10. Varahamahira (505–587 CE)

Varahamihira proposed that the Moon and planets are lustrous not because of their own light but due to sunlight. In the Brhat Samhita he has revealed his discoveries in the domains of geography, constellation, science, botany and animal science. Varahamihira in 550 AD have described a large number of comets in the Brhat Samhita. He also predicted the presence of water on Mars. Like Aryabhata before him, he declared that the earth was spherical. In his treatise on botanical science, Varahamihir presents cures for various diseases afflicting plants and trees.