Indias Scientific Tradition

Why bother about history?

Those who forget history are condemned
to repeat it. - George Santayana
We are doomed to repeat the past no
matter what. - Kurt Vonnegut

Nataraja at CERN Conseil Europen pour la Recherche

Nuclaire
European Organization for Nuclear
Research

Who discovered the sea route

to India?
The Hindu rate of Growth?

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us

how to count, without which no worthwhile
scientific discovery could have been made
Albert Einstein

m
e
h
t
a
M

s
c
i
t
a

Mathematics

The contribution of India to the world is

ZERO
Yajur Veda

Mathematics
The hypotenuse rule Baudhayana Sutras
Taittiriya shakha of the Krishna Yajur Veda

In the 5th Century AD , Aryabhatta came up with

the nearest approximation for the value of
(caturadhikam atamaaguam dvaistath sahasrm
ayutadvayavikambhasysanno vttapariha.
"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
approached = 3.1416 (Pi is 3.1415926542...)

Mathematics
Not just Zero, India gave the world the numerals,
the decimal system, Algebra, Geometry and many
more
Some of the biggest numbers that Indians used

- 1012,
- 1053, 10140

Leelavathi
Aryabhatiya
Lalitavistara Sutra
Sulbasutras

Bharat's Contribution to ASTRONOMY

Leonardo Pisano (Fibonacci) learnt maths from the Arabs

(hence the Hindus). He brought arithmetic to Italy. 13 Th
century CE.
For addition and subtraction a German university is good. But
for multiplication and division you have to go to Italy.
So Italy became rich. Galileo's Muse: Renaissance Mathematics and the Arts
Bhaskaracharya II (12th century CE)
calculated the time taken by the earth
to orbit the sun.
Lilavati, Bijaganita,
Goladhyaya, Grahaganita
Bhaskaracharya I (7th century CE).
Aryabhatiyabhasya
Commentary on Aryabhatta's works.
Time taken by earth to orbit theSine
sun:function
(5th century)
tables 365.258756484 days
Differential Calculus

Many Apples had fallen before Newtons gravity laws

Sayana's description of speed of light.
http://swarajyamag.com/ideas/saya%E1%B9%87a-andthe-speed-of-light/
Subhash kak

Bhaskaracharya, of 12th Century,

Explained in detail about the
gravitational force to his daughter
Leelavathi. Popularly known as
Avasthana Dosha

ASTRON
OMY

Saayanacharya calculated the speed of light with

amazing accuracy which is explained in the following
sloka

Calculation of
Time

How old is our universe? Not just big bang, but an

ordinary Purohit or even a layman can tell when he
recites Sankalpa
Have you heard of year of confusion
10 months can become 12 and be named whimsically
Give us our 11 days back not once but many times .
1582, 1752

Iron Pillar a standing

testimonial for Indias
Metallurgical Expertise
The
see-through
bronze
statue
of
Buddha taken away
from Bharath evinces
the heights we have
reached in metallurgy
as early as 2nd century
BC
According
to
the
Gemological Institute of
America, up until 1896,
India was the only source
for
diamonds
to
the
world.

Economy

Arts and Aesthetics

MEDICINE

Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to

humans.Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda
2500 years ago.
300,000 formulations recorded.

Sushruta is the father of surgery.

2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated
surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones
and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well
known in ancient India

Susruta: Father of Surgery

125 surgical instruments made from steel
14 varieties of bandages
Nil by Mouth for abdominal operations
Use of antiseptics (mustard, nimba leaves etc)
Training of surgeons on dead animals and watermelon
Classified surgical operations into 8 kinds
extraction,excising,incising,probing,scarifying,
suturing,puncturing and evacuating fluid

Over 125 surgical equipment were used

Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion,

metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts

The concept of test tube baby is not new to us

Sage Agastya was born in a pot
Dronacharya was born without female ovum

in a

droni
Kauravas were not born in mothers womb
The functioning of the Heart was mentioned in Shathapatha Brahmanam
According to Nirukta, the word Hridaya is formed from three words
Hri from Hareti
to Receive
Da from Dadati
to give
Ya from Iyati
to circulate or move
These in fact are the three functions of the Heart which were known to the Vedic seers
thousands of years before the birth of William Harvey

The science of YOGA is Indias Gift to the world.

Anu & Parmanu

Atomic Physics

Kanada: First Expounder of Law of Causation

and Atomic Theory
Vaisesika Darshana
First to explore the relation between Cause
and Effect
Identified atoms (Parmanu) as the build
blocks of matter
Defined chemical action (Paka)
Abhidhamma describes the ephemeral nature
of all existance The universe appears and
disappears hundreds of millions of times in
the blink of the eye

J. Robert Oppenheimer,

American nuclear physicist (1904-1967):

"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to

burst into the sky, that would be like the
splendour of the Mighty One. . . . Now I am
become death, the destroyer of worlds.
Oppenheimer "the father of the atomic bomb"
quoting from the Hindu scripture Bhagavad-Gita
upon witnessing the mushroom cloud resulting
from the detonation of the worlds first atomic
bomb in New Mexico, U.S.A., on July 16, 1945.

Access to the Vedas is the greatest

privilege this century may claim over all
previous centuries.

Our Sources of
Wisdom

Vedic Philosophy
The Vedas are the oldest written text on our planet today. They date back
to the beginning of Indian civilization and are the earliest literary records
of the human mind.
The Vedas
Rigveda contains hymns to Gods
Yajurveda uses the Riks for sacrifice
Samaveda introduces musical notes
Atharvaveda gives ways to make life successful
Sections in each Veda
Samhita contains hymns to Gods.
Brahmana speaks of worshipping with the hymns
Aranyaka enunciates the spiritual philosophy
The 108 Upanishads form the last part of Aranyaka

Vedic Knowledge System

Vedangas (Studied to understand the Veda)
Vyakarana - Grammar
Siksha
- Science of phoenetics and pronounciation
Nirukta
- Etymological derivation of words
Chandas - Science of metres
Jyotisha - Knowledge of celestial/shining objects astronomy
Kalpa
- Study of time, rituals and so on
Upa Vedas
Dhanurveda
Ayurveda
Gandharvaveda
Arthasastra
sociology

- Science of archery and warfare

- Science of life (health, medicine, surgery)
- Art forms like music, dance, poetry, sculpture
- Science of state administration, finance, polity,