Investigates the complex social processes involved in the introduction and institutionalization of Western science in colonial India.

The book delineates the role and place of the Western scientific discourse which occupied an important place in the colonization of India. During the colonial period, science became one of the foundations of Indian modernity and the nation-state. Gradually, the educated Indians sought to locate modern scientific ideas and principles within Indian culture and adopted those for the economic regeneration of the country. The discursive terrain of the history of science, especially in the context of a society with a very long and complex past, is bound to be replete with numerous debates on its nature and evolution, its changing contours, its complex civilizational journey, and finally, the enormous impact it has on our own life and time. The book offers a useful introduction to science, society, and government interface in the Indian context.

Contributed papers presented at a workshop.

A History of Science in Society is a concise overview that introduces complex ideas in a non-technical fashion. Andrew Ede and Lesley B. Cormack trace the history of science through its continually changing place in society and explore the link between the pursuit of knowledge and the desire to make that knowledge useful. In this edition, the authors examine the robust intellectual exchange between East and West and provide new discussions of two women in science: Maria Merian and Maria Winkelmann. A chapter on the relationship between science and war has been added as well as a section on climate change. The further readings section has been updated to reflect recent contributions to the field. Other new features include timelines at the end of each chapter, 70 upgraded illustrations, and new maps of Renaissance Europe, Captain James Cook's voyages, the 2nd voyage of the Beagle, and the main war front during World War I.

This book provides an in-depth ethnographic study of science and religion in the context of South Asia, giving voice to Indian scientists and shedding valuable light on their engagement with religion. Drawing on biographical, autobiographical, historical, and ethnographic material, the volume focuses on scientists’ religious life and practices, and the variety of ways in which they express them. Renny Thomas challenges the idea that science and religion in India are naturally connected and argues that the discussion has to go beyond binary models of ‘conflict’ and ‘complementarity’. By complicating the understanding of science and religion in India, the book engages with new ways of looking at these categories.

From weaker to stronger rhetoric : literature - Laboratories - From weak points to strongholds : machines - Insiders out - From short to longer networks : tribunals of reason - Centres of calculation.

Taking a cue from the story of Trishanku—the mythological king who aspired to reach heaven while still alive—Deepak Kumar builds a compelling narrative on the state of contemporary India. Much like Trishanku, who only succeeded in being stuck in limbo between heaven and earth, India appears to be oscillating at the crossroads of modernity and tradition; development and corruption; and diversity and communalism. The Trishanku Nation presents a provocative account of a country marked by its contradictions and seamlessly combines everyday social history with academic insights. All through its civilizational progress India has defied simple categorizations. This suppleness has been its greatest strength and, to a large extent, also responsible for its myriad problems. This volume dwells on this predicament of post-Independence India. Based on memory, both historical and personal, it begins with the depiction of life in a moffusil town and moves on to examine closely issues of caste, religion, communalism, governance, corruption, education, science, culture, and so forth, as seen in the last five decades. Presented with rare verve and wit, and by using the lens of personal experiences, these ‘rumblings’ help unfurl layers of life in the Indian subcontinent.