ब्राह्मस्फुटसिद्धान्त (ब्रह्मगुप्त - शून्य, कुट्टक, बीजगणित एवं सम्पूर्ण २१ अध्याय सान्वय सटीक)

CHAPTER VII Greek and Hindu Methods in Spherical Astronomy Here we shall reproduce from Sengupta's paper a compa- rative account of the Greek and ancient Indian methods in Spherical Astronomy and to bring out the independence of the Indian Astronomers on this subject. The views on this subject would necessarily differ from those of many European scholars such as Colebrooke and Bentley (early 19th century) to Kaye (early 20th century). Kaye wrote as follows in the Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal 1919, No. 3. The methods by which (the rules) were obtained are buried in obscurity. Braunmühl¹ has stated "that the Indians were the first to utilise the method of projec- tion in the Analemma of Ptolemy." It is intended to present the Hindu methods as clearly as possible and to show that Braunmühl has not done sufficient justice to the Indian astronomers. As to Kaye, we shall show that his remark quoted above is due to the fact that he had to rely mostly on the English tran- slation of the Sūryasiddhānta of Burgess, and perhaps he had no access to the works of Bhāskara II (1150 A.D.), who was the first to explain the ancient Indian methods clearly. Greek and Hindu Methods in Spherical Astronomy Of the Greek methods in Spherical Astronomy, the history begins with elementary principles only from Euclid (300 B.C.). Even in Theodosius' Sphaerica² (about 153 B. C.) "there is nothing that can be called trigonometrical." Heath again says,

1. Heath, Greek Mathematics, Vol. II, p. 291. Braunmuhl, Geschichte der Trigonometrie, pp. 38-42.
2. Heath, Greek Mathematics, Vol. II, p. 250.