A History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy (in Perspective) c7.s7.7

c7.s7.7

(c) *Basic principles.* In their mathematical work, Kerala authors and, for that matter, Indian authors in general, based themselves on the fundamentals of arithmetic, algebra, geometry and trigonometry. They were aware also of properties of numbers, to some extent. Calculus and higher mathematics, as developed in the West during the last three hundred years, were not known, but strict application of geometry, trigonometry and algebra, coupled with clear analytical thought and intuition, have enabled Kerala astronomers to arrive at important results and enunciate theorems which were later rediscovered in the West, some after several centuries.³