India Molded Math. Then Europe Claimed It.
We all know the quadratic formula and the Fibonacci sequence. Why don’t we talk about their roots?
In school, you probably had to learn the quadratic formula — a method to find the roots of a parabolic function. Students know the formula like the back of their hand. But how many know who discovered it? Math theorems are either named for their utility — what they help solve — or their discoverers (Pythagorean Theorem or the Fibonacci Sequence anyone?).
Curiously, in the latter case, that individual is almost always from Europe. But that’s not because European mathematicians are more gifted than their counterparts.