Baudhayana

Baudhayana was an Indian mathematician who lived around 800 BC. Lived. All that is known about him is that he is the author of one of the Sulbasutras (the oldest of the four or so and the most important with that of Apastamba).

He was likely a Vedic priest who used mathematics for ritual purposes. The math outlined in Sulbasutra was used to construct altars, and the text shows that he was a skilled craftsman himself. The aim of the Sulbasutras is to give instructions for the construction of certain circles, rectangles and squares, for example a square with the same area as two given different squares or a square with the same area as a rectangle.

Approximate values are given for (of not very high precision) and (accurate to five decimal places) and constructions are found based on the Pythagorean theorem . ${\ displaystyle \ pi}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ sqrt {2}}}$

He is also credited with a Dhamra Sutra and a Shrauta Sutra.

literature

Radha Charan Gupta Baudhayana´s value of ${\ displaystyle {\ sqrt {2}}}$ , Math. Education, 6, 1972, B 77-79
SC Kak Three old Indian values of ${\ displaystyle \ pi}$ , Indian J. Hist. Sci., Vol. 32, 1997, pp. 307-314
B. Datta The science of the Sulba , Calcutta 1932
GG Joseph The crest of the peacock , London 1991

Web links

John J. O'Connor, Edmund F. Robertson : Baudhayana. In: MacTutor History of Mathematics archive .
Baudhayana in Sacred Books of the East

personal data
SURNAME	Baudhayana
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Indian mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH	9th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	9th century BC BC or 8th century BC Chr.