SOAS, University of London (The School of Oriental and African Studies)

The importance of being nuclear: big science and state formation in mid-twentieth century India

Jahnavi will talk about her first book on the beginnings of nuclear physics research and education in India. The book examines three intertwined transitions: India’s move from imperial possession to independent nation-state; the shift within physics from table-top laboratory experiments to large-scale electronic assemblies, often described as ‘big science’; and the transformation of the international order from imperialism to the Cold War structure of superpower opposition. Her central concerns are the effects of this tripartite shift on the establishment of experimental nuclear physics in university laboratories in India.