ENTER

Saturday 9 September 2017

Was pi really invented in India?

Wikipedia says that pi was invented by William Jones, a mathematician from Wales, in the 1970s. But, little do we know that our own legendary mathematician Aryabhatta had mentioned the value of pi in one of his ancient shloks, written in 455 A.D.

Our ancestors had a very unique way of passing their time in those days. Most of their time was spent in doing yagnas to various demigods and goddesses. One of the peculiar features of the yagnakundas used for doing yagna was their unique shapes. Some yagnakundas were square, some were circle and some semi circle. The area of the yagnakunda, however, was same for all yagnakundas.

Now, a simple mathematical equation, as given below, between the area of square and circle, can give us the radius of a circle whose area is equal to a given square.



But, how did the ancient Indians build yagnakundas of same area and different shapes? The following shlok written by Aryabhatta in 455 A.D. gives us an idea of how the ancient Indians might have been able to design such intricate structures:

chaturadhikaM shatamaShTaguNaM                    dvAShaShTistathA sahasrANAm AyutadvayaviShkambhasyAsanno vr^ttapariNahaH
          [gaNita pAda, 10] Aryabhatiyam (499 CE) 


Chatur-4, adhikam-add, shatam-100, ashta-8, gunam-multiply, dwashashtistatha sahasranam-62000, ayuta-divide, dwayavishkambha-20,000, Asanno-approximate;



The above shlok, in short, means:
“Add 4 to 100, multiply by 8 and add to 62,000. This is approximately the circumference of a circle whose diameter is 20,000.” 
                            i.e. \pi \approx \frac{62,832}{20,000} = 3.1416 
               correct to four places.
The word "Asanna" indicates that this is an approximation. 

This value was used to build yagnakundas of circular shapes.


Does this mean that Aryabhatta was the true inventor of pi? 

12 comments:

  1. So happy to hear how our I
    ndia is

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. there is a long story of it . Pi was first invented by Archimedes(in 250 b.c) & Aryabhatta invented it in 450 A.D , both calculated approximate value.
    Actual value of Pi was invented in "Madhava of Sangamagrama" in "Madhava–Leibniz series" in the 14th century.

    William Jones, a mathematician from Wales had only give symbol to Pi.

    So Real discoverer of Pi is "Madhava" & "Archimedes" because Aryabhatta discovered it later.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. In the Kalacakra Tantra spoken by the Buddha (Shakyamuni) in southern India in c. 800BC the Buddha mentions that the circumference of all circles is 3 times the diameter. This scripture did not become publicly known til the 1200AD but the Buddhist tradition understands that Buddha preached it the year that he attained enlightenment, around 800BC. Buddha did not define pi to any number of decimal places, he only stated that it is 3. Why? Because Buddha was not worried about being known as a great mathematician because that fame would only detract from his spiritual teaching of perfect nirvana, which was what he really wanted people to realize. He didn't want people to spend their lives arguing over meaningless decimal places which ultimately have no utility in terms of transcending samsara (birth and death cycle) and suffering.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting to know that. It is agreeable that Buddhist scripture too, like their Hindu counterparts, are vast resources of undiscovered knowledge. Please keep sharing such interesting facts and keep reading!

      Delete
    2. It was early than bhudists it was nearly 4750 years ago

      Delete
    3. Uhmm, Buddha lived in 500-400 BC. So Buddhism was founded only after that

      Delete
  6. william jones discovered pi in 1790 not 1970 ��

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sterling Silver earrings online from one of the most experienced and trusted manufacturers in Jaipur and define a new signature style for you. 925 Silver Jaipur always makes sure that the products are extremely uncompromised and top-notch when it comes to quality. The raw materials that are used to manufacture earrings for women such as the beads, the silver stone earrings, and the silver pearl earrings are picked from trusted vendors to ensure that they are of the best quality. Silver earrings for girls are available for any occasion and will match all attires perfectly. Even if you decide to go ethnic and all-elegant, the earring will never let you and your style down by our ethnic collection of drop earrings.

    ReplyDelete