Prelude: Computing from Ancient Times to the Modern Era - The Technical and Social History of Software Engineering - page 7

Australia is remote from all other continents and was not connected by a land
bridge to any other location since the continents broke up. Yet it was settled about
40,000 years ago, apparently by means of a long ocean voyage from one (or more)
of the continents. The islands of Polynesia and Easter Island are also far from any
mainland and yet were settled thousands of years ago. These things indicate early
knowledge of star positions and some kind of math as well.
Many early civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and South
America soon accumulated surprisingly sophisticated mathematical knowledge.
This mathematical knowledge was often associated with specialists who received
substantial training.
Many ancient civilizations, such as the ancient Chinese, Sumerians, Babyloni-
ans, Egyptians, and Greeks, invested substantial time and energy into providing
training for children. Not so well known in the West are the similar efforts for
training in India and among the people of Central and South America, such as the
Olmecs, Mayans, Incans, and later the Aztecs.
Japan also had formal training. For the upper classes, Japanese training in-
cluded both physical skills in weapons and also intellectual topics such as reading,
writing, and mathematics. All of these ancient civilizations developed formal
training for children and also methods of recording information.
The University of Nalanda in Northern India was founded circa 472 BC and las-
ted until about the 12th century, with a peak enrollment during around 500 AD . It
was one of the largest in the ancient world, with more than 10,000 students from
throughout Asia and more than 2,000 professors. It was among the first universit-
ies to provide training in mathematics, physics, medicine, astronomy, and foreign
languages.
The University of Nalanda had an active group of translators who translated
Sanskrit and Prakrit into a variety of other languages. In fact, much of the inform-
ation about the University of Nalanda comes from Chinese translations preserved
in China since the University of Nalanda library was destroyed during the Moslem
invasion of India in the 12th century. It was reported to be so large that it burned
for almost six weeks.
Indian scholars were quite advanced even when compared to Greece and Rome.
Concepts such as zero and the awareness of numerous star systems were known in
India prior to being known in Europe. (The Olmecs of Central America also used
zero prior to the Greeks.)