About the Lecture
This lecture will highlight the mismatch between our physical existence and mindset. On the one hand, we Indians are enjoying the benefits of advanced science and technology (S&T) while on the other, we have very little appreciation of what S&T stand for. Likewise, our daily lives are controlled more by age old superstitions than by facts and logic. The key element missing in our lives is the scientific temper. Its brief history will be described and the speaker's experiences in trying to popularize rationality will be presented.
About the Speaker
Prof Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was born in 1938 into an academic family. His father taught Mathematics in Benaras Hindu University (BHU) and mother was a scholar of Sanskrit. After his B.Sc. in Physics at BHU in 1957, Prof Narlikar studied in Cambridge University. With his Doctoral Supervisor, Sir Fred Hoyle, Prof Narlikar developed the Hoyle-Narlikar Theory of gravity. He worked in Cambridge University, Tata Institute of Funadamental Research in Mumbai and founded Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Mumbai.
Prof Narlikar was Advisor for NCERT books in Science and Mathematics. He has authored numerous books on themes as varied as Cosmology, Philosophy and History of Science.