ISRO chairman S. Somanath
| Photo Credit: File picture
The Breakthrough Science Society, a voluntary organisation dedicated to the reason for science and scientific outlook has raised objections to ISRO chairman S. Somanath’s current assertion hailing the function of Sanskrit in India changing into a data society since Vedic occasions.
In an announcement, the society mentioned Mr. Somanath, whereas addressing the convocation ceremony on the Maharishi Panini Sanskrit and Vedic University in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, on May 24, talked concerning the achievements of science in ancient India in an exaggerated and eulogised method, creating confusion in the minds of individuals.
The society added that Mr. Somanath mentioned that nice developments of science in totally different branches, like metallurgy, astrology, astronomy, aeronautical sciences, physics, and many others., came about in ancient India and have been later taken to Europe by the Arabs.
Thousands of years later, Europeans introduced the identical data again to us as discoveries of recent Science. Great developments in science certainly came about in the Indian subcontinent from round 600 BC to about 900 AD.
“It is also true that such developments took place in other parts of the world like Mesopotamia, Greece, Egypt, etc., around the same period and even earlier. Later, the Arabs took the lead, accumulated and preserved the knowledge, and through them, it reached Europe. It is through interactions and exchanges that science, or for that matter, any branch of knowledge, develops and grows. It is a cumulative process. Each successive stage builds upon the earlier stage, testing these ideas and discarding those that have been proven wrong. This is the natural course of the development of science. Naturally, the later developments are richer and advanced than the earlier ones,” the society mentioned.
It added that the Renaissance in Europe marked a brand new starting. Modern science, primarily based on statement, speculation formation, and experimental verification, began with Galileo.
“This objective method was a qualitatively different stage incomparable to anything in the past. On this sound footing, the triumphant march of science continued with the great contributions of Newton, Faraday, Maxwell, Darwin, Einstein and others. Today’s knowledge based on modern science is far advanced than the ancient knowledge of any civilization,” it added.
The society mentioned that the science we now have immediately is the end result of humanity’s collected data. We ought to respect and regard the contributions of nice minds in the previous, be it the Greeks, Egyptians, Indians, Chinese or Arabs.
“Only a petty mind would think of eulogizing the achievements of a particular region or section. One simple question to Somnath is: If superior knowledge in astronomy, aeronautical engineering, etc., is available in the ancient texts in Sanskrit, why isn’t the ISRO using them? Can he show one piece of technology or theory that ISRO has taken from the Vedas and applied to make a rocket or a satellite?” the society mentioned.
