During my interaction with students I came to realize that most of them are not familiar with the names like PC Ray, PC Mahalnobis, Birbal Sahni, JC Bose, GN Ramchandran, Meghnad Saha, S. N. Bose, S.S. Bhatnagar, etc. Of course, they are superficially familiar with the relatively famous names of CV Raman, Vikram Sarabhai, and Homi Bhabha, but not so exactly with their work and contribution. A large number of them go for CSIR-NET/JRF test, but majority do not care to know, how CSIR came into existence, who were the people to put in efforts to build it.
In my opinion, it will certainly make sense for all of us involved in science education and research to make our students aware of the stalwarts of Indian science. This will make them feel pride over the place they belong to, i.e. India. One may ask, why it is important to know about what people did in past, while some of their work might have gone obsolete? Answer is: it will be more useful to Indian students to learn what type of difficulties were/are faced in India while setting laboratories or doing research, and how they can be solved, than to learn from examples of foreign countries which may be more advanced in Science but problems faced there and the ways to solve them may be quite different from those in India. If young minds of India will know about the greats India has produced in Science/Technology, they certainly will be able to feel some 'pride of place' over their motherland. It will make them believe that good science can be done in India itself.
While reading about history of modern science in India, students will surely come across biographies of various scientists/science administrators. Reading those biographical sketches will not only make them aware about the evolution of scientific infrastructure in India, but it will also provide them an opportunity to know what personal qualities in general are possessed by those who have achieved high degree of scientific excellence. Doing so, even if a small fraction of our large student population (actually all those doing science, for that matter) gets motivated towards development of certain personality traits (e.g., respect for time, discipline, etc.) it can bring a sizable optimistic change in the way Science is looked up to in our country. I believe being familiar with the evolution of scientific research in one's own country can be of great help in nurturing a scientific temper.
In India, different professions enjoy different social status. There are enough reasons to believe that a scientific career in India is not the one among most sought after. Public perception of a scientific career will also become more positive if those who have contributed significantly towards establishment of scientific tradition in India, are brought to limelight. Our pupils definitely know Jawaharlal Nehru as a political leader, but how many are aware about the role he played in boosting science in newly independent India. Similarly the role played by scientists (such as M N Saha, Vikram Sarabhai, etc.) in areas other than science, should also not remain unsung.
While going through the times and life of our notable scientists and/or science administrators, students will also understand, that it is not only money which can serve as motivation. Much stronger motivation can be derived from the possibility (which is created after accepting science as a career) of developing/discovering/inventing something new. Once students (and all those who are into science) understand what actually serves as motivation for a true scientist/researcher, many of them will stop comparing financial remunerations in science with those in Management or Information Technology.
As we have Research Methodology as a component of syllabus, History of Science can also be included as a component of curriculum. This history of course, can not be just collection of dates and events, but it should be serving towards acclimatization of the young mind in a scientific context. Once the pride of place is generated, it may do many goods. It may well inspire build up of quality journals of Indian origin, which may be preferred over equivalent foreign journals. Introducing the practice of formal discussions (through University/college level science clubs) on how science interacts with culture of a nation or society, role of scientists as a citizen- outside their narrow field of research, will certainly prove fruitful.
Finally, even if History of Science (in India) may not be a part of our formal curriculum, teachers must talk it to their students in informal sessions. Professors shall do well by making their students aware of roots of modern scientific research in India.
If they can make students derive motivation / inspiration from life of our own scientific heroes, they may find, that many of the things they wanted to tell their students (e.g. what is the broader meaning of discipline in a laboratory, why a researcher needs to be somewhat immune to a variety of tempting distractions, how to handle criticism on one's research, what one needs to care for grammar while writing a scientific paper, etc.) are already been grasped by them from their reading of scientific history. No doubt, history is about the time which has passed; present context and the research problem of today are very much different from those of past, but the attitude, skill, and above all the scientific temper required to solve them remains the same all the time.
BY: Dr. Vijay Kothari, Assistant Professor, Nirma University, Ahmedabad
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