Aryabhatta

Ancient astronomer and mathematician, whose major work was composed
in 499 C.E. Among Aryabhatta’s accomplishments were his theories that the
earth was a sphere that rotated on its
axis, and that eclipses were caused by
the shadow of the moon. He also calculated the value of pi to four decimal
places and the length of the year to
seven decimal places. Both these feats
show not only great facility with mathematics but also the use of the zero.
Although Aryabhatta is celebrated as
a scientist, in the ancient world there was
no differentiation between astronomer
and astrologer. Given the assumption
that the heavenly bodies influenced
human affairs, his astronomical conclusions would have also been used in the
field of astrology.