Lilavati's Daughters- My review in TNSIE

This review i did of, "Lilavati's daughters: Women in Indian Science," has been published in the New Sunday Indian Express.

Ninety-eight women who shattered myths

First Published : 26 Apr 2009 11:23:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 26 Apr 2009 11:15:33 AM IST


In India, women in science face all kinds of hurdles to their progress. This is seen in many ways: despite women having enrolled in higher studies since early 1900s, the fraction of women among scientists fluctuates around only 13 per cent–15 per cent. Many talented women drop out of science, at penultimate stages of obtaining their PhD or even later. Women in science in India resist taking each other’s side and often end up on opposite sides. Some women would not apply for awards given particularly to women scientists, for the reason that they feel this is setting their work apart as if it does not deserve to win in the general category.

Lilavati’s Daughters: The Women Scientists of India is a bouquet of biographical sketches of ninety-eight Indian women scientists, edited by Rohini Godbole and Ram Ramaswamy. It is a long-overdue acknowledgement of the contribution of women to Indian science.
How is this book a very fine first step towards achieving an antidote for this social poison of women dropouts? What does it contain that makes it different from the average biographical book? How does it work against existing prejudices?

The book’s format is very simple and straightforward and is often more of a personal story-telling about one’s own life and happenings, sometimes narrated by a close friend or relative. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that each one deserves to be read for its own worth. After reading this book, young women scientists won’t have to look to Marie Curie or Sofia Kovalevsky or Emmy Noether or Sophie Germain to model their own decisions and behaviour on, they would see there are examples closer home!.

Some poisonous prejudices against women are that they are not as productive as men; they show stereotypical behaviour; they are unwilling to relocate and face challenges, and so on. All these myths are shattered by reading even within the first nine stories in this anthology:
Janaki Ammal, from Kerala, was the first woman Oriental Barbour Scholar and D.Sc (1934), a botanist and a pioneer! Then is the story of B Vijayalakshmi’s heroic struggle against cancer of her stomach and abdomen, to carry out research in high-energy physics. Another pioneer is Asima Chatterjee, the first woman to receive a D.Sc. from any Indian University (Calcutta). Her work on ayurvedic drugs is the story of untiring and path-breaking research which led to the development of the anti-epilepsy drug, Ayush-56, which is patented and sold even today. Anandibai Joshi’s, Mumbai of 1865, is a story of struggle against the confusing marital complex- being educated and discouraged by the same person, her reformist-husband. Who can say that women fear controversy, if only you read the story of Iravati Karve, who was the pioneer in advocating statistical studies based on caste divisions – a theory that is controversial even now. Bearing testimony to the stolid undeterred labour of women, Anna Mani is a beacon of a physicist from CV Raman’s lab. Her thesis did not get her a degree in physics for some bureaucratic reason, causing her to shift her field to meteorology subsequently becoming Deputy Director General of the Indian Meteorological Department.

The short index of contributors at the end is a useful reference to put a face to the names. The earthy colours in the cover and the glossy pages add an aura of antique art and a touch of nostalgia. The contributors are listed alphabetically, which also underlines that all their contributions are valuable and important.

Is there any strategy to reach this book to the people who will appreciate and benefit from reading it?

Dr Rohini Godbole, an editor of this volume, and a leading particle physicist, says that the grant from Department of Science and Technology is being used by Indian Academy of Sciences, which has started the work of distributing 1000 copies among those who will benefit. Further, abridged versions of these essays, translated into Marathi, have been appearing in Marathi news paper, “Loksatta,” every Saturday from January 2009. There are suggestions and offers to translate the book into different regional languages.