scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1751810

The author approaches the topics mentioned in the title from a grammatical or linguistic point of view, using studies of the Indian Sanscrit scholar M. D. Pandit, author of ``Mathematics as known to the Vedic Samhitas, Delhi (1993). In her introduction she outlines the main problems and difficulties which any researcher on early Indian mathematics has to face: the lack of reliable editions, the incomplete information about existing source material that has not been studied and the amount of lost sources, and the uncertainties about the dates of ancient manuscripts and inscriptions. The first part of this articles deals with the expression of numbers in ancient times (pp. 180-194), the second part with ancient and more recent number systems (194-202), the third with arithmetic (203-208). Part I begins with many examples for numeration in the most ancient texts, followed by a discussion of the concept of zero of Pāṇinī and Piṅgala and a possible origin of the decimal positional system as suggested by M. D. Pandit on the basis of linguistic arguments. Part II starts with a consideration of the ciphers employed in the most ancient inscriptions (Kharoṣṭī and Brāhmī). Among further topics discussed are the expressions for very large numbers (Buddhists, Jaïns) and the oldest dated decimal positional number system including zero (the Lokavibhāgaḥ, 458 A.D.). Part III on arithmetic introduces the great Indian mathematicians Āryabhaṭa (* 476 A.D.), Brāhmagupta (* 598), and Bhāskara II (12th century), before examples of the basic operations, the extraction of square roots and the rule of three from their works are presented. The conclusion emphasizes that the rich variety of number words in India makes it difficult to draw the definite conclusion that the decimal system may have been a natural consequence of the nomenclature of the powers of ten. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0977.00019].

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