The document discusses several pioneering Indian women scientists and their contributions: - Anandibai Joshi was the first Indian woman to receive a Western medical degree in 1886 from a medical college in Pennsylvania. - Janaki Ammal was the first Indian woman to receive the Padma Shri award and made significant contributions to botany and plant genetics as the director of the Botanical Survey of India. - Kamala Sohonie was the first Indian woman to earn a PhD and made discoveries in plant cell biochemistry while working with CV Raman. - The document briefly outlines the scientific achievements of several other prominent women scientists across various fields such as chemistry, engineering, space, medicine, and oceanography who

1. Shri Sandeep Kulkarni
Head,
Dept of Environmental Studies
K. J. Somaiya College of Arts &
Commerce, Mumbai
An Interactive Session organised by
IGNOU on
28th Feb 2023

2.  Govt. of India - commemorate 75 years of independence and the glorious history of its
people, culture and achievements.
 Reflection of the hard work, innovation, enterprise of ordinary Indians.
 India, rich in knowledge and science, is leaving its mark from Mars to the moon.
 Azadi Amrit Mahotsav means elixir of energy of independence; elixir of inspirations of
the warriors of freedom struggle; elixir of new ideas and pledges; and elixir of Aatma
nirbharta.

3. The history of science covers the development of
science from ancient times to the present. It
encompasses all three major branches of science:
natural, social, and formal.
When we think about the past, we think about history.
When we think about the future, we think about
science. Science builds upon its past, but also,
simultaneously, denies it.
History of science
Science has been made over thousands of years by people from a diversity of cultural
traditions. Activities such as experiment originated in Renaissance pharmacies, kitchens and
artisan workshops; evolutionary theory drew on sources ranging from sheep breeding to the
economics of human populations; astronomy emerged from attempts to read the heavenly
language of the stars.

4. The history of science itself developed as a discipline in Europe and North America during the late 19th
century, as a way of charting the rise of a distinctively modern world under European domination. Science
seemed uniquely a product of the white men in the west. In recent years, however, historians of science have
turned this view on its head, so that science is understood as the outcome of global interaction, conflict and
exchange. The rise of the universities as a key site for learning in medieval Europe, the reorganization of
scientific disciplines in the decades around 1800 and the rise of genomics and computing in the late 20th
century: these and other pivotal episodes are part of changes in cross-cultural commerce and trade.
Jim Secord - Emeritus Professor of the History & Philosophy of Science at the University of
Cambridge.
Science, which has often aimed to establish universal standards, has close
connections with the history of empires, from Assyria, Egypt and the Americas to
China and India. It has been at the service of princely courts, the military and other
centers of power. At the same time, however, the ‘scientist’ (a modern word,
dating from the 19th century) is often recognised as having a special kind of moral
authority, associated with ideals of detached expertise and neutral objectivity.

7. Kisii Tribe

8. Atri, Bharadwaja, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kashyapa, Vashistha and Vishwamitra. Vashistha, Vishvamitra, Jamadagni, Gautama,
Bharadvaja, Gungu, Agastya and Kashyapa. Surmanyu, Shrimanyu, Shrinichay, Sarvasundar, Jayvaan, Vinaylaala and Jaymitra.
Romasha, Lopamudra, Apala, Kadru, Visvavara, Ghosha, Juhu, Vagambhrini, Paulomi, Yami, Indrani, Savitri and Devayani
Nodha, Akrishtabhasha, Sikatanivavari and Gaupayana. Aditi Aditirdakshayani Urvashi Godha Kakshivati Tvashta Garbhakarta
Dakshina Prajapatya Vaivasvati Ratrirbharadvaji Vasukrapatni Vishvavara Atreyi Sashvatyangirasi Shradhda Kamayani Shachi
Sarparajni Sarama Devashuni Shikhandinyava Psarasau Kashyapan Jarita Sharngah Suditirangirasah Mataro gargi.
Ex:
Lopamudra contributed in Agastya Muni’s mission in South Bhārat by taking care of the disciples & set up 'Tirukannigai'
schools in the cities for the women from the royal family, as well as for girls who wanted to pursue education.
Gargi was greatly honored and respected for her mastery of the science and the philosophies of the Vedas. She participated
and gave lectures in Brahma Yagyas and was bestowed with the title of Brahma Vadini. Gargi was the oldest icon of feminism
found in the ancient Hindu texts.
Ghosha suffered from leprosy, which had disfigured her. She was thus a celibate for a long period. She fervently prayed
to Ashvins, the divine physician twins of the time, who were proficient in rejuvenation. They taught her Madhu Vidhya, a
Vedic teaching, a science of secret learning to restore youth and acquire immense knowledge, to get her cured of skin
ailment. Because of her constant prayers Ashvini Kumars cured her skin problem and restored her beauty.

10. "If we reject traditional technology merely
because it is not modern, it will be like
throwing out the baby with the bath water,"
said Seshadri. "By that token," he added,
"the zero and the decimal system, too,
would have to be rejected as it was invented
by Indians.“

13. Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi was the first Indian woman physician and the first
woman to have graduated with a two-year degree in Western Medicine in the
United States. Her personal life led her to take up medicine. She was married at
the age of nine to a widower who was 20 years older to her. At the age of 14 she
gave birth to a son who died soon after, due to lack of enough medical facilities.
The death of her new-born inspired her to become a physician. Her husband
encouraged her to study medicine abroad. She studied at the Women’s Medical
College of Pennsylvania in 1886; this was the first women’s medical programme
worldwide.
Janaki Ammal was the first Indian scientist to have received
the Padma Shri Award in 1977, who went on to occupy the
reputed post of the director-general of the Botanical Survey
of India. In 1900s, Ammal took up botany, which was an
unusual choice for women. She obtained an honours degree
in botany from the Presidency College in 1921. She pursued
scientific research in cytogenetics — a branch of genetics that
is concerned with how the chromosomes can relate to the
cell behavior and phytogeography — concerned with the
geographic distribution of the plant species. Ammal’s most
renowned work is on sugarcane and Brinjal.

14. Kamala Sohonie was the first Indian woman to have bagged a PhD degree in the
scientific discipline. She applied to the IISc for a research fellowship and met with
rejection merely because she was a woman. She was the first female student of
Prof. CV Raman, who was the then IISc director. Due to her excellent
performance, Raman gave her permission to pursue further research. She
discovered that every cell of a plant tissue contained the enzyme ‘cytochrome C’
which was involved in the oxidation of all plant cells.
Asima Chatterjee An Indian chemist, she is regarded highly for her works in the
fields of organic chemistry and phytochemistry (chemicals derived from
plants). She graduated in chemistry from the Scottish Church College of the
University of Calcutta in 1936 and then pursued research. Her most notable
work includes research on vinca alkaloids (derived from the periwinkle that is
known for its anti-cancer properties), and the development of anti-epileptic
and anti-malarial drugs.

15. Rajeshwari: First woman engineer from the state of Karnataka,
received a government scholarship to study abroad in 1946. She
studied at the University of Michigan where she obtained her Master’s
degree from the Department of Electrical Engineering. After obtaining
a doctorate degree, she returned to India and joined the Department
of Electrical Communication Engineering at IISc as a faculty member
where she along with her husband set up a microwave research
laboratory where they did pioneering work on microwave engineering.
Kalpana Chawla is the first astronaut of Indian origin to have forayed
into the space. She first flew on a Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a
mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. She then moved
to the United States in 1982 and obtained a Master of Science degree
in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in
1984 and earned a second Masters in 1986 and a PhD in aerospace
engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado Boulder. Chawla
was one of the crew members who died in the space shuttle Columbia
disaster on February 1, 2003. The tragedy occurred when the space
shuttle disintegrated while returning into the Earth’s atmosphere.

16. Dr. Indira Hinduja: a doctorate degree in ‘Human In Vitro Fertilisation and
Embryo Transfer’ from the Bombay University, An Indian gynecologist,
obstetrician and infertility specialist who pioneered the Gamete
intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) technique resulting in the birth of India’s first
GIFT baby on January 4, 1988. Prior to this she delivered India’s s first test-
tube baby at KEM Hospital on August 6, 1986. She is also credited for
developing an oocyte donation technique for menopausal and premature
ovarian failure patients, giving the country’s first baby out of this
technique on January 24, 1991.
An Oceanographer, Dr. Aditi Pant was the first Indian woman to visit
Antarctica in 1983 as a part of the Indian expedition to study
Geology and Oceanography. Pant was inspired to take up
Oceanography when she came across the book The Open Sea by
Alister Hardy when she was a BSc student at the University of Pune.
She got a US government scholarship to study an MS in Marine
Sciences in the University of Hawaii. She did her PhD in Westfield
College, London University. Her PhD thesis was based on the
physiology of marine algae. She has worked at the National Institute
of Oceanography and the National Chemical Laboratory.

17. https://www.thebetterindia.com/10725/12-indian-scientists-changed-
the-world-inspiring