Discovery Channel - What the Ancients Knew: The East (2007) Part 3 India

What the Ancients Knew: The East
Exploring early Japan, China and India, this series journeys into the technological past that shaped our world. Travel back in time to understand the motivations behind early solutions and inventions. Much of the science and technology we consider to be “modern” was created by civilizations long ago.

Part 3: India

India is one of the oldest and richest civilizations in the world. It is home to the world’s first planned cities, where every house had its own bathroom and toilet five thousand years ago. The Ancient Indians have not only given us yoga, meditation and complementary medicines, but they have furthered our knowledge of science, maths – and invented Chaturanga, which became the game of chess. According to Albert Einstein, they “taught us how to count”, as they invented the numbers 1-9 and ‘zero’, without which there would be no computers or digital age. Unfairly we call this system of counting Arabic numbers – a misplaced credit. Two thousand years ago the Indians pioneered plastic surgery, reconstructing the noses and ears on the faces of people who had been disfigured through punishment or warfare. They performed eye operations such as cataract removal and invented inoculation to protect their population from Smallpox, saving thousands of lives.

DC - What the Ancients Knew The West (2008) (The Series)