INTACHThe heriTage Club NewsleTTer

OCTOber - DeCeMber 2016 VOl. 13 No. 4

CONTENTS

history of indian sciences 1The science story of india 2Metal Masters 3amazing astronomy 4 - 5Marvels of Mathematics 6 - 7early engineering and architecture 8 - 9Pioneering with Plants 10Medical Mastery 11ayurveda-ancient science 12Yoga-science of body and Mind 13science in everyday life 14rituals and reasons 15great Minds of Modern india 16-17activity 4 u 18heritage News 19Prize winners, whats Next? 20

I N d I a N N a T I O N a l T r u S T f O r a r T a N d C u l T u r a l H E r I T a g E

Dear friends,The modern scientific revolution which we see all around has been given to us by our ancient Indian astronomers, scientists, mathematicians, grammarians and other such scientific communities. In Ancient India, there were several evidences of development of knowledge in the field of science and technology. Scientific discoveries have been in the field of metallurgy, engineering as well as medical sciences. Indias contribution to the world is the decimal system, zero, numerals, algebra and arithmetic. Also, linguistics, grammar, cataloguing and codification of Sanskrit language rules is amazing.So from astronomy to trigonometry, from metallurgy to surgery, from Yoga to Ayurveda and from Sanskrit grammar to the simple kolam algorithm, India shows it all.Come friends, let us explore the fascinating world of Indian sciences and share this proudly with the rest of the world.

india has been a country with deep-seated scientific wisdom. The development of sciences in india goes back to the harappan times. During the Vedic period, the yajnas had a scientific meaning behind them. significant development was made in the field of mathematics and astronomy during the gupta period. The Cholas displayed achievements in architecture and metallurgy.

in the medieval period, the heights attained in the field of engineering are unmatched.

The modern day science in india can be credited to the indian scientists of the 19th-20th century.

we as indians should be immensely proud that we belong to one of the greatest civilisations in the world with a rich heritage in the field of sciences!!A.G. Supriya, IX, Rotary Laharry Matric Higher Secondary School, Madurai; Kunj Bhatt, VI-B, Bhavans Shri AK Doshi Vidyalaya, Jamnagar

history of Indian sciences

NOU AND NAVYThe art of Navigation was born in the River Sindh some 6000 years ago. The word navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word Navgatih and navy is also derived from the Sanskrit word 'Nou'. The construction of shipping vessels is described in the Yukti-Kalpataru, an ancient Indian text on ship building.

Astronomy, Engineering, Ayurveda...

Indian science has it all.Our scientific past

indeed,Makes us stand tall!

Illustration by: Bhanvi, XI-B1, Oxford Public School, Ranchi

Illustration by: Apoorva Sinha, IX-A, DAV Public School, Sector-14, Faridabad

HARAPPAN SCALEThe smallest ever division of

measurement of the Bronze Age was approx. 1.704 mm recorded

on an ivory scale at Lothal.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

THE SCIENCE STORY OF INDIAMetallurgy gold and silver ornaments of indus Valley

Civilisation Copper-bronze artefacts of 2nd century bCe Kautilyas arthashastra on distillation process iron pillar of gupta period at Qutub Minar complex, bronze icons of Chola period Mughal handguns, small firearms, metal weapons

and armours setting up of iron and steel plants in modern

india

Engineering and Architecture Cities of the indus Valley Civilisation

Cities and buildings of ancient period such as sanchi stupa and Kailashnath temple

Medieval marvels like Qutub Minar, Taj Mahal, gol gumbaz

Construction of New Delhi and reclamation of bombay islands in the british period

First indian institute of Technology (iiT) at Kharagpur (1951)

Astronomy First references to astronomy is in the rig Veda astronomical observatory at the university of Nalanda Jyotisa Vedanga, the first Vedic text of astronomical data

from 4000 bCe aryabhatas magnum opus, the aryabhatiya surya-siddhanta of 400 Ce astronomer brahmagupta found out the circumference

of the earth Kerala school of astronomy and Mathematics (14th

century) Major observatories such as Jantar Mantar in Jaipur and

Delhi

Mathematics Decimal place value number system (5th-6th Ce) Place value system by aryabhata introduction of the Zero - (5th century) siddhanta siromani by bhskara sulbasutras of 8th century bCe Kerala school of astronomy and Mathematics

(14th century) hardy-ramanujan-littlewood circle method in

number theory Theory of estimation by C.r. rao

Medical Sciences atreya samhita, the oldest medical book in the world by

atreya Jivaka, a physician to king bimbisara sushruta samhita by sushruta, a physician of 6th century

bCe Charaka samhita on anatomy and Physiology unani brought in by arabs Calcutta Medical College (1835)

Botany reference of plants in rig Veda sarngadhara Paddhati by sarnagadhara indian botanical medical knowledge by garcia da Orta (1568) Christoval acosta (1578) and the 12 volume hortus Malabarius

(1678-1693) by aadrian Van rheede First botanical garden in india, the royal botanic gardens of

Calcutta(1787) indian Forest Department in bombay (1807)

Science of Wellness Yoga postures mentioned in rig Veda, upanishads,

bhagavad gita Origin of ayurveda in Vedic times atharva Veda - principles of healing, basics of ayurveda. Three main ayurvedic texts- Charaka samhita, sushruta

samhita and the ashtangha hridaya samhita First yoga text, Yogasutras written by Patanjali great Yogacharyas - ramana Maharshi, ramakrishna

Paramhansa, Paramhansa Yogananda, Vivekananda etc (1700 - 1900 Ce)

ayurvedic treatises translated into Persian, arabic, Tibetan and Chinese

Science in Daily Life altar worship in Vedic period holistic healing through

plants use of auspicious stones and

metal alloys (Panchdhatu and ashtadhatu)

rituals and customs science of adornment

home sciences

Ayurveda is Indias amazing plant science!

Background illustration by: M Nishmaie, VIII-B, Angappa Educational Trust Sr. Sec. School, Coimbatore

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

METAL MASTERS

ACTIVITY-METAL MAGICusing these key words describe how Nataraja bronzes were made.

India is well endowed with metal resources and metallurgy. Arthashastra describes various mineral ores and they are referred as dhatu of different kinds. In the 12th century, the Arab geographer Al- Idrisi said The Hindus excel in the manufacture of iron. It is impossible to find anything to surpass the edge from Indian steel.

CopperThe indus Valley Civilisation was a melting pot of metallurgy. The circular and the rectangular-shaped kilns discovered in lothal, gujarat were believed to have been used for casting of metals.

Iron and Steelin olden times, iron was directly extracted from iron-rich ores that were reduced by means of charcoal and also made corrosion proof. During the gupta period, iron technology gained significant advancement. it also showed its competent use in warfare in the medieval period like Mughal armoury and Tipu sultans rockets.indian iron and steel was known the world over!

MercuryMercury is a metal that has been of great alchemical importance in ancient times. some of the earliest literary references to the use of mercury distillation comes from arthashastra.

Zinc Nagarjuna has been ascribed with the discovery of a unique way of extracting zinc in the book rasaratnakara. in this method, downward distillation of the zinc vapour was done after smelting zinc-ore using specifically designed retorts with condensers and furnaces, to obtain zinc metal.

Gold and Silvergold and silver were used to make ornaments in the harappan period. The deepest mines of gold in the ancient period was in Karnataka. The granulation technique was used to make gold jewellery from the late 1st millennium bCe.

METAL MARVELS OF INDIAa marvel of india is the iron Pillar of Chandragupta ii Vikramaditya. it now stands near Qutub Minar in Delhi. The high amount of phosphorus in the iron formed a layer of misamite which protected the iron pillar from rusting. it reveals die-striking. Can you tell what die-striking is? ananya aryankita, IX-E, daV Public School, unit-VIII, Bhubaneswar

wootz is derived from word ukku meaning steel in Telugu and Kannada. wootz steel was produced from 500 bCe to 1600 Ce. it is a kind of crucible steel made by adding large quantities of carbon to iron. Damascus swords were made of this steel. Find out any legend or story related to a Damascus sword.

NANO SILVERToday nano silver is used in washing machines and wound healing. Do you know that Indians

had this indigenous technology for hundreds of years. This was seen in the silver beaten into thin sheets pounded to its nano form and used on

sweets.

copperhole

ovenclay

wax knifemolten metal

VOl. 13 No. 4

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Amazing Astronomy Astronomy is one of the most well - documented departments of Indian sciences. Hindu Astronomy being one of the most ancient astronomical systems is based on sidereal calculations.

Harappan Rings The traces of the earliest form of observational astronomy are found from Mohenjo Daro. archaeologists have found ring-shaped objects that have small drilled holes on them which were probably used to track the suns path through the year.

Vedic AstronomyThe earliest references of advancement in t