Science and Modern India

Foreword

I feel honoured to have been invited by Professor Uma Das Gupta to write a Foreword to the work edited by her. I must confess that I am not one of those historically informed scholars who could write a befitting Foreword to this excellent volume, Science and Modern India: An Institutional History, c. 1784–1947, Volume XV, Part 4. But I could not decline her gracious invitation. My readiness to write stems mainly from two roots. First, the numerous points that she and her contributors have taken pains to bring out in this book are amazing—almost unbelievable. Second, the way she has delineated the many-sided themes of the book is extremely admirable. Also admirable is her persuasive capacity to bring together some very famous scholars ...