Indian Mathematics c5.23

c5.23

which, neglecting the last term, is the value given in rule (γ). This implies a knowledge of the process of converting a fraction into partial fractions with unit numerators, a knowledge most certainly not possessed by the composers of the *Śulvasūtras*; for as THIBAUT says there is nothing in these rules which would justify the assumption that they were expert in long calculations; and there is no indication in any other work that the Indians were ever acquainted with the process and in no later works are fractions expressed in this manner.