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| Samarendra Nath Sen |
Samarendra Nath Sen –
The doyen of research in the history of science in India
Jayanta
Sthanapati
In July 2019 in two separate seminars, one organized jointly by the Department of Philosophy of Jadavpur University and the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), and the other by the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), academicians and scholars from various parts of the country paid homage to the renowned historian of science Professor Samarendra Nath Sen whose birth centenary was over recently. The present author was the last scholar to work under Professor Sen and therefore was invited in both the seminars to narrate his remembrance of this great researcher.
Samarendra Nath was born on 1st October 1918 near Shyambazar in Calcutta to Surendra Nath Sen and Usha Rani Sen. He went to a school in north Calcutta, but we could not find out its name. He had passed ISc examination in 1936 with distinction from Vidyasagar College, Calcutta and BSc with Physics honours in 1938 from the same institution. Sen was a good sportsman and practised running regularly during school and college days. He had mastered watercolour painting and pencil sketches too.
Samarendra Nath completed postgraduate studies in Pure Physics at the University College of Science, Calcutta in 1940. He secured the first position in MSc examination and received a Gold Medal. Sen got an appointment as a lecturer in Physics in 1941 at the Scottish Church College, Calcutta and served till 1947. He was a joint editor of Science and Culture journal from 1941 to 1947. In 1946 he wrote a book in Bengali titled Anobik Boma(Atomic Bomb), possibly his first published literary work.[3]
History says that Prof Meghnad Saha, FRS played a significant role to rejuvenate the IACS from 1944 till his demise in 1956, first as its Honorary Secretary, then as President of the Governing Council and finally as Director of the Institute. He had encouraged Samarendra Nath to join IACS in 1947 as Registrar. However, with the permission of IACS authority, Sen soon took a two-year engagement in the Science Section of UNESCO in Paris as a Specialist on the popularisation of science and its social implications.
Incidentally, Prof Joseph Needham, FRS the celebrated biochemist and Historian of Science was the Head of the Natural Sciences Section of UNESCO from 1946 to 1948. Sen thus came in touch with him and got inspired to take up studies in History of Science, particularly in the Indian context. Many years later, in 1962, he studied History of Science for four months at the University of Cambridge, in England under Needham on a British Council grant. Samarendra Nath, like several international scholars, was benefitted from Needham’s mentorship in Cambridge.
After returning from UNESCO Sen served the IACS as Registrar until his superannuation in 1978. Despite the heavy administrative burden of his position there, he carried out research and writing in the history of science every evening after office, without fail, at home. For reference materials, he consulted libraries at IACS, the Asiatic Society, National Library, Science College, Bose Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics and the Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture.
Sen’s most significant work in Bengali titled Vigyaner Itihas (History of Science) Volume one was published in 1955. He received, for this work, Rabindra Purashkar (1955-56) from Government of West Bengal and Narsinghdas Prize (1958) from Delhi University. The second volume of the book appeared in 1958. [4] Sen authored two more books in Bengali, Vigyan Prabesh (1959) [5] and Vigyanacharya Dr Mahendralal Sarkar (1985) [6] and C.V. Raman: Scientific Work at Calcutta (1988) in English [7]. Between 1952 and 1986 he had edited individually and jointly six books [8,9,10,30,33,34]. From the early sixties to his last Sen had contributed over thirty research papers on the history of science. We have listed only eighteen from those here [11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28]. From 1961 to 1992 Samarendra Nath had completed nine research projects in the history of science, individually or jointly with other scholars under the sponsorship of INSA. [29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37]. Most of these works were published by INSA as books both during his lifetime and after his demise.
In 1957 an Indian Society for History of Science was formed, and it was planned to conduct a full-fledged academic course in History of Science. S.N. Sen prepared the course details for undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Unfortunately, said society did not survive long. In 1960 the Asiatic Society formed a History of Science Board with Sen as a nominated founder member.
Sen was the editor of the Science and Culture journal from 1952 to 1982. Further, he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Indian Journal of History of Science from 1966 to 1983 and a member of the National Commission for History of Science of the INSA from 1965 to 1985. After that, he was associated with INSA as a superannuated scientist till his last date. He was a professor of History of Science at the Asiatic Society from 1985 to 1987.
Prof Sen was always interested in languages. He had an excellent command of the Bengali, Sanskrit and English languages. Besides that, he learned French while working with UNESCO. He learned German when working with a German professor. Further, during his research on Astrolabes for the History of Astronomy work, he learned to read and write in Arabic.
Samarendra married Kanika Sen in 1943 when he was 25 years old, and the couple were blessed with three daughters. Prof Sen had a very kind, caring and gentle personality. He enjoyed interacting with his students, his daughters, their friends, their cousins and other family members. He always encouraged youngsters in doing the best, not only in academics but in sports, music or any other interests they had. The author now likes to narrate his interaction with Samarendra Nath in the following paragraphs. In 1972 India was celebrating Silver Jubilee of its independence. I was then a final year postgraduate student of Physics at Jadavpur University. To commemorate the occasion, IACS had organized a series of lectures by its eminent faculties in the auditorium. The first lecture I had attended in IACS was by Samarendra Nath Sen on the ‘History of Science in India’. I also heard Prof Akshayananda Bose on another day who spoke on ‘Cryogenics’ supported by a live demonstration. I then cherished a keen desire to join this institute for doing research. I was lucky to get a Junior Research Fellowship next year in the Dept of Magnetism (renamed later Solid State Physics) headed by Prof A Bose. In 1976 the IACS celebrated its Centenary. I was a Senior Research Fellow then. The authorities selected me as a scholar representative from the Physics wing of IACS in the Centenary Celebration Committee. Thus, I came in touch with Shri S.N. Sen on several occasions. He had a thorough knowledge of the history of IASC. He was a good administrator, a meticulous planner, and very friendly to Research Scholars. In 1978 I got an appointment in the National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) and left IACS. Subsequently, I got a PhD (Science) degree in Physics from the University of Calcutta based on my work done in IACS. I again came in touch with Samarendra Nath in 1985 when he was a Professor of History of Science at the Asiatic Society. In that year, NCSM on behalf of the Government of India was developing a substantial travelling exhibition on ‘Science and Technology Heritage of India’ for exhibiting in eight science museums in the USA for two years from 1985 to 1987. I was General Coordinator of the project. While designing exhibits of the ‘Early Science in India’ section of the exhibition, we consulted the INSA book ‘A Concise History of Science in India’, by D.M. Bose, S.N. Sen and B.V. Subbarappa. As advised by the Director of NCSM, I consulted Prof Sen several times during the development of the exhibits. He was thorough on the subject, and we had developed a set of exhibits on his suggestions. Most of those exhibits later found permanent places in galleries of NCSM at National Science Centre, New Delhi, Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai and Science City, Kolkata. During 1986-87 I became interested in studying the History of Magnetic Resonance Research. The importance of magnetic resonance and its associated branches of science could be judged from the fact that several Nobel Prizes were awarded to scientists from 1944 onwards. By 1989 I got in touch with 22 American and British pioneers of Magnetic Resonance Research, two of whom were Nobel Laureates. It may be recalled there was no internet or email service available then. From the writings of respondent scientists and their memoirs, it transpired that their involvement in the development of microwave Radar during the Second World War helped them to discover Magnetic Resonance phenomena after the war. So, it was essential to study the impact of the second world war on studies of magnetic resonance. In early 1990 I approached Prof Sen with my plan to study the ‘History of Magnetic Resonance Research’. He liked my proposal and placed it along with my CV in INSA for considering financial support. However, Dr Ajit Ram Verma, (former Director NPL) in the screening committee, remarked that discoveries in magnetic resonance happened primarily in the USA, USSR and U.K. and therefore there will not be much to focus on Indian contribution. Dr Verma requested Prof Sen to submit a fresh proposal, as soon as the possible, involving the contribution of the researchers in India on all aspects of Magnetism. Prof Sen advised me not to get disheartened, shelve the project for the time being and take it up when an opportunity comes. I agreed and under his guidance, revised the proposal. We intended to prepare a Bibliography on ‘History of Magnetic Studies in India’ in the first phase. INSA accepted it. I was engaged as a Research Associate for the project for two years. Prof Sen was an excellent Research Guide, and under his supervision, I completed the work in eighteen months. It will not be out of context to state that I wrote a thesis titled ‘Impact of the Second World War on the Studies of Magnetic Resonance’ later and earned a PhD (Arts) degree in History from Jadavpur University. Now let me return to the original topic of discussion. In February 1992, I met him at his residence at Sonarpur, some 12 kilometres from the IACS. He was recovering from surgery. I presented to him the complete manuscript of the report. He browsed through it and said ‘Go ahead’. I also showed him the title page. There I wrote S.N. Sen and Jayanta Sthanapati. He said, “No, your name should come first. It is your work. I have only guided you. Moreover, you have many years to go”. That was my last interaction with him. He left for Heavenly Abode on 13th April 1992. Acknowledgements The
author expresses sincere gratitude to Dr Jayati Mitra, daughter of Samarendra
Nath Sen for sharing two images and valuable information on life and work of
her father. The author is thankful to
Prof M.D. Srinivas, Chairman, Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai for kindly
providing a list of publication of Prof Sen. References: 1. Editor, Obituary, Professor S.N.Sen, Indian J. Hist. Sci. 27.4, 505-506 (1992). 2. Ganitanand (Radha Charan Gupta), Obituary
Note: Prof S.N. Sen (1918-1992), A great scholar and writer in the field of
History of Science, Bull. Indian Soc. Hist. Math. (Ganita Bharati) 15.1-4,
79-83 (1993). 3. S.N. Sen, Anobik Boma (Atomic Bomb), in
Bengali (1946). 4. S.N. Sen, Vigyaner Itihas (History of
Science), in Bengali Vol I (1955), Vol II (1958). 5. S.N. Sen, Vigyan Prabesh, in Bengali (1959). 6. S.N. Sen, Vigyanacharya Dr Mahendralal Sarkar,
in Bengali (1985). 7. S.N. Sen, Prof C.V. Raman: Scientific Work at
Calcutta (1988). 8. S.N. Sen (Ed), Science and Culture, Calcutta (1952). 9. S.N. Sen (Ed), Professor Meghnad Saha: His
Life, Work and Philosophy. Published by Meghnad Saha 60th
Birthday Committee (1954). 10. P. Ray and S.N. Sen (Eds), The Cultural
Heritage of India, Volume VI: Science and Technology (1986). 11. S.N. Sen, Transmission of Scientific Ideas between India and Foreign Countries in Ancient and Medieval Times, Bull. Natl. Inst. Sc. Ind. ISI, 21, 2-30 (1963). 12.
S.N. Sen,
Teaching of the History of Science, Bull. Natl. Inst. Sc. Ind. ISI, 21, 81-93
(1963). 13.
S.N. Sen,
Aryabhata’s Mathematics, Bull. Natl. Inst. Sc. Ind. ISI, 21, 297-319 (1963). 14.
S.N. Sen, The
beginning of scientific method in Europe, Science and Culture, 30, 53-57
(1964). 15.
S.N. Sen,
Changing pattern of the History of Science, Science and Culture, 31, 214-219
(1965). 16.
S.N. Sen, The
Impetus Theory of the Vaisesikas, Indian J. Hist. Sci., 1.1, 34-45 (1966). 17.
S.N. Sen, The Character
of the Introduction of the Western Science in India during the 18th and the 19th
Centuries, Indian J. Hist. Sci., 1.2, 112-122 (1966). 18.
S.N. Sen,
Influence of Indian Science on Other Culture Areas, Indian J. Hist. Sci., 5.2,
332-346 (1970). 19.
S.N. Sen, Scientific
Works in Sanskrit, Translated into Foreign Languages and vice versa in the 18th
and 19th Century A.D., Indian J. Hist. Sci., 7.1, 44-70 (1972). 20. S.N. Sen, Epicycle Eccentric Planetary Theories
in Ancient and Medieval Indian Astronomy, Indian J. Hist. Sci., 9.1, 107-121
(1974). 21. S.N. Sen, Al-Biruni on the Determination of
Latitudes and Longitudes in India, Indian J. Hist. Sci., 10.2, 185-197 (1975). 22. S.N. Sen, Tieffenthaler on Latitudes and
Longitudes in India – An Eighteenth-Century Study of Geographical Coordinates,
Indian J. Hist. Sci., 17.1, 1-17 (1982). 23. S.N. Sen, Survey of Studies in European
Languages, in History of Astronomy in India, K.S. Shukla (ed), Indian J. Hist.
Sci., 20.1, 49-121 (1985). 24. S.N. Sen, Planetary Theories in Sanskrit
Astronomical Texts, in IAU Colloquium 91 on History of Oriental Astronomy,
113-124 (1987). 25. S.N. Sen, Scientific and Technical Education
in India 1781-1900, Indian J. Hist. Sci., 23.1-4, 1-537 (1988). Published as a book by
INSA, 1991. 26. S.N. Sen, Madras Meridian Circle Observations
of Fixed Stars from 1862 to 1887, Indian J. Hist. Sci., 24.4, 257-283 (1989). 27. S.N. Sen, Factors in the Development of
Scientific Research in India between 1906 and 1930, Indian J. Hist. Sci., 27.4,
379-388 (1992). 28. S.N. Sen, The Pioneering Role of Calcutta in
Scientific and Technical Education, Indian J. Hist. Sci., 29.1, 41-47 (1994). 29. S.N. Sen, A.K. Bag and S.R. Sarma, A Bibliography
of Sanskrit Works on Astronomy and Mathematics (INSA project 1961-64).
Published as a book by INSA, 1966. 30. D.M. Bose (Ch. Ed), S.N. Sen (Ed) and B.V.
Subbarayappa (Ed), A Concise History of Science in India (INSA project
1964-68). Published as a book by INSA, 1971. 31. S.N. Sen and
Mamata Chaudhuri, Ancient glass in India, (INSA project 1968-71).
Published as a book by INSA, 1985. 32. S.N. Sen and A.K.
Bag, The Śulbasūtras of Baudhāyana, Āpastamba,
Kātyāyana and Mānava (with text, English translation and commentary) (INSA project 1969-71). Published as a book by
INSA, 1983. 33. S.N. Sen, Science
Education in India in 19th and the first half of 20th Century (INSA project
1981-88). Published as a book by INSA, 1992. 34. S.N. Sen (ed) and K.S. Shukla (ed), History of Astronomy in India, Published as a book by INSA on the occasion of IAU Colloquium 91 (1985). Revised in 2000. 35. S.N. Sen and Santimoy Chatterjee, A Bibliography of Physics, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics in India: 1800-1950, (INSA project 1986-88) Indian J. Hist. Sci., 27.4, S1-S77 (1992); 28.1, S79-S219 (1993); 28.2, S221-S344 (1993); 28.3, S345-S501 (1993); 28.4, S503-S740 (1993). 36. S.N. Sen, Study of Scientific Concepts in Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jaina Literature in Ancient India, (INSA project 1988-90). Project Report submitted to INSA.
37. Jayanta
Sthanapati and S.N. Sen, History of Magnetic Studies in India 1850-1980: A
Bibliography, (INSA project 1990-92) Indian J. Hist. Sci., 30.2-4, S1-S204
(1995); 31.1, S205-S302 (1996); 31.2, S303-S336 (1996); 31.3, S337-S400 (1996).
Published as a book by INSA, 2004. Author Dr Jayanta Sthanapati is former Director, Birla Industrial and Technological Museum and Deputy Director-General, National Council of Science Museums. Email: dr.jayanta.sthanapati@gmail.com Published as an article: Jayanta Sthanapati. “Samarendra
Nath Sen – The doyen of research in the history of science in India”, Science
and Culture, 85 (2019) 368-372. |
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