Author: Bal Krishna
C P Thakur/
Publisher: Publications Division
Year: 1988
Language: English
Pages: 448
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8123000006
Description
In our offices and homes, in factories and hospitals, in farmlands and battlefields, in the sky and in the oceans, Indians have witnessed an explosion of ingenuity that would have been beyond the comprehensions of previous generations. Here is a vital and vivid presentation of the landmarks of past four decades.
Technological Advances in India have been much greater in the past 40 years than in the previous 2000 years. Despite this, most people in the country remain technically illiterate. Their lack of understanding prevents them from making informed decisions, and leaves the direction of technological advance largely in the hands of the technocrats themselves. Most people are to some degree aware of the pace of technical development. They occasionally notice introduction of the new techniques, inventions, and materials. But, what goes on in India’s research laboratories largely remains a closed book. The society at large has remained uninformed and consequently unresponsive to these developments. This absence of interaction between the scientific community and the rest of the society inheres the dangers of research being misdirected resulting in a sub-optimal use of the investment made.
The aim of this book is to enable the reader to understand and appreciate the latest Indian technological advances and to provide a clear and thorough survey of the numerous ways in which technology has shaped and is reshaping the country we live in. Recent advances in such fields as nuclear energy, biotechnology, health, lasers, electronics and instrumentation. Oceanography, solar energy, agriculture, mining, rural technology and environment management and machine tools and robotics are described. New man-made materials, military and space technology, advances in the fields of communication and aeronautics –all these are also covered. An effort has been made to study the Indian developments in a historical perspective and to provide a view of the contributions of Indian science and technology to the world of science during ancient and colonial periods.
Contents
FOREWORD
INTRODUCTION
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
History
Atomic Energy
Biotechnology
Health
Space Research
Advanced Materials
Defence and Aeronautics
Lasers
Electronics & Instrumentation
Oceanography
Non-Conventional Energy Sources
Information & Communications
Agriculture
Exploration, Mining & Processing
Rural Technology & Environment Management
Machine Tools and Robotics
References
APPENDIX A: Scientific Organizations in India
APPENDIX B: Indian Technologies Ready for Commercial Exploitation
INDEX