  I shall discuss the history of Indian astronomy, Aurveda (life science),
chemistry and metallurgy to illustrate how downgrading experiments from
scientific learning lead to the decline of ancient Indian science and
civilization. We shall see that in the glorious period of ancient Indian
civilization, lasting up to the 9th century, there was close interaction
between experimental investigations and theoretical analyses in each of these
sciences. This was further augmented by two-way interactions with the other
advanced civilizations of that time. But both these interactions came to an end
around 9th century, leading to the stagnation and decline of Indian science and
civilization over the next thousand years. This was the cause rather than the
consequence of its subjugation by external invaders, though it was no doubt
aggravated by the latter.
