Mathematician:Aryabhata the Elder

Mathematician

Indian mathematician and astronomer.

An early believer in the irrationality of $\pi$, and developed an approximation for it of $3.1416$.

Developed a positional system of numerals in c. $500$, but it lacked a symbol for zero.

Nationality

Indian

History

• Born: 476, Kusumapura (now Patna), India
• Died: 550, India

Theorems

• Sine, cosine and versine, under the names jyā, koti-jyā and utkrama-jyā.
• Area of Triangle in Terms of Side and Altitude
• Aryabhata Algorithm
• Aryabhata Numeration

• Sum of Sequence of Triangular Numbers
• Sum of Sequence of Squares
• Sum of Sequence of Cubes

Publications

• 499: Aryabhatiya (or Ashmakatantra, as it is referred to by Bhaskara I in his commentary Aryabhatiyabhasya)
• Arya-Siddhanta

• Several more lost treatises on mathematics and astronomy

Also known as

The name can also be rendered Āryabhaṭa.

Aryabhata the Elder is also referred to as Aryabhata $\text I$ to distinguish him from Aryabhata II who lived some $400$ years later.

Sources

• John J. O'Connor and Edmund F. Robertson: "Aryabhata the Elder": MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

• 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Aryabhata (c. 475-c. 550)
• 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Aryabhata (c.475-c.550)
• 2008: Ian Stewart: Taming the Infinite ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $3$: Notations and Numbers: Brahmagupta, Mahavira and Bhaskara
• 2014: Christopher Clapham and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (5th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Āryabhata (about 476-550)