India has a long legacy of extraordinary scholars and teachers whose contribution to mathematics and astronomy is profound. It has a rich history going back over 3,000 years. Discovering the concept of zero, or calculating the correct days in a year, Indian mathematicians have always been in the forefront of challenging norms as well as a thirst for knowledge. A decimal system was already in place during the Harappa Civilization. Indian mathematicians made seminal contributions to the study of trigonometry, algebra, arithmetic, and negative numbers among other areas. The modern concepts of sine and cosine were developed in this country.
Here are some of the most famous Indian Mathematicians dating back to the Indus Valley Civilization to Modern times.
- Aryabhata (476 AD to 550 AD): Regarded as first of the significant mathematician-astronomers from the classical age Aryabhata was famous for putting out concepts like the Earth is spherical. The position of the nine planets and these planets revolve around the sun, lunar eclipse and solar eclipse, rotation of Earth on its axis, the reflection of light by moon, the value of pi correct to four decimal places, the circumference of Earth to 99.8 percent accuracy. He also described the number of days to be 365
2. Brahmagupta (598 AD to 668 AD) Brahmagupta was the next in line of the great Indian Mathematicians. He introduced the concept and computing methods of zero (0). He also gave out many algebraic and arithmetic concepts and formulas. His book, ‘Brahmasphutasiddhanta’ contained many mathematical rules and geometrical theories like the ‘Pythagorean Theorem’ and essential practices of trigonometry. He also introduced the formula for a cyclic quadrilateral.
3. Bhaskara( 600 AD to 680 AD ) He was the first to write numbers in the Hindu decimal system with a circle for the zero. He also made considerable contributions to the study of fractions. He used letters to represent unknowns, as we do in algebra today. He also developed new methods for solving quadratic equations, that is, equations containing at least one variable raised to the second power (x2).
4. Srinivas Ramanujan (1887 to 1920) – Although he had no formal training in pure mathematics, yet he made great contributions in mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions, including solutions to some of the mathematical problems considered unsolvable. His outstanding contributions to this field are Hardy-Ramanujan-Littlewood circle method in number theory and Roger-Ramanujan’s identities in the partition of numbers.
5. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1893 to 1972) significantly contributed to the field of statistics and founded the Indian Statistical Institute. He made a pioneering study in the area of anthropometry. He also contributed to the design of large scale sample surveys in India and came up with the famous “Mahalanobis Distance”, a measurement often used in studies of population distribution By developing new techniques in arithmetic, algebra, statistics, and trigonometry, medieval Indian mathematicians helped make modern science and technology possible. Immense importance is given to mathematics today, as, without its application, higher technology is impossible. Modern mathematicians lead the spectacular progress of mathematics as a branch of knowledge.
6. Satyendra Nath Bose (1894 to 1974) established modern theoretical physics in India. Bose made significant advances in statistical mechanics and quantum statistics, the description of all forces by single field theory, x-ray diffraction, and the interaction of electromagnetic waves with the ionosphere. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s.
7. D. R. Kaprekar (1905 to 1986) discovered several results in number theory, including a class of numbers and contributions towards various topics such as magic squares, recurring decimals, integers with unique properties are astounding. He was an Indian recreational mathematician without any formal doctorate. He even has a constant named after him!
8. C.R. Rao (1920- Present) is a mathematician and statistician, whose contribution include estimation theory, statistical inference, and linear models multivariate analysis, combinatorial design, orthogonal arrays, biometry, statistical genetics, generalised matrix inverses, and functional equations.
9. Navin M.Singhi ( 1949- Present) has specialised in combinatorics and graph theory. He is also known for his research in block designs, projective planes, intersection graphs of hypergraphs, and coding theory.
10. N.K.Karmakar (1955-Present) is known for his Karmarkar’s algorithm, which solves linear programming problems in polynomial time. He created an overlap between global technology and mathematics to give birth to algorithms. He is also listed as an ISI’s highly cited researcher.
Many other famous Indian mathematicians contributed to the origin and development of mathematics. Mathematics will always remain indebted to the land of India for all its contribution throughout the history of Mankind.
