Manava
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Manava (c. 750 BC – 690 BC) is an author of the
The Manava
Manava would have not have been a mathematician in the sense that we would understand it today. Nor was he a scribe who simply copied manuscripts like
The mathematics given in the Sulbasutras is there to enable accurate construction of altars needed for sacrifices. It is clear from the writing that Manava, as well as being a priest, must have been a skilled craftsman.
Manava's Sulbasutra, like all the Sulbasutras, contained approximate constructions of circles from rectangles, and squares from circles, which can be thought of as giving approximate values of π. There appear therefore different values of π throughout the Sulbasutra, essentially every construction involving circles leads to a different such approximation. The paper of R.C. Gupta is concerned with an interpretation of verses 11.14 and 11.15 of Manava's work which give π = 25/8 = 3.125[1] · .[2]
References
- .
- arXiv:1908.00440 [math.HO].
External links
- O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Manava", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews