Expounding the mathematical seed. Vol. 1: The translation. A translation of Bhāskara I on the mathematical chapter of the Āryabhatīya (Q2386595)

This two-volume book (Vol. 2 see Zbl 1099.01005 below) contains an English translation with extensive explanations of the mathematical chapter of the earliest extant mathematical and astronomical work in Sanskrit prose, namely the \textit{Āryabhaṭīyabhāṣya} by Bhāskara\ I, written in AD 629. This is a commentary on the fifth century astronomical treatise, the \textit{Āryabhaṭīya}, by Āryabhaṭa. Like many similar treatises the \textit{Āryabhaṭīya} was written in very compact verse and extremely difficult to understand on its own. As a result, commentaries on such works became an important genre in scientific literature in Sanskrit, which has until now only incidentally been studied as such. Bhāskara's commentary is in fact the earliest of a total of 18 that are known to have been written on the \textit{Āryabhaṭīya} up to the 19th century. As Bhāskara\ puts it, the original verses give the ``mathematical seeds'', which the commentator needs to expound in order to show which algorithms are intended. For this purpose Bhāskara\ discusses every single word in Āryabhaṭa's treatise and gives many alternative interpretations on the basis of grammatical as well as mathematical arguments. The mathematical topics included in the original treatise and in the commentary, ultimately intended for application in astronomy, cover a wide range: root extraction, areas and volumes of geometrical figures, approximation of \(\pi\), derivation of a sine table, series, Rule of Three, operations on fractions, indeterminate analysis, etc.\ (see the table in Vol.\ 1, p.\ xx, of the book under review for a full table of contents). The central part of Keller's book is the literal, in general very readable translation in Volume 1. However, the chapters that accompany the translation enormously increase the usefulness of the publication. An introductory chapter collects the available historical information on Bhāskara\ I and his mathematical and astronomical works and sketches the characteristics of Āryabhaṭa's original work in verse and of Bhāskara's commentary as they have been handed down in six rather late manuscripts on palm leaves and have been edited by K. S. Shukla (New Delhi, 1976). Furthermore, it summarizes important aspects of the mathematics found in the original work and in the commentary, including the names and notations for numbers and fractions; the use of tabular arrangements and special places on a working surface for carrying out arithmetical operations; the naming of geometrical figures and the calculation of volumes; the relation between arithmetic and geometry as it can be seen from the use of series, the Rule of Three, and the concept of \textit{karaṇi} for the expression of square roots; and the relation between mathematics and astronomy. Finally, the introduction touches upon such subtle points as the relation between the oral transmission of the original verses and the written character of the commentary; the techniques that Bhāskara\ uses for the interpretation of the verses; his definitions of technical terms in addition to those in Āryabhaṭa's treatise; and his own mathematical input required to turn the compact verses into applicable algorithms. Some of these issues have been discussed in more detail in Keller's dissertation (Université Paris VII, 2000) and in two recent articles [Zbl 1055.01005 on quadratic irrationals and Zbl 1072.01006 on diagrams], but most of them require extensive further research on the basis of a larger number of Sanskrit mathematical sources. The ``supplements'' in Volume 2 of Keller's book, which is supposed to be used in parallel to the first volume, provide detailed explanations for the translated text and elucidate parts of Bhāskara's commentary that are not clear or allow multiple interpretations. Also here the issues involved are often subtle. For instance, Keller distinguishes between the use of Sanskrit words that are listed by Bhāskara\ as synonyms, but in fact each turn out to occur only in specific steps of the calculations. Some terms or symbolic notations can only be used in intermediate steps, others only for the result of a computation. Very useful is the extensive glossary of technical terms that Keller includes. The entries, arranged in the order of the Sanskrit alphabet, not only provide translations and explanations for all terms appearing in Bhāskara's text, but where necessary also additional expressions involving the same terms, supplied with cross references. Basic elements of Indian astronomy are explained in a 10 page appendix. Both volumes are accompanied by indexes that also include the English equivalents of Sanskrit technical terms, so that the occurrence of these terms can be traced back in the translation. Keller's book would have deserved better copy editing, which could easily have reduced the rather large number of typos and smaller inconsistencies in typesetting, and incidental unclear passages in the English. In spite of these minor deficiencies it has become an excellent publication of a very important source, which will be indispensable for any future study of the history of Indian mathematics. [A similarly broad study of another important Sanskrit mathematical work from roughly the same period is \textit{Takao Hayashi}, The Bakhshali manuscript. An ancient Indian mathematical treatise (Egbert Forsten, Groningen) (1995; Zbl 0849.01007)]