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Starting
with the Indus Valley civilization around 2500 BC, India has been the site
for significant historical and philosophical developments intermeshed with
several facets of scientific and technological activities. Recent excavations
at Kalibangan (Rajasthan) and Lothal (Gujarat) have underlined the
singular achievements of this period in history, especially in the spheres
of town planning and building of houses using standard burnt bricks, interlinked
drainage system, wheel - turned ceramics, solid wheel carts and the use
of copper and bronze in various products.
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In the field of medicine and surgery, Charak
Samhita and Sushrita, classics on Ayurveda are acknowledged
as important milestones of the sixth century BC. As far as metallurgy was
concerned, according to the Rasvatnakar, the very first batch of
zinc to be distilled by man took place around 50 BC in Zawar, Rajasthan.
The mastery of Madhuchusta Vidhanam or the lost wax process, led
to the grand Chola bronze coins during 800 - 1400 AD. Indian mathematicians
and astronomers have contributed immensely to the fundamental concept of
celestial science. The discovery of coins and concrete evidence of maritime
trade indicate a definite level of excellence in the fields of mathematics,
geometry and astronomy. India's mastery of the science of pure mathematics
goes back to ancient times. It is generally acknowledged that the concept
of zero, crucial to the development of the science, is India's contribution
to the world, which was given to Europe through the Arabs. In the Ganita
Sara Samgraha, 850 A.D., Mahaviracharya, the greatest Jain mathematician
mentions the significance of zero. In the fifth century BC Brahmagupta
became the first mathematician to solve the Pellian equation.
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| A century later, Aryabhatta arrived at the
most accurate value of the mathematical constant, Pi, in the Gitikapada.
The Bakhsali manuscript, written in the third or fourth century BC, on
72 leaves of birch bark, is an exclusively mathematical text that presents
rules, illustrated instances and solutions to geometric, algebraic and
arithmetical problems. In the Kalpasutras, penned in 290 BC, Bhadrabahu
solved the Pythagorean theorem. The mathematical genius of the Jains was
so developed that their highest numeral was a forerunner of the Alef zero
of modern-day mathematics.These were the earliest in a long tradition of
great mathematicians and scientists that the country has produced. S.N.
Bose, famous for Bose-Einstein statistics; Meghnad Saha, whose Saha theory
of thermal ionisation is crucial to our understanding of spectra observed
in astrophysics; Ramanujam and his singular contributions to Number Theory;
Jayant Narlikar, who together with Hoyle made a tremendous contribution
to the theories of the evolution of the Universe, are some of the internationally
renown luminaries in the field of science.
Since 1947, with the metamorphosis of the country, as
a new politically independent nation, India continues to pursue a programme
of employing modern science and technology for national development. At
present, the country spends about 0.83 percent of its GNP on scientific
and technological development. |
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