Bhāskara II

Who was Bhāskara II?

Bhāskara, was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. He was born near Vijjadavida. Bhāskara is said to have been the head of an astronomical observatory at Ujjain, the leading mathematical center of medieval India. He lived in the Sahyadri region.

Bhāskara and his works represent a significant contribution to mathematical and astronomical knowledge in the 12th century. He has been called the greatest mathematician of medieval India. His main work Siddhānta Shiromani, is divided into four parts called Lilāvati, Bijaganita, Grahaganita and Golādhyāya. These four sections deal with arithmetic, algebra, mathematics of the planets, and spheres respectively. He also wrote another treatise named Karana Kautoohala.

Bhāskara's work on calculus predates Newton and Leibniz by over half a millennium. He is particularly known in the discovery of the principles of differential calculus and its application to astronomical problems and computations. While Newton and Leibniz have been credited with differential and integral calculus, there is strong evidence to suggest that Bhāskara was a pioneer in some of the principles of differential calculus. He was perhaps the first to conceive the differential coefficient and differential calculus.