Physics & Mechanics
Idea of matter's indestructibility
1st millennium BCEVaisheshika/Samkhya schoolsVaisheshika Sutra; Samkhya textsPan-Indian / unspecified
1,000 BCE
Philosophical claims that fundamental substance is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed.
- Dated
- 1,000–1 BCE
- As scholars put it
- 1st millennium BCE
- Originator
- Vaisheshika/Samkhya schools
- Source text
- Vaisheshika Sutra; Samkhya texts
- Region
- Pan-Indian / unspecified
- Discipline
- Physics & Mechanics
- Evidence
- Plausible precursor
- Confidence
- Low
- Verification
- Reference-cited
Meanwhile in the West
Conservation laws formalised in modern physics.
Fair to say
A metaphysical assertion, not the empirical conservation of mass/energy.
Path to modern innovation
A philosophical anticipation of conservation ideas.
Transmission
Independent philosophy vs. experimental law.
Primary sources
References
- 1Vaisheshika Sutra
- 2Samkhya Karika
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-051 on GitHub.