Madhava of Sangamagrama

Madhava of Sangamagrama
Bornc. 1340[1][2][3] (or c. 1350[4])
Sangamagrama, Kingdom of Cochin
(modern day Irinjalakuda, Kerala, India)
Diedc. 1425 (aged 75–85)
Cochin, Vijayanagara Empire
(modern day Kerala, India)
OccupationAstronomer-mathematician
Known forDiscovery of power series
Expansions of trigonometric Sine, Cosine and Arctangent functions
Infinite series summation formulae for π
Notable workGolavāda, Madhyāmanayanaprakāra, Veṇvāroha, Sphuṭacandrāpti
TitleGolavid (Master of Spherics)

Mādhava of Sangamagrāma (Mādhavan)[5] (c. 1340 – c. 1425) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer who is considered to be the founder of the Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics in the Late Middle Ages. Madhava made pioneering contributions to the study of infinite series, calculus, trigonometry, geometry and algebra. He was the first to use infinite series approximations for a range of trigonometric functions, which has been called the "decisive step onward from the finite procedures of ancient mathematics to treat their limit-passage to infinity".[1]

  1. ^ a b C. T. Rajagopal & M.S.Rangachari (1978). "On an Untapped Source of Medieval Keralese Mathematics". Archive for History of Exact Sciences. 18 (2): 101. doi:10.1007/BF00348142. S2CID 51861422.
  2. ^ Roy, Ranjan (1990). "The Discovery of the Series Formula for π by Leibniz, Gregory and Nilakantha" (PDF). Mathematics Magazine. 63 (5): 291–306. doi:10.2307/2690896. JSTOR 2690896. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2012.
  3. ^ Ian G. Pearce (2002). Madhava of Sangamagramma. MacTutor History of Mathematics archive. University of St Andrews.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference mact-biog was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ K. V. Sarma (1972). A History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy (in perspective). Hoshiarpur: Vishveshvaranand Institute of Sanskrit & Indological Studies, Panjab University. p. 51. Bibcode:1972hksh.book.....S. Available [1]