India's Glorious Scientific Tradition

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Most common people feel that the first rays of science broke out in the west and thus started the wheel of development throughout the world. There was darkness in the field of science in the east. As such, there is a tendency to follow the west. The unawareness of the fact that we had a scientific tradition and a scientific point of view often puts us on the backfoot.

This book is an attempt to bring to light the glorious tradition that we had in various streams of science.

Today's generation can get a direction from reading this literature; they can gain self-respect and hold their head high for being the major contributors to science and technology. Besides acquainting the modern generation with India's contributions in the field of science, this book will also inspire them to study more and experiment.

Suresh Soni Born at the Chuda village of the Surendranagar district in Gujarat in 1950, Shri Suresh Son' belongs to a very simple family. At the tender age of sixteen, he engaged himself in various social activities. At the time of the declaration of `Emergency' in India, he had to bear the brunt of the admonition by the government due to his patriotism and devotion for his motherland. During this period. he was in Indore jail.

Though Shri Soni is a student of political science, yet science is the subject of his interest. He has made his mark by being an expert orator on issues related to science as well as philosophy. His famous published works include books such as Gurutva Yani Hindutva, Bharat: Ateet, Vartmaan Aur Bhavishya and Hamari Sanskritik Vichardhara Ke Mool Srot.

Most common people feel that the first rays of science 1 broke out in the west and thus, started the wheel of development throughout the world. There was darkness in the field of science in the east. As such, there is a tendency to follow the west. The unawareness of the fact that we had a scientific tradition and a scientific point of view, resulted in the lack of faith that we could have a role in today's world.

However, at the beginning of the 20"' century itself, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Rai, Brajendra Nath Seel, Jagdish Chandra Basu, Rao Saheb Vaze, etc., to name a few intellectuals, proved through their studies that India was in the forefront, not only in the field of religious philosophies, but also in the field of science and technology. Not just this, our ancestors had harmonised science and spirituality. It was through this that because of our scientific vision, science developed in accordance with and for the welfare of mankind and entire living beings in general. The modern world is feeling the significance of it today.

Many scholars have, with more proof, written about ancient Indian science in various articles and books. Prafulla Chandra Rai's Hindu Chemistry, Brajendra Nath Seel's The Positive Science of Ancient Hindus, Rao Saheb Vaze's Hindi Surgical Science and Dharmapalp s Indian Science and Technology in the 18th Century, have revealed the traditions of science and technology in India. I 11 recent times, Sanskrit Bharati has carried this forward by publishing many books in Sanskrit on science including botany, physics, metallurgy, machines, chemistry, etc. Besides this, M.P. Rao of Bangalore has carried out experiments in Aero-science and P.G. Dongre of Varanasi also carried out some experiments. The Vigyan Bharati, Mumbai and Pathey Kan, Jaipur tried to present to society the collected form of all the above efforts. The writings and speeches of Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi have impressively portrayed the ancient tradition of Indian science.

Besides, through the speeches and experiences of Friedzov Kapro, Grezukov, Jyofrieschve and esteemed Swami Ranganathanandaji and Swami Jitatmaanandaji of the Rama Krishna Mission about the coordination and the harmony between science and spiritual contemplation, which is the most important need of today, Indian scientific thought and its speciality is being revealed to the world. Many scholars are carrying out contemplations and experiments in this direction. Today's generation can get a direction from reading this literature; they can gain self-respect and can save the world from many problems which it is experiencing because of only materialistic development.

On the basis of the books and articles written by these scholars, I had given two speeches on the glorious tradition of science in India. Urged by my friends, I have expanded those two speeches and written them in the form of this book.

However, I do not consider myself to be the author of this hook because whatever I have written here, all the facts and proofs that I have given, were given by various scholars in their books, speeches and articles. Hence, my role, at the most, has been that of a compiler. Whatever is written here is the creation, of those I have mentioned at the end of this book in the reference or glossary. I express my heartfelt gratitude to all those scholars.

Shri Sudarshanji (himself, a telecommunication engineer) who is the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, read this book, corrected the mistakes in the language and suggested measures to make it more useful. I am therefore, obliged to him.

Smt. Purnima Majumdar translated my Hindi book into English, I entend my heartfelt gratitude towards her. My friend Shri Arun Ojha from Patna read the book from beginning to end and with considerable effort, removed many linguistic errors because of which the book turned out to be even more useful. I am therefore grateful to him.

Dr. K.P. Joshi, Professor in Physics from Devi Ahilya University made some suggestions to clarify certain aspects, while Shri Jayant Gopal Ranade from Sangli made suggestions to include some references. Dr. Sadanand Damodar Sapre, Professor in the Electronics Department of Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, once again read the book and gave suggestions for improvement.

Many friends advised that it would be proper to give the reference of the shlokas and facts mentioned in the book. Hence, chapter-wise references have been given at the end of the book.

I hope that besides acquainting the modern generation with India's contributions in the field of science, it will also inspire them to study more and experiment. If this is possible even in a small measure, I shall consider my effort worth its while.