Indian Mathematics c7.13

c7.13

That we cannot fill up the gap between Diophantus and Āryabhaṭa with more than the mere name of Hypatia is probably due to the fanatic ignorance and cruelty of the early Alexandrian Christians rather than the supposed destruction of the Alexandrian library by the Muḥammadans. It would be pleasant to conceive that in the Indian works we have some record of the advances made by Hypatia, or of the contents of the lost books of Diophantus—but we are not justified in indulging in more than the mere fancy. The period is one of particular interest. The murder of Hypatia (A.D. 415), the imprisonment and execution of Boethius (A.D. 524), the closing of the Athenean schools in A.D. 530 and the fall of Alexandria in 640 are events full of suggestions to the historian of mathematics. It was during this period also that Damascius, Simplicius (mathematicians of some repute) and others of the schools of Athens, having heard that PLATO'S ideal form of government was actually realised under Chosroes I in Persia, emigrated thither (c. A.D 532). They were naturally disappointed but the effect of their visit may have been far greater than historical records show.