Medical and educational inventions by Indians

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

India has had some brilliant scientists, mathematicians and doctors who have made inventions that are still in use worldwide. Some of these inventions are:

1) Ayurvedic medicine: Ayurvedic medicine started in India around the Iron Age and goes back to the 1st millennium BC. It is still used in India and are herbal medicines that many people still consider to be the healthiest. It is an ancient and traditional system of medicine.

2) Cataract surgery: Sushruta started performing cataract surgery in 6th Century BC with a special tool named ‘Jabamukhi Salaka’, which is used to loosen the lens and push the cataract out of the field of vision. After the surgery, the eye would be soaked in warm butter and then bandaged.

3) Cure for Leprosy: The Oxford Illustrated Companion to Medicine states that leprosy and the cure for it were described in the Atharva-veda written in 1500-1200 BCE. However Kearns & Nash stated in 2008 that leprosy was first mentioned and described by Sushruta Samhita in the Indian medical treatise in 6th century BCE, which was written much later than the Atharva-veda.

4) Plastic surgery: By 2000 BCE, plastic surgery was already being practiced in India. There was an increasing demand for plastic surgery at that time because the bodies of the criminals would be deformed as this was the system of punishment. Sushruta contributed majorly to the field of plastic and cataract surgery.

5) Fiber Optics: Dr. Narinder Singh Kapany is named as one of the 7 ‘Unsung Heroes’ by Fortune Magazine for his great inventions like fiber-optics communications, lasers, biomedical instrumentation, solar energy and pollution monitoring. He is widely called as the ‘Father of Fiber Optics’ for his great work in Fiber Optics technology.

6) Ink: For writing purposes, many ancient cultures and civilizations individually prepared ink for writing purposes. The carbon pigment that was used in the Indian ink was also found in ancient India. In South India, since 4th century BC, it was common for people to practice writing with ink and a sharp pointed needle.

7) Decimal System, Quadratic formula: Somewhere in between the 1st and 6th centuries CE, the decimal system also known as the ‘Hindu number system’ was developed in India. In the 7th century CE, Brahmagupta found the very first general formula for solving quadratic equations.

8) Ruler: Before 1500 BCE, rulers were used by the Indus Valley Civilization. During excavations, rulers that were made of ivory were found which also showed the accuracy of decimal subdivisions on it.

9) Zero, symbol: Indians used zero to signify what was absent but were the first to use the zero as a symbol and in arithmetic operations. In ancient times, a blank space was used to denote zero that led to confusion. Hence, people started using a dot to denote the same. The new symbol for zero (0) was given by Aryabhata in 500 AD approximately.

10) Algebraic abbreviations: Brahmagupta was an excellent mathematician and he started using abbreviations for unknowns by the 7th century. Multiple abbreviations were used by him for multiple unknowns occurring in one complex problem. He used such abbreviations even for square roots and cube roots.

We are all proud of these Indians who have achieved great feats and helped our country mark its name in the world because of their wonderful inventions!