Aryabhateeya was composed in 499 CE by Aryabhata in Kusumapura, which is identified with Pataliputra (essentially modern Patna). This text heralded the advent of siddhaantic astronomy in India, which gives a systematic mathematical treatment of astronomical problems. Aryabhateeya is very brief and has only 121 stanzas. It has four parts, one of which is devoted to mathematics. It is in this part that the computation of the sine function (jyaa in India) is discussed. The jyaa is far more convenient than the Greek chord for astronomical computations, and is essentially the modern ‘sin theta’.
Aryabhateeya states: “The globe of the Earth stands (supportless) at the centre of the circular frame of asterisms surrounded by the orbits (of the planets); it is made up of water, earth, fire and air and is spherical.” It is one of the earliest texts anywhere to discuss the rotation of the earth: “Just as a man in a boat moving forward sees the stationary objects as moving backward, just so are the stationary stars seen by people at Lanka (on the equator), as moving exactly towards the west.”
This story is from the August 15, 2020 edition of The New Indian Express Chennai.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the August 15, 2020 edition of The New Indian Express Chennai.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Reetika out, India's Olympics over
INDIAN wrestler Reetika Hooda put up a stout defence against top seed Aiperi Medet Kyzy before losing the women's 76kg quarterfinal bout, which turned into an intense power struggle at the Paris Olympics here on Saturday.
NEERAJ SILVER IN THE WORDS OF COACH KLAUS
THEY share a very sacred bond: Olympic silver medallist Neeraj Chopra and his coach Klaus Bartonietz.
Imane, the last woman standing after misinformed scrutiny
ALGERIAN boxer Imane Khelif has won a gold medal Friday at the Paris Olympics, emerging a champion from a tumultuous run at the Games where she endured intense scrutiny in the ring and online abuse from around the world over misconceptions womanhood.
Tribunal stays IRDAI order against Rashmi Saluja
IN a relief to Religare Enterprises chairperson Dr Rashmi Saluja, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has stayed for 12 weeks the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) order directing Care Health Insurance to buy back 75,69,685 shares of CHIL allotted to and revoking unexercised and / or unvested stock options of Dr Rashmi Saluja.
'Sebi chief linked to offshore funds'
US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research on Saturday alleged that current SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, had hidden stakes in the exact same obscure offshore Bermuda and Mauritius funds, found in the same complex nested structure, used by Vinod Adani, brother of billionaire Gautam Adani, in what it calls the money siphoning scandal.
Sebi flags rising demand-supply gap in debt papers
GIVEN the rising mismatch between demand and supply of debt market instruments across investor classes, a senior Sebi official has urged the mutual fund industry and its lobby Amfi to conduct voluntary and credible industry-wide stress tests.
UNHAPPY NEIGHBOURS, AND POOR DIPLOMACY
EXACTLY two years ago, in August 2022, Sri Lanka's President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa and 2 security guards fled the country hours before he was slated to resign.
'Banks need to focus on deposits'
FINANCE minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday stressed upon the importance for the banks to focus on their primary banking activities, specifically in terms of collecting deposits and providing loans to those in need of financial assistance.
Russia says it launched 'counter-terror ops' to halt Ukrainian advance
MOSCOW on Saturday mounted a \"counter-terror operation\" in three border regions adjoining Ukraine to halt Kyiv's advance deeper into Russia and warned that the fighting endangered a nuclear power plant.
Yunus slams violence against minorities
BANGLADESH'S interim leader Muhammad Yunus on Saturday appealed for religious unity and condemned attacks on the minority communities in the violence-hit nation, terming them as \"heinous\".
