#590 - 10 Indian Scientists Whose Extraordinary Work You May Not Know
by Vaishali Shroff
“10 Indian Scientists Whose Extraordinary Work You May Not Know” by Vaishali Shroff. Published by Duckbill. A book exploring the journey and achievements of ten Indian scientists who have made remarkable contributions in varied fields of science though they may not be well known.
Science is fascinating to say the least. Scientists are the primary reason for our knowledge of how and why things happen. They dedicate their lives to research in the quest for knowledge and understanding. Science is a vast subject and there are so many categories of sciences based on the specialised fields of research that scientists work in. Right from the time of ancient civilisations, there is evidence of scientific study being undertaken across the world including India. Modern science arrived in India during the rule of the British. While there are celebrated Indian scientists that we know of, there are many whose names and work have remained relatively unknown.
The book explores the life and work of ten such scientists who have transformed the quality of our lives over the last three centuries. Their remarkable contributions have been in diverse fields of science ranging from popularising science and bringing it to people to raise more scientists, to fibre optics invention, to discovering the treatment for cholera, to measuring the brightness of stars, to increasing food sustainability, to taking on the big bad turtle industry, to steering the launch vehicles in more than a hundred space missions. They are Ruchi Ram Sahni, Meghnad Saha, Yellapragada Subbarow, Sambhu Nath De, Narinder Singh Kapany, Obaid Siddiqui, Modadugu Vijay Gupta, Chandrima Shaha, Jagannathan Vijaya and V.R.Lalithambika. Read the compelling book to know more about their incredible journeys and remarkable contributions to the field of science.
The book proved to be an eye opener in many ways for me as well as my almost eleven year old son. We found the narrative captivating and couldn’t put the book down despite it being exam season. The incredible lives and exemplary work of these ten scientists are awe inspiring to say the least. Breaking ceilings such as lack of finance or opportunities or inadequate infrastructure and even racial as well as gender biases, they went on to accomplish stellar achievements in their respective fields. Of the ten scientists, we had heard only about Meghnad Saha while reading about Satyendranath Bose. The author has shared names of more scientists in each of the fields at the end of each chapter and one can read more about them too using this information. This is one of those books which can be read multiple times over the years to understand the nuances of the work of these scientists better. Thanks to the book, my son is now aware of how vast the scope of science is and how it can be applied in so many ways in our lives. Happy to be posting about this book today (February 28th) on the occasion of National Science Day in India. The book is part of the 10s series by Duckbill on different topics and by different authors.
P.S - Another book that we have read from the 10s series is “10 Indian Art Mysteries That Have Never Been Solved”.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 10 and above.
Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Penguin India (Duckbill), for review. Thank you to Mansi, from Penguin, for sending across the book!