Quote: "As the sun eclipses the stars by its brilliancy, so the man of knowledge will eclipse the fame of others in assemblies of the people if he proposes algebraic problems, and still more if he solves them." ~Brahmagupta
Brahmagupta, 598 A.D. – 670 A.D., was an Indian
mathematician and astronomer. He is
credited for many significant contributions to mathematics and he authored many
textbooks for math and astronomy. One of
his most important works was the Brahmasphutasiddhanta. In this book, Brahmagupta discredits many
fellow mathematicians, finding fault in their theories. More importantly, he wrote about zero as a
number rather than simply a placeholder.
This idea of zero as a number has had far reaching implications for math
as we know it today. Brahmagupta
explains the addition and multiplicative properties of zero, as well as the
rules for zero in terms of debts and fortunes (which we now know as positive
and negative numbers). He also attempts
to describe zero as a divisor, claiming that zero divided by zero is zero,
which theory has since been challenged. Some
mathematicians argue that n/0 is infinite, while others claim that the answer
is one, infinity, or what we now term undefined. Some of Brahmagupta’s other
major contributions to mathematics included algorithms for multiplication,
square roots, quadratic equations, sums of powers of numbers, and computing
sines, along with the formula for cyclic quadrilaterals (known as Brahmagupta’s
Theorem). As an interesting side note,
Brahmagupta also claimed that the world was round and not flat, which we now
know to be true.
Read about Brahmagupta's Identity known as Fibonacci's Identity
Sources:
"Brahmagupta - Indian Mathematics - The Story of Mathematics." Brahmagupta - Indian Mathematics - The Story of Mathematics. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2014
"Fibonacci's Identity: The Sums of Squares Are Closed under Multiplication." Fibonacci's Identity. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.
Hayashi, Takao. "Brahmagupta (Indian Astronomer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 May 2014.
"Quotations by Brahmagupta." Quotations by Brahmagupta. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2014.
"Brahmagupta - Indian Mathematics - The Story of Mathematics." Brahmagupta - Indian Mathematics - The Story of Mathematics. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2014
"Fibonacci's Identity: The Sums of Squares Are Closed under Multiplication." Fibonacci's Identity. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.
Hayashi, Takao. "Brahmagupta (Indian Astronomer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 May 2014.
"Quotations by Brahmagupta." Quotations by Brahmagupta. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2014.