Mathematics in Ancient and Medieval India c6.2

c6.2

Unlike Greek geometry which attained independent existence with definitions, axioms, theorems and proofs arranged in logical order, the geometry developed in India was of intuitive nature, which, like those of the old Egyptians and Romans consisted only of empirical rules. It gathered facts relating to geometrical problems without attempting to solve them by deductive reasoning. The demonstrative geometry was the central feature of Greek mathematics culminating in Euclid (c. 300 B. C.) and Apollonius (c. 200 B. C.), whereas Indian geometry like that of the Chinese lay rather in the direction of algebra.