Re: Pythagorus theorem and Pothayanar theorem (tamil content) Someone translate it

by Idéfix Tue Sep 11, 2012 9:53 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:now i am truly mystified. i don't think it comes from a power series as i had originally and mistakenly imagined.

It doesn't. Baudhayana's formula predates the Taylor series by more than a millennium. Baudhayana likely arrived at his approximation using careful empirical methods and constructing an algebraic equation around his observations. The translation to Tamil may be much more recent, but Baudhayana's original work predates Pythagoras as well.

by Guest Tue Sep 11, 2012 10:58 pm

Jeremiah Mburuburu wrote:
Huzefa Kapasi wrote:
panini press wrote:When did he come up with this formula?
2000 BC. (as i cursorily read on the net -- i may be wrong.) the formula is encrusted in a tamil poem of that era, probably sangam lore. pothayanar was a poet.
hahaha @"encrusted!" did you mean "embedded?"

yup, embedded. i was in a rush last night.

based on the above discussion, it is probably of sanskrit origin. yenteresting.

by MaxEntropy_Man Wed Sep 12, 2012 11:31 am

panini press wrote:Baudhayana likely arrived at his approximation using careful empirical methods and constructing an algebraic equation around his observations.

that doesn't sound satisfying or likely to me. from all i've read about the guy in the last day, since the start of this thread, he seems to have possessed an ingenious mind. a couple of other websites mention his sulbhasutras and this formula, but not how he arrived at it. the formula also seems to be exact for certain integer pythagorean triples. i don't think that's a coincidence. there is more to this than meets the eye but i don't have more time to spend on this right now. i'm going to hand it off to my older d and see what she can do with it.

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