Hindu Achievements in Exact Science: A Study in the History of Scientific Development c23.9

c23.9

Another illustration may be given from Hindu physics. This relates to the various hypotheses of Sound phenomena. One school held that the physical basis of audible sound is a specific quality of air, and that air-particles flow in currents in all directions. A second school, e.g., that of Shabara Swami held that it is not air-currents but air-waves, series of conjunctions and disjunctions of the air-particles or molecules, that constitute the sound physical. A third school held that the sound-wave has its substrate not in air but in ether. Further, Prashastapada held the hypothesis of transverse waves and was opposed by Udyotakara who held that of longitudinal waves.