Indians Were There First

Greek science is not superior to and 
older than Indian science, reports Biplab Das 

The popular belief that Greek science is superior to and older than Indian science was refuted at a recently-held seminar. The seminar was organised by the chemistry department of Calcutta University (CU) and Indian Science News Association (ISNA) to mark the 141st birth anniversary of P. C. Ray, and was held at the chemistry lecture theatre of CU. 

In his inaugural address, Prof. N. C. Dutta, honorary secretary of ISNA and former head, department of zoology, CU, traced the roots of Indian Science. He said that the rudiments of practical geometry were used to plan urban civilisations like Mahenjodaro and Harappa, which date back to 3000 BC. 

"Both civilisations had an elaborate system of weights based on a sound knowledge of numbers," said Dutta. "The layout of the Harappa street system bears ample testimony to a thorough knowledge of land surveying." 

But serious scientific study was initiated during the vedic period, which started around 2500 BC. Dr. Chitrabrata Palit, professor of history, Jadavpur University, discussed this stage. "In vedic times, Indians calculated huge numbers, which Greeks failed to emulate, leave alone the question of surpassing them," said Dr. Palit. "The Greeks did not explore numbers larger than ten thousand." Branches of mathematics like arithmetic, algebra and geometry had flourished during the vedic period. According to Dr. Palit, vedic Indians even mastered some of the elementary rules of arithmetic like summation, deduction, multiplication, division and calculation of squares and square roots. 

"Their mathematical innovation went a step further when they invented arithmetical and geometric progression, two essential components of modern algebra," said Dr Palit. All this, at a time when Greek science was not even born. 

Long before the Greeks, vedic Indians studied the planetary movements of the sun and the moon. "The first prominent Greek philosopher, Thales, emerged and spread his thoughts, just before the vedic period ended, around 500 BC," said Prof. Dutta. 

The Greeks, from Thales to Plato and Aristotle, were not scientists, but philosophers concerned with deciphering the nature and structure of the Universe. In his speech, Dr. Shantimoy Chatterjee, former professor, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SNIP), identified the weakness of Greek science. According to him, the contributions of Greek mathematicians like Pythagoras, Euclid and Apollonius only enriched geometry. "Resorting to an awkward number system based on alphabets, the Greeks made little progress in arithmetic and algebra," said Prof. Chatterjee, "but the ancient Indians simply juggled with numbers and invented the decimal system and the zero."