ARYABHATA
ARYABHATA
ARYABHATA
476 CE–550 CE
Aryabhata (476–550 CE) was the first of the
major mathematician-astronomers from the
classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian
astronomy. His works include
the Āryabhaṭīya (which mentions that in
3600 Kali Yuga, 499 CE, he was 23 years
old) and the Arya-siddhanta.
For his explicit mention of the relativity of
motion, he also qualifies as a major early
physicist.
Education
Aryabhata worked on the approximation for pi (π), and may have come to the
conclusion that π is irrational. In the second part of
the Aryabhatiyam (gaṇitapāda 10), he writes:
caturadhikaṃ śatamaṣṭaguṇaṃ dvāṣaṣṭistathā sahasrāṇām
ayutadvayaviṣkambhasyāsanno vṛttapariṇāhaḥ.
"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
This implies that for a circle whose diameter is 20000, the circumference will
be 62832, i.e 62832/20000 = 3.1416
3. Trigonometry
They were discussed extensively in ancient Vedic text Sulba Sutras, whose
more ancient parts might date to 800 BCE. Aryabhata's method of solving such
problems, elaborated by Bhaskara in 621 CE, is called the kuṭṭaka (कु ट्टक)
method. Kuṭṭaka means "pulverizing" or "breaking into small pieces", and the
method involves a recursive algorithm for writing the original factors in
smaller numbers. This algorithm became the standard method for solving
first-order diophantine equations in Indian mathematics, and initially the
whole subject of algebra was called kuṭṭaka-gaṇita or simply kuṭṭaka
5. Algebra
and
FAMOUS WORKS OF ARYABHATA IN
ASTRONOMY
1. Motions of the Solar System
Aryabhata correctly insisted that the Earth rotates about its axis daily, and that
the apparent movement of the stars is a relative motion caused by the rotation
of the Earth, contrary to the then-prevailing view, that the sky rotated. This is
indicated in the first chapter of the Aryabhatiya, where he gives the number of
rotations of the Earth in a yuga.
Aryabhata described a geocentric model of the Solar System, in which the Sun
and Moon are each carried by epicycles. They in turn revolve around the Earth.
In this model, which is also found in the Paitāmahasiddhānta (c. 425 CE), the
motions of the planets are each governed by two epicycles, a
smaller manda (slow) and a larger śīghra(fast). The order of the planets in
terms of distance from earth is taken as: the Moon, Mercury, Venus,
the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the asterisms
The positions and periods of the planets was calculated relative to uniformly
moving points. In the case of Mercury and Venus, they move around the Earth
at the same mean speed as the Sun. In the case of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn,
they move around the Earth at specific speeds, representing each planet's
motion through the zodiac. Most historians of astronomy consider that this
two-epicycle model reflects elements of pre-Ptolemaic Greek astronomy.
Another element in Aryabhata's model, the śīghrocca, the basic planetary
period in relation to the Sun, is seen by some historians as a sign of an
underlying heliocentric model
2. Eclipses