Surya Siddhanta: The oldest book known to Man on Astronomy - Sanskriti - Indian Culture
Surya Siddhanta, 2 Million Years old Book is First on Astronomy
DOWNLOAD @ http://www.wilbourhall.org/pdfs/suryaEnglish.pdf
Amazing India: India Knew That Earth Was Round, Even Before Galileo!
WATCH VIDEO @ https://youtu.be/IdCA2KAYguA
Surya Siddhanta is the first among the traditions or doctrines (siddhanta) in archaeo-astronomy of the Vedic era. Infact, it is the oldest ever book in world which describes earth as sphere but not flat, gravity being reason for objects falling on earth etc.
This is the knowledge that the Sun god gave to an Asura called Maya in Treta Yuga. This Maya is father-in-law of Ravana, the villain of first ever epic poem, Ramayana. Going by calculations of Yugas, first version ofSurya Siddhanta must have been known around 2 million years ago. However, the present version available is believed to be more than 2500 years old, which still makes it the oldest book on earth in Astronomy.
This book covers kinds of time, length of the year of gods and demons, day and night of god Brahma, the elapsed period since creation, how planets move eastwards and sidereal revolution. The lengths of the Earth’s diameter, circumference are also given. Eclipses and color of the eclipsed portion of the moon is mentioned.
This explains the archeo-astronomical basis for the sequence of days of the week named after the Sun, Moon, etc. Musings that there is no above and below and that movement of the starry sphere is left to right for Asuras (demons) makes interesting reading. Citation of the Surya Siddhanta is also found in the works of Aryabhata. The work as preserved and edited by Burgess (1860) dates to the Middle Ages.
Utpala, a 10th-century commentator of Varahamihira, quotes six shlokas of the Surya Siddhanta of his day, not one of which is to be found in the text now known as the Surya Siddhanta. The present version was modified by Bhaskaracharya during the Middle Ages.
The present Surya Siddhanta may nevertheless be considered a direct descendant of the text available to Varahamihira (who lived between 505–587 CE)
Table of contents in Surya Siddhanta are :-
Methods for accurately calculating the shadow cast by a gnomon are discussed in both Chapters 3 and 13.
Few excerpts from Surya Siddhanta
The average length of the tropical year as 365.2421756 days, which is only 1.4 seconds shorter than the modern value of 365.2421904days !
The average length of the sidereal year, the actual length of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun, as 365.2563627 days, which is virtually the same as the modern value of 365.25636305 days. This remained the most accurate estimate for the length of the sidereal year anywhere in the world for over a thousand years!
Not content to limit measurements to Earth, the Surya Siddhanta also states the motion, and diameters of the planets! For instance the estimate for the diameter of Mercury is 3,008 miles, an error of less than 1% from the currently accepted diameter of 3,032 miles. It also estimates the diameter of Saturn as 73,882 miles, which again has an error of less than 1% from the currently accepted diameter of 74,580.
Aside from inventing the decimal system, zero and standard notation (giving the ancient Indians the ability to calculate trillions when the rest of the world struggled with 120) the Surya Siddhanta also contains the roots of Trigonometry.
It uses sine (jya), cosine (kojya or “perpendicular sine”) and inverse sine (otkram jya) for the first time!
“Objects fall on earth due to a force of attraction by the earth. therefore, the earth, the planets, constellations, the moon and the sun are held in orbit due to this attraction”. (this was also discussed in Prasnopanishad
It was not until the late 17th century in 1687, that Isaac Newton rediscovered the Law of Gravity.
The Surya Siddhanta also goes into a detailed discussion about time cycles and that time flows differently in differently circumstances, the roots of relativity. Here we have a perfect example of Indian philosophy’s belief that science and religion are not mutually exclusive. Unlike, Abrahamic religions, one does not have to dig and try all ways to force scientific truth from scriptures. By contrast it is stated in cold hard numbers by the Sun God, Surya.
This work shows that spirituality is all about the search for Truth (Satya) and that Science is as valid a path to God as living in a monastery. It is the search for ones own personal Truth that will lead one ultimately to God.
The astronomical time cycles contained in the text were remarkably accurate at the time.
That which begins with respirations (prana) is called real…. Six respirations make a vinadi, sixty of these a nadi
And sixty nadis make a sidereal day and night. Of thirty of these sidereal days is composed a month; a civil (savana) month consists of as many sunrises
A lunar month, of as many lunar days (tithi); a solar (saura) month is determined by the entrance of the sun into a sign of the zodiac; twelve months make a year. This is called a day of the gods. (Day at North Pole)
The day and night of the gods and of the demons are mutually opposed to one another. Six times sixty of them are a year of the gods, and likewise of the demons. (Day and Night being six months each at South Pole)
Twelve thousand of these divine years are denominated a chaturyuga; of ten thousand times four hundred and thirty-two solar years
Is composed that chaturyuga, with its dawn and twilight. The difference of the kritayuga and the other yugas, as measured by the difference in the number of the feet of Virtue in each, is as follows:
a. The tenth part of a chaturyuga, multiplied successively by four, three, two, and one, gives the length of the krita and the other yugas: the sixth part of each belongs to its dawn and twilight.
b. One and seventy chaturyugas make a manu; at its end is a twilight which has the number of years of a kritayuga, and which is a deluge.
c. In a kalpa are reckoned fourteen manus with their respective twilights; at the commencement of the kalpa is a fifteenth dawn, having the length of a kritayuga.
d. The kalpa, thus composed of a thousand chaturyugas, and which brings about the destruction of all that exists, is a day of Brahma; his night is of the same length.
e. His extreme age is a hundred, according to this valuation of a day and a night. The half of his life is past; of the remainder, this is the first kalpa.
f. And of this kalpa, six manus are past, with their respective twilights; and of the Manu son of Vivasvant, twenty-seven chaturyugas are past;
g. Of the present, the twenty-eighth, chaturyuga, this kritayuga is past..
Planetary Diameters in Surya Siddhanta
Surya Siddhanta also estimates the diameters of the planets. The estimate for the diameter of Mercury is 3,008 miles, an error of less than 1% from the currently accepted diameter of 3,032 miles.
It also estimates the diameter of Saturn as 73,882 miles, which again has an error of less than 1% from the currently accepted diameter of 74,580.
Its estimate for the diameter of Mars is 3,772 miles, which has an error within 11% of the currently accepted diameter of 4,218 miles.
It also estimated the diameter of Venus as 4,011 miles and Jupiter as 41,624 miles, which are roughly half the currently accepted values, 7,523 miles and 88,748 miles, respectively.
Trigonometry in Surya Siddhanta
Surya Siddhanta contains the roots of modern trigonometry. It uses sine (jya), cosine (kojya or “perpendicular sine”) and inverse sine (otkram jya) for the first time, and also contains the earliest use of the tangent and secant when discussing the shadow cast by a gnomon in verses 21–22 of Chapter 3:
Of [the sun’s meridian zenith distance] find the jya (“base sine”) and kojya (cosine or “perpendicular sine”). If then the jya and radius be multiplied respectively by the measure of the gnomon in digits, and divided by the kojya, the results are the shadow and hypotenuse at mid-day.
In modern notation, this gives the shadow of the gnomon at midday as :
trignometry in surya siddhanta
Even today many astrologers in India use Surya Siddhanta as base to compute their Panchangs (Almanacs) in many languages.
Replies
Let's add some more proof :
In the Aitreya Brahmana of RigVeda 3.44
“The Sun does never set nor rise. When people think the Sun is setting (it is not so). For after having arrived at the end of the day it makes itself produce two opposite effects, making night to what is below and day to what is on the other side…Having reached the end of the night, it makes itself produce two opposite effects, making day to what is below and night to what is on the other side. In fact, the Sun never sets….”
Similar verse also occurs in Srimad Bhagvatam 5.21.9 as:
People living in countries at points diametrically opposite to where the sun is first seen rising will see the sun setting, and if a straight line were drawn from a point where the sun is at midday, the people in countries at the opposite end of the line would be experiencing midnight. Similarly, if people residing where the sun is setting were to go to countries diametrically opposite, they would not see the sun in the same condition.
The above verses clearly shows that earth should be of round shape.
It becomes more crystal clear from YogaVasistha MahaRamayana:
Chapter 30 Description of Universe
Rama said, “Tell me sage, why do we refer to up and down, forward and backward, if there is no such thing in space and nature?”
10 Vasishta said:—
There is only one space enveloping all things. The worlds seen in the infinite and indiscernible womb of emptiness are like worms moving on the surface of water.
11 All these bodies that move about in
the world by their lack of freedom are thought to be up and down relative to our position on earth.
12 So when there are ants on an earthen ball, all its sides are reckoned below that are under their feet, and those as above which are over their backs.
13 Such is this ball of earth in one of these worlds, covered by vegetables and animals moving on it, and by gods, demons and men walking upon it.
Thus the shape of earth is round/spherical as per our Scriptures.
Most basically the term earth and Geography are represented by the word Bhugol. Where Bhu stands for land and earth and 'Gol' means round. Some of the refrences are:
न वै महाराज भगवताे मायागुणविभूतेः काष्ठां मनसा वचसा वाधिगन्तुमलं विबुधायुषापि पुरुषस्तस्मात्प्राधान्येनैव भूगाेलकविशेषं नामरुपमानलक्षणताे व्याख्यास्यामः । (SB 5.16.4)
मूर्धन्यर्पितमणुवत्सहस्रमूर्न्घो ।
भूगाेलं सगिरिसरित्समुद्रसत्वम् । (SB 5.25.12)
In above word 'भूगोल (Bhugola) is used. Thus the most basic etymology also proves the fact.
Now the question is how many flat heads have we got on a round Planet Earth
REMINDER : Shrila Prabhupada: "In Vedic literature it is bhü-gola, jagad-andha. These words are there. We can see also it is round, jagad- andha.. The universe is round. And Goloka. Or Bhü-gola. Bhü-gola, the earth is round. So in the Vedic literatures... Therefore their knowledge is also imperfect because they do not refer to the Vedic literatures. It is already there. Bhü-gola. Bhü means the earth; gola means round. It is already there. And the geography's called, according to Sanskrit, it is called Bhü-gola. Long, long ago, before Galileo." (Morning Walk, December 9, 1973, Los Angeles)
Here is more info as proof :
Earth is NOT a plane it is a global round sphere.
The Vedas accept a spherical round Earth globe in Vedic Cosmology.
FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS during the dark ages of ignorance and mundane religious domination in Europe by the repressive Catholic Church Earth was conceived by the many from the world’s most repressive mundane backward religions as a Flat-Earth.
The Bhu-mandala planetary system explained in the 5th canto is multi-dimensional & therefore both round & flat simultaneously as confirmed by Shrila Prabhupada Our Earth is described in the Bhagavatam as round & this is supported by the Surya-siddhanta which describes the Earth as being a globe (Bhu-gola).
Srila Prabhupada has made the following observations regarding the shape of the Earth – “just like a ball”. “All the planets and the universes, they are egg shaped”. “In the Vedic sastra, millions of years ago it is mentioned: bhu-gola.
Gola means round”. “Bhü means the earth; gola means round”. “How much big the Varaha animal was to show that it can pick up the whole earth, earthly planet just like a ball.” “Bhü-gola, the earth is round”. “Like a ball”.
Here is another excerpt from Srila Prabhupada’s quotations –
Prabhupada – “I have heard that before the science, the people were under the impression that this world is square. Is it not?”
Devotees: “Flat.”
Srila Prabhupada, “Flat, yes. But in the Vedic sastra, millions of years ago it is mentioned: bhu-gola. Gola means round. Just see. And these rascals say that formerly people were not so intelligent.” “Therefore their knowledge is also imperfect because they do not refer to the Vedic literatures. It is already there. Bhü-gola. Bhü means the earth; gola means round. It is already there. And the geography’s called, according to Sanskrit; it is called Bhü-gola. Long, long ago, before Galileo.”
Srila Prabhupada, “Just like here, in this planet, when you go up, you see it is ball.”
The only way to understand the Srimad Bhagavatam is to see it through the eyes of both shastra and the spiritual master – ‘chakshusa unmilitam yena tasmai sri guruve namah’.
According to Srila Prabhupada’s opinion, the descriptions found in the 5th canto of the Shrimad Bhagavatam refer to a two-dimensional universe.
Bhakti-prema: “Earth is round and flat both, together.”
Prabhupada:” Yes.”
This is a very clear reference that although the plane of Bhu-mandala is flat, the Earth planet Bhu-gola is a round globe.
“How much big the Varāha animal was to show that it can pick up the whole earth, earthly planet just like a ball. He cannot imagine such big animals.” (Philosophy Discussions: Discussion on Charles Darwin)
Lets be intelligent and not ‘’sentimental’’ about all this
What about the Indian Space Mission (ISRO) & their photographs of the Earth. What about the Chinese & Japanese Space Missions, what to speak of the Russians, who were the first to put a man in Earth’s orbit.
You can only ‘orbit’ an ‘orb’, not a flat plain. The Russians say the Earth is a round globe. All these countries, India, Japan, China, and Russia, have sent probes to the moon. No one has reported a ‘Flat Earth’.
On the contrary, they have all agreed that the Earth is a round globe.
What about all the countries that have also launched satellites into Earth’s ‘orbit’ including; Britain, Germany, France, Brazil and even North Korea, to name just some.
There are communications satellites, navigation satellites, weather satellites, research satellites and a space station. Satellite orbits vary greatly, depending on the purpose of the satellite, including low Earth orbit, polar orbit, and geostationary orbit.
Many have photographed the Earth and no country has said that the Earth is a flat plain. They are in fact unanimous that the Earth is a round globe.
The International Space Station is manned by Russians and recently a British astronaut has joined the station. He has sent back innumerable photos independently of NASA, all featuring a round globular Earth.
You can only ‘orbit’ an ‘orb’, not a flat plain. The Russians say the Earth is a round globe. All these countries, India, Japan, China, and Russia, have sent probes to the moon. No one has reported a ‘Flat Earth’.
On the contrary, they have all agreed that the Earth is a round globe.
What about all the countries that have also launched satellites into Earth’s ‘orbit’ including; Britain, Germany, France, Brazil and even North Korea, to name just some.
There are communications satellites, navigation satellites, weather satellites, research satellites and a space station. Satellite orbits vary greatly, depending on the purpose of the satellite, including low Earth orbit, polar orbit, and geostationary orbit.
Many have photographed the Earth and no country has said that the Earth is a flat plain. They are in fact unanimous that the Earth is a round globe.
The International Space Station is manned by Russians and recently a British astronaut has joined the station. He has sent back innumerable photos independently of NASA, all featuring a round globular Earth.
The most famous Siddhanta literature is the Surya-siddhanta, which was translated from Sanskrit into Bengali by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami. In fact, he was awarded the title ‘Siddhanta-Saraswati’ based on his expertise in the particular Jyotish-shasta.
The Surya-siddhanta clearly states that the Earth is a globe and has a circumference (4,967 yojanas) and diameter (1,581 yojanas), thus proving that according to Surya-siddhanta, the Earth is a round globe and completely different from the 500,000,000 yojana diameter horizontal plane of Bhumandala.
Although the figures found in Surya-siddhanta are not exactly the same as that of modern science, the concept that the Earth is a round globe is irrefutable and accepted by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami as factual.
The Surya-siddhanta’s conclusion that the Earth is a globe is supported by both the Aryabhatiya of Aryabatta and the Siddhanta-siromani of Varahamira, two of the most famous Siddhanta literatures on Vedic astronomy.
Quotes by Shrila Prabhupada’s on the round globular Earth:
1) “There is a control… Just like here, in this planet, when you go up, you see it is ball, but in this ball there are so many controlling deities here also. President Johnson, prime minister of India, this and that and so many things. But when you go up you see just like a ball. ” (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.12, New York, March 9, 1966)
2) “All the planets and the universes, they are egg shaped. Therefore they are called anda, jagad-aṇḍa, brahmanda.” (Lecture, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 13.8-12, Bombay, September 30, 1973)
3) Prabhupāda: “Jagad-anda. Jagad-anda means universe. Brahmanda or jagad-anda. Anda. Anda means it is egg-shaped, round, egg-shaped. Therefore it is called anda, brahmanda. Bhu-gola. Gola means round. I have heard that before the science, the people were under the impression that this world is square.
Is it not?”Devotees: “Flat.”Prabhupada: “Flat. Flat, yes. But in the Vedic sastra, millions of years ago it is mentioned: bhu-gola. Gola means round. Just see. And these rascals say that formerly people were not so intelligent. They are intelligent because they are thinking that this world is flat.
And those who have spoken millions of years ago, “It is round,” they will have less intelligence. Just see. Bhu, gola. Gola means round. Bhu-gola. Similarly, jagad-anda.
Anda means round, just like egg. Anda means egg. Jagad-anda. This universe is egg-shaped. And we can see also, the sky is round. This is the wall of this universe.” (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1.43, London, July 30, 1973)
4) “How much big the Varāha animal was to show that it can pick up the whole earth, earthly planet just like a ball. He cannot imagine such big animals.” (Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin)
5) Shrila Prabhupada: “In Vedic literature it is bhü-gola, jagad-andha. These words are there. We can see also it is round, jagad- andha.. The universe is round. And Goloka.
Or Bhü-gola. Bhü-gola, the earth is round. So in the Vedic literature… Therefore their knowledge is also imperfect because they do not refer to the Vedic literature.
It is already there. Bhü-gola. Bhü means the earth; gola means round. It is already there. And the geography’s called, according to Sanskrit, it is called Bhü-gola. Long, long ago, before Galileo.” (Morning Walk, December 9, 1973, Los Angeles)
Cyavana Swami asks Srila Prabhupada what the Earth looks like
Cyavana Swami – ”In Bombay one evening I asked Srila Prabhupada this same simple question. He raised his hand with his fingers curved slightly then rotated it to the left. “Its like a Christmas tree” , he said.
I understood right away, the Earth (Bhu-Gola) is one of the balls on the tree, the deceptions of night and day, eclipses, etc. are caused by the relative interactions of the spinning globes.
The Bhu-Mandala is the inside of the shell that encloses the Universe and has layers, earth, water, fire, air , mind, intelligence, and false ego.
Bhu-Mandala is so gigantic that from almost any angle it will appear flat.
Both are referred to in the 5th Canto as “Earth”. I only sat in on one meeting where Srila Prabhupada was sketching and describing the TOVP, it should be constructed in such a way that when the viewers step inside they can see the Universe as I have described here.
”The current model is not correct”, and as you say will only cause embarrassment, still not to late to fix, perhaps this will help. Srila Prabhupada sees what Krishna sees, and so he wanted the guests at the Planetarium to have the similar experience.
When one enters the Temple he is “in” Goloka Vrindavana with Radha and Krishna on the alter.
When he looks up he sees the Madhura Dhama and Vaikuntha planets. He asks, where is our Earth? Near the top. As he begins to walk up he sees the Spiritual worlds then the Brahmajyoti, and finally one Universe with Earth and the material worlds inside.
All the forms are hanging on a giant spinning mobile sculpture which is dramatically lit, and the walls of the dome are painted to depict the different layers.
The beams of light at the Brahmajyoti level must be so bright that one can not see through them when looking up or down.
This interactive and dynamic presentation will attract scientists and astronomers from all over the world and entice them to walk to the top. Hare Krishna.
An excerpt from Sadaputa’s book, Vedic Cosmology & Astronomy, where he quotes the Bhagavatam commentator Shrila Vamsidhara, helps to clarify the mystery of 5th canto cosmology. “Vamsidhara then argues that Sukadeva Gosvami followed Puranic tradition by describing the big earth and giving only brief hints of the small earth of 5,000 yojanas”.
In accordance with the Puranas, Sukadeva Gosvami has spoken of the big measure of the earth, and only suggested the small measure; thus is the contradiction avoided by some. In the same way, although there is a contradiction involving the sphere of the sky, it is removed.
Only those who are actually advanced in spiritual realization by the mercy of the Acharya, can determine the difference between the round and the flat Earth, that is simultaneously described in the 5th canto. The Bhagavatam is a synopsis of all the other 18 puranas and also includes details from the Vedic siddhantas, also referred to as the Jyotir-shastra.
It is very clear from reading the 5th canto that not all the information spoken by Sukadeva Goswamis came from his father Veda Vyasadeva, simply because Sukadeva says in a number of places in the 5th canto text: “According to the estimations of learned scholars.” (5.21.1) (5.22.12).
The term ‘learned scholars’ is plural, meaning more than one learned scholar and thus Sukadeva is referring to those scholars who were expert in astronomy found in both the Puranas & Siddhantas (Jyotish-shastras)
The Jyotish-shastras are also referred to as being the Ved-angas, or the arms of Vedic knowledge (corollaries of Vedic wisdom). Both Vyasadeva and his illustrious father, Parasara Muni, wrote important siddhanta-shastras. Therefore, in order to understand the subject of the 5th canto more clearly, one must be conversant with the siddhanta literateurs on which the 5th canto draws some degree of its information.
The most famous Siddhanta literature is the Surya-siddhanta, which was translated from Sanskrit into Bengali by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami. In fact, he was awarded the title ‘Siddhanta-Saraswati’ based on his expertise in the particular Jyotish-shasta.
The Surya-siddhanta clearly states that the Earth is a globe and has a circumference (4,967 yojanas) and diameter (1,581 yojanas), thus proving that according to Surya-siddhanta, the Earth is a round globe and completely different from the 500,000,000 yojana diameter horizontal plane of Bhumandala.
Although the figures found in Surya-siddhanta are not exactly the same as that of modern science, the concept that the Earth is a round globe is irrefutable and accepted by Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Goswami as factual.
The Surya-siddhanta’s conclusion that the Earth is a globe is supported by both the Aryabhatiya of Aryabatta and the Siddhanta-siromani of Varahamira, two of the most famous Siddhanta literatures on Vedic astronomy.
Quotes by Shrila Prabhupada’s on the round globular Earth:
1) “There is a control… Just like here, in this planet, when you go up, you see it is ball, but in this ball there are so many controlling deities here also. President Johnson, prime minister of India, this and that and so many things. But when you go up you see just like a ball. ” (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.12, New York, March 9, 1966)
2) “All the planets and the universes, they are egg shaped. Therefore they are called anda, jagad-aṇḍa, brahmanda.” (Lecture, Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 13.8-12, Bombay, September 30, 1973)
3) Prabhupāda: “Jagad-anda. Jagad-anda means universe. Brahmanda or jagad-anda. Anda. Anda means it is egg-shaped, round, egg-shaped. Therefore it is called anda, brahmanda. Bhu-gola. Gola means round. I have heard that before the science, the people were under the impression that this world is square.
Is it not?”Devotees: “Flat.”Prabhupada: “Flat. Flat, yes. But in the Vedic sastra, millions of years ago it is mentioned: bhu-gola. Gola means round. Just see. And these rascals say that formerly people were not so intelligent. They are intelligent because they are thinking that this world is flat.
And those who have spoken millions of years ago, “It is round,” they will have less intelligence. Just see. Bhu, gola. Gola means round. Bhu-gola. Similarly, jagad-anda.
Anda means round, just like egg. Anda means egg. Jagad-anda. This universe is egg-shaped. And we can see also, the sky is round. This is the wall of this universe.” (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita As It Is 1.43, London, July 30, 1973)
4) “How much big the Varāha animal was to show that it can pick up the whole earth, earthly planet just like a ball. He cannot imagine such big animals.” (Philosophy Discussion on Charles Darwin)
5) Shrila Prabhupada: “In Vedic literature it is bhü-gola, jagad-andha. These words are there. We can see also it is round, jagad- andha.. The universe is round. And Goloka.
Or Bhü-gola. Bhü-gola, the earth is round. So in the Vedic literature… Therefore their knowledge is also imperfect because they do not refer to the Vedic literature.
It is already there. Bhü-gola. Bhü means the earth; gola means round. It is already there. And the geography’s called, according to Sanskrit, it is called Bhü-gola. Long, long ago, before Galileo.” (Morning Walk, December 9, 1973, Los Angeles)
all i know is that if the force of the spin creates gravity then it makes no sense why we still walking on the earth as it should have repelled us into space, the answer is, the suns binary meaning two suns we have creates the radiational force of gravity through it's radiation, without this we would be thrown into space right now.
People do not know that the suns radiation creates the gravity, then if this is the case we can see how we can prevent inertia in our soon to be faster than light travel vehicles predicted to be in our mainstrean domain.
400 FLAT HEADS ATTENDED A FLAT EARTH CONFERENCE...WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5091991/amp/Conspira...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5184965/amp/Freddie-Flintof...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5132387/amp/Flat-Ear...
There are some celebrities that believe that the Earth is flat ..shows just how much knowledge they have ..thick as bricks
Aryabhata(some time misspelled as ‘Aryabhatta’) was one of the first Indian mathematicians and astronomers belonging to the classical age. He was born in 476 BC in Tarenaga, a town in Bihar, India. It is however definite that he travelled to Kusumapara (modern day Patna) for studies and even resided there for some time. It is mentioned in a few places that Aryabhata was the head of the educational institute in Kusumapara. The University of Nalanda had an observatory in its premises so it is hypothesized that Aryabhata was the principal of the university as well. On the other hand some other commentaries mention that he belonged to Kerala.
Mathematical Work
Aryabhata wrote many mathematical and astronomical treatises. His chief work was the ‘Ayrabhatiya’ which was a compilation of mathematics and astronomy. The name of this treatise was not given to it by Aryabhata but by later commentators. A disciple by him called the ‘Bhaskara’ names it ‘Ashmakatanra’ meaning ‘treatise from the Ashmaka’. This treatise is also referred to as ‘Ayra-shatas-ashta’ which translates to ‘Aryabhata’s 108’. This is a very literal name because the treatise did in fact consist of 108 verses. It covers several branches of mathematics such as algebra, arithmetic, plane and spherical trigonometry. Also included in it are theories on continued fractions, sum of power series, sine tables and quadratic equations.
Aryabhata worked on the place value system using letters to signify numbers and stating qualities. He also came up with an approximation of pi ( ) and area of a triangle. He introduced the concept of sine in his work called ‘Ardha-jya’ which is translated as ‘half-chord’.
Astronomical Work
Aryabhata also did a considerable amount of work in astronomy. He knew that the earth is rotating on an axis around the sun and the moon rotated around it. He also discovered the position of nine planets and stated that these also revolved around the sun. He pointed out the eclipses; both lunar and solar. Aryabhata stated the correct number of days in a year that is 365. He was the first person to mention that the earth was not flat but in fact a spherical shape. He also gave the circumference and diameter of the earth and the radius of the orbits of 9 planets.
More about Aryabhata
Aryabhata was a very intelligent man. The theories that he came up with at that time present a wonder to the scientific world today. His works were used by the Greeks and the Arabs to develop further. A commentary by Bhaskara I a century later on Aryabhatiya says:
‘Aryabhata is the master who, after reaching the furthest shores and plumbing the inmost depths of the sea of ultimate knowledge of mathematics, kinematics and spherics, handed over the three sciences to the learned world.’
Aryabhata’s Legacy
Aryabhata was an immense influence to mathematics and astronomy. Many of his works inspired Arabs more particularly. His astronomical calculations helped form the ‘Jalali calendar’. He has been honored in many ways. The first Indian satellite is named after him as ‘Aryabhata’, so is the lunar crater. An Indian research center is called ‘Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences’.