Architecture & Engineering
Approximation of the square root of 2
c. 800 BCEBaudhayanaBaudhayana Sulba SutraPan-Indian / unspecified
800 BCE
Gave a strikingly accurate rational approximation of the square root of 2.
- Dated
- 800 BCE
- As scholars put it
- c. 800 BCE
- Originator
- Baudhayana
- Source text
- Baudhayana Sulba Sutra
- Region
- Pan-Indian / unspecified
- Discipline
- Architecture & Engineering
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- High
- Verification
- Verified-web
Meanwhile in the West
Comparable precision elsewhere came later.
Fair to say
An approximation for construction, not a proof of irrationality.
Path to modern innovation
Early numerical approximation of an irrational number.
Builds on
Transmission
Independent computation.
References
- 1Baudhayana Sulba Sutra
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-061 on GitHub.