A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c34.257.1

v2.c34.257.1

This makes 1 Kshana of the Nyáya-Vaiseshika equal to 2/45 of a second. The Nyáya assumes that the unit of physical change (or the time occupied by any single antecedent step in a causal series before the succeeding step is ushered in) is equal to a Kshana (or 2/45 of a second). The astronomers were familiar with far smaller measures of time. The astronomical Truti of time measures about the thirty-four-thousandth part of a second. This is of special value in determining the exact character of Bháskara's claim to be regarded as the precursor of Newton in the discovery of the principle of the Differential Calculus, as well as in its application to astronomical problems and computations. This claim, as I proceed to show, is absolutely established; it is indeed far stronger than Archimedes's to the conception of a rudimentary process of Integration. Bhāskara in computing the "instantaneous motion" ( तात्कालिको गति ) of a planet compares its successive positions, and regards its motion as constant during the interval (which of course cannot be greater than a Truti of time, though it may be indefinitely less). This tátkálika motion is no other than the differentia of the planet's longitude, and Bápudeva S'ástrí claims that both the conception of the instantaneous motion and the method of determining it plainly show that Bhāskara was acquainted with the principle of the Differential Calculus. On the data before him, Mr.