Binary Numbers in Indian Antiquity

Binary numbers form the basis for the operation of computers. Binary numbers were discovered in the west by German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz in 1695. However, new evidence proves that binary numbers were used in India prior to 2nd century A.D., more than 1500 years before their discovery in the west.

Ancient India had a tradition of scholarly learning. This tradition continued till the beginning of current millennium. During the millennium long foreign rule hostile to scholarly activities, a vast body of scientific information was lost. Thankfully some of the ancient literature has survived. Most of the scholarly work needed to preserve the ancient learning was done in South India which remained free from invasion for a significant time. Scholars are now rediscovering the forgotten contributions of ancient India in the field of mathematics and science. One of these discoveries is that of the use of Binary numbers for the classification of meters.

This is a paper published by B. Van Nooten, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkely, California. Here the author shows that Binary numbers were existed in Indian Antiquity around 5th Century B.C.. He discusses the evidences from Pingalacharya's Chandahsastra, which is a science of verse meters. The author discusses the classification of meters, finding the decimal equivalent of a metrical pattern, finding the binary equivalent of a decimal number, its historical importance and also compares Europe and India about its discovery of the decimal numbers. This paper can be found in the book ttitled "Computing Science in Ancient India edited by T.R.N. Rao and Subhash Kak".