ANCIENT INDIAN ASTRONOMY AND ASTRONOMERS
BORN : 505 IN KAPITTHAKA,INDIA
DIED : 587 IN INDIA.
KNOWN AS THE FATHER OF MODERN INDIAN ASTRONOMY.
HIS MOST FAMOUS WORK WAS PANCHASIDDHANTIKA ( THE FIVE ASTRONOMICAL CANONS ) DATED 575 A.D.
HIS WORK BRIHATSAMHITA ( THE GREAT COMPILATION ) HAS DESCRIPTIONS OF HEAVENLY BODIES,THEIR MOVEMENTS AND CONJUNCTIONS, METEOROLOGICAL PHENOMENA.
HE MADE SOME IMPORTANT MATHEMATICAL DISCOVERIES.AMONG THESE ARE CERTAIN TRIGNOMETRIC FORMULAE LIKE
sinx=cos[pi/2 -x]
sin^2 x + cos^2 x=1
(1-cos2x)/2=sin^2 x.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION TO TRIGNOMETRY WAS HIS SINE TABLES WHERE HE IMPROVED THOSE OF ARYABHATTA1 GIVING MORE ACCURATE VALUES.ACCURACY WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THESE INDIAN MATHEMATICIANS SINCE THEY WERE COMPUTING SINE TABLES FOR APPLICATIONS TO ASTRONOMY AND ASTROLOGY.
IN ONE OF HIS TREATISES NAMED ROMAKA-SIDDHANTA HE HAD GIVEN EPICYCLE THEORY OF THE MOTIONS OF THE SUN AND THE MOON WHICH WERE BASED ON THE GREEKS WORKS.
THE PANCASIDDHANTIKA ALSO CONTAINS MANY EXAMPLES OF THE USE OF A PLACE-VALUE NUMBER SYSTEM.
VARAHAMIHIRA ALSO HAD WORKED ON MAGIC SQUARES.
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