The Science of the Shulba: A Study in Early Hindu Geometry c8.121

c8.121

The growth and development of (1) the theorem of the square of the diagonal, (2) the quadrature of a circle, and (3) the construction of similar figures, has been treated elsewhere in their proper places. We have clear proofs, it has been shown there, of the use of these in the time of the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* (c. 2000 B.C.). The first two seem to be still older. But we do not find an enunciation of the theorem of the square of the diagonal and a method for the quadrature of the circle before the time of the *Śrauta-sūtra*. A method for the construction of similar figures is taught in the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*, and it is the same as we find in later works.