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SCIENCE

SCIENCE Indian archaeology and literature provide considerable layered evidence related to the development of science. The chronological time frame for this history is provided by the archaeological record that has been traced, in an unbroken tradition, to about 8000 b.c. Prior to this date, there are records of rock paintings that are believed to be considerably older. The earliest textual source is the Rig Veda, which is a compilation of very ancient material. The astronomical references in the Vedic books recall events of the third or the fourth millennium b.c. and earlier. The recent discovery that Sarasvati, the preeminent river of the Rig Vedic times, went dry around 1900 b.c. due to tectonic upheavals suggests that portions of the Rig Veda may be dated prior to this epoch.

The Harappan period is characterized by a very precise system of weights and monumental architecture using cardinal directions. Indian writing (the so-called Indus script) goes back to the beginning of the third millennium b.c., but it has not yet been deciphered. However, statistical analysis shows that the later historical script called Brahmi evolved from this writing.

Vedic Cosmology

Briefly, the Vedic texts present a tripartite and recursive view of the world. The universe is viewed as three regions of earth, space, and sky that in the human being are mirrored in the physical body, the breath (pr?na), and mind. The processes in the sky, on earth, and within the mind are assumed to be connected. This connection is a consequence of a binding (bandhu) between various inner and outer phenomena. At one level, it is expressed as an awareness that certain biological cycles, such as menstruation, have the same period as the moon. At another level, other equations are postulated, such as the correspondence between the 360 bones of the infant (which fuse into the 206 bones of the adult) and the number of days in the civil year.

The connection between the outer and the inner cosmos is seen most strikingly in the use of the number 108 in Indian religious and artistic expression. It was known that this number is the approximate distance from Earth to the sun and the moon, in sun and moon diameters, respectively. This number was probably obtained by taking a pole of a certain height to a distance 108 times its height and discovering that the angular size of the pole was the same as that of the sun or the moon. The diameter of the sun is also 108 times the diameter of Earth, but that fact is not likely to have been known to the Vedic rishis, or sages.

This number of dance poses (karanas) given in the N?tya Sh?stra is 108, as is the number of beads in a rosary ( japam?l?). The "distance" between the body and the inner sun is also taken to be 108, and thus there are 108 names of the gods and goddesses. The number of marmas in ?yurveda is 107, because in a chain 108 units long, the number of weak points would be one less.

The universe was understood to be a living organism, subject to cycles of chaos and order or creation and destruction. The Rig Veda speaks of the universe as infinite in size. A famous mantra speaks of how taking infinity out of infinity leaves it unchanged. The world is also taken to be infinitely old. Beyond the solar system, other similar systems were postulated. An infinite size of the universe logically led to the acceptance of many worlds.

An Atomic World

The knowledge that the mind can connect to only one sense at a time may have led to the conception that it should be atomic. This idea of atomicity was extended to matter. It was postulated that these atoms form molecules of different kinds that appear as different substances.

According to the atomic doctrine of Kan?da, there are nine classes of substances: ether, space, and time, which are continuous; four elementary substances (or particles) called earth, air, water, and fire, which are atomic; and two kinds of mind, one omnipresent and another that is individual. The conscious subject is separate from material reality but is, nevertheless, able to direct its evolution.

Astronomy

Like astronomers in other cultures, Vedic astronomers discovered that the periods of the sun and the moon do not coincide. The Yajurvedic sage Y?jnavalkya knew of a ninety-five-year cycle to harmonize the motions of the sun and the moon, and he also knew that the sun's circuit was asymmetric. The second millennium b.c. text Ved?nga Jyotisha of Lagadha went beyond the earlier calendrical astronomy to develop a theory for the mean motions of the sun and the moon. An epicycle theory was used to explain planetary motions. Given the different periods of the planets, it became necessary to assume yet longer periods to harmonize their cycles. This led to the notion of mah?yugas and kalpas with periods of billions of years.

Astronomical texts called siddh?ntas begin appearing sometime in the first millennium b.c. According to tradition there were eighteen early siddh?ntas, of which only a few have survived. Each siddh?nta is an astronomical system with its own constants. The great astronomers and mathematicians include ?ryabhata (b. 476), who took Earth to spin on its own axis, Brahmagupta (b. 598), Bh?skara (b. 1114), M?dhava (c. 1340–1425), and N?lakantha (c. 1444–1545). In the N?lakantha system, which improves upon the system of ?ryabhata, the five planets move in eccentric orbits around the mean sun, which in turn goes around Earth.

Evolution of Life

The Mah?bh?rata and the Pur??as have material on creation and the rise of humankind. It is said that man arose at the end of a chain that began with plants and various kind of animals. In Vedic evolution the urge to evolve into higher forms is taken to be inherent in nature. A system of an evolution from inanimate to progressively higher life is assumed to be a consequence of the different proportions of the three basic attributes of the gunas (qualities): sattva ("truth" or "transparence"), rajas (activity), and tamas ("darkness" or "inertia"). In its undeveloped state, cosmic matter has these qualities in equilibrium. As the world evolves, one or the other of these become preponderant in different objects or beings, giving specific character to each.

Mind and Consciousness

All Indian thought is permeated with questions about the mystery of mind and consciousness. The gods were visualized as points in the inner sky. The Vedas speak of the cognitive centers as individual, whole entities which are, nevertheless, a part of a greater unity.

In the Vedic discourse, the cognitive centers are called the devas (deities or gods). The Atharva Veda calls the human body the city of the devas. In analogy with outer space, the inner space of consciousness is viewed to have three zones: the body (earth), the exchange processes (pr?na, atmosphere), and the inner sky (heavens).

Limitation of Language

The Vedic texts express the idea that language (as a formal system) cannot describe reality completely. Because of the limitation of language, reality can only be experienced and never described fully. The one category transcending all oppositions was termed Brahman. Understanding the nature of consciousness was of paramount importance.

Knowledge was classified in two ways: the lower or dual; and the higher or unified. The seemingly irreconcilable worlds of the material and the conscious were taken as aspects of the same transcendental reality.

Systems of Philosophy

The idea of complementarity was at the basis of the systematization of Indian philosophic traditions, and complementary approaches were paired together. We have the three groups of: logic (Ny?ya) and physics (Vaisheshika), cosmology (S?nkhya) and psychology (Yoga), and language (Mim?ms?) and reality (Ved?nta). Although these philosophical schools were formalized in a much later, post-Vedic era, we find the basis of these ideas in the Vedic texts.

The S?nkhya and the Yoga systems take the mind as consisting of five components: manas (mind), ahamk?ra (ego), chitta (memory), buddhi (intelligence), and ?tman (self).

Physics and Chemistry

In the Indian atomic theory, the atoms combine to form different kinds of molecules that break up under the influence of heat. The molecules come to have different properties based on the influence of various potentials.

Indian chemistry developed many different alkalis, acids, and metallic salts by processes of calcination and distillation, often motivated by the need to formulate medicines. Metallurgists developed efficient techniques of extraction of metals from ore.

Geometry and Mathematics

Indian geometry began very early in the Vedic period in altar problems, as in the one where the circular altar (earth) is to be made equal in area to a square altar (heavens). Geometric problems are often presented with their algebraic counterparts. The solution to planetary problems also led to the development of algebraic methods.

Bharata's N?tya Sh?stra has results on combinatorics and discrete mathematics, and ?ryabhata's ?ryabhat?ya has material on mathematics. Later source materials include the works of Brahmagupta (seventh century), Lalla (eighth century), Mah?v?ra (ninth century), Shr?pati (eleventh century), Bh?skara (twelfth century), and M?dhava (fifteenth century). A noteworthy contribution was by the school of New Logic (Navya Ny?ya) of Bengal and Bihar. At its zenith during the time of Raghun?tha (1475–1550), this school developed a methodology for a precise semantic analysis of language.

Grammar

P?nini's grammar Asht?dhy?y? (Eight chapters) of the fifth century b.c. provides four thousand rules that describe Sanskrit completely. This grammar is acknowledged to be one of the greatest intellectual achievements of all time. The great variety of language mirrors, in many ways, the complexity of nature and, therefore, success in describing a language is as impressive as a complete theory of physics. Scholars have shown that the grammar of P?nini represents a universal grammatical and computing system. From this perspective, it anticipates the logical framework of modern computers.

Medicine

?yurveda, the Indian medicine system, is a holistic approach to health that builds upon the tripartite Vedic approach to the world. Health is maintained through a balance between three basic humors (dosha) of wind (v?ta), fire (pitta), and water (kapha). Each of these humors had five varieties. Although literally meaning "air," "bile," and "phlegm," the doshas represented larger principles.

Charaka and Sushruta are two famous early physicians. According to Charaka, health and disease are not predetermined, and life may be prolonged by human effort. Sushruta defines the purpose of medicine to cure the diseases of the sick, to protect the healthy, and to prolong life.

Indian surgery was quite advanced. The cesarian section was known, as was plastic surgery, and bone setting reached a high degree of skill. Sushruta classified surgical operations into eight categories: incision, excision, scarification, puncturing, probing, extraction, evacuation and drainage, and suturing. Sushruta lists 101 blunt and 20 sharp instruments that were used in surgery. The medical system tells us much about the Indian approach to science. There was emphasis on observation and experimentation.

Scientific Imagination in Literature

A remarkable aspect of Indian literature is its scientific speculation. The epic Mah?bh?rata mentions embryo transplantation, multiple births from the same fetus, battle with extraterrestrials who are wearing airtight suits, and weapons that can destroy the world. The R?m?ya?a mentions air travel. The medieval Bh?gavata Pur??a has episodes related to different passage of time for different observers.

Other texts speak of 8.4 million species and note that the speed of light is 4,404 yojanas in a nimesha, which when converted to modern units turns out to be close to correct.

The Modern Period

Entering its modern era with the arrival of the English, India in the last two centuries has witnessed a renaissance of its science and a proper appreciation of the past achievements. The most important Indian scientists born in the nineteenth century who achieved international acclaim are Jagadis Bose (1858–1937) in electromagnetics and plant life, Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920) in mathematics, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888–1970) in physics, Meghnad Saha (1893–1956) in astrophysics, and Satyendra Bose (1894–1974) in quantum theory. More recent contributions of Indian science are part of the story of contemporary world science.

Subhash Kak