Indian perspective on Science and Technology

Indian perspective on Science and Technology ( May 21, 2016) Dr. P. Subbanna Bhat 1

India a land of plenty...1 7 th largest in area (329 million hectares...) After: Russia, Canada, USA, China, Brazil, Australia.. Second in cultivable area (160 m. hectares...) After: USA (177), India (160), China (124 ).. Sindhu-Ganga plain 20% of India No hill, not even a mound, to break the monotony of the level surface (3000 Km length, 250-400 KM width) From Attack to Cuttack without touching a pebble Protected by the Himalayas (2400 x 400 km).. 2

A glorious civilization...2 Ancient civilization ( > 10,000 yrs... ) A creative psyche Spirituality at the core... Social and Political system... Art, Architecture, Literature, Music, Dance... Mathematics, Science, Technology... Material wealth... attracting repeated invasions 3

Spiritual heritage...3 o Vedas (4) o Upanishads (108+ ) o Brahma Sutras o Bhagavad Gita o Darshanas (6) o Puranas (18) o Kavya (Ramayana, Mahabharata... ) आ न बद र क रतव मन त ववश वत I Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides ---- [Rigveda, I-89-i] 4

Scientific heritage...4 o Decimal Number system o Algebra o Astronomy o Geometry o Metallurgy o Medicine & Surgery o Botany o Physics o Indian view of Science 5

A tribute...5 " 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 6

Decimal place value system...6 Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749 1827): The ingenious method of expressing every possible number using a set of ten symbols emerged in India.... Its simplicity lies in the way it facilitated calculation and placed arithmetic foremost amongst useful inventions. The importance of this invention is more readily appreciated when one considers that it was beyond the two greatest men of antiquity, Archimedes and Apollonius. --[http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/histtopics/indian_numerals.html] 7

Place value system... 7 MCMXXCVII 8

Place value system...7 M-CM-XXC-VII 9

Place value system...7 M-CM-XXC-VII 1987 10

Place value system...7 M CM XXC VII 1987 ICXXIVDLVMMMDCXXCIV 11

Place value system...7 M CM XXC VII 1987 I-CXXIV-DLV-MMMDCXXCIV 12

Place value system...7 M CM XXC VII 1987 I-CXXIV-DLV-MMM-DCXXCIV 1-124-555-3684 13

Concept of Zero...8 The earliest text to use a decimal place-value system, including a zero, the Lokavibhāga, a Jain text surviving in a medieval Sanskrit translation of the Prakrit original, which is internally dated to AD 458 (Saka era 380). In this text, śūnya ("void, empty") is also used to refer to zero. ---- [www. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0_(number)] Shunya, Shubra Siphra, Sifir (Arabic) Zifirm, Cifra (Latin) Zefiro (Italian) Zero, Cipher (English) 14

Decimal Number System...9 Decimal system was known in Vedic times: In the Yajurveda Taittariya samhita [vii.2.20], numbers as large as 10 12 occur in the texts. For example, the mantra at the end of the annaho ma performed during the ashvamedha yaga invokes powers of ten from a hundred to a trillion: "Hail to śata, hail to sahasra, hail to ayuta, hail to niyuta, hail to prayuta, hail to arbuda, hail to nyarbuda, hail to samudra, hail to madhya, hail to anta, hail to parārdha, hail to the dawn (uśas), hail to the twilight (vyuṣṭi), hail to the one which is going to rise (udeṣyat), hail to the one which is rising (udyat), hail to the one which has just risen (udita), hail to the heaven (svarga), hail to the world (martya), hail to all. 15 ----[Yajurveda Taittariya samhita vii.2.20]

Decimal Number System...10 shunya (0) eka (1) dvi (2) tri (3) chatur (4) pancha (5) shat (6) sapta (7) ashta (8) nava (9) dasha (10) dasha (10) vimshati (20) trimshat (30) chatvarimshat (40) panchasat (50) shasti (60) saptati (70) ashiti (80) navati (90) shata (100) sahasra (10 3 ) ayuta (10 4 ) niyuta (10 5 ) prayuta (10 6 ) arbuda (10 7 ) nyarbuda (10 8 ) samudra (10 9 ) madhya (10 10 ) anta (10 11 ) parardha (10 12 ) 16

Valmiki goes further...11 sahasra (10 3 ) ayuta (10 4 ) niyuta (10 5 ) prayuta (10 6 ) arbuda (10 7 ) nyarbuda (10 8 ) samudra (10 9 ) madhya (10 10 ) anta (10 11 ) parardha (10 12 ) Koti (10 7 ) Shankha (10 12 ) Mahashankha (10 17 ) Vrinda (10 22 ) Mahavrinda (10 27 ) Padma (10 32 ) Mahapadma (10 37 ) Kharva (10 42 ) Mahakharva (10 47 ) Samudra (10 52 ) Ogha (10 57 ) Mahaugha (10 62 ) 17

Rama s birth...19 तत म सभ प त त ऋत न भ षट सभत मम तत च द व दश भ स च त र न वमभक ततथ १-१८-८ नक क त र अददतत द वत म स व उच छ स स थ ष ऩ चस ग रह ष क क ट रग न व क क ऩत इ द न सह १-१८-९ ---[Ramayana, Balakanda 18.8-9] After the completion of the ritual, six seasons have passed by (On the twelfth month), the ninth day of Chaitra maasa, Punarvasu nakshatra, NavamI tithi, for which Aditi is the presiding deity; and when five of the nine planets Surya, Kuja, Guru, Shukra, Shani are in ascension in their respective houses (Mesha, Makara, KarkaTa, Mina, Tula raashis); when Jupiter in conjunction with Moon is ascendant in Cancer, and when day is advancing, Queen Kausalya gave birth to a son.... named Rama Ayodhya (25 N 81 E), January 10, 5114 BCE, 12.30PM 18

Calendar of events...18 The epic contains the following events with astrological references which are translated into Georgian Calendar* dates as: Jan 10, 5114 Birth of Rama Jan 11, 5114 Birth of Bharata Jan 04, 5089 Dasharatha fixes date for coronation Oct 07, 5077 War with Khara, Dushana at Janasthana April 03, 5076 Vaali s death at Kishkindha Sept 12,5076 Hanumaan leaps to Lanka Sept 14, 5076 Hanumaan returns from Lanka Sept 20,5076 Vaanara Army starts from Kishkindha Oct 12, 5076 Vaanara Army reaches Lanka Nov 24, 5076 Meghanaada was killed in war. 19 ----[D K Hari, Historical Ramayana ]

Prince Siddhartha...12 Lalitavistara (1 st Century BC?) refers to an examination of the Prince Siddhartha by mathematician Arjuna. Prince Siddhartha lists all the powers of 10 starting from koti (10 7 ) to Tallakshana (10 53 ). Taking this to next level, he gets eventually to 10 421. Lalitavistara also refers to an extremely small unit known as paramanuraja which is equal to 10 7 of an angula parva (finger length). 20

Traveled westwards...13 The brilliant work of the Indian mathematicians was transmitted to the Islamic and Arabic mathematicians... Persian scholar Al-Khwarizmi (Abu Abd-Allah ibn Musa al Khwarizmi, 780-850 AD) wrote on the Hindu Art of Reckoning which describes the Indian place-value system of numerals based on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0. This work was the first in what is now Iraq to use zero as a place holder in positional base notation. --- J J O'Connor and E F Robertson [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/histtopics/indian_numerals.html] 21

Traveled westwards...13 For example al-biruni writes:- What we [the Arabs] use for numerals is a selection of the best and most regular figures in India. These "most regular figures" which al-biruni refers to are the Nagari numerals which had, by his time, been transmitted into the Arab world. --- J J O'Connor and E F Robertson [http://www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/histtopics/indian_numerals.html] 22

Art of computing...14 Codex Vigilanus (976 AD), the oldest available European manuscript (at Madrid): So with computing symbols we must realize that ancient Hindus had the most penetrating intellect and other nations way behind them in the art of computing, in geometry and in other free sciences. And this is evident from the nine symbols with which they represented every rank of numbers at every level. 23

To Europe...14 The Italian mathematician Fibonacci or Leonardo of Pisa was instrumental in bringing the system into European mathematics in 1202, stating: There, following my introduction, as a consequence of marvelous instruction in the art, to the nine digits of the Hindus, the knowledge of the art very much appealed to me before all others,... Almost everything which I have introduced I have displayed with exact proof, in order that those further seeking this knowledge, with its pre-eminent method, might be instructed, and further, in order that the Latin people might not be discovered to be without it, as they have been up to now....the nine Indian figures are: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. With these nine figures, and with the sign 0... any number may be written ---[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0_(number)] 24

The Indian mathematics...15 Bodhayana Acharya Aryabhata Varahamihira Bhaskaracharya II Madhavacharya (> 2000 BC indirect estimate) (476-550 AD) 505 AD (505-587 AD) (1114-1185 AD) 1150 AD (1340-1425 AD) Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 1543) 1543 AD Johannes Keplar (1571 1630) 1609 AD Galileo Galilei (1564 1642) 1616 AD Isaac Newton (1642 1727) 1687 AD James Gregory (1638 1675) - 25

Renaissance European Dark Age The Indian mathematics...15 Bodhayana Acharya Aryabhata Varahamihira Bhaskaracharya II Madhavacharya (> 2000 BC indirect estimate) (476-550 AD) 505 AD (505-587 AD) (1114-1185 AD) 1150 AD (1340-1425 AD) Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 1543) 1543 AD Johannes Keplar (1571 1630) 1609 AD Galileo Galilei (1564 1642) 1616 AD Isaac Newton (1642 1727) 1687 AD James Gregory (1638 1675) - 26

Aryabhata 27

Aryabhata...16 Aryabhata (476 550 AD) of Kusumapura (Pataliputra) worked on the domains : Astronomy Geometry Algebra Calculus 28

Aryabhata s Astronomy...17 Aryabhata believed in a geocentric system, but knew that Earth is round ( gola ) and rotates on its axis. And other planets - Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars etc. too are round, and displayed axial and orbital rotations. By the time moon completes one orbit around the Earth, Earth makes 27.396,469,357,2 revolutions on its own axis an extremely accurate calculation. The correct figure in 500 AD was 27.396,465,14. The error in Aryabhata s computation was less than 0.365 seconds for 27 days. 29

Aryabhata s Astronomy...18 Aryabhata held the view that the Earth rotates about its axis and the stars are fixed in space. The period of one sidereal rotation of earth, according to Aryabhata is 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.1 seconds. The corresponding modern value is 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.091 seconds ----[Aryabhata, Aryabhateeya, Gitika-pada] Aryabhata s value for the length of the year at 365 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes, 30 seconds; however, is an overestimate. The true value is fewer than 365 days and 6 hours. ----[Dick Teresi, Lost discoveries, 2003, p.133] 30

Aryabhata s Astronomy...19 Aryabhata clearly states the manner in which (Sonar and Lunar ) Eclipses occur: छ दमतत शश स म शमशन भहत च ब च छ म I The Moon covers the Sun ; and the great shadow of the Earth covers the Moon. -- [Àryabhata, Àryabhatíya, Golapaada, Chapter 4, sloka -37 ] 31

Aryabhata s Astronomy...20 Aryabhata was aware that Earth and other planets are spherical: Half of the spheres of the Earth, the planets and asterisms is darkened by their shadows, and half, being turned toward the Sun is light (being small or large) according to their size. The sphere of the Earth, being quite round, situated in the center of space,... [ IV- 5,6] "In a yuga the revolutions of the Sun are 4,320,000, of the Moon 57,753,336, of the Earth eastward 1,582,237,500, of Saturn 146,564, of Jupiter 364,224, of Mars 2,296,824, of Mercury and Venus the same as those of the Sun [ I-1] -- [ Àryabhatíya of Àryabhata, An Ancient Indian Work on Mathematics and Astronomy, translated by William Eugene Clark, 32 p.9]

Aryabhata s Astronomy...21 Accordingly, the calculation of planetary motion (in a yuga = 4,320,000 yrs) o Sun around the Earth - 4,320,000 revolutions o Earth around its axis - 1,582,237,500 rev (= 366.25868 days/yr) o Moon around Earth - 57,753,336 rev (= 13.4 rev/year ) o Saturn around Earth - 146,564 rev o Jupiter around Earth - 364,224 rev ( = 29.48 yrs/rev) (= 11.86 yrs/rev) o Mars around Earth - 2,296,824 rev ( = 1.88 yrs/rev) o Mercury around the Earth - 4,320,000 revolutions o Venus around the Earth - 4,320,000 revolutions 33

Bhaskara s Astronomy...22 Aryabhata (500 AD) wrote that over a yuga period (4,320,000 years) the Earth would complete 1,582,237,500 axial rotations. [That is, one year = 366.258 68 days (sic)] Bhaskaracharya-II (1150AD) gave a corrected value of the time taken by the Earth to orbit around the Sun as 365.258 756 484 days! 34

Aryabhata s Trigonometry...23 Aryabhatiya provides elegant results for the summation of series of squares and cubes [Ganitapada,21-22]: 1 2 + 2 2 + 3 2 +... +n 2 n(n + 1)(2n + 1) = 6 1 3 + 2 3 + 3 3 +... +n 3 = (1 + 2 + 3+... n) 2 His definitions of sine (jya), cosine (kojya), versine (utkrama-jya), and inverse sine (otkram-jya) influenced the birth of trigonometry. He was also the first to specify sine and versine (1 cos x) tables, in 3.75 intervals from 0 to 90, to an accuracy of 4 decimal places. 35

Geometry... 24 Aryabhata on the area of Triangle [Ganitapada,6]: त रत रब जस म परशरयय सभदर क दट ब ज धक स वगक A = 1 2 b h The area of a triangle is the product of ½ of any side and the perpendicular from the opposite vertex. 36

The area of a Circle... 25 Aryabhateeya [Ganitapada-7] gives the area of circle: सभऩरयन हस मध ववष कम ब अधक हतभ व व त तपरभ I A = πd 2 /4 Half the circumference multiplied by half the diameter gives the area of a circle 37

The irrational Ԓ... 26 The irrational π... The ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle is. The irrational π = 3.1415 9265 3589... Archimedes (287 212 BC) of Syracuse, gave its value as 223 / 71 < < 22 / 7 Average : 3.1418 38

The irrational Ԓ... 27 Aryabhata (500 AD) [Ganitapada,10] gave a sutra to calculate the circumference of a circle whose diameter is 20,000: चत य धधक शतभष टग ण द व षष ष टस तथ सहस र ण भ I आम तद वमववष कम बस म सन न व त तऩरयण ह II [ (100+4) 8 + 62,000] / [20,000] = 3.1416 [ Correct value of = 3.1415 9265 3589..] Note the word aasanno... 39

Bhaskara -II 40

Fermat s Challenge...28 Pierre de Fermat s challenge to Bernard Frenicle de Bessy (1657 AD): Solve the indeterminate equation: 61 x 2 + 1 = y 2 Leonhard Euler solved the problem 75 years later (1732 AD) 41

Fermat s Challenge...29 Leonhard Euler solved the problem 75 years later (1732 AD) 61 x 2 + 1 = y 2 x = 22,61,53,980 y = 176,63,19,049 42

Bhaskaracharya- II...30 The problem quoted by Fermat 61 x 2 +1 = y 2 appears in Bhaskara s ( Bija ganita section of) Siddhanta Shiromani, as an illustrated example for the chakravala method of solving indeterminate equations! The Chakravala of Bhaskara-II (1150 AD) was six centuries earlier to Leonhard Euler (1732 AD) 43

Bhaskaracharya- II...31 Bhaskaracharya II (of Bijapur, India) wrote two major treatises: (1114 1185 AD) o Sidhanta Shiromani -- Leelavati (Arithmatic) -- Bija Ganita (Algebra) -- Grahaganita (Planets) -- Goladhyaya (Spheres) o Karana Kutoohala 44

Bhaskaracharya- II...32 Bhaskaracharya II (Bijapur) (1114 1185 AD) Bhāskara's work on Calculus predates Newton and Leibnitz by half a millennium. He is particularly known in the discovery of the principles of differential calculus and its application to astronomical problems and computations. The Chakravala (cyclic iteration) method was known earlier [to Jayadeva (950-1000AD)], but was perfected by Bhaskara-II for solving indeterminate equations of the form ax² + bx + c = y. 45 --- [www.wikipedia]

Tribute to Bhaskara -II...33 Professor E.O. Selinius, Uppsala University, Sweden : That the chakravala method anticipated the European methods by more than a thousand years and surpassed all other oriental performances. In my opinion, no European performance at the time of Bhaskara, nor much later, came up to this marvelous height of mathematical complexity. Herman Hankel (1839-1873), German mathematician: Chakravala : "the finest thing achieved in the theory of numbers before Lagrange (1766)." 46

Bhaskara s Astronomy... 34 Isaac Newton - Gravitational law - 1687 AD Bhaskarachrya-II (1114-1185 AD) - in his Siddhanta Shiromani had written that things fall on to the Earth because of a force of attraction and that this force is responsible for keeping the heavenly bodies in the sky more than 500 years before Isaac Newton formulated his Gravitational Law 47

Bhaskara s Force of attraction..35 Bhaskaracharya II (1114-1185AD) refers to a force of attraction, which sustains the Earth in space: आक ष ष टशष क क तश च भम तम मत खस थ ग र स व मबभ ख स वशक क त म I आक ष मत तत ऩतत व ब तत सभ सभन त त क क व ऩतष त वम ख II The attracting force is the Earth. The earth attracts large objects in the sky towards herself. It appears as though she would fall. But in space with matching forces how would she fall? ---[Bhaskara II, Siddhanta Shiromani, Bhuvanakosha -6] 48

Brahmagupta, Madhavacharya 49

Pell s Equation...36 Pell's equation is any Diophantine equation of the form x 2 ny 2 = 1 where n is a given nonsquare integer and integer solutions are sought for x and y. Trivially, x = 1 and y = 0 always solve this equation. Lagrange proved that for any natural number n that is not a perfect square there are x and y > 0 that satisfy Pell's equation. Moreover, infinitely many such solutions of this equation exist. The solutions yield good rational approximations of the form x/y to the square root of n. ---[www. Wikipedia ] 50

Pell s Equation...37 Pell's equation is any Diophantine equation of the form x 2 ny 2 = 1 The name of this equation arose from Leonard Euler s mistakenly attributing its study to John Pell. Euler was aware of the work of Lord Brouncker, the first European mathematician to find a general solution of the equation, but apparently confused Brouncker with Pell. This equation was first studied extensively in ancient India, starting with Brahmagupta, who developed the chakravala method to solve (what was later known as) Pell's equation and other quadratic indeterminate equations in his Brahma Sphuta Siddhanta in 628, about a thousand years before Pell's time (1611-1689). --- [www.wikipedia] 51

Madhavacharya...38 Madhavacharya (1340-1425 AD) used Gregory s series two centuries before James Gregory (1638-1675), to calculate the value of correct to 10 decimal places π = 4 [1 1/3 + 1/5 1/7 + 1/9 1/11 +. ] = 3.1415 9265 359 52

Shulva Sutra 53

The Shulba Sutras... 39 Belong to the Vedic period on the banks of river Saraswati, earlier to 2000 BCE 262 (now, more than 300) settlements are identified on either side of Saraswati (through remote sensing satellites) 54

The Shulba Sutras... 40 Seven Acharyas composers or compilers of Shulba sutras are known today: Boudhayana Apasthambha Katyayana Manava Maitrayana Varaha Vadhula 55

Saraswati Riverbed...map 56

Saraswati Riverbed... 57

The Shulba Sutras... 41 Apasthabha and Katyayana (3000 1000 BC) provide a formula for evaluating 2 correct to five decimal places: 2 = 1 + 1 3 + 1 3. 4 + 1 3. 4. 34 +... = 1.41421 568 6 The correct value of 2 = 1.41421 356 2. 58

The Pythagoras theorem...42 Greek Philosopher Pythagoras : 580-500 BCE Euclid Author of Elements : 325-265 BCE Elements Theorem No. 47 59

The Pythagoras theorem...43 The question whether Pythagoras himself was the discoverer of it and its proof has by no means been solved. The tradition attributing the theorem to Pythagoras started about 500 years after the death of Pythagoras Although various attempts have been made to justify the tradition and trace the proof to Pythagoras, no record of proof has come down to us earlier than given by Euclid s Elements. -- Alexander Volodarsky, USSR Academy of Sciences 60

Boudhayana s Shulba Sutra.. 44 Boudhayana Shulba sutra occurs (>2000BC) in: Krishna Yajurveda Taittariya Samhita Boudhayana shrouta sutra 30 th Prashna 61

Boudhayana s Sutra...45 Baudhayana Sulba Sutra, contains examples of simple Pythagorean triplets, such as 3,4,5, 5,12,13, 8,15,17, 7,24,25 and (12,34,35) as well as a statement of the Pythagorean theorem for the sides of a square, and the general statement of the Pythagorean theorem (for the sides of a rectangle): "The rope stretched along the length of the diagonal of a rectangle makes an area which the vertical and horizontal sides make together. ---[www.wikipedia] 62

Boudhayana s Sutra...46 Boudhayana sutra predates Pythagoras, by some 1500 years द घक चत यसस मक ष णम यज ज ऩ श वकभ तन ततमक भ तन I मत थग ब त क र तष टद बम कय तत II The diagonal of rectangle produces the sum of areas which its length and breadth produce separately. 63

Varahamihira 64

Varahamihira... 47 Varahamihira (505-587 AD): Brihat-Samhita (106 chapters) covers astrology, planetary movements, eclipses, rainfall, clouds, architecture, growth of crops, manufacture of perfume, matrimony, domestic relations, gems, pearls, and rituals. The volume expounds on gemstone evaluation criterion found in the Garuda Purana, and elaborates on the sacred Nine Pearls from the same text. Pancha-Siddhantika is a treatise on mathematical astronomy and it summarizes five earlier astronomical treatises, namely the Surya Siddhanta, Romaka Siddhanta, Paulisa Siddhanta, Vasishta Siddhanta and Paitamaha Siddhanta. ---[www.wikipedia] 65

Varahamihira... 48 Varaha Mihira (505-587 AD): Pancha Siddhantika notes that the ayanamsa, or the shifting of the equinox is 50.32 seconds. He improved the accuracy of sine tables of Aryabhata Gave the trigonometric formulas: sin x = cos (π/2 x) sin 2 x + cos 2 x = 1 (1 cos 2x)/2 = sin 2 x ---[Ref: Wikipedia] 66

Optics... अप रप मग रहण क म भ रऩटर स प दटक न तरयत ऩरबध II That which cannot be perceived (with naked eye) can be perceived with (lens made up of) glass, mica or crystal ----[Kanada, Nyaya Darshana, Chapter -3, Sutra-46] स मकस म ववववध वण क ऩवन न ववघ त त कय स भ र I ववमतत धन स स थ न म द श मन त तददन द रधन II The multi-coloured rays of the Sun being dispersed by wind in a cloudy sky are seen in the form of a bow which is the rainbow. ----[Varaahamihira, Brihat Samhita, Shloka -35] 67

Encription... Katapayaadi sankhya: ग ऩ ब ग म भध व र त श ङ ग श दधधसष न धग I खरज ववत ख त व गरह र यसन धय II Oh (Krishna), the good fortune of the Gopis, the destroyer of (demon) Madhu, protector of cattle the one who ventured the ocean depths, destroyer of evil doers, one with plough on the shoulder, and the bearer of nectar, may (you) protect us. Under ka-ta-pa-ya-adi coding protocol, letters of alphabets have numerical values ascribed to them. (Ex.: ka, ta, pa, ya each means 1) With ka-ta-pa-ya-adi key, one can decode the sloka as : π = 3.1415 9265 3589 7932 3846 2643 3832 792 68 ----[Bharati Krishna Tirtha,(1884-1960) Vedic mathematics,]

Metallurgy 69

Metallurgy...49 Ancient Zinc mines were in existence in Zawar (Rajastan) as early as 400 BC. Bharat can take legitimate pride for having developed a process of extracting Zinc from its ore by distillation. This method was unknown to Europe until the 18 th Century. In 1748 AD, William Champion introduced this method in England and patented it! 70

The iron pillar of Mehrauli.. 50 o The iron pillar : 7.32 meters height, 30 35 cm dia, 6000 Kgs o Exposed to open weather for more than 1500 years but is a rust-less wonder. o The chemical composition of the pillar : Fe 99.72% ; Cu 0. 034 %; C 0.08% ; Si 0.046% ; S 0.006% ; P 0.114%; N 0.032%; Mn 0.0% 71

Mehrauli... 72

Iron Pillar, Mehrauli, Delhi... 73

Ayurveda 74

Ayurveda medicine...51 Ayurveda divides the system of medicine into eight categories (ashtangas) : shalya (surgery) shalakya (ENT) kaya-chikitsya (internal medicine) bhuta-vidya (supernatural affliction) kaumarabhrtya (paediatrics) agada (toxicology) rasayana (rejuvenation) vajikarana (virilification) 75

Ayurveda Surgery... 52 Shushruta Samhita classifies eight heads : surgery under Chedana Bedhana Lekhana Vedhana Esana Aaharana Visravana Sivana (incision) (excision) (scarification) (puncturing) (exploration) (extraction) (evacuation) (suturing). 76

Medicine and Surgery...53 The Charaka Samhita lists over 341 plant substances, 177 drugs of animal origin, 64 mineral compositions. The Shushruta Samhita lists 300 different operations 42 surgical processes 121 surgical instruments. ( 101 blunt + 20 sharp instruments) 77

Tribute to Indian Medicine...54 George Guthri (1785-1856) Cardio-vascular surgeon Battle of Watereloo (1815) 78

Tribute to Indian Medicine...54 George Guthri (1785-1856) : It was surgery above all that the ancient Hindus excelled. Shushruta described more than a hundred instruments. This was their greatest contribution to the art of healing and the work was bold and distinctive. It is not unlikely, though difficult to prove, that some of it were of Greek origin. Some indeed state that the Greek drew much of their knowledge from the Hindus. 79

Botany 80

Botany... 55 The Rigveda (3000 6000 BC) classifies Vriksh (tree) Oshadhi (herb useful to man) Veerudh (minor herb). Atharvaveda subdivides the herbs into seven types based on their morphological (form and structure) characteristics 81

Botanical classification... 56 त स स थ वयस चत ववकध वनस ऩतम व व र ध ओषधम इतत I त स अऩ ष ऩ परवन त वनस ऩतम I ऩ ष ऩपरवन त व I प रत वनत म स त त रफन मश च व र ध I परऩ कतनष ठ ओषधम इतत II Plants are of four kinds: Vanaspati large trees Vriksha trees Veerudha herbs Oshadhi medicinal plants Flora are of four kinds: Vanaspati bear fruits without flowering Vriksha bear both flowers and fruits Veerudha stemless and spread out (bushes) Oshadhi wither away after the fruits ripen ---[Shushruta samhita, Sutra sthanam, Adhyaya-I, para 29] 82

Plants can sense...57 Shantiparva of Mahabharata cites a dialogue between sage Bharadwaja and sage Bhrigu, who refer to the plant life thus : ऊष भत म र मत ऩण त वक पर ऩ ष ऩभ व च I म र मत श मकत च वऩ स ऩश कस त न त र ववद मत II Leaf, bark, fruit and flower fade from heat. Since the plant fades and decays, it has a sense of touch.. व य वग न म शतनतनघ ष पर ऩ ष ऩ ववश मकत I श र त र ण ग ह मत शबदस तस भ च छर न वष न त ऩ दऩ II By the sound of wind, fire and lightning, fruit and flower decay rapidly. Sound is received by the ear. The plants a sense of hearing. 83 ----[Mahabharata (Shantiparva) XII-184:11-12]:

Plants can sense...58 Shantiparva of Mahabharata cites a dialogue between sage Bharadwaja and sage Bhrigu, who refer to the plant life thus : वल र व ष टमत व सवकतश च व गच छतत I न ह मद र ष ट श च भ ग s ष स भ तस भ त ऩश मष न त ऩ दऩ II The creeper surrounds a tree; from all sides It moves. Path needs to be seen; therefore, plants see. ऩ ण म ऩ ण म स तथ गन ध ध कऩ श च ववववध यवऩ I अय ग ऩ ष ष ऩत सष न त तस भ ष ज जघ रष न त ऩ दऩ II By a variety of good and bad smells and aroma, the plants blossom disease free. Therefore plants can smell. 84 ----[Mahabharata (Shantiparva) XII-184:13-14]:

Plants can sense...59 Shantiparva of Mahabharata cites a dialogue between sage Bharadwaja and sage Bhrigu, who refer to the plant life thus : त न तज जरभ दत त जरमत मष ग न भर त I आह यऩरयण भ च च स न ह व द धधश च ज मत II Heat and light digest the water that is drawn by the plant. From the digested water, fluids come into being, and growth occurs वक क त र ण त ऩरन र न मथ र ध व जरभ दद त I तथ ऩवनस म क क त ऩ द वऩफतत ऩ दऩ II Just as one draws water through a lotus petiole applied to the mouth, so also plants drink water endowed with air, with their feet (roots) 85 ----[Mahabharata (Shantiparva) XII-184:17-18]:

Plants can feel...60 Shantiparva of Mahabharata cites a dialogue between sage Bharadwaja and sage Bhrigu, who refer to the plant life thus : ऩ द समररऩ न च च व म ध न च दशकन त I व म धधप रततक मत व च च ववद मत यसन द र भ II By the drinking of water through their feet, exhibition of diseases, by their response to diseases, sense of taste exist in plants. स खद खम श च ग रहण ष च छन नस म च ववय हण त I ज व ऩश म मभ व ण भच तन म न ववदमत From their grasp of joy and sorrow, from the healing of wounds, I perceive the existence of life. Plants are sentient. II 86 ----[Mahabharata (Shantiparva) XII-184:15-16]:

Structure of Plant cell...61 Antony van Leeunwenhoek (1632-1723) invented the Microscope Robert Hooke (1635-1703) author of Micrographia used the microscope and made detailed observations on: - Structure of a cell - Micro-organisms in a water drop etc. 87

Structure of Plant cell... 62 Sage Parashara s Vrukshayurveda Kautilya s Arthashastra ( 320 BC) contains references to Vrikshayurveda 88

Not visible to naked eye...63 Vrukshayurveda records : that the plant cell has two layers of skin (valkala) which contains a coloured sap (ranjakayukta rasasraya), which is not visible to the naked eye (anaveshva) 89

Agnihotra...64 Taittiriya Brahmana records : अष ग नह त र एव तत स म प र तवकज र मजभ न भ र त र व म म प रहयतत I बवत म त भन ऩय स म भ र त व म बवतत I One who practices Agnihotra in the morning and evening becomes strong like thunderbolt / diamond. He destroys his enemies by himself (unassisted). His enemies remain conquered. ---[Taittiriya Brahmana,Ashtakam-2, Anuvaakah-5, 11] 90

Other Things 91

Agnihotra...65 On Monday, Dec 03, 1984, in the city of Bhopal, Central India, a poisonous vapour, methyl isocyanate, burst forth from a the tall stacks of an MNC pesticide company (Union Carbide), killing 2000 people instantly, and injuring more than 300,000. Soon after the leakage of gas, Sri S.L. Kushwaha (45), a teacher from Bhopal, started performing his routine Agnihotra and in 20 minutes the symptoms of gas poisoning were gone from his home. ---[Pride of India - A glimpse into India s Scientific Heritage(2006), p.192] 92

Space - Time duality...66 Albert Einstein (1879-1955), proposed his special theory of Relativity in 1905: SPACE TIME duality 93

Space - Time duality...67 Sankhya philosophy of Kapila Muni and Madhyamika philosophy of Gautama Buddha contain the following sutra: आक शष स थत न च तस क र क वकष न त Mind creates time out of space --- [Swami Abhedananda, The Philosophy of Gautama Buddha 1902] 94

ऩय ववद म, अऩय ववद म... Saunaka, asks: कष स भन न बगव वव त सवकमभद वव त बवत तत What is that by knowing which all these become known? Guru Angiras replies: द व ववद म व ददतव म इतत ह स भ मद रह भववद वदष न त ऩय च व ऩय च तत र ऩय ऋग व द मज व द स भव द ऽथवकव द मश कल ऩ व म कयण तनर क क त छन द ज म ततषमभतत अथ ऩय मम तद यभधधग म मत --- [Mundaka Upanishad I.i.3-5] 95

ऩय ववद म, अऩय ववद म... There were two different kinds of knowledge to be acquired 'the higher knowledge' (ऩय ववद म ) and 'the lower knowledge' (अऩय ववद म ). The lower knowledge consists of all textual knowledge the four Vedas, the science of pronunciation (मश )., the code of rituals (कल ऩ), grammar (व म कयण), etymology (तनर क क त ), metre (छन दस) and astrology (ज म ततष म). The higher knowledge is by which the immutable and the imperishable Atman is realized, which brings about the direct realization of the Supreme Reality, the source of All. 96

Para and Apara Vidya...68 Mundaka Upanishad [I. i. 3-5] classifies knowledge into two categories: Para Vidya Spirituality Apara Vidya Secular knowledge The tree of life... two birds... drawn to each other... merge into one. The Jiva finds its consummation in merging with Ishwara. All secular knowledge lead to Spirituality. 97

Indian Science...69 Indian Science pays obeisance to Spirituality Aryabhatiya opens with the invocation : Having paid obeisance to Brahman, who is the One (in causality) but Many (in manifestation), the true deity, the Supreme spirit, Aryabhata sets forth three things : Ganita (mathematics), Kalakriya ( reckoning of Time) and Gola (sphere) 98

God a hypothesis?.. 69 In the mid-1780s, however, Laplace proved that these perturbations are actually self correcting. Using the particular example of Jupiter and Saturn... He found that although one orbit may contract gradually for many years, in due course it would expand again, producing an oscillation around the pure Keplerian orbit with a period of 929 years. This was one of the foundations of what was possibly the most famous remark made by Laplace. When his work on Celestial Mechanics, as these studies are called, was published in book form, Napoleon commented to Laplace that he had noticed that there was no mention of God in the book. Laplace replied, I have no need for that hypothesis. [ John Gribbin, In search of the Edge of Time 1992, p. 24] 99

The mother of us all...70 Will Durant, American philosopher (1885-1981): India was the motherland of our race, and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages: she was the mother of our philosophy; mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity; mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all. 100

ॐ श ष न त श ष न त श ष न त 101

References 1. Dharampal, Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary European Accounts, Impex India, Delhi, 1971; reprinted by Academy of Gandhian Studies, Hyderabad 1983. 2. Dharampal: Collected Writings, (5 Volumes), Other India Press, Mapusa 2000; reissued in 2003 and 2007. 3. N. Gopalakrishnan, Indian Scientific Heritage, Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage, Tiruvanantapuram, 2000 4. Encyclopaedia of Classical Indian Sciences, Edited by Heliene Selin & Roddam Narasimha, Universities Press, Hyderabad, 2007 5. Walter E Clark, The Aryabhatiya of Aryabhata, University of Chicago, 1930 6. Jitendra Bajaj and M. D. Srinivas, Timeless India, Resurgent India, Centre for Policy Studies, 2001 102