India's Ancient Science

Discovery

BBC

Science, Technology

4.3 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2017

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We go behind the scenes of a new exhibition on India at London’s Science Museum. What can historical objects tell us about India’s rich, and often hidden scientific past? We look at the influential mathematics, metallurgy and civil engineering of ancient India.

The exhibition also contain artefacts from India’s time under the British Empire. We ask how the many years of colonial rule shaped the more recent scientific development of India.

Science journalist Angela Saini presents.

Image: Bakhshali manuscript, Credit: Bodleian Library

Transcript

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0:00.0	Choosing what to watch night after night the flicking through the endless
0:06.8	searching is a nightmare we want to help you on our brand new podcast off the
0:11.8	telly we share what we've been watching
0:14.0	Cladie Aide.
0:16.0	Load to games, loads of fun, loads of screaming.
0:19.0	Lovely. Off the telly with me Joanna Paige.
0:21.0	And me, Natalie Cassidy, so your evenings can be a little less
0:24.9	searching and a lot more auction listen on BBC sounds At the dawn of history, India started on her unending quest. Through good and in fortune alike she has never lost sight of that
0:48.3	quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength.
0:53.0	70 years ago.
0:59.0	70 years ago this year,
1:01.0	India gained independence from Britain. Scholars are still trying to
1:05.8	understand the impact of those almost 200 years of colonial rule. This month the Science Museum in London itself founded under Empire in 1857
1:18.0	is launching an exhibition on science in India, tracking its ancient roots and celebrating its modern day achievements.
1:27.0	My name is Angela Saini, I'm a science journalist and the author of a book on science and technology in India.
1:36.7	My family roots lie in Punjab in northern India. My father was an Indian engineer,
1:41.5	but when I went on to study science and engineering at Oxford,
1:45.2	having grown up here in London, India's scientific legacy is something I never heard anything about.
1:56.4	In this two-part edition of Discovery from the BBC World Service, I'll be looking at the historical relationship between Indian science and the British Empire.
2:05.0	In this first episode we'll look at ancient science in India
2:10.0	starting with one set of objects featuring in the Science Museum's new exhibition,
2:15.0	I was lucky to get a sneak preview in the basement where there's a large metal cage full of arcane historical objects stored carefully in boxes
	...

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