History of Hindu Mathematics (2 Vols. Set)
This book is at present to historians of mathematics regarding the achievements of the early Hindu mathematicians and our indebtedness to them. Our object in writing the present book has been to make up for this deficiency by giving a comprehensive account of the growth and development of the science of mathematics in India from the earliest known times down to the seventeenth century of the Christian era.
It has been decided to publish the book in two volumes. The first volume deals with the history of numeral notation and arithmetic. The second volume is devoted to algebra, a science in which the ancient Hindus made remarkable progress.
Vol. I contains two chapters. Chapter I gives an account of various devices employed by the Hindus for denoting numbers. Chapter II deals with arithmetic in general.
Vol. II of this work is devoted to the history of algebra in India. Using symbols—letters of the alphabet to denote unknowns—and equations is the foundation of algebra. The Hindus were the first to systematically use the letters of the alphabet to denote unknowns.