8 January 2022 - Women power in Science Part-1 - (E)
The contribution of women in the field of Science is perhaps one of the less explored subjects globally, and even to this day, there are fewer women pursuing scientific fields or STEM than men, globally. For women in India, the challenges of pursuing the myriad fields of science during the British raj and the years leading to India’s independence on August 15th 1947 were many, to say the least as there were only a few opportunities - the few higher educational institutions created by the British given India’s population and geographical spread were primarily for men. The situation was even more complicated for women due to traditional circumstances in India of not encouraging the education of the girl child - let alone giving them opportunities to pursue scientific fields. But for many women in India these historic conditions though difficult were not insurmountable - as we celebrate 75 years of India’s independence we also celebrate the lives and contribution of women who cracked the glass ceiling and pursued Science in the 19th and the 20th century in India - they were pioneers who fought against discrimination as well as societal and cultural barriers of keeping women out of educational institutions. So in this two-part series of Science for a Self Reliant India, we first explore the lives and contributions of some remarkable women like Kadambani Ganguly the first qualified doctor of India, who studied medicine in Calcutta Medical College, Ek Janaki Ammal - Botanist and cytologist. Anna Mani who excelled in the field of Meteorology and physics and Dr. Asima Chatterje who excelled in Organic chemistry, phytomedicine. This and much more in our show Science for a Self Reliant India - only on India Science.
