Working on history of science in India.

This Article discusses Life and Achievements of Professor Baldev Singh Sood who was Founder Head of Physics department in Punjabi University, Patiala. The Department made progress under his stewardship.The expansion phase of Physics department started in 1970 with introduction of B.Sc. (Hons). M.Sc. in Applied Physics was started in 1975. Under job-oriented scheme of Punjab Govt., some Diploma courses were started in Optics. Post M.Sc. Diploma courses were started in TV Engineering and Technology and Space Science. Van-de-Graaf accelerator, a gift from USA, was installed to boost research activities in Nuclear Physics.

The present volume under review has eleven Chapters with focus on the teaching faculty of Physics Department of Calcutta University (CU). It is a joint publication by three authors, two teachers of the Physics department of CU, Gautam Gangopadhyay and Anirban Kundu, and Rajinder Singh of Oldenburg University, Germany who is a well established historian of Indian Science.The authors sum up the history of Calcutta University during 1916-36.

Snehamoy Datta (1894-1955), belongs to the ‘Golden era of Indian Physics’, that is, the first three decades of the 20th century. S. Datta was founder of absorption spectroscopy in India.SD received D.Sc. from the University of London for his work: “1. On the spectra of the alkaline earth fluorides and their relation to each other. 2. The spectrum of beryllium fluoride. 3. The vacuum arc spectra of sodium and potassium. 4. The absorption spectrum of potassium vapour”.

It is a Review of book authored by Rajinder Singh, Historian of Science, University of Oldenburg, Germany.

Rajinder Singh is a well established Historian of Science. The present volume is a part of the series on Calcutta School of Science. It deals with the life and scientific work of Nikhil Ranjan Sen or N.R. Sen, a pioneer in Applied Mathematics and its applications in many diverse fields in India. He is acknowledged as the Founder of School of Relativity in India. N.R. Sen was associated with the University of Calcutta, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Indian Statistical Institute, Indian National Science Academy, Indian Science News Association and many other renowned institutions.

It is a Review of book authored by a well known Historian of Science, Rajinder Singh of Oldenburg University, Germany. The book is titled: "D. M. Bose – His Scientific Work in International Context". DM Bose was a promising Physicist of India whose contribution to Science in India had remained neglected.

Rajinder Singh, a well-established historian of science started his journey in this field by working on his Ph D thesis:‘Nobel Laureate CV Raman’s work on Light Scattering’.This volume is dedicated to the life and science of one of Raman’s brilliant students, Sukumar Chandra Sirkar (SCS), who was involved, along with K. S. Krishnan, in the experiments which led to the discovery of Raman Effect.

It is My Review of a book dedicated to the Life and Work of an Indian Lady, Purnima Sinha. In the opinion of authors, Purnima was a multi-talented lady and her excellence in arts, music, painting etc. far supersedes her achievements in science. She had an analytical mind to assess various societal issues hindering the development of Indian society. Her article titled “Social obstacles to science in India” published in Science and Culture expresses her ability to analyze and present her candid opinion boldly.

According to author: “There is not a single book which exclusively deals with Indian nominators and nominees in all five Nobel Prizes – Chemistry, Physics, Medicine, Literature and Peace. This book intends to fill the gap as it has been compiled in an attempt to find out: Who nominated Indians; and who was nominated by the Indians? Did Indian nominators prefer their own countrymen? How is the geographical distribution of Indian nominators and nominees within India”?

I believe the present volume is most interesting due to its coverage of interactions of Einstein with Indian Academics beyond frontiers of science. It shows all traits of the personality of Einstein, the greatest scientist of twentieth century, while dealing with Indian academics.This book has exploded the myth of betrayal of S.N. Bose by Einstein.

This Presentation is prepared to motivate Physics Teachers of Meritorious Schools in Punjab. It presents changing concepts of Physics from Aristotle (Greek era) to Quantum era.

"Dr. Rajinder Singh for many years has been analyzing the history of Indian science quite dispassionately and has provided a balanced view. The present book is another commendable effort on an unsung hero, Professor S.C. Sirkar, a rather neglected associate of Raman. This book describes the struggle of Sirkar and his outstanding success".

This pre-print is about making of an Indian Physicist, Daulat Singh Kothari, who was a student of Eminent Physicists MN Saha and Ernest Rutherford. He theory of Pressure Ionisation brought him laurels from international scientific community. He was Founder Head of Delhi University's Physics department. Professor Kothari was an outstanding physicist, an educationist with a vision, an inspiring teacher, the architect of defence science in India, and, above all, a great human being who symbolized the noblest traditions of Indian culture. He combined in himself profound scholarship, simplicity to the point of asceticism, humility, soft-spokenness, warmth, enlightenment, tolerance, as well as a passionate and abiding concern for the welfare of humanity.