A Short Note on Famous Mathematicians of India

From ancient to medieval India, mathematical texts were written in Sanskrit, particularly sutras, which put out a series of rules or problems. The Indians recognized the advantages of a decimal place value number system early on and were very definitely employing it by the third century. They improved and improved the system, especially the written representation of numerals. Quantity (numbers), structure, space, and change are all studied in mathematics. Classical Indian mathematicians such as Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Mahavira, and others are immortalized for their contributions to mathematics. For instance, the concept of zero as a number, negative numbers, arithmetic, algebra, and trigonometry are only a few examples. 

History of Mathematics in India: 

For centuries, Mathematics has played an important part in the formation of Indian civilization. The Indian subcontinent’s mathematical ideas have had a significant impact on the rest of the world. The mathematical structures found in Vedic literature have gotten a lot of attention. As is customary, numerous interpretations of Vedic writings’ dates exist. It’s fascinating to note that this period’s mathematics appears to have been developed to solve actual geometry difficulties, particularly the construction of religious altars.

Indian Mathematicians of the Ancient Period: 

The golden age of Indian mathematics is often referred to as the Classic period(400–1600). Many branches of mathematics were widened and clarified during this period by mathematicians such as Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, Bhaskara I, Mahavira, Bhaskara II, etc. Their contributions are mentioned below:

1. Aryabhata: Aryabhatta was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, and physicist who lived in the fifth century. In the realm of mathematics, he was a pioneer 

• He explained how to use alphabets to represent large decimal numbers. 
• Aryabhatta demonstrated that zero was more than just a number; it was also a symbol and a concept.
• Aryabhatta’s discovery of zero allowed him to calculate the exact distance between the earth and the moon. Negative numbers came into existence with the discovery of zero.

2. Brahmagupta: One of the genius Astronomer-Mathematician was Brahmagupta (597-668AD). Brahmagupta is better known today for his contributions to mathematics than astronomy.

• He introduced the idea of positive numbers, which he referred to as dhan, and negative numbers, which he referred to as debt.
• Brahmagupta gave the concept of solving quadratic equations with two variables and considered systems of simultaneous equations.

3. Mahavira: Mahavira, born in c. 850, Karnataka, India. Some of the contributions were-

• Mahavira established certain guidelines for the usage of permutations and combinations. 
• He also described a method for determining the volume of a sphere and the cube root of an integer.

4. Bhaskaracharya: Bhaskaracharya was the twelfth century’s foremost light. He was born in the Karnataka town of Bijapur. His book Siddhanta Shiromani is well-known. 

• Lilavati (Arithmetic), Beejaganit (Algebra), Goladhyaya (Sphere), and Grahaganit are the four portions (mathematics of planets).
• To solve algebraic problems, Bhaskara devised the Chakrawat Method, also known as the Cyclic Method.

Indian Mathematicians of the Modern Era: 

In the domain of mathematics, Indian geniuses have created revolutionary changes as well as advancements and specialities. As a result, it becomes essential to honour these renowned Indian mathematicians.

1. Harish Chandra: He joined Paul Dirac’s team at Princeton, where he switched fields to mathematics from physicist and made significant contributions to the field of representation theory.
2. Srinivasa Ramanujan: Perhaps the most well-known of modern Indian mathematicians is Ramanujan (1887–1920). He pioneered the study of the function in a seminal work published in 1916. Ramanujan proved several of the function’s properties and conjectured many more.
3. C.R Rao: C. R. Rao is a mathematical statistician who is best known for his estimation theory. He is also credited with the discovery of the Cramer-Rao bound and the Rao-Blackwell theorem.
4. P.C. Mahalanobis:  Also known as the “Father of Indian Statistics,” he established the Indian Institute of Statistical Science. His contribution to statistics, which includes the development of the theory of pilot and large-scale surveys, has earned him a place among India’s best mathematicians.
5. Manjul Bhargava: A thesis by Bhargava that shed fresh light on Gauss’s Law for the combination of two binary quadratic forms was one of his most notable contributions.

Famous Indian female mathematicians: 

1. Shakuntala Devi: Shakuntala Devi, the most famous female Indian mathematician of all time, was also known as the human computer. She was given this name due to her remarkable ability to answer math problems without needing a calculator.
2. Sujhata Ramdorai: She developed a non-commutative version of Iwasawa theory’s core conjecture with Coates, Fukaya, Kato, and Venjakob, on which much of the subject’s basis is built.
3. Neena Gupta: The DST-ICTP-IMU Ramanujan Prize for Young Mathematicians from Developing Countries has been awarded to Neena Gupta. Her contributions to affine algebraic geometry and commutative algebra have been recognized by this award.

Conclusion:

As much as we appreciate the other aspects of Indian culture, religion, the theatre, we should not forget to honour these types of geniuses in every field of education and different subjects. Their works should be learned in more detail so that their contributions get the appreciation it deserves.