01-13-2009, 05:41 AM
In one of the books Dharampal writes..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A great movement was initiated for the promotion in India of western science and technology nearly a century ago. The main centre of this movement was Calcutta itself. As far as my meagre knowledge goes those intimately associated with this movement, in its early phase, included such illustrious names as Mahendra Lal Sircar, Jagdish Chandra Bose, Prafulla Chandra Ray, Gooroodas Banerjee, Ashutosh Mukerjee, Taraknath Palit, C.V. Raman, and they were followed by J.C. Ghosh, Meghnad Saha, J.N. Mukerjee, S.N. Bose, and many others.2 While reasons of patriotism, devo-tion to swadeshi, etc., played major roles in leading Mahendra Lal Sircar and others to the promotion of the new science and technology, <b>men like Sir Richard Temple, the British Governor of Bengal around this time, felt that the teaching of science in India would help in curbing the ambition and self-confidence of the educated Indian. Writing to the then British Viceroy North-brook, Temple observed: âNo doubt the alumni of our schools and colleges do become as a class discontented. But this arises partly from our higher education being too much in the direction of law, public administration, and prose literature, where they may possibly imagine, however erroneously, that they may approach to competition with us. But we shall do more and more to direct their thoughts towards practical science, where they must inevi-tably feel their utter inferiority to us.</b>â3 Temple wrote this in 1875. In 1876 Mahendra Lal Sircar and his friends established the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science at Calcutta.4 In 1885 J.C. Bose was appointed junior professor of physics at Calcutta Presidency College,5 while in 1889 Prafulla Chandra Ray was appointed as assistant professor in chemistry.6<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A great movement was initiated for the promotion in India of western science and technology nearly a century ago. The main centre of this movement was Calcutta itself. As far as my meagre knowledge goes those intimately associated with this movement, in its early phase, included such illustrious names as Mahendra Lal Sircar, Jagdish Chandra Bose, Prafulla Chandra Ray, Gooroodas Banerjee, Ashutosh Mukerjee, Taraknath Palit, C.V. Raman, and they were followed by J.C. Ghosh, Meghnad Saha, J.N. Mukerjee, S.N. Bose, and many others.2 While reasons of patriotism, devo-tion to swadeshi, etc., played major roles in leading Mahendra Lal Sircar and others to the promotion of the new science and technology, <b>men like Sir Richard Temple, the British Governor of Bengal around this time, felt that the teaching of science in India would help in curbing the ambition and self-confidence of the educated Indian. Writing to the then British Viceroy North-brook, Temple observed: âNo doubt the alumni of our schools and colleges do become as a class discontented. But this arises partly from our higher education being too much in the direction of law, public administration, and prose literature, where they may possibly imagine, however erroneously, that they may approach to competition with us. But we shall do more and more to direct their thoughts towards practical science, where they must inevi-tably feel their utter inferiority to us.</b>â3 Temple wrote this in 1875. In 1876 Mahendra Lal Sircar and his friends established the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science at Calcutta.4 In 1885 J.C. Bose was appointed junior professor of physics at Calcutta Presidency College,5 while in 1889 Prafulla Chandra Ray was appointed as assistant professor in chemistry.6<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->