Indian science

Indian science has a very ancient history going back to the Vedas. Please see Indian science and technology.

Astronomy

Ancient India’s contributions to astronomy are well known and documented. The earliest references to astronomy are found in the Rig Veda, which are dated 2000 BC. By 500 AD, ancient Indian astronomy emerged as an important part of Indian studies and its affect is seen in several treatises of that period. In some instances, astronomical principles were borrowed to explain matters pertaining to astrology, like casting of a horoscope. Apart from this link of astronomy to astrology in ancient India, science of astronomy continued to develop independently, and culminated in original findings, like:

• The calculation of occurrences of eclipses
• Calculation of Earth’s circumference
• Theorizing about gravity
• Determining that Sun is a star
• Determining the number of planets in the Solar System

There are astronomical references of chronological significance in the Vedas. Some Vedic notices mark the beginning of the year and that of the vernal equinox in Orion; this was the case around 4500 BC. Fire altars, with astronomical basis, have been found in the third millennium cities of India. The texts that describe their designs are conservatively dated to the first millennium BC, but their contents appear to be much older.

Yajnavalkya (perhaps 1800 BC) advanced a 95-year cycle to synchronize the motions of the sun and the moon.

A text on Vedic astronomy that has been dated to 1350 BC, was written by Lagadha.

The idea that the Sun was at the centre of the solar system, and hence a heliocentric solar system, was first discovered sometime between 1500 BC and 500 BC in the Vedic literature of ancient India, such as the Vedas which often referred to the Sun as the "centre of spheres". There is an old Sanskrit shloka (couplet) which also states "Sarva Dishanaam, Suryaha, Suryaha, Suryaha" which means that there are suns in all directions. This couplet which describes the night sky as full of suns, indicates that in ancient times Indian astronomers had arrived at the important discovery that the stars visible at night are similar to the Sun visible during day time. In other words, it was recognized that the sun is also a star, though the nearest one. This understanding is demonstrated in another Sloka which says that when one sun sinks below the horizon, a thousand suns take its place. Many Indian astronomers had later formulated ideas about gravity and gravitation in the early middle ages.

In 500 AD, Aryabhata presented a mathematical system that took the earth to spin on its axis and considered the motions of the planets with respect to the sun (in other words it was heliocentric). His book, the Aryabhatya, presented astronomical and mathematical theories in which the Earth was taken to be spinning on its axis and the periods of the planets were given with respect to the sun. In this book, the day was reckoned from one sunrise to the next, whereas in his Aryabhata-siddhanta he took the day from one midnight to another. There was also difference in some astronomical parameters.

Aryabhata wrote that 1,582,237,500 rotations of the Earth equal 57,753,336 lunar orbits. This is an extremely accurate ratio of a fundamental astronomical ratio (1,582,237,500/57,753,336 = 27.3964693572), and is perhaps the oldest astronomical constant calculated to such accuracy.

Brahmagupta (598-668) was the head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain and during his tenure there wrote a text on astronomy, the Brahmasphutasiddhanta in 628.

Bhaskara (1114-1185) was the head of the astronomical observatory at Ujjain, continuing the mathematical tradition of Brahmagupta. He wrote the Siddhantasiromani which consists of two parts: Goladhyaya (sphere) and Grahaganita (mathematics of the planets).

The other important names of historical astronomers from India are Madhava and Nilakantha.

On April 19, 1975, India sent into orbit its first satellite Aryabhatta. In 1984, Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to go to outer space. Kalpana Chawla, later a US citizen, became the first woman of Indian origin to go to space.

Physics

The concept of atom in ancient India derives from the classification of the material world in five basic elements by Indian philosophers. This classification existed since Vedic times, around 3000 BC. The elements were the earth (prithvi), fire (agni), air (vayu), water (jaal) and ether or space (aksha). The elements were associated with human sensory perceptions: smell, touch, vision, taste and ether/space respectively. Later, Buddhist philosophers replaced ether/space with life, joy and sorrow.

Ancient Indian philosophers believed that all elements except ether were physically palpable and hence comprised of minuscule particles. The smallest particle, which could not be subdivided, was called paramanu in Sanskrit (shortened to parmanu), from param (ultimate or beyond) and anu (atom). Thus, "paramanu" literally means "beyond atom" and this was a concept at an abstract level which suggested the possibility of splitting atoms, which is now the source of atomic energy. However, the term "atom" should not be conflated with the concept of atom as it is understood today.

The 6th century BC Indian philosopher Kanada was the first person who went deep systematically in such theorization. Another Indian philosopher, Pakudha Katyayana, a contemporary of Buddha, also propounded the ideas of atomic constitution of the material world. All these were based on logic and philosophy and lacked any empirical basis for want of commensurate technology. Similarly, the principle of relativity (not to be confused with Einstein's theory of relativity) was available in an embryonic form in the Indian philosophical concept of "sapekshavad", literally "theory of relativity" in Sanskrit.

These theories have attracted attention of the Indologists, and veteran Australian Indologist A. L. Basham has concluded that "they were brilliant imaginative explanations of the physical structure of the world, and in a large measure, agreed with the discoveries of modern physics."

Chemistry

Ancient India’s development in chemistry was not confined at an abstract level like physics, but found development in a variety of practical activities.

Metallurgy has remained central to all civilizations, from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, and later. It is believed that the basic idea of smelting reached ancient India from Mesopotamia and the Near East. In ancient India, the science of smelting reached a high level of refinement and precision. In the 5th century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus observed that "Indian and the Persian army used arrows tipped with iron." Ancient Romans used armour and cutlery made of Indian iron.

In India itself, certain objects testify to the high level of metallurgy. An iron pillar believed to be cast in the Gupta period circa 500 AD stands by the side of Qutub Minar World heritage site in Delhi. It is 7.32 m tall, with a diameter of 40 cm at the base tapering to 30 cm at the top, and is estimated to weigh 6 tonnes. Standing in the open for last 1500 years, it has withstandood wind, heat and water without rusting, except for very minor natural erosion. This kind of rust-proof iron was not possible till iron and steel was discovered few decades before.

Ancient India's advanced chemical science also finds expression in activities like distillation of perfumes and fragrant ointments, manufacturing of dyes and chemicals, preparation of pigments and colours, and polishing of mirrors. Paintings found on walls of Ajanta and Ellora World Heritage sites still look fresh after 1000 years, further testifying to the high level of science.

Medicine and Surgery

The science of medicine originates in ancient India as "ayurveda", literally, "the science of life or longevity" in Sanskrit from "ayur" (age or life) and "veda" (knowledge). Ayurveda constitutes ideas about ailments and diseases, their symptoms, diagnosis and cure, and relies heavily on herbal medicine, including extracts from several plants. This reliance on herbs differentiates ayurveda from systems like allopathy and homeopathy. Ayurveda has also always dissociated itself from witch doctors and voodoo.

Ancient scholars of India like Atreya[1], and Agnivesa have dealt with principles of ayurveda as long back as 800 BC. Their works and other developments were consolidated by Charaka into a compendium of ayurvedic principles and practices ,Charaka-Samahita, which remained a standard textbook for almost 2000 years, translated into many languages including Arabic and Latin. It deals with a variety of matters covering physiology, etiology and embryology, concepts of digestion, metabolism, and immunity. Preliminary concepts of genetics are also mentioned; for example, Charaka theorized that blindness from the birth is not due to a defect in the mother or father, but originates in the ovum and the sperm.

Advances in the field of medical surgery were also made in ancient India, including plastic surgery, extraction of catracts and even dental surgery. The roots of ancient Indian surgery go back to at least circa 800 BC. The medical theoretician and practitioner Shushruta lived between the 6th century BC and 1st century BC in Kasi (now called Varanasi). He wrote the medical compendium Shushruta-Samahita describing at least seven branches of surgery: Excision, Scarification, Puncturing, Exploration, Extraction, Evacuation, and Suturing. It also deals with matters like rhinoplasty (plastic surgery) and ophthalmology (ejection of cataracts). It also focuses on the study the human anatomy by using a dead body. Shushruta also describes over 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical procedures and classifies human surgery in 8 categories. Because of his seminal and numerous contributions to the science and art of surgery he is also known by the title "Father of Surgery." Susrutha is also the father of plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery since his technique of forehead flap rhinoplasty (repairing the disfigured nose with a flap of skin from the forehead) that he used to reconstruct noses that were amputated as a punishment for crimes, is practiced almost unchanged in technique to this day. The Susrutha Samhita contains the first known description of several operations, including the uniting of bowel, the removal of the prostate gland, the removal of cataract lenses and the draining of abscesses. Susrutha was also the first surgeon to advocate the practice of operations on inanimate objects such as watermelons, clay plots and reeds; thus predating the modern practice of the surgical workshop by hundreds of years. Inoculation was practiced in China, India, and Turkey, and was a precursor to vaccination for smallpox.

Yoga is a system of exercise for physical and mental nourishment. Its origins are shrouded in antiquity and mystery. Since Vedic times, the principles and practice of yoga have crystallized. But it was only around 200 BC that the fundamentals of yoga were collected by Patanjali in his treatise Yogasutra ("Yoga-Aphorisms"; see Yoga Sutras of Patanjali). In short, Patanjali surmised that through the practice of yoga, the energy latent within the human body may be released, which has a salubrious affect on the body and the mind. Modern clinical practices have established that several ailments, including hypertension, clinical depression, amnesia, acidity, can be controlled and managed by yogic practices. The application of yoga in physiotherapy is also gaining recognition.

Nuclear Science

In 1974, India conducted its first nuclear test in Pokhran codenamed Operation Smiling Buddha. In 1999, two more tests were conducted. Prominent scientists of India's nuclear program include Homi Jehangir Bhabha and Dr. Raja Ramanna.

See also

• Indian science and technology
• Ayurveda
• Indian mathematics
• Timeline of mathematics
• History of astronomy