Indian · 499 CE
Āryabhaṭīya
In the Kālakriyāpāda, Āryabhaṭa gives each planet two epicycles: the smaller manda ('slow'), for the equation of centre, and the larger śīghra ('fast'), for its anomaly relative to the Sun. Their combined corrections give true longitudes, and the śīghra correction is what produces retrograde arcs and stations. Unlike Ptolemy's fixed epicycles, his vary in size with position.
- Author
- Āryabhaṭa
- Date
- 499 CE
- Original language
- Sanskrit
- Kind
- Mathematical astronomy
- Planets
- Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
Editions
2 editions.
| Year | Edition | © |
|---|---|---|
| 1930 | Clark, Walter Eugene (trans.). The Āryabhaṭīya of Āryabhaṭa: An Ancient Indian Work on Mathematics and Astronomy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1930. | PD |
| 1976 | Shukla, K. S. and K. V. Sarma (eds./trans.). Āryabhaṭīya of Āryabhaṭa. New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy, 1976. | © |
Read it
No digitised copy known.
No digitised copy known. The editions above are the way in.
Myths we don’t repeat
Checked, and left out.
- Myth 01
Not a heliocentric explanation of retrograde motion: Āryabhaṭa's model is geocentric, with a rotating Earth.
References
Also on the Asia, Islam and medieval Europe shelf
| Date | Source | Planets | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 100–90 BCE | Shiji, Treatise on the Celestial OfficesSima QianAstrological | Ma Ju | Astrological |
| System c. 1st century BCE – early 1st century CE; Hanshu compiled c. 58–111 CE | Santong li: the Five StepsLiu XinMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| compiled c. 58–111 CE | Hanshu, Treatise on Celestial PatternsBan GuAstrological | Ve Ma | Astrological |
| c. 6th century CE | Bṛhat Saṃhitā, ch. 6: the course of MarsVarāhamihiraAstrological | Ma | Astrological |
| c. 900 CE (observations 877–918) | al-Zīj al-Ṣābiʾal-BattānīMath. astronomy | Me Ve Ma Ju Sa | Math. astronomy |
| c. 1025–1028 CE | Doubts concerning PtolemyIbn al-HaythamTheory / model | General | Theory / model |