Indians have made significant contributions to calculus, trigonometry and algebra. The decimal system was invented in India in 100 B.C. The concept of zero as a number is also attributed to India. The ancient Indian mathematicians are also credited with developing the concept of negative numbers.
Ada Lovelace, the English mathematician and daughter of Lord Byron, was chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s analytical machine, or the computer. She worked on the engine with notes of her own, which are recognized today as the world’s first computer programme.
Leonhard Euler is considered one of the finest mathematicians and physicists of the eighteenth century. He became visually impaired in the last two decades of his life. He was able to do prodigious calculations in his head, which allowed him to publish many of his 886 papers and books.
Radhanath Sikdar (1813–1870) was an Indian mathematician who among many other things calculated the height of Peak XV in the Himalaya and showed it to be the tallest mountain above sea level. Peak XV was later named Mount Everest.
The poem ‘Vision of Sin’ (1842) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson has the following lines: Every moment dies a man Every moment one is born Charles Babbage, the famous mathematician and designer of the first programmable computer, argued that these lines indicate that the world population remains fixed, which is contrary to the reality and advised…
Both in respect of his laws of motion and law of gravitation, Newton got a platform which was already built by many stalwarts, the most conspicuous among them being Galileo. Thus, it is an interesting coincidence that Newton was born in the same year 1642 in which Galileo died. Galileo died on 8 January and…
