Page 2 - Oct-Dec 2016

THE SCIENCE STORY OF INDIA

Engineering and Architecture
Metallurgy
• Cities of the indus Valley Civilisation
• gold and silver ornaments of indus Valley • Cities and buildings of ancient period such as sanchi
Civilisation stupa and Kailashnath temple
• Copper-bronze artefacts of 2nd century bCe
• Kautilya’s arthashastra on distillation process • Medieval marvels like Qutub Minar, Taj Mahal, gol
• iron pillar of gupta period at Qutub Minar complex, gumbaz
• bronze icons of Chola period • Construction of New Delhi and reclamation of bombay
• Mughal handguns, small firearms, metal weapons islands in the british period
and armours • First indian institute of Technology (iiT) at Kharagpur
• setting up of iron and steel plants in modern (1951)
india

Mathematics
Astronomy • Decimal place value number system (5 -6 Ce)
th
th
• Place value system by aryabhata
• First references to astronomy is in the rig Veda th
• astronomical observatory at the university of Nalanda • introduction of the Zero - (5 century)
• Jyotisa Vedanga, the first Vedic text of astronomical data • siddhanta siromani by bhāskara
from 4000 bCe • sulbasutras of 8th century bCe
• aryabhata’s magnum opus, the aryabhatiya • Kerala school of astronomy and Mathematics
th
• surya-siddhanta of 400 Ce (14 century)
• astronomer brahmagupta found out the circumference • hardy-ramanujan-littlewood circle method in
of the earth number theory
• Kerala school of astronomy and Mathematics (14th • Theory of estimation by C.r. rao
century)
• Major observatories such as Jantar Mantar in Jaipur and
Delhi

Medical Sciences

• atreya samhita, the oldest medical book in the world by
Botany atreya
• reference of plants in rig Veda • Jivaka, a physician to king bimbisara
• sarngadhara – Paddhati by sarnagadhara • sushruta samhita by sushruta, a physician of 6th century
• indian botanical medical knowledge by garcia da Orta (1568) bCe
• Christoval acosta (1578) and the 12 volume hortus Malabarius • Charaka samhita on anatomy and Physiology
(1678-1693) by aadrian Van rheede • unani brought in by arabs
• First botanical garden in india, the royal botanic gardens of • Calcutta Medical College (1835)
Calcutta(1787)
• indian Forest Department in bombay (1807)

Science of Wellness
Ayurveda is • Yoga postures mentioned in rig Veda, upanishads,
Science in Daily Life India’s amazing bhagavad gita
• altar worship in Vedic period plant science! • Origin of ayurveda in Vedic times
• holistic healing through • atharva Veda - principles of healing, basics of ayurveda.
plants • Three main ayurvedic texts- Charaka samhita, sushruta
• use of auspicious stones and samhita and the ashtangha hridaya samhita
metal alloys (Panchdhatu • First yoga text, Yogasutras written by Patanjali
and ashtadhatu) • great Yogacharyas - ramana Maharshi, ramakrishna
• rituals and customs Paramhansa, Paramhansa Yogananda, Vivekananda etc
• science of adornment (1700 - 1900 Ce)
• home sciences • ayurvedic treatises translated into Persian, arabic,
Tibetan and Chinese
Background illustration by: M Nishmaie, VIII-B, Angappa Educational Trust Sr. Sec. School, Coimbatore

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