From: Thomas Hockey et al. (eds.). The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers, Springer Reference. New York: Springer, 2007, p. 63 |
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Āryabhaṭa I
Narahari Achar
Alternate
name
Āryabhaṭa the Elder
Born (India), 476
Āryabhaṭa
I is the foremost astronomer of the classical age of India. He was born in
476 in Aśmaka, but later lived in Kusumapura, identified as the modern
city of Patna. Nothing much is known about his personal life, except that
he was a great and revered teacher. He is referred to as Kulapa (or Kulapati,
vice chancellor), quite possibly of the Nalanda School. His work Āryabhaṭīya is the earliest
preserved astronomical text of the scientific period of ancient Indian astronomy
that bears the name of an individual.
Āryabhaṭa
wrote at least two works on astronomy: (1) Āryabhaṭīya, a very well known
work and (2) Āryabhaṭa‐siddhānta,
a work known only through references to it in later works. Āryabhaṭīya deals with both
mathematics and astronomy and is noted for its brevity and conciseness of
composition. It contains 121 stanzas in all and is divided into four chapters,
each called a pāda. There exist a number of commentaries written in Sanskrit
and other regional languages of India, and there also exist a large number
of independent astronomical works based on it. Several English translations
of Āryabhaṭīya have been published,
including a critical edition of the text in Sanskrit accompanied by an English
translation. Several critically edited commentaries on Āryabhaṭīya
by earlier Indian astronomers, together with English translations, have also
been published. Āryabhaṭīya was translated
into Arabic around 800 as the Zīj al‐Arjabhar.
The
notable features of Āryabhaṭa's
contributions are his acceptance of the possibility of the Earth's rotation,
a set of excellent planetary parameters that may be based on his own observations,
and a theory of epicycles. It may be noted that his theory of epicycles differs
from that of Ptolemy.
Ptolemy's epicycles remain the same in size from place to place whereas Āryabhaṭa's epicycles vary in size from
place to place. Āryabhaṭa's contributions in mathematics
include an alphabetical system of numerical notation, and giving the approximate
value of Pi (π) as 3.1416. He also provided a table of sine differences,
and formulae for sines of angles greater than 90°. He gave solutions to some
indeterminate equations.
The other work, Āryabhaṭa‐siddhānta,
is known only through the references to it by other astronomers such as Varāhamihira
and Brahmagupta.
The astronomical methods and parameters in Āryabhaṭa‐siddhānta differed
somewhat from those in the Āryabhaṭīya, notably the reckoning
of the day from midnight to midnight. Unfortunately, after Brahmagupta wrote
the Khaṇḍakhādyaka based
on the Āryabhaṭa‐siddhānta, the original work was lost.
Brahmagupta was a severe critic of Āryabhaṭa.
Āryabhaṭa
(1930). Āryabhaṭīya, translated into English with notes by W. E.
Clark. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
——— (1976). Āryabhaṭīya edited and translated
into English by Kripa Shankar Shukla in collaboration with K. V. Sarma. Āryabhaṭīya critical edition series, pt. 1. New Delhi: Indian
National Science Academy. (Also contains notes and comments by Shukla.)
——— (1976). Āryabhaṭīya.
With the commentary of Bhāskara and Someśvara, edited by Kripa Shankar
Shukla. Āryabhaṭīya
critical edition series, pt. 2. New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy.
(Also contains an introduction by Shukla.)
——— (1976). Āryabhaṭīya.
With the commentary of Sūryadeva Yajvan, edited by K. V. Sarma. Āryabhaṭīya critical edition series, pt. 3. New Delhi: Indian
National Science Academy. (Also contains an introduction by Sarma.)
Bose, D. M., S. N. Sen, and B. V. Subbarayappa (1971). A
Concise History of Science in India. New Delhi: Indian National Science
Academy.
Dikshit, S. B. (1896). Bhāratīya Jyotisha.
Poona. (English translation by R. V. Vaidya. 2 pts. New Delhi: Government
of India Press, Controller of Publications, 1969, 1981.)
Pingree,
David. Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit. Series A. Vol. 1 (1970):
50b–53b; Vol. 2 (1971): 15b; Vol. 3 (1976): 16a; Vol. 4 (1981): 27b; Vol.
5 (1994): 16a–17a. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. (Contains
a full bibliography.)