Unsuccessful transmission of knowledge.: An example of the astronomical society of India
- Autores: Rajinder Sinch
- Localización: The Circulation of Science and Technology: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of the European Society for the History of Science. Barcelona, 18-20 November 2010 / coord. por Antoni M. Roca Rosell, 2012, ISBN 978-84-9965-108-8, págs. 1089-1092
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
After some parts of Indian territories came under the British East India Company, in 1784 William Jones from Oxford founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta. In the following years the Society was immensely successful in spawning a network of scientific organisations and institutions like the Royal Botanical Garden, the Indian Museum, the Meteorological Department of the Government of India and the Medical College of Bengal.
So far the astronomical research based on the “western methods” were concerned, the East India Company established an observatory at Madras for promoting the knowledge of astronomy, geography and navigation.
The building for the observatory was completed by 1792. Institutions like the Asiatic Society and Madras Observatory (founded in 1879) played a crucial role for the transmission of knowledge from West to East and vice versa. Contrary to them the Astronomical Society of India (founded in 1910) failed. The present communication speculates about the reasons behind the failure in social and cultural context.