History of Science in India- Volume-I Part-I (Physics, Mathematics and Statistics)

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I am indeed happy that the National Academy of Sciences, India has decided to sponsor the publication by the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture of 'History of Science in India'-a multivolume series commemorating the centenary of Indian Science Congress Association and sesquicentennial Birth Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda-one of the principal initiators of Institutional Science in India. This series, of which the present one is called 'Physics, Mathematics and Statistics', starts with our science heritage, followed by its growth in successive phases culminating in the present challenges. It is written in a language meant for the common readers. I sincerely hope that this commendable venture would indeed generate interest and awareness of all concerned with the basic objectives of Science-its search for eternal truth, enrichment of knowledge, and alleviation of misery of the humanity as a whole. The present volume provides a glimpse of many of our revered scientists, who laid the foundation of modern Physics, Mathematics & Statistics and explored new horizons in the field. I wish the venture a grand success.

There are two ways of writing history - one, the scholarly way, where I the emphasis is on details, a thorough analysis of facts and figures, which allows one to draw firm conclusions. The intended audience there is the erudite peers, who can critically evaluate the conclusions, and either agree or disagree with. The other is to tell a story. In either case, the essential requirement of objectivity cannot be dispensed with; accuracy must be maintained, of course to the best of the historian's ability. We have adopted the second path. To the best of our understanding, the purpose of the present series is to introduce the history of science in India to the general reader who is not expected to be an expert but has a general interest in learning about India's tradition in the practice of science as a noble human endeavour, and where we stand today in the global context.

The editor-in-chief of the series, Prof. Arun Kumar Sharma, entrusted us with the task of putting together the part dealing with Physical Sciences section of the Part 1 of the first volume. Keeping the intended audience in mind, we chose to dispense with details and give a flavour of the evolution of physical ideas and activities done within the Indian context. Thus, there are almost no equations or figures, though at times this has put us in some difficulty. After all, let us recall the famous quote from Einstein: Physics should be made as simple as possible but not simpler. We have tried our best not to deviate from facts but in some instances, some generalisation or oversimplification might have crept in. Our apologies to the expert readers. In choosing the topics for the recent activities in India, this limitation may have been the most prominent. Starting from the pioneering Physics researches in India by the likes of J. C. Bose, C. V. Raman, MeghnadSaha or S. N. Bose, the canvas of Physics research in India has broadened many-fold. Covering all of them adequately would have taken many more pages, many more years of effort and most importantly, much greater familiarity across the breadth of the various branches of Physics which any single (or two) individual(s) would be unlikely to possess. We thus tender an unconditional apology to our colleagues whose important works may have escaped mention here. The criterion we set for ourselves was to highlight the works of international standard that have been recognised to stand the test of time.

This work does not claim to be original or scholarly; we have often relied on other authors' works, which may not have been fully cited. Our apologies on this score too. The chapters on mathematics covers history of mathematical studies and activities in Indian contexts. It is designed to remind a reader of the leading changes in mathematical thoughts. A critical hindsight into the days of mathematical antiquity enables a reader to construct afresh the historical endeavours. The interactive modes with mathematical personalities and communities abroad are also taken into account.

Contemporary features of mathematical sciences, particularly basics of statistics and breakthroughs, are touched upon. About the Physical Science, in the suncentric earth, distance between moon and the sun from the earth is almost 100 times of the diameter of these bodies. In brief, historical scenarios in realms of mathematical and related sciences are found to be reassuring. The classic source materials and works on history of mathematics in the Indian setting are acknowledge.The spadework for developing this treatise was untiringly done by Sri Devaprasanna Sinha, the Research Associate, and a distinguished Computer Scientist, to whom I am greatful. Relevant materials at Indian National Science Academy and Dyal Singh Public Library have been of substantial use in this work, and I am immensely thankful to them.

Moreover, the authors are thankful to Dr. Sumona Mukherjee, who kindly wrote about the History of the Asiatic Society, and Science Academies of India that were designed to look into the interest of scientists and promote the excellence of science on this subcontinent. As already implied above, we address ourselves in this volume primarily to high school and college students, and general readers having a rudimentary familiarity with the general concepts of science. If anyone, on reading this treatise, feels curious to read further on any of the topics, we will consider our efforts richly rewarded.

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