The Indic Mathematical Tradition 6000 BCE To ?

[Husky]

<!--QuoteBegin-Bharatvarsh+Jun 21 2008, 07:25 AM-->QUOTE(Bharatvarsh @ Jun 21 2008, 07:25 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Can anyone shed light on ancient Hindu theories on "light" or give any referrals. I mean, was there awareness in India about the refraction of white light as Newton demonstrated etc.
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<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Don't know. But the following is sort of related to light:

Brhatsamhita, chapter 35. ("6th century CE")
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The multi-coloured rays of the Sun,
being dispersed in a cloudy sky,
are seen in the form of a bow,
which is called the Rainbow.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Last line in the Samskritam text reads like (don't know if I have transliterated the characters correctly):
<i>ye drshyante tadindradhanuH</i>. Last bit, "Indra's bow"?

Sayanaacharya comments on the rik-samhita 1.50.4:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"It is rememembered that the sunlight travels 2,202 yojanas in half a nimisha."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Calc given:<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->1 yojana = 9 miles
110 yards = 9.6025 miles
2,202 yojanas = 21,144.705 miles
Time taken = 1/2 nimisha = 1/8.75 (seconds) = 0.114286 seconds
Thus speed of light = 1,85,016.169 miles/second
Modern value = 1,86,000 miles/second
[Michaelson and Morley discovered the velocity of light in the 19th century AD.]
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->Q: Is 1 yojana exactly 9 miles?

Aryabhatiyam-GolapaadaH 37 - "499CE" on the cause of eclipse:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The moon covers the sun and the great shadow of the earth covers the moon.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The above taken from the book "Science in Samskrit".