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Which later European mathematical discoveries were anticipated by the Kerala school?
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Indian mathematics
The evolution of Hindu-Arabic numerals from Brahmi through Devanagari and Arabic to European scripts.
The Kerala school of mathematics, founded by Madhava in the late 14th century, developed sophisticated mathematical concepts that anticipated several key discoveries later attributed to European analysts.1
The schoolās primary contributions include:
- Infinite Series: The use of infinite series to represent mathematical functions.1
- Power Series: The development of power series expansions for trigonometric functions, specifically the sine, cosine, and arctangent.1
- Calculus Foundations: The early application of infinitesimal quantities in mathematical reasoning.1
- Numerical Approximation: The use of these series to calculate the value of to 11 decimal places.1
These advancements were supported by the work of successors such as Jyesthadeva, Nilakantha, and Sankara, who provided geometric demonstrations for these concepts, maintaining a continuous tradition of mathematical inquiry in Kerala for over two centuries.1