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A Study on Indian Mathematicians and their Contributions Covered in NCERT

Mathematics text books

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Studies in Indian Place Names ISSN: 2394-3114

(UGC Care Journal) Vol-40-Issue-70-March -2020

A Study on Indian Mathematicians and their Contributions

Covered in NCERT Mathematics text books
* Dr. Bondu Raju
Assistant Professor of Education,
MANUU College of Teacher Education, Bidar,
Karnataka, India

Abstract

The objective of this study is to find out Indian Mathematicians and their contributions
covered in NCERT Mathematics text books in developing of positive attitude towards in learning
of mathematics. A descriptive analysis method was used for the present study. The study
revealed that, a total of 33 mathematicians were introduced in a total of 79 chapters for a total of
5 classes starting from class 6th to 10th class. Results indicates that, there were 27 western
mathematicians and 6 Indian mathematicians’ contribution mentioned at Secondary level
NCERT mathematics textbooks starting from class 6th to 10th class. This is reasonably good, but
mentioning of contribution of Indian mathematicians only 6 which is significantly less
comparing with the contribution western mathematicians. The contribution of Indian
mathematicians in the field of mathematics is far more than western mathematicians. Hence, this
study is suggesting that, there is a need to introduce a good number of Indian Mathematician
contributions to Secondary level mathematics textbooks to develop positive attitude among the
learners and to appreciate the mathematics subject and contribution of Indian mathematicians in
the field of mathematics.

Keywords

Contribution of Mathematicians, textbooks, Primary level, Secondary level, Indian

Mathematicians, western Mathematicians

Introduction

Mathematics is an international subject, and it has no geographical boundary for its

development. Many countries have contributed for the development of the discipline of
mathematics. The development of mathematical concepts started dates back in thousands years,

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starting from prehistoric period to the twenty first century, much development has taken place in
the field of mathematics. For the development of the discipline mathematics many countries
mathematicians have contributed such as the Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Chinese and Indians
etc. to name a few Pythagoras, Fibonacci, Euclid, Archimedes, Rene Descartes, Aryabhata, have
contributed significant inputs in the field of mathematics in ancient times.

The concept of mathematics have come from us only, it do not come from any other
world. It first initiated the need to do calculations in daily life and commercial activities,
measurement of land around for crop and to predict astronomical events happening around us by
observing day and night. Therefore, mathematics is a science, because it is based on observation
and recorded systematically in logical order. We can say mathematics is a study of structure,
Space and Change.

The study of structure starts with numbers, first the familiar of natural numbers, and
integers and their arithmetic operations, which leads to elementary algebra. The investigation of
methods to solve simple equations leads first intervention of, rational numbers, complex numbers
and real numbers.

The study of space leads to development of geometry, first the Euclidean geometry and
trigonometry. Methods to solve the problems dealing with the relationships between a quantity
and rate of change lead to the study of Differential equations. The study of chances or
uncertainty in certain terms is the mathematical theory of probability which allows the
description, analysis and prediction of phenomena.

The above discussed mathematical concepts are covered entire school level mathematics.
This mathematical knowledge is compulsory for every human being. The National Policy on
Education (NPE, 1986) also proposed making mathematics as compulsory subject of study up to
secondary stage for all children. Most of the students feel that mathematics is difficult, then they
develop fear on doing mathematics, if this fear continuous for long time, then they develops
mathematics has phobia. The reason may be because of all the mathematical concepts are
interlinked. If the students are failed to understand the fundamentals, then for them mathematics
is a difficult. Generally, the subject mathematics is abstract in nature. To overcome this,

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mathematical concepts should be visualized and introduced with objects which are familiar to the
learners and easily available in the environment.

To develop interest in mathematics a variety of methods and approaches to be used in the

classroom such as discovery method, inductive-deductive approach, heuristic method, problem
solving method, project method, constructivist approach and activity based teaching etc. To
create interest and construction of mathematical knowledge the above mentioned methods and
approaches may be sufficient. But, to receive the content heart fully and respond accordingly,
students need to be motivated by introducing the mathematicians and their contribution in
dealing with the respective mathematical concepts in the classrooms. With this students develop
positive attitude and scientific attitude towards mathematics subject and then they also appreciate
the mathematician and their contribution. In this paper the investigator wishes to analyze the
NCERT mathematics text books for both the Primary and Secondary level, whether in these text
books the contribution of Indian mathematicians was discussed or not in developing of positive
attitude towards in learning of mathematics.

Back ground of the Study: The Contribution of Indian Mathematicians

In India, since Vedic period mathematics was given much importance as branch of
knowledge. In ancient text dating back to Vedic period, we were introduced √2, √3 as are
irrational numbers. We also had given rational approximation to irrational number √2, which is
correct to 5 decimal places. Even Pythagoras theorem finds place, but our contribution is far
more ancient than Pythagoras.

The most significant contribution of Ancient Indian mathematics is its invention of zero,
decimal representation of numbers and infinity. Numeral denominations of powers of 10 up to
1012 called ‘Paradha’ is mentioned in the Ancient text ‘Yajurveda Samhita’ which is
contemporary work to the Greeks had knowledge of 104 as the highest power of 10.

In 500BC to 200BC ancient Jains had given √10 approximated correct to 13 decimal
places. In 5th Century AD, Aryabhata, the great Indian Mathematician had gave approximate
value of π correct to 4 decimal places as 3.1416 that it is only approximate suggesting that π

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which is the ratio of the circumference of circle to its diameter is not rational. Since it is in 18 th
century that Lamber could prove that π is irrational.

In 5th century AD, Aryabhata - I contributed to algebra and astronomy. In his works
‘Aryabhatiyam’ he has given tables for the trigonometric ratio sine for angles for 00 to 900 at
regular intervals of 15÷4 degrees.

In 6th century AD, Bhaskara-I had given geometrical treatment of algebraic formulae. In
7th century AD, Brhamagupta gave the well known formula to the area of cyclic quadrilateral and
this formula is true for cyclic quadrilateral and not general quadrilateral.

In 9th century AD, Great Indian Mathematician Mahavira gave formula for n Cr, the
number ways in which r objects can be chosen from a collection of n objects. However, in 17 th
century, the credit for this formula is wrongly given to Herigone.

In 12th century Ad, Bhaskaracharya-II, who find the method of solution of equations of
the form Nx2+1=y2 which he achieved much before French Mathematician Lagrange in 1736.
Bhaskaracharya – II had introduced the concept of derivative much before the two
mathematicians Newton and Leibniz who developed independently the Calculus in the 18 th
century.

There is not much contribution between 12th century and 19th century until the appearance
of the great Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887) in the early nineteenth century
who contributed to the theory of numbers, fractional differentiation.

Objective of the study

To Analyze CBSE mathematics text books with respect to how much covered about the
contribution of mathematicians in the field of mathematics with special reference to Indian
mathematicians.

Method and Procedure

Method

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A descriptive analysis method was used for the present study to achieve the above mentioned
objective.

Procedure

To achieve the above objective, first the investigator viewed online all the CBSE
Mathematics textbooks from class 1 to 10th from the NCERT website during the year 2019. After
viewing the mathematics texts books from the web site, the investigator wish to analyze the text
books in two levels i.e., Primary level and Secondary level. The investigator was not included
the Sr. Secondary level in this Study, because in the school curriculum the mathematics subject
is compulsory for all students up to 10th class. The primary level is from class 1 st to 5th and the
secondary level is from class 6 th to 10th. After identifying the levels of education, the content
covered in mathematics text books was systematically analyzed and tabulated to know the
content covered in the textbooks in which how much importance given about the contribution of
mathematicians in the field of mathematics with special reference to Indian mathematicians in
dealing with mathematical concepts at appropriate place.

Results and Discussion

Primary Level

Mentioning of Contribution of mathematicians in the field of mathematics with special

reference to Indian mathematicians at Primary level of NCERT School textbooks in India

The investigator checked all the NCERT School mathematics textbooks from Class 1 to 5
(Primary level) and found that, Contribution of mathematicians was not mentioned in this level.
The investigator also wishes to do not suggest in mentioning of Contribution of mathematicians
in this particular level, because keeping the physical and mental development of the children.
Introduction of simple mathematical concepts are enough at this level. The Content should be
simple and should not burden to the learners. Therefore, the investigator is not suggesting the
mentioning of Contribution of mathematicians at primary level.

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For Secondary Level

Mentioning of Contribution of mathematicians in the field of mathematics with special

reference to Indian mathematicians at Secondary level of NCERT Schools textbooks in
India

Table 1: The Contents of Class 6th Mathematics (NCERT) text book

Page Contribution of Mathematicians

Chapters Contents
No’s mentioned (or) Not mentioned
Chapter 1 Knowing our Numbers 1-27 Not mentioned
Chapter 2 Whole Numbers 28-45 Not mentioned
Chapter 3 Mentioned about Greek
Mathematician Eratosthenes (3rd
Playing with Numbers 46-68 Century BC) in page no. 52 for the
Concept of Prime Numbers and
Composite Numbers
Chapter 4 Basic Geometrical Ideas 69-85 Not mentioned
Chapter 5 Understanding Elementary
86-112 Not mentioned
shapes
Chapter 6 Integers 113-132 Not mentioned
Chapter 7 Fractions 133-163 Not mentioned
Chapter 8 Decimals 164-183 Not mentioned
Chapter 9 Data Handling 184-204 Not mentioned
Chapter 10 Mensuration 205-220 Not mentioned
Chapter 11 Algebra 221-243 Not mentioned
Chapter 12 Ratio and Proportion 244-260 Not mentioned
Chapter 13 Symmetry 261-273 Not mentioned
Chapter 14 Practical Geometry 274-292 Not mentioned

From the above table 1, we observe that, out of fourteen chapters, in only one chapter (in
Chapter 3) mentioned about Mentioned about Greek Mathematician Eratosthenes (3rd Century
BC) for the Concept of Prime Numbers and Composite Numbers.

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Table 2: The Contents of Class 7th Mathematics (NCERT) text book

Page Contribution of Mathematicians

Chapters Contents
No’s mentioned (or) Not mentioned
Chapter 1 Integers Mentioned about Euler in page No.
1-28 14 for the concept Product of
negative integers
Chapter 2 Fractions and Decimals 29-56 Not mentioned
Chapter 3 Data Handling 57-76 Not mentioned
Chapter 4 Simple Equations 77-92 Not mentioned
Chapter 5 Lines and Angles 93-112 Not mentioned
Chapter 6 The Triangle and its
113-132 Not mentioned
Properties
Chapter 7 Congruence of Triangles 133-152 Not mentioned
Chapter 8 Comparing Quantities 153-172 Not mentioned
Chapter 9 Rational Numbers 173-192 Not mentioned
Chapter 10 Practical Geometry 193-204 Not mentioned
Chapter 11 Perimeter and Area 205-228 Not mentioned
Chapter 12 Algebraic Expressions 229-248 Not mentioned
Chapter 13 Exponents and Powers 249-264 Not mentioned
Chapter 14 Symmetry 265-276 Not mentioned
Chapter 15 Visualizing Solid Shapes 277-292 Not mentioned

From the above table 2, we observed that, out of fifteen chapters, in only one chapter
mentioned about contribution of western mathematician (i.e. Euler) in chapter 1 dealing of the
content Integers for the concept Product of negative integers.

Table 3: The Contents of Class 8th Mathematics (NCERT) text book

Page Contribution of Mathematicians

Chapters Contents
No’s mentioned (or) Not mentioned
Chapter 1 Rational Numbers 1-20 Not mentioned
Linear equations in One
Chapter 2 21-36 Not mentioned
Variable
Understanding the
Chapter 3 37-56 Not mentioned
Quadrilaterals
Chapter 4 Practical Geometry 57-68 Not mentioned
Chapter 5 Data Handling 69-88 Not mentioned
Chapter 6 Squares and Square Roots 89-108 Not mentioned
Mentioned about Ramanujan
Chapter 7 Cubes and Cube Roots 109-116 (Hardy-Ramanujan Number) in
Page No. 109 for the concept

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Cubes and Cube roots

Chapter 8 Comparing Quantities 117-136 Not mentioned
Algebraic Expression and
Chapter 9 137-152 Not mentioned
Identities
Chapter 10 Visualising Slid Shapes 153-168 Not mentioned
Chapter 11 Mensuration 169-192 Not mentioned
Chapter 12 Exponents and Powers 193-200 Not mentioned
Direct and Inverse
Chapter 13 201-216 Not mentioned
Proportions
Chapter 14 Factorisation 217-230 Not mentioned
Mentioned about Rene Descartes
(Cartesian system) in Page No. 241
Chapter 15 Introduction to Graphs 231-248
for the concept introduction to
Graphs
Chapter 16 Playing with Numbers 249-260 Not mentioned

From the above table 3, we may noticed that, out of sixteen chapters, in two chapters
mentioned about contribution of one Indian mathematician (i.e. Ramanujan) in chapter 7 in
dealing of the content Cubes and Cube roots for the concept Ramanujan number and one western
mathematician (i.e. Rene Descartes) in chapter 15 in dealing of the content introduction to graphs
for the concept Cartesian System.

Table 4: The Contents of Class 9th Mathematics (NCERT) text book

Page Contribution of Mathematicians

Chapters Contents
No’s mentioned (or) Not mentioned
Mentioned about Greece
Mathematician Pythagoras in
Page No. 5 for the concept
Irrational Numbers
Mentioned about two more
German Mathematician Cantor
and Dedekind in Page No. 6 for
Chapter 1 Number Systems 1-27
the concept Real Numbers
Mentioned about One western
Mathematician Archimedes and
One Indian Mathematician
Aryabhata in Page No. 13 for the
concept decimal expansion of π

Chapter 2 Polynomials 28-50 Not mentioned

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Mentioned about French

Mathematician Rene Descartes
Chapter 3 Coordinate Geometry 51-65 (Cartesian system) in Page No. 53
for the concept Coordinate
Geometry
Linear Equations in Two
Chapter 4 66-77 Not mentioned
Variables
In this chapter, Various ancient
civilization contributions like
Egypt, Babylonia, China, India
Greece, etc was mentioned.
Egyptian contribution in
geometric techniques and rues for
constructing simple area and also
doing for simple constructions was
mentioned
Indus valley civilization
(3000BC) extensive use of
Introduction to Euclid’s geometry, The geometry of the
Chapter 5 78-88
Geometry Vedic period, Sulabsutras (800
BC to 500BC) were the manuals
of geometrical contractions was
mentioned
Greek Mathematicians Thales
and Pythagoras contribution in
geometry also mentioned from
page no’s 78 to 79.
Contribution of Egyptian
Mathematician Euclid for the
understanding of geometry was
also mentioned in Page no. 80.
Chapter 6 Lines and Angles 89-108 Not Mentioned
Chapter 7 Triangles 109-134 Not Mentioned
Chapter 8 Quadrilaterals 135-151 Not Mentioned
Areas of Parallelograms and
Chapter 9 152-167 Not Mentioned
Triangles
Chapter 10 Circles 168-186 Not Mentioned
Chapter 11 Constructions 187-196 Not Mentioned
Mentioned about Egyptian
Mathematician Heron for the
Chapter 12 Heron’s Formula 197-207
concept finding the area of the
triangle in Page no. 199
Chapter 13 Surface Areas and Volumes 208-237 Not Mentioned

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Chapter 14 Statistics 238-270 Not Mentioned

Mentioned about two French
mathematicians Blaise Pascal
and Pierre de Fermat and also
one Italian Mathematician
J. Cardan for the concept of
Probability in page No. 272.
Chapter 15 Probability 271-285 The notable contribution of the
other western mathematicians of
J. Bernouli, P. Laplace, A.A.
Markov and A.N. Kolomogorov
for the concept of development of
Probability theory was also
mentioned in the same page.
Mentioned Indian Mathematician
Appendix -1 Proofs in Mathematics 286-305 Srinivasa Ramanujan in Page
No. 304
Introduction to Mathematical
Appendix -2 306-322 Not Mentioned
Modeling

From the above table 4, we observed that, there are several western mathematicians’
contributions for introduced in Class 9th and couple of Indian Mathematician contribution is also
mentioned. Out of 17 chapters, only in five chapters mentioned about the contribution of
mathematicians. It is a good indication in appreciating the contributions of mathematicians in the
development of mathematics.

Table 5: The Contents of Class 10th Mathematics (NCERT) text book

Page Contribution of Mathematicians

Chapters Contents
No’s mentioned (or) Not mentioned
Mentioned about Persian
mathematicians Muhammad ibn
Musa al-Khwarizmi for the
concept of algorithm in page No.
4.
Chapter 1 Real Numbers 1-19
Mentioned about western
mathematicians Carl Friedrich
Gauss for the concept of
arithmetic page No. 9.

Chapter 2 Polynomials 20-37 Not Mentioned

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Pair Linear Equations in Two

Chapter 3 38-69 Not Mentioned
Variables
Mentioned about Babylonian,
Greek Mathematician Euclid,
Indian Mathematicians
Brahmagupta, Sridharacharya,
Bhaskaracharya –II, Iran
Chapter 4 Quadratic Equations 70-92
Mathematician Al-Kwarizmi,
and Abrham bar Hiyya Ha-nasi
contribution for the concept of
solving of Quadratic equation in
Page no.71.
Mentioned about Greek
Mathematician Thales
Chapter 5 Arithmetic Progression 93-116 contribution for the concept of
equiangular triangles in Page no.
123.
Mentioned about Greek
Mathematician Pythagoras
Chapter 6 Triangles 117-154 contribution for the concept of
Pythagoras Theorem in Page no.
145.
Chapter 7 Coordinate Geometry 155-172 Not Mentioned
Mentioned about Indian
Mathematician Aryabhata
Chapter 8 Introduction to Trigonometry 173-194 contribution for the concept of
trigonometric ratios in Page no.
176.
Some applications of
Chapter 9 195-205 Not Mentioned
Trigonometry
Chapter 10 Circles 206-215 Not Mentioned
Mentioned about Indian
Mathematician Aryabhata
Chapter 11 Constructions 216-222 contribution for the concept of
approximation of π value in Page
no. 224.
Chapter 12 Areas related to Circles 223-238 Not Mentioned
Chapter 13 Surface Areas and Volumes 239-259 Not Mentioned
Chapter 14 Statistics 260-294 Not Mentioned
Mentioned about Italian
Mathematician J. card an, also
Chapter 15 Probability 295-312
mentioned James Bernoulli, de
moivre and Pierre Simon

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Laplace contribution for the

concept of Probability Theory in
Page no. 298.
Appendix -1 Proofs in Mathematics 313-333 Not Mentioned
Appendix -2 Mathematical Modeling 334-344 Not Mentioned

From the above table 5, we observe that, there are several western mathematicians and
Indian Mathematician contribution mentioned in seven chapters out of seventeen chapters.
Where there is necessary to discuss about the contribution of mathematicians was mentioned at
appropriate concepts in the textbook.

Conclusion

Results of this study revealed that mentioning of contribution of mathematicians at

Secondary level NCERT text books from class 6 th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th is in one chapter out of
fourteen chapters, one chapter out of fifteen chapters, two chapters out of sixteen chapters, six
chapters out of seventeen chapters, and seven chapters out of seventeen chapters respectively. It
shows that, the text book committee systematically and increasingly introduced the
mathematicians at appropriate mathematical concepts at appropriate classes by considering the
understanding level of the student. There were 27 western mathematicians and 6 Indian
mathematicians’ contribution mentioned at Secondary level NCERT mathematics textbooks
starting from class 6 th to 10th class. It shows that, a total of 33 mathematicians were introduced in
a total of 79 chapters for a total of 5 classes starting from class 6 th to 10th class. This is
reasonably good, but mentioning of contribution of Indian mathematicians only 6 which is
significantly less comparing with the western mathematicians. Therefore, there is a need to
introduce a good number of Indian Mathematician contributions to Secondary level mathematics
textbooks.

Implications

 To activate affective domain of the learners, the contributions of mathematicians at

appropriate concepts of mathematics is compulsory entire school mathematics subjects in
general, particularly in Secondary level.
 To develop positive attitude among the learners towards the mathematics subject, the
contributions of mathematicians is compulsory.

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 To appreciate the mathematics subject and contribution mathematicians in the field of

mathematics.
 Do not suggesting that the mentioning of Contribution of mathematicians at Primary level.
Keeping the physical and development of the children. Introduction of simple mathematical
concepts are enough at this level.
 National Education Policy-2019 also suggesting the Indianisation of Education, therefore
there is a need to introduce a good number of Indian Mathematician contributions to
Secondary level mathematics textbooks.
 The contribution of Indian mathematicians in the field of mathematics is far more than
western mathematicians.
 The content related to contribution of mathematicians should not be burden to the students,
and it should mentioned for the sake of appreciating the mathematicians contribution and not
for the evacuation purpose.
References

[1] Ministry of Human Resource Development, (1988). National Policy on Education 1986
(as modified in 1992) with National Policy on Education 1968, Dept. of Education.
MHRD, Govt. of India.
[2] Ministry of Human Resource Development, (2019). National Educational Policy, Govt.
of India, New Delhi: India.
[3] NCERT Mathematics text book for class VI retrieved from
http://ncert.nic.in/textbook/textbook.htm?femh1=0-14
[4] NCERT Mathematics text book for class VII retrieved from
http://ncert.nic.in/textbook/textbook.htm?gemh1=0-15
[5] NCERT Mathematics text book for class VIII retrieved from
http://ncert.nic.in/textbook/textbook.htm?hemh1=0-15
[6] NCERT Mathematics text book for class IX retrieved from
http://ncert.nic.in/textbook/textbook.htm?iemh1=0-15
[7] NCERT Mathematics text book for class X retrieved from
http://ncert.nic.in/textbook/textbook.htm?jemh1=0-15

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