Aryabhata I

Aryabhata I

(born 476, possibly Ashmaka or Kusumapura, India) Astronomer and the earliest Indian mathematician whose work survives. He composed at least two works, Aryabhatiya (c. 499) and the now lost Aryabhatasiddhanta, which circulated mainly in the northwest of India and influenced the development of Islamic astronomy. Written in verse couplets, Aryabhatiya deals with mathematics and astronomy. Topics include prediction of solar and lunar eclipses and an explicit statement that the apparent westward motion of the stars is due to the spherical Earth's rotation about its axis. Aryabhata also correctly ascribed the luminosity of the Moon and planets to reflected sunlight. The Indian government named its first satellite Aryabhata (launched 1975) in his honour.