Top 10 Indian Mathematicians & Their Discoveries

Math is something that has been around since the dawn of time and has been used to solve a variety of problems throughout history. India is no exception when it comes to math, as it has produced some of the greatest mathematicians in history. These Indians have made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and have invented many revolutionary theories and equations that have been used for centuries. In this article, we will take a look at ten of the most influential Indian mathematicians and their inventions that have changed the way we look at math today. 

ARYABHATA 

Aryabhata was an Indian mathematician who lived in the 5th century CE. He is best known for his work on the mathematics of the planets and for his approximation of pi. 

Aryabhata was born in Kerala, India. Not much is known about his life, but it is believed that he studied at a university in Nalanda, India. Aryabhata is thought to have died in 499 CE.

Aryabhata's most famous work is the Aryabhatiya, which was written in 498 CE. This work contains equations for calculating the positions of the planets and the moon. It also includes a method for finding the volume of a sphere. Aryabhata is also known for his approximation of pi, which he gave as 3.1416. This value is accurate to four decimal places.

BRAHMAGUPTA 

Brahmagupta was an Indian mathematician who lived in the 7th century. He is best known for his work on arithmetic and algebra. Brahmagupta's arithmetic deals with both integer and fractional numbers. He also wrote on geometry, astronomy, and algebra. 

Brahmagupta's most famous work is his treatise on arithmetic, called the Brahmasphutasiddhanta. This work includes a number of innovative ideas, such as the use of zero, negative numbers, and place value. Brahmagupta's algebra is also significant. He was the first to write down the rule for solving quadratic equations. 

In addition to his mathematical works, Brahmagupta wrote a number of texts on astronomy and mathematics. His astronomical works include a treatise on eclipses and a treatise on planetary motion. Brahmagupta's mathematical works include a treatise on measuring altitudes and a treatise on geometry. 

SRINIVASA RAMANUJAN

Srinivasa Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician who made significant contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory and continued fractions. He is considered to be one of the most talented mathematicians of his generation.

Ramanujan was born in Erode, Tamil Nadu, India, on December 22, 1887. He began showing signs of his great mathematical abilities at a very early age. By the time he was 12 years old, he had mastered trigonometry and advanced algebra. He also developed an interest in continued fractions, a topic that would occupy him for the rest of his life. 

In 1903, Ramanujan entered Pachaiyappa's College in Madras (now Chennai). There, he became friends with another promising young mathematician, Seshu Iyer. The two men would work together on many mathematical problems over the next few years.

In 1906, Ramanujan graduated from Pachaiyappa's College with a degree in mathematics. After graduation, he worked as a clerk in the Port Trust Office in Madras while continuing to pursue his mathematical interests on his own time. In 1909, he married Janaki Ammal; the couple would have two children together. 

In 1910, Ramanujan sent a letter to British mathematician G. H. Hardy containing some of his findings on Continued fractions and number theory; this led to Hardy inviting Ramanujan to come study at Cambridge University. 

P.C. MAHALANOBIS

P.C. Mahalanobis was an Indian statistician who made significant contributions to the field of statistics. He is best known for his work on the theory of statistical inference, which led to the development of the Mahalanobis distance, a measure of how far a point is from a set of points. 

Mahalanobis also worked on multivariate analysis, design of experiments, and sample survey design. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), and served as its director from 1931 to 1937. Under his leadership, ISI became a world-renowned center for statistical research and training.

Mahalanobis's work had a major impact on 20th-century statistics, and he is considered one of the most important statisticians of the 20th century.

C.R. RAO

One of the most famous Indian mathematicians, C.R. Rao is best known for his work in statistical inference and estimation theory. He has made significant contributions to the field of statistics, including developing the Cramér–Rao inequality and the Rao–Blackwell theorem. He has also been instrumental in founding the Indian Statistical Institute, where he served as its first director. 

Rao is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and a recipient of several awards including the Padma Vibhushan, the highest civilian honor in India. He has written over 200 research papers and 13 books on statistics. His work has been cited by many leading statisticians and mathematicians from around the world.

D.R. KAPREKAR 

D.R. Kaprekar was born on December 17, 1929 in Devlali, Maharashtra. He is best known for his discovery of the Integer Partition Theorem, as well as his work on recreational mathematics, such as the game of Go-Moku.

Kaprekar attended college at the University of Mumbai, where he earned his degree in Mathematics. After graduation, he began teaching at a high school in Dahanu, and later became the headmaster of the school. He also worked as a lecturer at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research for several years.

In 1966, Kaprekar published his famous paper on the Integer Partition Theorem, which states that any integer can be expressed as a sum of smaller integers in an infinite number of ways. The theorem has since been proven by other mathematicians and has been used to solve problems in number theory and combinatorics. 

Kaprekar's work on recreational mathematics includes the book "Hindi Puzzles", which contains over 500 brainteasers and riddles in Hindi. He has also written several articles on Go-Moku, a two-player strategy game similar to tic-tac-toe. In addition to his mathematical work, Kaprekar is also an accomplished artist and painter.

HARISH CHANDRA 

Harish Chandra was one of India's most renowned mathematicians. He made significant contributions to the fields of representation theory, differential equations, and number theory. He also developed the Harish-Chandra transform, which is a key tool in the study of Lie groups.

Chandra was born in 1913 in Allahabad, India. He attended the University of Allahabad and then went on to earn a PhD from Cambridge University. After completing his doctorate, Chandra returned to India where he became a professor at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

In 1949, Chandra moved to the United States to take up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1953 he was awarded the Bôcher Memorial Prize by the American Mathematical Society for his work in representation theory. He later received numerous awards and honorary degrees from universities around the world, including Harvard and Princeton. 

Chandra died in 1983, leaving behind an impressive body of work that has had a lasting impact on mathematics and its applications today. His legacy lives on through his contributions to mathematics and through the Harish-Chandra Research Institute which he founded in 1964.

SATYENDRA NATH BOSE 

Satyendra Nath Bose was an Indian physicist who specialized in theoretical physics. He is best known for his work on the theory of the electromagnetic wave, which led to the development of the laser and maser. He also made important contributions to the theory of electrons and photons. 

Bose was born in Calcutta, India, in 1894. He studied at the University of Calcutta, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1916 and his master's degree in 1918. He then went to Europe to study with some of the leading physicists of the time, including Albert Einstein, Max Planck, and Niels Bohr.

Bose returned to India in 1921 and took up a position at the University of Calcutta. In 1924, he published a paper on the theory of electromagnetic waves that was later recognized as one of the most important papers ever written on the subject. This work led to the development of the laser and maser.

Bose also made important contributions to quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics. In 1925, he developed a model for describing molecules that is now known as Bose-Einstein statistics. This work laid the foundation for the field of quantum statistics. Bose died in Calcutta in 1974 at the age of 80.

BHASKARA 

Bhaskara was an Indian mathematician who lived in the 12th century. He is best known for his work on arithmetic and algebra. Bhaskara also wrote a treatise on astronomy, which includes a description of a method to calculate the circumference of the earth. 

Bhaskara is credited with discovering the basic principles of differential calculus, including the concepts of derivative, integral and maxima and minima. He also developed a way to solve indeterminate equations, and he wrote numerous works on trigonometry and diophantine analysis. His most famous work was the Siddhanta Shiromani, which contains several chapters on mathematics, astronomy and philosophy.

NARENDRA KARMARKAR 

Narendra Karmarkar (born 16 August 1957) is an Indian mathematician and computer scientist. He is best known for inventing the interior-point method for linear programming, a novel algorithm for solving mathematical optimization problems. 

Karmarkar was born in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. He received his B.Sc. in mathematics from Delhi University in 1978 and his M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1980. He then went on to earn his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984. 

After completing his Ph.D., Karmarkar worked as a research scientist at Xerox PARC from 1984 to 1985. He then joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a professor of mathematics, where he has remained ever since. 

Karmarkar's work on the interior-point method for linear programming has had a major impact on the field of mathematical optimization. His algorithm is now used routinely by commercial software packages for solving large-scale optimization problems arising in diverse fields such as finance, engineering, and manufacturing. In addition to his work on optimization, Karmarkar has also made contributions to other areas of mathematics and computer science, including numerical analysis, machine learning, and data mining.