Nucleus and Nation

by Anderson, Robert S.

• ISBN13: 9780226019758
• ISBN10: 0226019756
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-06-30
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

In 1974 India joined the elite roster of nuclear world powers when it exploded its first nuclear bomb. But the technological progress that facilitated that feat was set in motion many decades before, as India sought both independence from the British and respect from the larger world. Over the course of the twentieth century, India metamorphosed from a marginal place to a serious hub of technological and scientific innovation. It is this tale of transformation that Robert S. Anderson recounts inNucleus and Nation. Tracing the long institutional and individual preparations for India's first nuclear test and its consequences, Anderson begins with the careers of India's renowned scientistsMeghnad Saha, Shanti Bhatnagar, Homi Bhabha, and their patron Jawaharlal Nehruin the first half of the twentieth century before focusing on the evolution of the large and complex scientific communityespecially Vikram Sarabhiin the later part of the era. By contextualizing Indian debates over nuclear power within the larger conversation about modernization and industrialization, Anderson hones in on the thorny issue of the integration of science into the framework and self-reliant ideals of Indian nationalism. In this way,Nucleus and Nationis more than a history of nuclear science and engineering and the Indian Atomic Energy Commission; it is a unique perspective on the history of Indian nationhood and the politics of its scientific community.

Author Biography

Robert S. Anderson is professor in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Note on Spelling, Photographs, and Currencies	p. xxi
Map of Atomic Energy, Space, and Defense Research Centers in 1974	p. xxii
Atomic Energy, Space, and Defense Research Centers in 1974	p. xxiii
List of Abbreviations	p. xxv
Introduction	p. 1
Building Scientific Careers in the 1920s: Saha and Bhatnagar, from London to Allahabad and Lahore	p. 23
The Bangalore Affair, 1935-38: Scientists and Conflict around C. V. Raman	p. 57
Imagining a Scientific State: Nehru, Scientists, and Political Planning, 1938-42	p. 79
Homi Bhabha Confronts Science in India, 1939-44	p. 97
Indian Scientists Engage the Empire: The CSIR and the Idea of Atomic and Industrial Power	p. 107
Saha, Bhatnagar, and Bhabha in Contrast, 1944-45	p. 123
Restless in Calcutta: Meghnad Saha's Institution-Building	p. 133
Bhatnagar Builds a Chain of National Laboratories and Steps Upward	p. 149
Bhabha Builds his Institute in Bombay	p. 169
The Politics of the Early Indian Atomic Energy Committee and Commission	p. 183
Scientists' Networks, Nehru, and India's Defense Research and Development	p. 205
A Scientist in the Political System: Professor Saha Goes to Parliament, 1952-56	p. 227
The Indian Cabinet and Scientific Advice in the 1950s and 1960s: Bhabha, Atomic Energy, and Reforming Scientific and Industrial Research	p. 249
A New Scientific Elite: Sarabhai Builds Another Atomic Energy Network, 1966-71	p. 277
A Day in the Life of Two Research Institutes in Bombay and Calcutta	p. 291
Governance, Management, and Working Conditions in Research Institutes Founded by Saha and Bhabha	p. 311
Governance and Influence in the Research Institutes Bhatnagar Built	p. 351
Articulating Science and Technology Policy for Indira Gandhi's Cabinet	p. 369
Building a High-Technology Economy through Atomic Energy, Space, and Electronics	p. 395
Nuclear Expectations and Resistance in India's Political Economy	p. 427
Scientists in India's War over Self-Reliance	p. 443
The First Bomb Test: Its Context, Reception, and Consequences in India	p. 479
The Scientific Community, the State of Emergency, and After, 1975-80	p. 499
Conclusions	p. 523
Chronology of Events	p. 571
Biographical Notes	p. 577
Notes	p. 591
Index of Names	p. 671
Subject Index	p. 677
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