Brahmagupta

Brahmagupta

Born: 598 in India
Died: 670 in India

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Brahmagupta wrote an important work on astronomy in 21 chapters Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta (628) (The Opening of the Universe). His understanding of the number systems was far beyond others of the period. He developed some algebraic notation. He gives remarkable formulas for the area of a cyclic quadrilateral and for the lengths of the diagonals in terms of the sides.

Brahmagupta also studied arithmetic progressions, quadratic equations, theorems on right-angled triangles, surfaces and volumes. The remaining chapters deal with solar and lunar eclipses, planetary conjunctions and positions of the planets.

References elsewhere in this archive:

Tell me about Brahmagupta's contribution to trigonometry

Tell me about Brahmagupta's work on solving equations

References:

  1. Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  2. Biography in Encyclopaedia Britannica
  3. B Datta, Bull. Calcutta Math. Soc. 22 (1930), 39-51. 
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JOC/EFR February 1996