posted 30 July 2001 09:22 PM         

As you read and browse, come back to this thread and write here what you learn.

posted 15 October 2001 09:57 AM         

I really enjoyed leaning about India

posted 15 October 2001 10:04 AM         

[This message has been edited by Janey (edited 16 October 2001).]

posted 15 October 2001 10:08 AM         

******************************

I learnt:
Bhaskaracharya calculated to 9 decimal places how long it took for Earth to orbit the sun. This was in the 5th century hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Bhaskaracharya calculted it took 365.258756484 days.

The value of "pi" was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.

That Sushruta in 600BC (2600 years ago) conducted complicated surgeries like caesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery.

posted 15 October 2001 10:08 AM         

I also found out that up until 1728 India was the only region to commercially mine diamonds!! This info was from http://www.msaprojects.co.za/diamonds_in_india.htm This site was called 'Diamonds in India' and was taken from an African news article.

Seeya!!

posted 15 October 2001 12:12 PM         

• mousef1 learned:

  The symbol 2, for example, has totally different values in the numbers 832 and 238, because the 2 is in different places in each of the numbers. Because the value of a symbol depends on where it is placed within a number, the decimal system is known as a place-value system.

• lapres said:

  I learnt that before chess there was a game called Chaturanga.
  Chaturanga, the ancient ancestor of chess, was invented in the 6th century by a philosopher in India. The word itself refers to the four divisions of an Indian army – infantry (moved like a pawn), cavalry (acted like a knight), elephants (advanced like a rook) and boatmen (was sort of like a bishop, moving diagonally).
  The four-player game was a battle between the four armies each under the control of a Rajah (king). Two of the players were loosely allied against the other two. It was played on a board of 64 squares, just like the modern chess.
  

  I got this from http://courant.ctnow.com/projects/asia/inf18.stm

• Jewel tells us:

  I have found out that the game chess in fact originated in China, not India as once thought.Evidence has always clearly showed that chess was invented in China and did not arrive in India until nearly a millennium had passed, or perhaps even considerably longer. http://www.anusha.com/origin.htm

  
  

• FridayOnMyMind was busy checking all this:

  TRUE OR FALSE?

  ALTHOUGH MODERN IMAGES OF INDIA OFTEN SHOW POVERTY AND LACK OF DEVELOPMENT, INDIA WAS THE RICHEST COUNTRY ON EARTH UNTIL THE TIME OF BRITISH IN THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS WAS ATTRACTED BY HER WEALTH.
  http://www.1uptravel.com/history/

  
  INDIA INVENTED THE NUMBER SYSTEM. ZERO WAS INVENTED BY ARYABHATTA.
  http://www.geocities.com/dipalsarvesh/mathematics.html

  SANSKRIT IS THE MOTHER OF ALL THE EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. SANSKRIT IS THE MOST SUITABLE LANGUAGE FOR COMPUTER SOFTWARE - A REPORT IN FORBES MAGAZINE, JULY 1987.

  >I learnt that India used to be the richest country until the time of British in the 17th century.
  >http://www.1uptravel.com/history/

• CU sends in this list of statements she found that were true:

  Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.

  India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

  India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.
  It is true that India invented the number system and Aryabhatta invented Zero.

  The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.
  It is correct in saying that, The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100BC.

  
  The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects
  This page backs up the statement: The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. http://www.spiritualjourneys.net/about_ancient_india.htm

  
  The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

  Sanskrit is the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software -
  Forbes Magazine (July, 1987).

  The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra
  in the Saurashtra region.

  Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by her wealth.

  
  Hello again! Here are some more facts on India.
  The World's first university was established in Takshila in 700 BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. Something interesting I found out was: although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by her wealth.
  I found theses facts on a number of pages.

  Today I have learned lots of new facts about India. I found out that India invented the number System and decimal system in 100BC. Indi also invented the game chess. I also found out that India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.
  Until next time... Bye guys

• and sweetpea's summary is here:

  Original statement:
  The value of "pi" was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
  http://www.indianconsulate-sf.org/cultural/facts.html

  The value of "Pi" was first calculated by Budhayana before Pythagoras. He discovered this in the sixth century long before European mathematicians.

  http://www.indoaust.com/facts.htm

  The value of pi was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is now known as the Pythagorean Theorem. British scholars have last year (1999) officially published that Budhayan's works dates to the 6th Century, which is long before the European mathematicians.

  Original statement:
  Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like caesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipments were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
  http://www.hssworld.org/all/great_people/sushruta.html

  Sushruta
  In 600BC Shushruta performed cosmetic surgery. In fact, his samhita describes over 120 surgical instruments, 300 surgical procedures, and classifies human surgery in 8 categories. The oldest Plastic Surgery operations probably relate to nasal reconstruction. In India, Sushruta (600 B.C) performed operations using forehead skin to reconstruct noses which had been amputated as punishment for criminals.

  Original statement:
  Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.
  http://members.tripod.com/kameshraja/GreatIndia.html

  In the 5th century Bhaskarachary calculated the time taken for the earth to orbit the sun, hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. He calculated to 9 decimal places: 365.258756484 days.

posted 16 October 2001 10:50 AM         

[This message has been edited by zoeyp1 (edited 16 October 2001).]

posted 28 November 2001 12:55 PM         

Emstar and her partner have their webpage at http://www.geocities.com/em1987/