Vedic Mathematics
Voltaire, the famous French writer and philosopher) stated that "Pythagoras went to the Ganges to learn geometry." Abraham Seidenberg, author of the authoritative "History of Mathematics," credits the Sulba Sutras as inspiring all mathematics of the ancient world from Babylonia to Egypt to Greece.
As Voltaire & Seidenberg have stated, many highly significant mathematical concepts have come from the Vedic culture, such as:
The theorem bearing the name of the Greek mathematician Pythagorus is found in the Shatapatha Brahmana as well as the Sulba Sutra, the Indian mathematical treatise, written centuries before Pythagorus was born.
The Decimal system, based on powers of ten, where the remainder is carried over to the next column, first mentioned in the Taittiriya Samhita of the Black Yajurveda.
The Introduction of zero as both a numerical value and a place marker.
The Concept of infinity.
The Binary number system, essential for computers, was used in Vedic verse meters.
A hashing technique, similar to that used by modern search algorithms, such as Googles, was used in South Indian musicology. From the name of a raga one can determine the notes of the raga from this Kathapayadi system. (See Figure at left.)
For further reading we refer you to this excellent article on Vedic Mathematics.
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