| Yativrsabha |
|
Born: about 500 in India
Died: about
570 in India Yativrsabha (or Jadivasaha) was a Jaina mathematician
who studied under Arya Manksu and Nagahastin. We know nothing of
Yativrsabha's dates except for a reference which he makes to the end
of the Gupta dynasty which he says was after 231 years of ruling.
This ended in 551 so we must assume that 551 AD is a date which
occurred during Yativrsabha's lifetime. This fits with the only other
information regarding his dates which are that his work is referenced
by Jinabhadra Ksamasramana in 609 and that Yativrsabha himself refers
to a work written by Sarvanandin in 458. Yativrsabha's work
Tiloyapannatti gives various units for measuring distances and time
and also describes the system of infinite time measures. It is a work
which describes Jaina cosmology and gives a description of the
universe which is of historical importance in understanding Jaina
science and mathematics. The Jaina belief was in an infinite world,
both infinite in space and in time. This led the Jainas to devise
ways of measuring larger and larger distances and longer and longer
intervals of time. It led them to consider different measures of
infinity, and in this respect the Jaina mathematicians would appear
to be the only ones before the time when Cantor developed the theory
of infinite cardinals to envisage different magnitudes of infinity.
Article by: J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
Source:
www-history.mcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/Mathematicians
|
|
|
|
