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the impact of sustained science communication, of real writing, which still awaits decipherment.
in changing the way a society thinks and behaves; However, it is believed that there may be some
a change, which we want our country to undergo, information on herbal medicines and astronomical
sooner the better; to be transformed to a nation calculations, in the Indus script, as far as the science
of scientifically thinking and scientifically aware communication is concerned (The International
people. Therefore, why not to think of internalizing Encyclopaedia of Communications, 1989).
science communication activities in our socio-
cultural system like, Ramlila and other such rituals Toynbee (1976), has written:
are. Arousal of people for developing scientific “The scriptures of Hinduism cannot be dated.
temper and scientific awareness is necessary for They were composed and transmitted orally for an
national regeneration through mass action, as was unascertainable length of time before they were
the case in freedom movement; unmistakably the committed to writing, but the oral transmission
only perceivable panacea for innumerous miseries of them is likely to have been accurate, since the
of our people. efficacy of a liturgy was believed to depend on its
words being recited correctly”.
India had a tradition of acquiring knowledge,
discovering the secrets of the nature; by examining According to Satyaprakash (1967), the Charaka
and thorough observations and by applying certain Samhita, appears to be the proceedings of first
procedure; what we call today, the method of ever symposium on the subjects related to medical
science. The then Indian intellectuals transmitted sciences (Ayurveda). The world’s first symposium
this knowledge through oral communication held on the medicinal plants in relation to diseases
and unique compositions, for generations after was presided over by Sage Bharadvaja somewhere
generations; that is precisely why we do not have in Himalayas during 700 BC. The whole account
enough documentary evidences for such a great appears in Charaka Samhita. Names of different
treasure of earlier knowledge of science and participants are also given. Charaka Samhita
technology. However, much later, they had written also lays the rules for debates and discussions –
down such information on different surfaces, rocks, a prominent form of intellectual discourse and
like palm leaf, Bhojpatra, bark of various trees, creative communication!
copper and bronze plates, and eventually on paper.
These communication materials have now become EMERGENCE OF MODERN SCIENCE
the potential sources of the information on early COMMUNICATION
science and technology in India. There were some enlightened Indians, with great
zeal and devotion, who came forward either to
However, there are ample evidences to establish establish scientific institutions or to conduct
that the use and control of fire was known even to scientific research and communicate scientific
the Homo erectus, the immediate ancestor of Homo information to the people over the period. Thus,
sapiens, 0.3 million years ago ancient man was interest in modern science in India assumed a
using simple forms of stone lamps, probably fuelled new dimension in the last two decades of the 19th
with animal fat and using grass or moss for a wick century. Scientists started writing scientific papers
around 79000 BC. Possibly, Atharvan might have in various national and international journals.
developed some simple technique for producing Prafulla Chandra Ray (1861-1944) conducted
fire or disseminated fire-churning technology systematic chemical analyses of a number of rare
among the masses around 4000 BC. As mentioned minerals found in India to discovering in them some
by Satyaprakash (1967), Atharvan belonged to of the missing elements in Mendeleev’s Periodic
the Angiras clan. The fire churners were in great Table. He communicated a preliminary note on this
demand at that time who communicated knowledge in 1896 to the Journal of the Royal Asiatick Society.
of the fire churning techniques. An extremely inspiring teacher, he was lucid and
lively in his exposition. Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar
The Cro-Magnon man lived in Indian subcontinent, was a firm believer in the rationality of science. He
who prepared cave sketches, did experiments and had realised that science was the most powerful
prepared records some time before 40000 years instrument of modern civilization. Mahendra Lal
(NCSTC Exhibition, 1998). According to Vilanilam founded the Indian Association for the Cultivation of
(1993), the Neolithic Indians were producing Science, Calcutta on July 15, 1876. The Association
handmade earthen vessels. The Indus valley was intended to be a sort of a training school for the
civilization, which developed from early Harappan diffusion of scientific knowledge in its initial stages.
Neolithic cultures that are several millennia older, In an eloquent address at the association, he said, “I
flourished around 2600-1800 BC, in northwestern would emphatically say that the Indian youth have
parts of India during the Bronze Age. One of the major shown as much aptitude for, and love of science, as
breakthroughs of this civilization was its original the youth of any country in the world”.
pictographic Indus script, visual representation of
people, things, events, tools, processes, methods, The common newspapers and magazines now
and actions, etc., which represents the earliest type started carrying science items and news. Bengali

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