Indians predated Newton 'discovery' by 250 years
Rahul Agarwal
http://www.physorg.com/news106238636.html
"A little known school of scholars in southwest India discovered one
of the founding principles of modern mathematics hundreds of years
before Newton according to new research.
Dr George Gheverghese Joseph from The University of Manchester says
the 'Kerala School' identified the 'infinite series'- one of the basic
components of calculus - in about 1350.
The discovery is currently - and wrongly - attributed in books to Sir
Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibnitz at the end of the seventeenth
centuries.
The team from the Universities of Manchester and Exeter reveal the
Kerala School also discovered what amounted to the Pi series and used
it to calculate Pi correct to 9, 10 and later 17 decimal places.
And there is strong circumstantial evidence that the Indians passed on
their discoveries to mathematically knowledgeable Jesuit missionaries
who visited India during the fifteenth century.
That knowledge, they argue, may have eventually been passed on to
Newton himself.
Dr Joseph made the revelations while trawling through obscure Indian
papers for a yet to be published third edition of his best selling
book 'The Crest of the Peacock: the Non-European Roots of Mathematics'
by Princeton University Press.
He said: "The beginnings of modern maths is usually seen as a European
achievement but the discoveries in medieval India between the
fourteenth and sixteenth centuries have been ignored or forgotten.
"The brilliance of Newton's work at the end of the seventeenth century
stands undiminished - especially when it came to the algorithms of
calculus.
"But other names from the Kerala School, notably Madhava and
Nilakantha, should stand shoulder to shoulder with him as they
discovered the other great component of calculus- infinite series.
"There were many reasons why the contribution of the Kerala school has
not been acknowledged - a prime reason is neglect of scientific ideas
emanating from the Non-European world - a legacy of European
colonialism and beyond.
"But there is also little knowledge of the medieval form of the local
language of Kerala, Malayalam, in which some of most seminal texts,
such as the Yuktibhasa, from much of the documentation of this
remarkable mathematics is written."
He added: "For some unfathomable reasons, the standard of evidence
required to claim transmission of knowledge from East to West is
greater than the standard of evidence required to knowledge from West
to East.
"Certainly it's hard to imagine that the West would abandon a
500-year-old tradition of importing knowledge and books from India and
the Islamic world.
"But we've found evidence which goes far beyond that: for example,
there was plenty of opportunity to collect the information as European
Jesuits were present in the area at that time.
"They were learned with a strong background in maths and were well
versed in the local languages.
"And there was strong motivation: Pope Gregory XIII set up a committee
to look into modernising the Julian calendar.
"On the committee was the German Jesuit astronomer/mathematician
Clavius who repeatedly requested information on how people constructed
calendars in other parts of the world. The Kerala School was
undoubtedly a leading light in this area.
"Similarly there was a rising need for better navigational methods
including keeping accurate time on voyages of exploration and large
prizes were offered to mathematicians who specialised in astronomy.
"Again, there were many such requests for information across the world
from leading Jesuit researchers in Europe. Kerala mathematicians were
hugely skilled in this area." "
Source: University of Manchester