Aryabhata was a well-known astronomer and mathematician. He was born in the Indian state of Bihar, in the town of Kusumapura (now Patna). Despite his enormous contributions to mathematics, science, and astronomy, he has received no credit in the history of science. He authored his famous “Aryabhatiya” at the age of 24. He understood the idea of zero and how to employ huge numbers up to 1018. He was the first to compute the value of ‘pi’ to the fourth decimal point with precision. He was the one who came up with the formula for computing the areas of triangles and circles. He estimated the earth’s circumference to be 62,832 miles, which is a good approximation and proposed that the apparent rotation of the heavens was caused by the earth’s axial revolution on its axis. He was the first known astronomer to invent a method for counting solar days indefinitely and assigning a number to each day. He claimed that the planets glow because of sunlight reflections and that eclipses happen because of the moon and earth’s shadows. His findings refute the “flat earth” theory and establish the view that the earth and other planets orbit the sun.
Childhood and Adolescence
The exact location of Aryabhata’s birth is unknown, however, it could have been in the Ashmaka region of ancient scriptures, which could have been Maharashtra, Dhaka, or Kusumapura in modern-day Patna.
Several observations of him being from Kerala support the hypothesis that he hailed from the present-day Kodungallur, the historical capital city of Thiruvanchikkulam in ancient Kerala.
For advanced studies, he traveled to Kusumapura and remained there for a while. Kusumapura is identified as modern Patna in both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, as well as by Bhaskara I, a 7th-century mathematician.
Later Life & Career
Aryabhata was the head of a Kusumapura institution (Kelapa), according to a poem. He was most likely the head of the University of Nalanda, which was located in Pataliputra and possessed an astronomical observatory.
Only Aryabhatiya contains direct details about his work. Bhaskara I, his disciple, refers to it as Ashmakatantra (or the treatise from the Ashoka).
Because there are 108 verses in the text, the Aryabhatiya is also known as Arya-status-aShTa (literally, Aryabhata’s 108). It is broken into four padas or chapters and comprises 13 introductory verses.
With its enormous units of time — Kalpa, mantra, and Yuga — Aryabhatiya’s opening chapter, Gitikapada, proposes a distinct cosmology. During a maha yuga, the planetary revolutions take 4.32 million years to complete.
Mensuration (Letra vyvahra), arithmetic and geometric progressions, gnomon or shadows (shanks-Chhaya), simple, quadratic, simultaneous, and indeterminate equations are all covered in Ganitapada, the second chapter of Aryabhatiya.
The third chapter of Aryabhatiya, Kalakriyapada, provides several units of time, a technique for establishing the locations of planets for a given day, and a seven-day week with names for each day.
Golapada, the final chapter of the Aryabhatiya, discusses geometric/trigonometric aspects of the celestial sphere, ecliptic features, celestial equator, earth shape, day and night causes, and zodiacal signs on the horizon.
He didn’t use a symbol for zero; instead, he used it as a placeholder for powers of ten with null coefficients in his place-value system.
He did not employ Brahmi numerals, instead of continuing the Sanskritic practice of utilizing letters of the alphabet to signify numbers, expressing quantities in a mnemonic fashion, which dates back to Vedic times.
He calculated the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 20,000 by multiplying four by 100, multiply by eight, and then multiplying by 62,000.
It is thought that Aryabhata employed the word sanna (approaching) to indicate that the value is incommensurable or irrational, not just an approximation.
In Ganitapada, he says that the area of a triangle is “the consequence of a perpendicular with the half-side for a triangle.” He considered Ardha-jy, or half-chord, as a form of fine.’
He, like other ancient Indian mathematicians, was interested in finding integer solutions to Diophantine equations of the type ax + by = c and dubbed his method the kuaka (which means “breaking into pieces”).
He has made a significant contribution to the study of Algebra. Aryabhata offered beautiful findings for the summation of a series of squares and cubes using well-tested formulae in Aryabhatiya.
The audayaka system, in which days are counted from Uday, dawn at Lanka, or “equator,” was his astronomical system. His subsequent publications, in which he appears to suggest the Ardha-Matrika, or midnight model, have gone missing.
He was correct in his belief that the earth revolves on its axis once a day and that the apparent movement of the stars is a relative motion induced by the rotation of the earth, which contradicted popular belief.
He argues in Aryabhatiya that the setting and rising of planets’ is a perception analogous to someone in a moving boat seeing an immovable (thing) drifting backward.
He rightly stated that the planets shine because of sunlight reflected and that eclipses are caused by the shadows of the moon and earth, not by a demon named “Rahu”!
He correctly calculated that the planets’ orbits are ellipses; this is another famous discovery credited to Johannes Kepler rather than him (a German astronomer, born AD 1571).
Aryabhata’s Major Projects
Aryabhata’s main work, the Aryabhatiya, a compendium of mathematics and astronomy, was widely cited in Indian mathematical literature and has lasted to the present day. Arithmetic, algebra, and trigonometry are all covered in the Aryabhatiya.
Personal History and Legacy
Aryabhata’s work inspired the Indian astronomy tradition and, through translations, influenced other adjacent nations. Al-Khwarizmi cites some of his works, as does Al-Biruni in the 10th century.
The Government of Bihar founded the Aryabhata Knowledge University (AKU) in Patna in his honor for the creation and management of educational infrastructure linked to technical, medical, management, and associated professional education.
Aryabhata, India’s first satellite, is named after him.
Research in astronomy, astrophysics, and atmospheric sciences is carried out at the Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) near Nainital, India.
Estimated Net worth
It has been 40 years since the launch of the Indian satellite ‘Aryabhata’ by the Soyuz launch vehicle. He has a net worth of $23.6 billion.
Trivia
The image of India’s first satellite, named for the renowned Indian astronomer of the same name, used to feature on the reverse of Indian 2 rupee banknotes.
The remnant of a lunar impact crater found in the eastern Sea of Tranquility on the Moon is named after the great Indian astronomer. Only an arc-shaped ridge remains after being submerged by lava flow.
The Top 10 Aryabhata Facts You Didn’t Know
At the Sun Temple in Taregana, Bihar, Aryabhata is said to have built an observatory.
Some sources claim that Kerala was Aryabhata’s major center of life and activity, while others disagree.
He was the leader of a Kusumapura institution (Kulpa) and may have also been the Nalanda university’s president.
Some academics believe that one of his works is translated into the Arabic text ‘Al ntf’ or ‘Al-and.’
‘Aryabhatiya,’ his most famous text, has 108 poems and 13 opening verses.
Aryabhata did not employ Brahmi numerals to represent numbers; instead, he used letters from the alphabet.
It’s possible that he came to the conclusion that “pi” is irrational.
In his essay “Ardha-jy,” which literally means “half-chord,” he examined the concept of “sine.”
The ‘Panchangam’ is determined using Aryabhata’s calendric calculations (the Hindu Calendar).
The world rotates on its axis on a regular basis, as he rightly said.