By the mid of the 19th century, as colleges and universities were established in the country, the significance of public interest in science was deeply realised by pioneer Indian scientists and leaders. It was felt that popularising science is a prerequisite for creating a society where scientific knowledge is perceived in a constructive, productive and active manner. These science pioneers could visualise that the knowledge of scientific phenomenon and processes could instill in the masses not only a forward-looking, logical and objective approach but will also equip them with critical thinking strategies. These mental orientations would surely bring social reform and a nationalistic urge towards throwing away the yoke of the imperial regime. Though the effectiveness of these movements is not quantifiable, they did contribute in firing the imagination of the younger generation, inspiring many of them to follow education, profession and careers in science, and ultimately in raising an enlightened citizenry with scientific temperament. Consequently, we can see the rise of several science popularisation movements in different regions of India led by eminent scientists and science-writers at that time.
IACS: THE PIONEER
The very first of the scientific movements was initiated by Dr Mahendralal Sircar, who was one of the few pioneers in science to have the insight that Indians would need to develop indigenous platforms and spaces in order to achieve scientific prowess. He could gauge the imperial apathy in giving Indians a true and real science education whereby they could compete with their western counterparts. Dr Sircar established the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) at Calcutta in 1876 and as the name suggests, its aim was ‘cultivation of science’ which was to be achieved through two-fold way of scientific research by scientists and science popularization for the masses in the country. Initially, Dr Sircar visualised a stand-alone institution for the instruction of the public, where lectures on scientific themes illustrated with experiments could be performed and the audience would also be invited to conduct the experiments themselves. His wish to run this institution entirely by Indian management and his strategy to disseminate ‘a taste of science among the general community’ are well known. ‘And science would then have its votaries by hundreds of thousands’, was Dr Sircar’s ultimate vision for science popularization. The IACS was thus the first scientific research institution established by Indians to organise popular lectures on different topics of natural sciences delivered by eminent scientists of the time, namely Ashutosh Mukherjee, Jagadis Chandra Bose, Pramathanath Bose and Nil Ratan Sarkar.
The efforts of IACS to take science to the masses had a ripple effect and we find the agenda of science popularisation manifesting itself in myriad ways — as associations holding lectures and demonstrations, as publications publishing articles and books, or as individual efforts of science writing for masses, with the only aim to get the common man excited about science.
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RUCHI RAM SAHNI AND PUNJAB SCIENCE INSTITUTE
In 1885, Ruchi Ram Sahni who had experienced the IACS activities first hand in Calcutta, returned to Lahore, and along with Professor JC Oman of the Government College, established the Punjab Science Institute on the lines of IACS. It organised lectures delivered by college professors on different science topics for laypersons. But Sahni himself was the star performer of the institute and delivered more than 500 lectures in such a popular way that these events became a craze in Lahore. The topics were on basic science themes which were relevant to the common public such as: How does the telegraph wire speak, the common flame, the water Lahoris drank before 1880, pure and impure water, the toys and their lessons, soap making, electroplating, electricity in the service of man, glass making, the Punjab and its rivers, X-rays, Edison’s Phonograph, wireless telegraphy, and many more. Another unique feature of science popularization organized by the Punjab Science Institute was its choice of venues. The lectures were not delivered in any hall or auditorium but in open spaces and compounds of markets, school or gurudwara. The audience in Lahore mostly consisted of shopkeepers and workers from the surrounding markets and offices. Sahni was never tired of taking his experimental demonstrations to smaller towns and villages on the occasion of festivals and fairs and to far flung areas from where the institute received regular requests. Sahni’s science popularisation success story is extraordinary in its simple but highly influential format.
OTHER ASSOCIATIONS & SCIENCE MAGAZINES
In 1897, Satishchandra Mukherjee, an educationist, founded a science magazine called The Dawn which published science themed articles in easy language, accessible to laypersons. Articles on subjects such as: Material triumph of science, Wireless telegraphy, Right pursuit of physical sciences, Is matter alive: Some of the researches of Jagadish Chandra Bose, New alchemy, Chemical research in Bengal, Indian metallurgical knowledge — written by experts give us a glimpse of the indigenous emphasis of the publication.
Vigyan Parishad Prayag (VPP), an organisation established in 1913 in Allahabad, worked successfully in popularisation of science in Hindi. It organised public lectures and seminars on scientific subjects and provided a vibrant platform for many science communicators in Hindi, thus setting the tradition. The Parishad started a popular science magazine named Vigyan in Hindi in 1915 and also published a large number of popular science books.
The Orissa Science Association established in Cuttack in 1921 was short-lived but was able to excite people about science popularisation activities before its closure and soon the Bigyan Prachar Samiti was founded which took the baton ahead in Orissa in Oriya language.
Individual efforts in popularising science also gathered traction. Many scientists started speaking or writing on science in order to make it understandable to all citizens. Jagadish Chandra Bose, Prafulla Chandra Ray, CV Raman, Ramendrasundar Trivedi, Nilratan Sarkar, and KS Krishnan made significant contributions in the field of science popularisation.
TRULY INDIGENOUS PIONEERS
Some patterns clearly emerge from the overview of the initial movements of science popularisation in pre-independence India which can be our takeaways for implementing in the present scenario in the domain. The Indian scientists, through their own personal resources of time, effort, and funds tried to create spaces, platforms, and mechanisms for taking science to the masses because they understood the snowballing impact of this task. The Indian pioneers were actively engaged in the pursuit, continuously finding new ways to connect with the masses. The point to be noted is that none of the science popularisation programmes were done by the British government institutes.
Another striking aspect is the use of Indian languages for science communication by the pioneers of science popularization movement. After 75 years of Independence, in our third national education policy, NEP 2020, we are now providing our students the option to study science in their mother tongue. Through all these years, innumerable students have been denied the joys and opportunities of science because of the constraint of its education available only in English. Scientists of the pre-independence era were proactive not only in holding popularisation efforts in native languages but also in creating rich content in those languages. Thus, we find science writings in Bangla, Hindi, Oriya, Punjabi and Tamil during those times. Ruchi Ram Sahni successfully used Punjabi in his demonstrations. He found that volunteers from the audience came up with suitable vernacular words for scientific terms in English and he could create a whole list of technical terms in Punjabi.
Acharya PC Ray in his presidential address at the 7th Indian Science Congress held at Nagpur in 1920 had stated the aim of spreading scientific spirit in the country. He said, ‘While the study of Science is essential for material advancement, it has a special need and significance for the culture of Indian youth… One may look forward to the growth of the scientific spirit in this country to liberalise the sphere of intellects’. Indian science will neglect this message at its own peril.
*The author teaches at Panjab University, Chandigarh.
