Conference on Emergence of Modern Science in Colonial India | INSA, New Delhi | 14–16 March

Conference on Emergence of Modern Science in Colonial India

Venue: Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi

Dates: 14 – 16 March, 2018

Organizing Committee: Arnab Rai Choudhuri FNA (Chair), Deepak Kumar, Suprakash C. Roy, Rajinder Singh

Aim: Modern Western science began in colonial India at the initiative of the British rulers, who needed geological, botanical, zoological and meteorological surveys of their empire, as well as an understanding of tropical diseases. From the closing years of the nineteenth century, several pioneering Indian scientists started making path-breaking contributions in basic sciences (J.C. Bose, P.C. Ray, C.V. Raman, M.N. Saha, S.N. Bose) some of which have remained among the most important scientific contributions made by any Indian till today. The emergence of modern science in colonial India presents one of the most extraordinary case studies of the transplantation of science from one society to another – a topic of considerable interest to historians of science.

This conference aims to bring together scholars trained in history of science as well as scientists seriously interested in this subject. One aim will be to identify important topics on which not much work has been done and to chalk out strategies how to fill up these gaps. One of the difficulties of doing research in this field is that not much of the relevant source materials have been preserved properly. We shall try to make an inventory of source materials which may be known to different participants and discuss ways of preserving these, perhaps even the possibility of setting up an archive specifically for this purpose.

Participation: Apart from several invited talks by eminent scholars, there will be a few contributory talks of 15-minute duration on focused themes. If you are interested in participating in this conference, please write to science.history.conference@gmail.com before 30 November 2017. You should write about 4-5 lines describing what work you have done in this field and why you want to participate in this conference. If you wish to give a contributory talk, then send also the title of the talk and a short abstract to this e-mail address.

Due to the limited accommodation available at the INSA guest house, this conference will be restricted to about 30 participants. All the selected outstation participants will be provided full local hospitality with accommodation at the INSA guest house. Limited funds for travel inside India will be available primarily for young scholars and retired persons. If you would require travel support, please indicate this when you write for participation, mentioning an approximate amount.

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