Suchergebnisse

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

Papers presented at a conference held at New Delhi in December 2002 and International Conference on the Forest and Environmental History of the British Empire and Commonwealth, held at University of Sussex during 19-21 March 2003

Tajen Dabi, Medicine and Integration of Frontier Tribes: The British and After in Arunachal Pradesh (Delhi: Primus Books), 2023, xvii + 219 pp., ₹1150.

Chang Kyung-Sup, 2022. The Logic of Compressed Modernity. Polity Press, Cambridge, xiii + 240 pp., $24.95. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-5288-7 (hardback) $69.95, ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-5289-4 (paperback).

The study of science in human civilisations has a complex history. In ancient India much was learnt from Greece and new contributions were made. The Islamic civilisation added much to what Greece had contributed in science and medicine. The advances in Europe from fifteenth century onwards left the whole world behind; and science was duly utilised to serve the interests of the colonial regime. Now, there is need to develop a comprehensive History of Science, Technology Environment and Medicine (HISTEM). A combination of these fields does not mean that the distinction between them, for example, between science and technology is overlooked. Nor can HISTEM be divorced from the general history of the country concerned, India in the present case.

Susheela Kaushik, Panchyati Raj in Action: Challenges to Women's Role. FES Publication, 1995, ₹1,199. ISBN: 81-440-016-8.

Suranjan Das and Achintya Kumar Dutta, Dreadful Diseases in Colonial Bengal: A Documentation (Delhi: Primus Books), 2021, 397 pp., ₹1,250.

Rakesh Batabyal, The Modern School (1920–2020): A Century of Schooling in India (Chennai: Westland Publications), 2020, 411 pp., ₹594, (hb).

Margaret jones, Striving for Equity: Health Care in Sri Lanka from Independence to the Millennium, 1948–2000 (Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan), 2020, pp. xiv + 259, Hardcover, ₹790.

When a civilisation with its own traditional systems of science and philosophy encounters modern knowledge emanating from Europe, a complex change in the former must result. In India, the situation was complicated by the fact that the flagbearers of modern science had also become the masters of the country, and their interests as rulers did not necessarily accord with the pursuit of a full-scale modernising project. The article traces the development of Indian response to the European impact, and how Indian intellectuals began to imbibe modern values, adjusting (not abandoning) their own cultural heritage.

For a Dalit, especially from a rural background, it is not easy to survive in the higher education system in India because it is overwhelmingly dominated by the upper caste, class, and English-speaking people. It is not uncommon for Dalit learners like us to face multiple discrimination, and even exclusion in higher educational institutions. Intersectionality between these three factors abounds in institutions of higher learning. The transition from native language to English has not been an easy task for me, for in my educational journey, I have discovered that English is not just a language but also a commodity. It is becoming increasingly easy for economically well-off people to acquire education in English and dominate the spheres of educational institutions in India. They are usually considered as knowledgeable and intellectual persons. On the other hand, Dalit students also want to take education in English but, most of them are not able to do so because of their caste background and rampant discrimination. This study is based on my own experience and fieldwork at the University of Delhi through a semi-structured questionnaire.