the study of Sanskrit grammar. This in itself, of course, indicates that Panini was not a solitary genius but, like Newton, had "stood on the shoulders of giants". Panini must have lived later than these ten but this is absolutely no help in providing dates since we have absolutely no knowledge of when any of these ten lived.

What other internal evidence is there to use? Well of course Panini uses many phrases to illustrate his grammar any these have been examined meticulously to see if anything is contained there to indicate a date. To give an example of what we mean: if we were to pick up a text which contained as an example "I take the train to work every day" we would know that it had to have been written after railways became common. Let us illustrate with two actual examples from the Astadhyayi which have been the subject of much study. The first is an attempt to see whether there is evidence of Greek influence. Would it be possible to find evidence which would mean that the text had to have been written after the conquests of Alexander the Great? There is a little evidence of Greek influence, but there was Greek influence on this north east part of the Indian subcontinent before the time of Alexander. Nothing conclusive has been identified.

Another angle is to examine a reference Panini makes to nuns. Some argue that these must be Buddhist nuns and therefore the work must have been written after Buddha.A nice argument but there is a counter argument which says that there were Jaina nuns before the time of Buddha and Panini's reference could equally well be
to them. Again the evidence is inconclusive.

There are references by others to Panini. However it would appear that the Panini to whom most refer is a poet and although some argue that these are the same person, most historians agree that the linguist and the poet are two different people. Again this is inconclusive evidence.

Katyayana (200BC)
Expertise:  Mathematics
He is the one of the Indian mathematician who belongs to the age of 200BC

ARYABHATT (476 CE)
Expertise: ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN 
AryaBhatt was the first indian Mathematician and Astronomer. He belongs to the age of 476CE-550CE. He did the tremendous works in Mathematics and Astronomy. His works and achievements are given below.
His works in Mathematics

• Place value system and zero
• Pi as irrational
• Mensuration and trigonometry
• Indeterminate equations
• Algebra

His works in Astronomy

• Motions of the solar system
• Eclipses
• Sidereal periods
• Heliocentrism

Aryabhatta's work was of great influence in the Indian astronomical tradition and influenced several neighbouring cultures through translations. The Arabic translation during the Islamic Golden Age (ca. 820 CE), was particularly influential. Some of his results are cited by Al-Khwarizmi and in the 10th century Al-Biruni stated that Aryabhata's followers believed that the Earth rotated on its axis.

Varahamihira (505 CE- 587 CE)
Expertise: ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN

Daivajna Varāhamihira is well known as Varaha, or  Mihira was an Indian astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer who lived in Ujjain. He belongs to the age of 505 CE – 587 CE. He wrote two books called "Pancha-Siddhantika" and "Brihat-Samhita".

"Pancha-Siddhantika" gives us information about older Indian texts which are now lost. This work mainly deals with the mathematical astronomy and it summarises five earlier astronomical treatises, namely the Surya Siddhanta, Romaka Siddhanta, Paulisa Siddhanta, Vasishtha Siddhanta and Paitamaha Siddhantas.

The Romaka Siddhanta ("Doctrine of the Romans") and the Paulisa Siddhanta ("Doctrine of Paul") were two works of Western origin which influenced Varahamihira's thought. Though this view is controversial as there is much evidence to suggest that it was actually Vedic thought indigenous to India which actually first influenced Western astrologers and subsequently came back to India reformulated.

A comment in the Brihat-Samhita by Varahamihira says: "The Greeks, though foreign, must be honored since they were trained in sciences and therein, excelled others....." ("mleccha hi yavanah tesu samyak shastram kdamsthitam/ rsivat te 'p i pujyante kim punar daivavid dvijah" (Brihat-Samhita 2.15))

Brahmagupta (598CE - 668CE)
Expertise: ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN

Brahmagupta was an Indian Mathematician and Astronomer. he belongs to the age of 598 CE- 668CE. he wrote some important works on Mathematics and astronomy. Brahmasphutasiddhanta is the tremendes work written by him in the year 628 BC. This Brahmasphutasiddhanta contains some remarkable advanced ideas, including a good understanding of the mathematical role of zero, rules for manipulating both negative and positive numbers, a method of computing square root, methods of solving linear and some quadratic equations, and rules for summing series, Brahmagupta's Identity and the Brahmaguota's theorem.

Brhmasphuta-siddhanta is one of the first mathematical books to provide concrete ideas on positive numbers, negative numbers, and zero. He wrote the following rules:

1. The sum of two positive quantities is positive
2. The sum of two negative quantities is negative
3. The sum of zero and a negative number is negative
4. The sum of zero and a positive number is positive
5. The sum of zero and zero is zero.
6. The sum of a positive and a negative is their difference; or, if they are equal,
   zero
7. In subtraction, the less is to be taken from the greater, positive from positive
8. In subtraction, the less is to be taken from the greater, negative from negative
9. When the greater however, is subtracted from the less, the difference is reversed
10. When positive is to be subtracted from negative, and negative from positive, they
    must be added together
11. The product of a negative quantity and a positive quantity is negative
12. The product of a negative quantity and a negative quantity is positive
13. The product of two positive, is positive.
14. Positive divided by positive or negative by negative is positive
15. Positive divided by negative is negative. Negative divided by positive is negative
16. A positive or negative number when divided by zero is a fraction with the zero as
    denominator
17. Zero divided by a negative or positive number is either zero or is expressed as
    a fraction with zero as numerator and the finite quantity as denominator
18. Zero divided by zero is zero

Bhaskara I (600 CE - 680 CE)
Expertise: ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN

Bhaskara I is a Indian mathematician and he belongs to the age of 600 CE - 680 CE. He is the first to write numbers in the Hindu-Arabic decimal system with a circle for the zero, and who gave a unique and remarkable rational approximation of the sine function in his commentary on Aryabhata's work. Bhaskara's probably most important mathematical contribution concerns the representation of numbers in a positional system.

NAGARJUNA (931 CE)
Expertise: chemistry and metallurgy

He was an extraordinary wizard of science born in the nondescript village of Baluka in Madhya Pradesh. His dedicated research for twelve years produced maiden discoveries and inventions in the faculties of chemistry and metallurgy. Textual masterpieces like "Ras Ratnakar", "Rashrudaya" and "Rasendramangal" are his renowned contributions to the science of chemistry. Where the medieval alchemists of England failed, Nagarjuna had discovered the alchemy of transmuting base metals into gold. As the author of medical books like "Arogyamanjari" and "Yogasar", he also made significant contributions to the field of curative medicine. Because of his profound scholarliness and versatile knowledge, he was appointed as Chancellor of the famous University of Nalanda. Nagarjuna's milestone discoveries impress and astonish the scientists of today.

BHASKARACHARYA II (1114 CE - 1183 CE) 
Expertise: ASTRONOMER AND MATHEMATICIAN

BHASKARACHARYA is also known as Bhaskara II is also a famous indian mathematician and astronomer. He belongs to the age of 1114-11183 CE.

Bhaskara and his works represent a significant contribution to mathematical and astronomical knowledge in the 12th century. His main works were the Lilavati (dealing with arithmetic), Bijaganita (Algebra) and Siddhanta Shiromani (written in 1150) which consists of two parts: Goladhyaya (sphere) and Grahaganita (mathematics of the planets).

His book on arithmetic is the source of interesting legends that assert that it was written for his daughter, Lilavati. In one of these stories, which is found in a Persian translation of Lilavati, Bhaskara II studied
Lilavati's horoscope and predicted that her husband would die soon after the marriage if the marriage did not take place at a particular time. To alert his daughter at the correct time, he placed a cup with a small hole at the bottom of a vessel filled with water, arranged so that the cup would sink at the beginning of the propitious hour. He put the device in a room with a warning to Lilavati to not go near it. In her curiosity though, she went to look at the device and a pearl from her nose ring accidentally dropped into it, thus
upsetting it. The marriage took place at the wrong time and she was soon widowed.

Bhaskara II conceived the modern mathematical convention that when a finite number is divided by zero, the result is infinity. In his book Lilavati, he reasons: "In this quantity also which has zero as its divisor there is no change even when many [quantities] have entered into it or come out [of it], just as at the time of destruction and creation when throngs of creatures enter into and come out of [him, there is no change in] the infinite and unchanging [Vishnu]"

Some of Bhaskara's contributions to mathematics include the following:

1. A proof of the Pythagorean theorem by calculating the same area in two different
   ways and then canceling out terms to get a² + b² = c².
2. In Lilavati, solutions of quadratic, cubic and quartic indeterminate equations.
3. Solutions of indeterminate quadratic equations (of the type ax² + b = y²).
4. Integer solutions of linear and quadratic indeterminate equations (Kuttaka). The
   rules he gives are (in effect) the same as those given by the Renaissance European
   mathematicians of the 17th century
5. A cyclic Chakravala method for solving indeterminate equations of the form ax² +
   bx + c = y. The solution to this equation was traditionally attributed to William
   Brouncker in 1657, though his method was more difficult than the chakravala method.
6. His method for finding the solutions of the problem x² − ny² = 1 (so-called "Pell's
   equation") is of considerable interest and importance.
7. Solutions of Diophantine equations of the second order, such as 61x² + 1 = y². This
   very equation was posed as a problem in 1657 by the French mathematician Pierre
   de Fermat, but its solution was unknown in Europe until the time of Euler in the
   18th century.
8. Solved quadratic equations with more than one unknown, and found negative and irrational
   solutions.
9. Preliminary concept of mathematical analysis.
10. Preliminary concept of infinitesimal calculus, along with notable contributions
    towards integral calculus.
11. Conceived differential calculus, after discovering the derivative and differential
    coefficient.
12. Stated Rolle's theorem, a special case of one of the most important theorems
    in analysis, the mean value theorem. Traces of the general mean value theorem are
    also found in his works.
13. Calculated the derivatives of trigonometric functions and formulae.
14. In Siddhanta Shiromani, Bhaskara developed spherical trigonometry along with a number
    of other trigonometric results. 

Reference & Content
http://www.wikipedia.org/
http://www.gap-system.org/~history/Timelines/TimelineA.html
http://www.gap-system.org/~history/BirthplaceMaps/Countries/India.html