History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c39.s3.2

v1.c39.s3.2

In the Atharvaveda the genesis of conch-shell and pearl were speculated upon (4.10. 1-7). The Satapatha Brāhmaṇa propounded a theory of material evolution (6.1.3. 1-5). Kāṭha Upaniṣad mentioned atoms and molecules (1.2.20). Uddālaka Āruṇi a historical figure, who travelled from Taxila to North Bihar, and was mentioned in the Chāndogya Upaniṣad, was a materialist or hylozoist, who propounded that everything in the universe including man evolved out of three elements, and even mind is a product of matter. He preceded Theles of Greece by nearly two centuries, and has therefore been claimed by Chattopadhyaya to be the ‘first scientist in the world’.