University of Leeds Centre for History and Philosophy of Science
Please join us for an online seminar on Wednesday 23rd February (15:15 UK time)
by Dr. Sarah A. Qidwai, University of Regensburg
Title: 'The Communication of Scientific Knowledge in British India: Investigating Local Actors as Science Popularizers'
Abstract: In 1844, Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), founder of Aligarh Muslim University, published a translation titled Tashil fi Jar-e Saqil (Principles of Mechanics) in India. This publication, an Urdu translation of a Persian text, was an extract of an Arabic risala (a short treatise) from Yemen. In Tashil, Sayyid Ahmad translated the use of various machines that could lift heavy objects, cut hard material, and squeeze intractable matter. This text was his first attempt to popularize scientific texts into a local vernacular language; Urdu in this instance. From the 1860s onwards, he moved away from Persian sources and started focusing on English texts. In 1864, he established a society in Ghazipur called The Scientific Society. The society's stated purpose was to translate historical and scientific texts from English to Urdu.
In this paper, using Sayyid Ahmad as a template, I argue that we can begin to understand science popularization in British India once we focus on vernacular languages and local figures translating sources into them. In this case, while Sayyid Ahmad's translations moved away from Persian sources to English ones, the translations were always in Urdu. Thus, in his historical context, Sayyid Ahmad could be labeled a science popularizer to some extent. Overall, this paper aims to starts a conversation around science popularizers from the Global South and how to identify them.
Join Zoom Meeting here<https://universityofleeds.zoom.us/j/84087730264>
Meeting ID: 840 8773 0264
Dr Ellen Clarke
Lecturer in Philosophy, Director of the Centre for History & Philosophy of Science
School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT
Some plugs:
My blog series 'How to finish a book(?)'<https://philosomama.blogspot.com/2021/09/how-to-finish-book.html>
'The Space Between'<https://philpapers.org/rec/CLATSB-4> which includes my plea for our accounts of human cognitive evolution to become less macho
https://Hpsleeds.wordpress.com<https://hpsleeds.wordpress.com/> The site of the Leeds Centre for history and Philosophy of Science
My virtual exhibition Celebrating Black Philosophers<https://sway.office.com/gWLbvQw8YaKSjrmN?ref=Link>
HPS in 20 objects<https://sway.office.com/cEekCFBF5CGFbYVj?ref=Link> A series of talks about the objects in Leeds' Museum of History Of Science, Technology and Medicine
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