I Am A Black Mathematician

Aryabhatta: The Great Indian Mathematician

emeagwali — 2004-03-29T10:18:52-05:00

Excerpts from a speech that I delivered on March 29, 2004 at the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Few Americans are aware of the immense scientific contributions of India and China.

Albert Einstein wrote: “We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.”

The number zero was introduced by an Indian mathematician named Aryabhatta. We take the significance of the number zero for granted.

Yet, until one thousand five hundred (1500) years ago, mathematicians did not realize that it was necessary to include zero in their number system.

Today, the binary system of zeros and ones is the absolute cornerstone of computing.

It would have been impossible to develop computers based on the Roman system of numerals. Therefore, I argue that the introduction of zero into our number system is the greatest scientific achievement of all time.

It is difficult to disagree with the American writer Mark Twain, then, who said:

“India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grand mother of tradition.”

Yet, in the main, American history books omit the contributions of India. They omit the contributions of Arab scholars. They omit the contributions of China.

Supercomputers: My Search for Meaning of Partial Differential Equations

emeagwali — 1981-07-03T06:31:52-05:00

My study of partial differential equations were the seeds of knowledge that drove and inspired my success in supercomputing.

Mathematics, it is often said, is the Queen (or the Handmaiden) to the sciences. For example, the computer is the child of mathematics and we cannot separate computing and mathematics. The early computer pioneers were trained solely as a mathematician. I was a mathematician until computer scientists discovered me, adopted me, and reintroduced me to mathematicians.

Equations That Changed My Life

emeagwali — 1981-06-17T06:01:43-05:00

The applications that were of interest to me were meteorological and petroleum. Began by investigating parabolic partial differential equations for petroleum reservoirs and heat conduction. I studied elliptic partial differential equations for steady state problems. And finally studied hyperbolic partial differential equations for weather forecasting.

The Solution
Of particular interest was linear partial differential equations with constant coefficients for one dimensional wave equation in which the dependent variable was displacement (or deflection) of the stretched string, with its specified boundary conditions and initial conditions.

First, obtain two ordinary differential equations using the method of Method of Separation of Variables). Second, determine those solutions that satify the boundary conditions. Third, superimpose the latter solutions (by Fourier Series) to obtain solutions that satisfies the equation and initial conditions.