Eulogy for Dr. Subbarayappa: the doyen of History of Science in India.

The Indian Civilization has a long history of scientific culture that goes back to more than 5000 years and with China; India is one of the longest surviving civilizations which has made profound contributions to the growth of science and technology. Yet when it comes to portrayal of India’s contribution in science and technology, most unfortunately it is completely neglected or over looked. One finds mainly a Eurocentric perspective in history of science; typically, it starts with Greece, neglecting the influences of other civilisations upon Greece and then it fast forwards many centuries to the renaissance period to portray modern science to be the sole contribution of Europe. Fortunately there have been efforts made by some scholars from India to redress this issue and among them the contributions of Dr B V Subbarayappa are note worthy.  Dr. Bidare Venkatasubbaiah Subbarayappa, one of the preeminent scholars in history of science in India, passed away, on 8th April 2019, at an advanced age of 94 years. Dr Subbarayappa has made profound contributions to the history of science in India and his works have been extensively referred by national and international scholars including yours truly and other curators of NCSM. 

Ever since the formation of our Council, the NCSM, our founding fathers, majorly Dr Saroj Ghose, former DG NCSM, has tried to showcase the contributions of ancient Indians to the field of science and technology in international forums through the exhibitions that were presented as a part of the Festival of India in different countries. One of the major section and prime attractions of the Festival of India exhibitions, that the NCSM developed and exhibited in different cities in USA, RUSSIA, China and some European countries, during the period from 1985 to 1994 was the History of Science and Technology in India. I had the honour to be associated with two of these festival of India exhibitions in the erstwhile USSR (Moscow and Tashkent) in 1987 and in Beijing in 1994. For presenting a well researched exhibition on the history of science and technology in India, the works of Dr Subbarayappa served as a major source of reference for the these exhibitions. It is therefore a great honour for me to be writing this obituary post as a mark of our profound respect for Dr B V Subbarayappa and in paying our homage for him and offering our prayers for his soul to rest in eternal peace.

Most curators in NCSM, particularly those studying for the MS course were mandated to read “A Concise History of Science” book, a publication of Indian National Science Academy (INSA), edited by Dr Subbarayappa and SN Sen, to get initiated into history of science in India - one of the major objectives of NCSM. My interest in history of science also started with this book more than three decades ago. I had the honour to listen to Dr Subbarayappa and interact with him on few occasions and this helped me in getting profoundly interested in the history of science and technology. Fortunately I was given an opportunity to curate an exhibition “ Our Technology Heritage “ for presenting it at the Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai and during course of my research on the subject while curating this exhibition I got another opportunity to interact with Dr Subbarayappa and several other experts in the subject including late Prof R Balasubramaniam, Prof Ranganathan, Prof Vibha Tripathi, Dr Paul Craddock, Prof Mark Kenoyer, Prof Vasant Shinde, Prof Sharda Srinivasan, Dr Frank Winter, Dr R S Bisht, Michel Danino, Dr. Kanungo, Dr D P Agarwal, Prof Jamkhedkar and Dr Bisht and several others. Subsequently this subject became my passion. The success of the exhibition in NSC Mumbai helped me I curate two more acclaimed exhibitions on history of science and technology in India at the National Science Centre in Delhi and RSC Dharwad. Dr Subbarayappa was a constant source of support for me and he helped me immensely during the curation of these exhibitions. The research for these exhibitions included, among other literature, several of the peer reviewed and validated books and articles published by Subbarayappa and number of communication exchanges that I had with him and other experts.

We, the Indians, are infamously known for our tardiness in keeping historical records and when it comes to history of science in India, it gets even worse, the evidence of which comes to limelight during the India Science Congress. In the recent past (post 2014), almost every year the annual India Science Congress (ISC), which is supposed to be the biggest gathering of scientists in India, has been receiving adverse publicity of repeated misuse of this extraordinary scientific platform to spread ‘so called’ pseudoscience and irrationality, resulting in many of the leading scientists including Prof Venky Ramakrishnan, Prof CNR Rao and others loosing interest in the ISC and disassociating themselves with this event. Most of the allegations pertain to hyperbolic claims of so called unprecedented achievements of ancient Indians in science and technology, by some sections of the scientific community who profess to be scholars in history of science but their findings are not based on the exacting evidence that is mandated in science research. This has led to appeals by agencies like the All India Peoples Science Network to the President, the Scientific Advisor to the PM! and so also to the three Indian Science Academies and the Indian Science Congress Association to step in to end, what they call spread of pseudoscience, referring to over board claims on India’s achievements in science. While it is true that certain claims that India’s so called knowledge in fields like aviation or cloning or such other baseless scientific achievements, do bring in disrepute, it is equally true that India indeed has made profound contributions in Science, the evidence of which have overwhelming scientific basis and are brought out by people like Dr Subbarayappa through their untiring research on the subject. Unfortunately past achievements of India in science and technology are getting eclipsed by pseudoscience and irrational claims.

It is in this context that the contributions of Subbarayappa and other acclaimed historians of science and technology become extremely important. Dr B V Subbarayappa, a chemist turned science historian and philosopher, has an extraordinary distinction of being the first non-westerner to be elected to the internationally acclaimed post of the President of the History of Science division of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science (under ICSU, Paris), during the period 1998-2001. He has authored several books on the subject and has also published innumerable scholarly papers on the history of Indian science, science and society, and related themes in various national and international journals.

Subbarayappa’s Book: “Science in India: A Historical Perspective” is a comprehensive and in-depth study on the subject that chronicles the fascinating saga of ancient scientific ideas and techniques and other accomplishments, which hold an exalted position. The book also describes how India displayed its originality not only in mathematics and computational astronomy but also in holistic medicine, metallurgy and other fields. Based on authentic sources and their in-depth study, this book deals with the origins, ramifications and achievements of India in traditional astronomy, mathematics, medicine and chemical practices, besides certain concepts related to the physical world. The book is a historical and factual perspective on science in India, traversing a span of more than 5,000 years.

A recent exhibition “Illuminating India : 5000 Years of Science and Innovation in India”, which was presented at the London Science Museum, UK, during the period from October 2017 to May 2018, to commemorate 70 years of India’s Independence, bears testimony to the works of Dr Subbarayappa. This exhibition with outstanding objects and artefacts presents India’s achievements in science moving as it does from the Bakshali manuscript that has ‘the earliest example of our numeral zero ever found’, and weights from the Indus Valley civilisation ( it was the Indus valley civilisation whose people fashioned standardised weights around 4000 years ago: items that indicate high levels of arithmetical literacy, communication and trade) to old coins, astrolabes, maps and manuscripts, reconstructions of Ayurvedic surgical instruments described in records dating back to around 500 BC, to the current era camera used by ISRO’s Mars orbiter in its Mars Orbiter Mission.

So next time when we read about pseudoscience and irrationality let us also remember Dr Subbarayappa. The mortal remains of Dr Subbarayappa May have gone but copious amount of scholastics that he left behind will continue to remain immortal and he will ever be remembered for eternity.