Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Lilavati

Bhaskara II was born in 1114 or 1115 and died around 1185. His famous work Lilavati is said to be named after his daughter, to console her for an astrological forecast that went wrong.
The story goes that Bhaskara used his knowledge to choose the most propitious date and time for his daughter's wedding. As the time approached, one of her pearls fell into the water clock as she leaned over it, stopping the outflow of water. Before anyone noticed, however, the critical time passed and the wedding had to be called off. The hapless Lilavati never married, and now she is remembered only through the book that bears the name.
(From Mathematics and Its History by John Stillwell)
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I have also read somewhere about a legend which says that the wedding indeed took place but her husband died soon after.

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