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It had wide influence extending beyond the Indian subcontinent and by 2-3 centuries AD it was translated into Persian, Arabic and Tibetan.The example of plastic surgery illustrates the situation. The Charaka Samhita is encyclopaedic in its description of different aspects of medical science and dates back to the first century AD. This image of science through rote learning naturally makes it a subject to be avoided!. They discovered that the procedure was unknown in Europe and seemed to work well.If, as the story goes, Isaac Newton, sitting under an apple tree, thought of gravitation when an apple fell on him, the real enlightenment came to him by studying how planets go round the Sun, how the Moon orbits round the Earth, how comets move, etc.Ayurveda has also an interesting history as explored by experts in modern medicine. Roy from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research highlights this fact. After the destruction by Bakhtiyar Khilji the alchemists fled to Tibet and the Deccan. Although revived in a low key during the Mughal period, its death knell came when the British started exporting iron ore to plants in Britain rather than use it for making finished products in India as part of helping their own industry at the cost of Indian industry. The procedures described by Sushruta were therefore acted on by people who were denied access to higher education. Chinese scholar and tourist Hsuan Tsang has recorded that in India there was a famous Buddhist alchemist called Nagarjuna. The ideal situation of children learning through experiments performed by them is rare. Made largely of iron, the material is rust resistant. How did the makers of the pillar manage to make an alloy with 98 per cent iron that did not rust? Why did the technological knowhow not survive? Studies of our ancient heritage show that frequent attacks by invaders like Ghaznavi and Ghori destroyed the iron industry.But the worrying aspect of this episode is that it shows how experimental procedures that are so important for the growth of science carried a stigma for the intellectuals of Indian society. Rather, it remained frozen at the level when Sushruta described it.A look at the history of science shows that it flourished in India up to about a millennium ago, at which time it languished in Europe.It goes without saying that the growth in our understanding of science is linked up with the role of experiments. Numerous experiments with electricity and magnetism enabled the scientists to put together an elegant set of equations that describe the observed phenomena related to these subjects. Why did it happen?There are numerous reasons for this reversal. But this development was away from the recognised and respected topics the intellectuals liked to talk about.
They have been discussed and debated extensively by scientists and sociologists of science.Looking back at the history of science shows us starkly how the experimental part was missing in India. The book was translated in Arabic and was highly regarded even by those outside the subcontinent.Reverting to modern times, we find that in our schools experimentation is in low key, if present at all, as part of science teaching. Indeed, doyens of Indian science, like Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray and Meghnad Saha had worried over this issue a good deal. A scientist may be stimulated to solve a riddle posed by nature. This was an example of what later came to be known as plastic surgery. From this source eventually Indian chemistry developed.The science of chemistry, for example, grew out of the early interest and work on alchemy.Despite the popularity of Sushruta Samhita, the contemporary social stigma attached to blood, dead body or dissection meant that the higher caste members of the society kept away from surgery.
While observing certain phenomenon he may wish to find out why it progresses in a particular way. Since punishment in the form of cutting the nose was common, there were cases for plastic surgery to restore the nose by adding skin from the forehead. Writing in the Indian Journal of the History of Science, Professor D. It is not surprising that they miss the thrill of doing an experiment and learning the facts themselves.Metallurgy was another practical science that flourished around 500-1,000 AD. Without such studies, the scientist will not get a proper clue to the answer he is looking for.P. In some cases the teacher may perform the experiment watched by the class while in many cases the children simply memorise the description of an experiment without watching a real one. Officials of the East India Company came to know of this practice and they arranged to study it. The details seem to be compiled by a Buddhist "hands on experimentalist" rather than a theoretical scholar. That reason is the lack of experimentation as part of learning science. Apart from operating procedures, it also describes the many different types of instruments used. This could be one of the reasons why science declined in India and had to be revived in the colonial era. However, this situation changed and one finds that the progress of science slowed down in India while it began to grow faster in Europe. This procedure was used not by brahmin doctors of Ayurveda but by "Koomar" caste men who, however, followed the prescribed procedure without knowing the rationale or theory behind it. The famous pillar near the Qutub Minar in Delhi dates back to 400 AD. What are the controlling factors? What will happen if any of them undergo a change? Experiments give him the clue to these questions and through them he will get a far better understanding of the physical process under observation. His influence was considerable and probably thanks to his influence the universities of Nalanda and Vikramasila continued for several centuries to teach alchemy. Sushruta Samhita on the other hand deals with many different types of surgery. The Titanium iron cored wire two ancient manuscripts relevant to the medical developments are the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita dealing respectively with medicine and surgery. As such, any intellectual advance of surgical science was stopped. Many reasons are usually given, but we will highlight one that may also have a bearing on the present question of why science is not a popular subject amongst schoolchildren in India
They have been discussed and debated extensively by scientists and sociologists of science.Looking back at the history of science shows us starkly how the experimental part was missing in India. The book was translated in Arabic and was highly regarded even by those outside the subcontinent.Reverting to modern times, we find that in our schools experimentation is in low key, if present at all, as part of science teaching. Indeed, doyens of Indian science, like Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray and Meghnad Saha had worried over this issue a good deal. A scientist may be stimulated to solve a riddle posed by nature. This was an example of what later came to be known as plastic surgery. From this source eventually Indian chemistry developed.The science of chemistry, for example, grew out of the early interest and work on alchemy.Despite the popularity of Sushruta Samhita, the contemporary social stigma attached to blood, dead body or dissection meant that the higher caste members of the society kept away from surgery.
While observing certain phenomenon he may wish to find out why it progresses in a particular way. Since punishment in the form of cutting the nose was common, there were cases for plastic surgery to restore the nose by adding skin from the forehead. Writing in the Indian Journal of the History of Science, Professor D. It is not surprising that they miss the thrill of doing an experiment and learning the facts themselves.Metallurgy was another practical science that flourished around 500-1,000 AD. Without such studies, the scientist will not get a proper clue to the answer he is looking for.P. In some cases the teacher may perform the experiment watched by the class while in many cases the children simply memorise the description of an experiment without watching a real one. Officials of the East India Company came to know of this practice and they arranged to study it. The details seem to be compiled by a Buddhist "hands on experimentalist" rather than a theoretical scholar. That reason is the lack of experimentation as part of learning science. Apart from operating procedures, it also describes the many different types of instruments used. This could be one of the reasons why science declined in India and had to be revived in the colonial era. However, this situation changed and one finds that the progress of science slowed down in India while it began to grow faster in Europe. This procedure was used not by brahmin doctors of Ayurveda but by "Koomar" caste men who, however, followed the prescribed procedure without knowing the rationale or theory behind it. The famous pillar near the Qutub Minar in Delhi dates back to 400 AD. What are the controlling factors? What will happen if any of them undergo a change? Experiments give him the clue to these questions and through them he will get a far better understanding of the physical process under observation. His influence was considerable and probably thanks to his influence the universities of Nalanda and Vikramasila continued for several centuries to teach alchemy. Sushruta Samhita on the other hand deals with many different types of surgery. The Titanium iron cored wire two ancient manuscripts relevant to the medical developments are the Charaka Samhita and the Sushruta Samhita dealing respectively with medicine and surgery. As such, any intellectual advance of surgical science was stopped. Many reasons are usually given, but we will highlight one that may also have a bearing on the present question of why science is not a popular subject amongst schoolchildren in India