2021-03-07

                                                    HPS100 Research Report

Time and Place:
India, 492AD

Short Description of Proposed Project:

In the last decade or so our understanding of the origin and development of Indian astronomy and its relevance for Indian religion and culture have undergone a major shift. This shift has been caused by two factors: first, archaeological discoveries that reveal to us that the the Sarasvati river, the great river of the R. gvedic times, dried up before 1900 BCE, suggesting that this ancient text must be at least as old as that epoch; second, discovery of an astronomy in the Vedic texts. The assignment of a date to the drying up of the Sarasvati river has been a great aid to sorting the confusion regarding the chronology of the Indian texts, but it could not have come before an analysis of the excavations of the Harappan towns and settlements of the 3rd millennium BCE. On the other hand, the neglect of the astronomy of the Vedic texts was caused by the inability of the philologists and Sanskritists who studied these texts during the last two centuries to appreciate their scientific references. (Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000)

It is well known that India was an agricultural society in its early days.Due to the fact that astronomy at that time made significant contributions to the development of agriculture, there is much useful astronomy knowledge that needs to be recorded in time and quickly.But paper-making was introduced to the Indian subcontinent in the middle of 600 AD, and local paper making centers quickly developed.According to an account by the Chinese monk XuanZang in 671 AD, paper was already in widespread use when he arrived in Indian subcontinent in 670 AD.

People’s Beliefs about the Subject in that Time and Place

From the point of writing, in the middle of 3000 BC, the ancient Indian residents created the seal writing.After the destruction of the Indian River civilization, the backward Aryans had only oral works. Around the beginning of the word, the oldest writing that survives today is an inscription made by Ashoka, while in ancient India writing was done with an iron pen and processed bark.

The origins of chemistry, in India as in other parts of the world, are bound up with the early developments of the practical arts as well as with the philosophical speculations on the nature of matter andits behavior. The present article will concern itself with the first of these and will deal particularly with the achievements of the early Indians in the field of practical chemistry—the handling of minerals, metals, metallurgical processes, metallic compounds, acids, alkalies, etc. In a previous communication a general survey of the knowledge of chemistry in ancient India has been made, and an account has been given off the theories and methodology of science as was developed in those early days. The present article will, therefore, be exclusively de-voted to a description in more details of the achievements of the early Indians in the field of practical chem-istry, particularly dealing with minerals, metals, metallurgical processes, metallic compounds, alkalies, acids, etc.(Priyadaranjan Ray.1948)

Tools and Materials

The paper making process can be divided into pulping, modulation, paper-making and other main steps. Pulping is the first step of paper-making. Generally, there are three methods to convert wood into pulp: mechanical pulping, chemical pulping and semi chemical pulping. The modulation of paper material is another key point of paper-making. The strength, tone, printability and storage life of paper are directly related to it. The main work of the paper making department is to make the thin paper evenly interweaved and dehydrated, and then through the drying, calendaring, rolling, cutting, sorting, packaging and other processes.(Dard Hunter Courier Corporation,1978)
Paper is used for writing, printing, painting or packaging sheet fiber products. Generally, it is made up of water suspension of plant fiber after pulping treatment, staggered combination on the net, preliminary dehydration, compression and drying. Indian tree resources have been developed since ancient times. It is not difficult to obtain raw materials as long as they are pulped, dehydrated and compressed by the above methods, preliminary paper can be made.As a document:Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh observed that B.lanzan is found as natural wild in the forest, marginal lands and occasionally in farmer’s fields. A total of 72 diverse accessions of this important tree species were collected from the diversity–rich areas of India having wide range of variation in agro-morphological traits among the accessions. This species has high socio-economic value providing livelihood to tribal population of these areas and has high potential as commercial horticulture species.（SK Malik, R Chaudhury, NS Panwar, OP Dhariwal, Ravish Choudhary, Susheel Kumar）

Rough Research Plan and Justification of Project to the Community
First, we can find Āryabhaṭa, a scientist in astronomy area. He can give me the support. Due to the fact that he needs to do a lot of calculations and record the movement of stars to determine the accuracy of the calendar.And through his fame, we can look for donors to buy raw materials, build equipment, and test results.
Next, We should publicize our products, sell the first batch of formed paper, and use the money for continuous improvement.But it is not enough to publicize it widely.We are supposed report it to Chandragupta Vikramāditya an emperor pay attention to technology.Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) were skilled and powerful. They extended the empire in the south up to Narmada River.(John Keay, Reginald Piggott HarperCollins, 2000) So, he would not refuse this chance to spread his fame by using paper.
Finally, we just to spread it to all area such as astronomy, religion, chemistry, agriculture and so on.

Bibliography:
Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, （2000）.Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy,303-340
Dard Hunter Courier Corporation.(1978).Paper-making: the history and technique of an ancient craft
Priyadaranjan Ray(1948).Chemistry in ancient India.journal of Chemical Education 256-327,
SK Malik, R Chaudhury, NS Panwar, OP Dhariwal, Ravish Choudhary, Susheel Kumar ;a socio-economically important tree species of central Indian tribal population
John Keay, Reginald Piggott HarperCollins( 2000) India: A history