Dissertation Research: History of Scientific Instruments and Practices in India: A study of select particle accelerator facilities in India (1938-1970)

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This Science and Technology Studies Dissertation Improvement Grant dissertation project is an empirical investigation into the history of physics in mid-twentieth century India. The period 1938 to 1970 makes for an interesting study for at least three reasons. First, this is the period of India's transition and transformation from a colony to an independent nation-state. Second, this is the period of the rising international prominence of big-science - especially nuclear physics - building upon cosmic ray physics among other fields, which was particularly exemplified in the United States of America through research leading up to and within the Manhattan Project. Third, this period overlaps with the Second World War and the Cold War and the gradual decline of Europe shadowed by the rising prominence of United States of America (USA) in both science research and international politics. This is an attempt to anchor a narrative weaving through the nature of scientific internationalism led by the USA, post-colonial state formation and modernity in India, and Cold War geopolitics manifested in aid programs, through the specific stories of acquisition/ donation of four particle accelerators. This will be a history of four particle accelerators that were located in the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata (Calcutta), the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, Mumbai (Bombay), the Department of Physics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Particle accelerators had become the state-of-art equipment to train young scientists and conduct nuclear physics research in the mid -twentieth century. History of modern scientific practices in India is a young field, and there is no other study that deals with this topic or takes this approach of history writing through instrumental platforms. The history of American scientific internationalism and leadership is incomplete without including within the same analytic frame, a discussion of its specific instances and configurations. Thus even while this study aims to add to the field of history of science by bringing in a specific history of physics in India. It also aims to enrich existing studies by extending the boundaries of inclusion within the history of American science during the Cold War. This study can provide an illustration for donor agencies to understand the constraints under which scientists have to work in developing countries, and thus contribute to informed decision-making on scientific and technical assistance to India in particular and developing countries in general. In addition, the research will inform governmental reflection on policy and inclination towards support for precision equipment manufacturing industry in India. The narratives should provide strength of argument for scientists planning and requesting funding necessary to construct experimental facilities in the present-day. Thus, this research should be able to reinforce the importance of investing in fundamental research in a developing country.