History of Hindu Mathematics: A Source Book v2.c13.5

v2.c13.5

A portion of the subject matter of this book has been available to scholars through papers by various authors and through Colebrooke's *Algebra with Arithmetic and Mensuration from the Sanscrit of Brahmegupta and Bhascara*, but about half of it is being presented here for the first time. For want of space it has not been possible to give a detailed comparison of the Hindu achievements in Algebra with those of other nations. For this the reader is referred to the general works on the history of mathematics by Cantor, Smith, and Tropfke, to Dixon's *History of the Theory of Numbers* and to Neugebauer's *Mathematische Keilschrift-Texte*. A study of this book along with the above standard works will reveal to the reader the remarkable progress in algebra made by the Hindus at an early date. It will also show that we are indebted to the Hindus for the technique and the fundamental results of algebra just as we owe to them the place-value notation and the elements of our arithmetic.