The Science Quiz: Modern India’s foundations of science and scholarship

The Science Quiz: Modern India’s foundations of science and scholarship

Questions:

1. In the early 1900s, this chemist published a famous work called ‘A History of Hindu Chemistry’ in two volumes. He was noted for his work on the synthesis of various nitrites and as an industrialist, philanthropist, and nationalist. The British called him a “revolutionary in the garb of a scientist”. Name him.

2. Some scientists were instrumental in adapting what was still a European science to India’s needs. For example, A published the book ‘Applied Nutrition’ in 1969 — an important text that adapted the precepts of nutrition science to Indian conditions. Name A.

3. In the late 19th century, when Jamsetji Tata and B were travelling together from Yokohama to Chicago, a conversation they’d had inspired Tata to later help set up the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Name B.

4. In 1933, IISc director C.V. Raman declined to admit C for an MSc because she was a woman, prompting C to protest outside his office. He finally relented, albeit with some shameful conditions. After graduating, C left the country for the U.K. and became a noted biochemist, returning in 1939 to participate in the freedom struggle. Name C.

5. In 1904, public health activists D and John Andrew Turner founded the Bombay Sanitary Association to advocate for “sanitary consciousness”. D was also among India’s first medical researchers who conducted clinical trials. Name D.

Visual: