Madhava of Sangamagrama, who obtained infinite series for pi and for the sine and cosine functions, is associated with which school of mathematics and astronomy?
- A.The Ujjain school
- B.The Kerala school
- C.The Nalanda school
- D.The Kashmir school
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, the Kerala school. Madhava of Sangamagrama, who lived around the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, founded the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics, whose members obtained infinite series expansions for pi and for the sine and cosine, anticipating results that Europe reached much later; Nilakantha Somayaji of the same school wrote the Tantrasamgraha in 1501. Option A is wrong because Ujjain was the centre where Varahamihira and later Bhaskara II worked, and it is a different tradition. Option C is wrong because Nalanda was a Buddhist monastic university famous for philosophy, logic and medicine rather than for this series work. Option D is wrong because the Kashmir tradition is known for Shaiva philosophy and poetics, not for these mathematical series. Madhava's series for pi is the result most often named in questions, and the school's work is dated to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, which places it well after the classical siddhanta writers.
Read the full article: Science and Mathematics in Ancient India: Scholars and Texts
Practice Questions
View allThe Aryabhatiya, composed in 499 CE, is divided into which four parts?
- A.Gitikapada, Ganitapada, Kalakriyapada and Golapada
- B.Lilavati, Bijaganita, Grahaganita and Goladhyaya
- C.Gitikapada, Bijaganita, Golapada and Nidana
- D.Ganitapada, Rasayanapada, Kalapada and Jatakapada
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- D.Bhaskara II
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Read the full explanation →The Sushruta Samhita is the foundational ancient Indian text on which branch of knowledge?
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Read the full explanation →The Sulbasutras, which contain the earliest Indian geometry, are appendices to which class of texts?
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