Science & Discovery in the 6th century

12 sourced entries, 500 CE to 597 CE, oldest first. Also see Science & Discovery across every century or everything else in the 6th century.

• 500Approximate year of the invention of the bee skep in Ireland.source
• 511Aryabhata, Indian astronomer and mathematician, comes up with concepts of mathematical equations, one of which explains the rotation of the Earth on its axis. This concept is far ahead of its time and he is fairly accurate in his description of it. He also comes up with a lot of other ideas about the Solar System, but many of them are flawed because he considers the Earth to be the center of the universe. Aryabhata is often given credit for coming up with the number zero and using it as a placeholder.source
• 517Aryabhata compiles his manual of mathematics and astronomy (approximate date).source
• 521Boethius introduces Greek musical letter notation to the West.source
• 525Dionysius Exiguus, Scythian theologian-mathematician, inaugurates the practice of using A.D. (Anno Domini) in Rome for calendar dates after the birth of Jesus Christ, a system which has been supported by subsequent studies. Dionysius also produces his tables for computing the date of "Cyclus Paschalis" (Easter Tables).source
• 543Approximate date – The Yupian (玉篇) Chinese dictionary is edited by Gu Yewang.source
• 550Procopius writes the Secret History (approximate date).source
• 550Hindu mathematicians give zero a numeral representation in a positional notation system.source
• 551Jordanes, Roman bureaucrat, publishes "The Origin and Deeds of the Goths" (approximate date).source
• 561Sky Witness is crowned as leader of Calakmul.source
• 589Yan Zhitui, scholar-official, makes the first reference to the use of toilet paper in human history. It is used in the Chinese imperial court and amongst the other wealthy citizens.source
• 597England gets her first written code of laws from Æthelbert. The code is concerned with preserving social order, through compensation and punishment for personal injury (approximate date).source