Contributed articles.

India has had a very long tradition of path-breaking excellence in science and technology including mathematics, physics and astronomy. Even though the British rulers of India had no enthusiasm for Indians learning and doing science, the rising tide of nationalistic fervour in the first half of the twentieth century gave rise to, what has been called the golden age of Indian physics. There were some physicists, amongst others, who could be ranked with the best in the world. If we are to speak of the Indian Physics, then four names from that period immediately come up: Jadadeesh Chandra Bose who, before Marconi, actually demonstrated the propagation of radio waves. Some years later Sir CV Raman received the Nobel Prize for his celebrated Raman Effect. Then there were Meghnad Saha and Satyen Bose who made seminal contributions to physics. This new and important book offers a window into the backgrounds and achievements of these remarkable scientists.

Scale -- Space and time -- Energy and matter -- The quantum world -- Thermodynamics and the arrow of time -- Unification -- The future of physics -- The usefulness of physics -- Thinking like a physicist.

This book narrates the history of the initiation and development of elementary particle physics in India and by Indians, focusing on the first half of the twentieth century. The thread is taken up with the introduction of Western science into India in the previous century. The contents are a mixture of science and biographies, interspersed with anecdotes and reflections on the historical and societal connections. The style is generally non-technical, with any technical issues explained and interwoven into the narrative. This book is of interest to scientists, to people with interest in science and the history of science, students curious about the initiation of science in the Indian context and about the famous Indian scientists, as well as administrators who wish to understand the roots of current Indian science, especially in the context of particle physics.

India has a strong and ancient tradition of astronomy, which seamlessly merges with the current activities in Astronomy and Astrophysics in the country. While the younger generation of astronomers and students are reasonably familiar with the current facilities and the astronomical research, they might not have an equally good knowledge of the rich history of Indian astronomy. This particular volume, brought out as a part of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations of Indian National Science Academy, concentrates on selected aspects of historical development of Indian astronomy in the form of six invited chapters. Two of the chapters – by Balachandra Rao and M.S. Sriram – cover ancient astronomy and the development of calculus in the ancient Kerela text Yuktibhasa. The other four chapters by B.V. Sreekantan, Siraj Hasan, Govind Swarup and Jayant Narlikar deal with the contemporary history of Indian astronomy covering space astronomy, optical astronomy, radio astronomy and developments in relativistic astrophysics. These chapters, written by experts in the field, provide an in-depth study of the subject and make this volume quite unique.