Number zero

[CitizenOfWorld]

Albert Einstein (Nobel Prize winner & Man of the Century)
"We owe a lot to the Indians who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made"
Lanceot Hogben: In his book "Mathematics for the millions" :
"There has been no more revolutionary contribution than the one which the Indians made when they invented Zero. The whole of Computer Science is built upon two integers..'0' & '1' "

William James: "From the Vedas (ancient Indian scriptures) we learn the practical art of surgery, medicine, music, house building. They are encyclopedia of every aspect of life, culture, religion, science, ethics, law, cosmology and meteorology."
Wheeler Wilcox: "India is the land of Vedas. These remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true: Electricity, Radium, Electronics, Airship, all were known to the seers who founded the Vedas."

Mark Twain: "India is the cradle of the human race, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Most valuable and the most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only."

Will Durant: In his book 'Story of Civilization': "India is the motherland of our race and Sanskrit is the mother of Indo-European languages. She is the mother of our philosophy, of our mathematics, mother of ideals embodied in Christianity and mother of our democracy."

Max Mullar: In his book 'Sacred books of the East': "If I were to look over the whole world to find out a country most richly endowed with all the wealth, power and beauty that nature can bestow, paradise on earth, I should point to India."

Did you know? In the 18th Century, Royal Society of London sent a team of twenty scientists to study knowledge of ancient India. Some of them lived here for couple of decades. Most of the revolutionary inventions and discoveries in Europe and USA took place after that.

INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERISE MADE BY INDIANS

Indian Astronomers were the first to calculate the time taken by the Earth to orbit around the Sun: Aryabhatta (499 AD) wrote that the earth spins on its axis. Bhaskaracharya (5th century AD) calculated the time taken by the Earth to orbit around the Sun, hundreds of years before the western astronomers. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun was mentioned : 365.258756484 days.( Jewish Encyclopedia )

Numerals were invented in India: Numerals are found in the inscriptions of Ashoka The Great in the 3rd century B.C. This knowledge travelled from there to Arab countries and from there to Europe. In Arab countries even now numerals are known as HINDSE : from India. "It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by means of ten symbols." (Pierre Simon Laplace, French mathematician)

Invention of Zero: Brahmagupta (598 AD) was the first mathematician to treat Zero (0) as a number and showed its mathematical operations. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Invention of Binary and Decimal System : "Around 2500 B.C. Indians used the weights that were based on the binary and decimal system." "Bhaskara wrote the first book with full and systematic use of the decimal number system". "We're grateful to the Indians who gave us the binary and decimal system." (Pierre Simon Laplace, French mathematician)

Invention of Arithmetic: Arithmetic was invented by Indians in about 2nd century BC. Bhaskaracharya's book "Lilavati" is regarded as the first book on the modern arithmetic. The Arabs learnt and adopted it from India and spreaded it to Europe. "In 499 AD Aryabhatta finished his book "Aryabhatiya", which deals with Arthmetic."(Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Invention of Geometry and Trigonometry: Geometry (Gyamiti) finds its origin in India. Excavation prove that Harappa and Mohenjodaro civilizations of India (3500 BC) possessed the knowledge of Geometry. Whereas, Trigonometry (Trikonamitti) was given birth by Aryabhatta in 4th century AD. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Discovery of Mariner Compass: Mariner Compass owes its origin to India. "Indian Navigators used mariner compass around 2000 years ago"- J. L. Reid, member of Institute of Naval Architecture and Ship Building, England.

Invention of Calender Making: System of measurement of time, nomenclature of days, months and years and invention of calender making was made in India. Latadeva (505 AD) in his book "Surya Sidhanta" divided the year into 12 months. Seven Planets of the solar system which affect the Earth's atmosphere and their names were added to the seven days of the week. (Emmelin Plunret in her book "Calenders and Constellations")

Discovery of Theory of Gravitation: In his book "Sidhanta Shiromani" Bhaskaracharya (1185 AD) mentions about the force of attraction resembling gravity, discovered centuries later by Newton. (Jewish Encyclopaedia)

Invention of Copper, Bronze and Zinc: The copper and bronze artifacts date back to Indus Valley civilization (2500 BC). According to treatise "Rasaratnakar", zinc was made in around 50 BC at Zawar in Rajasthan India. (National Science Centre, New Delhi)

Invention of Iron Products in 3000 BC: The word 'Ayas', occurs in four ancient Indian scriptures, which denotes iron. Ashoka Pillar at Mehrauli, New Delhi, is a testimony to Indian metallurgical expertise. (History of Indian & Eastern Architecture by James Ferguson)

Invention of Chemistry, Chemical Processes, Dyes and Colours: Chemistry known as Rasayan Shastra was invented in India. Elphinstone wrote in his book 'History Of India', "They (ancient Indians) knew how to prepare the sulphate of copper, zinc and carbonates of lead and iron." Rasavidya or Indian alchemy made its appearance around 5th century A.D. (National Science Centre, New Delhi)

World's First Codified Medicine System and Surgery: Susruta Samhita (350 AD) has extensive chapter on surgery. It mentions 300 different operations employing 121 surgical instruments. "Ayurveda is the world's oldest and the most complete system of natural healing containing great wisdom for all humanity." (Dr. David Frawley)

Plastic Surgery originated in India: First plastic surgery operation of the world was performed by an Indian Ayurvedic Doctor, in Pune 1794, in the presence of two English doctors: Thomas Cruso and James Findlay. After learning "Indian nose" operation, English surgeon J.C. Carpue performed two similar operations in London in 1814 and with this plastic surgery become popular in Europe. (The Gentleman's Magazine, London, October 1794)

Discovery of Atoms and Molecules: Kanada, contemporary of Budha, 6th Century BC, was the first Indian who conceived of atoms and molecules as the invisible particles of matter. Kanada's book 'Vaisesika Sutra' deals with space, time and atomism. (Richard Brown in Mystic India)

Sanskrit is the Mother of All Indo-European Languages: Sanskrit is the most compatible language for computer software. Sanskrit comprises of 52 alphabets. Russian language has 35 alphabets, Spanish has 35, Persian has 31, English has 26, Latin and Hebrew have 20 each. (A report in American magazine, Forbes)

World's oldest writing: Excavations at Harappa and Indus valley in India show 3500 BC old sample of writings. The second oldest writing dates back to 3200 BC and belongs to Egypt. (Science Reporter, June 1999)

Dwarka Site in India (7500 BC) pre-dates civilization: An archaeological site, dating back to 7500 BC, older than Sumer Valley (3500 BC), Egyptian Civilization (3200 BC) and Harappa (3500 BC), was discovered recently by a team of Indian marine archaeologists, in the Gulf of Cambay of Gujrat Coast in India. A fully developed township is lying submerged under the sea. (National Geophysical Research Institute)