science topics

[Georg von Simson]

On March 6, Alok Kumar wrote:
>I am a new member to this list.  I teach a course on the contributions of
>various ancient civilizations to science at the State University of New
>York, Oswego.  I have seen many science textbooks that indicate that the
>place-value notations, zero, and the trigonometric function "sin" were
>originated in India.  However, I have not seen any recent article that
>provides primary references.  Almost all articles provide secondary
>references. I would appreciate any help on this issue.

See Johannes Bronkhorst, A Note on Zero and the numerical Place-Value
System in Ancient India, in: Asiatische Studien/Etudes Asiatiques, 48:4
(1994), p. 1039-42.

Best regards

   Georg v.Simson