HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Varadaraja Venkata Raman (better known as V.V. Raman; born 28 May 1932 in
Calcutta, India Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
Janet Marting, ''Commitment, Voice, and Clarity: An Argument Rhetoric and Reader'' (1996), p. 162.) is Emeritus Professor of Physics and Humanities at the Rochester Institute of Technology.Krista Tippett, ''Einstein's God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit'', Penguin Books, 2010, p. 123. He has lectured and written on his Indian heritage and culture and has also authored books and articles on the intersection of science and religion. Raman has been a frequent guest on the
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
television series ''
Closer to Truth ''Closer to Truth'' is a television series on public television originally created, produced and hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn. The original series aired in 2000 for two seasons, followed by a second series aired in 2003 for a single season. Th ...
''. Scholarly reception of his work has been mixed, with some criticizing his apologias for the metaphysical claims of Hinduism, and others commending his contributions to the conversation on these issues.


Career

Raman was born to a Brahmin Tamil family residing in Bengal. He did his undergraduate work in physics, with a first postgraduate degree in mathematics. He did his doctoral studies in theoretical physics at the
Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...
in Paris, in French under Nobel laureate Louis de Broglie. The focus was the mathematical underpinning of quantum mechanics. He served the UNESCO for several years, "living in many nations as an educational expert for the United Nations."Kevin Hicks, "Rochester's immigrant families find welcome here", ''
Democrat and Chronicle The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. At 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production fac ...
'', Rochester, New York, 22 Dec. 1985, Page B1.
Eventually, Raman emigrated from Calcutta in 1966, and joined the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York as a professor of Physics and Humanities. He would then spend many years as chairman of the RIT Physics Department. By 1983, Raman had become an occasional guest columnist for the Rochester ''
Democrat and Chronicle The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. At 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production fac ...
''.V.V. Raman, "Bridging the abyss between science, religion," ''
Democrat and Chronicle The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. At 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production fac ...
'', Rochester, New York, 21 July 1985, Page 11A.
In 1991, Raman served on a panel to "investigate possible CIA influences on academic programs", and determine whether RIT should cut ties with the American
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
. He was elected the 2004-2005
Metanexus Institute The Metanexus Institute is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1997 to explore scientific and philosophical questions. The institute has organized the exchange of ideas through conferences, and published books. History With the help of Pete ...
Fellow on Science and Religion, in which capacity he delivered six lectures at the Hillel Hall of the University of Pennsylvania on Indic Visions in an Age of Science. In 2006, Raman received the
Raja Rao Award for Literature The Raja Rao Award, in some sources the Raja Rao Award for Literature,L. Macedo, "Dabydeen, David", ''The Encyclopedia of Twentieth‐Century Fiction'', Brian Shaffer, editor, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 1035.Eric Martone, ''Encyclopedia of Blacks i ...
, given for "outstanding contributions to the literature and culture of the South Asian Diaspora".


Reference works

Raman contributed articles or other work to several reference works such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, including Scribner's ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' (1981),''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'',
Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...
, 1981, Vol. XVI, p. 461.
and the Sage ''Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development'', 1st Edition (2005).''Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development'', SAGE Publications, 2005, p. xix. In the mid 2000s Raman served as both a contributing author and one of four executive editors of the eighteen-volume '' Encyclopedia of Hinduism.''


''Closer to Truth''

Since 2008, Raman has been a frequent guest on the
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...
television series ''
Closer to Truth ''Closer to Truth'' is a television series on public television originally created, produced and hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn. The original series aired in 2000 for two seasons, followed by a second series aired in 2003 for a single season. Th ...
'', first appearing as a guest in the series 3 inaugural episode "Does God Make Sense?" He has since made thirty-two additional appearances in the series.


Institute on Religion in an Age of Science

From 2011 to 2013, Raman was President of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science. As one of the few adherents to a non-Abrahamic religion to hold that position, he contributed to "a significant impact in enlarging the horizon of IRAS toward more inclusiveness". During this period of the service (2012), Raman was a lecturer at the
Chautauqua Institution The Chautauqua Institution ( ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education center and summer resort for adults and youth located on in Chautauqua, New York, northwest of Jamestown in the Western Southern Tier of New York State. Established in 1874, the ...
.


Other activities

An admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, Raman spoke publicly in favor of the adoption of Gandhi's methods in the United States. Raman received attention for his role in the public mourning of the Indian community following the assassinations of Indira Gandhi in 1984, and Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Raman chaired an interfaith community effort to foster "peace, harmony and understanding among countries, races, and religions"; he had once expressed that "not on one occasion of interacting with Americans was I made to feel as a foreigner."


Reception

Though Raman has written in defense of religions accepting the truth of
evolution by natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charl ...
, philosopher C. Mackenzie Brown has criticized Raman's approach, noting that Raman has written that certain scientific truths "can also be apprehended through the mystical mode via meditation, prayer, or yogic exercises", and grouping Raman with
Subhash Kak Subhash Kak is an Indian-American computer scientist and historical revisionist. He is the Regents Professor of Computer Science Department at Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, an honorary visiting professor of engineering at Jawaharlal ...
and Gopala Rao as "scientists hoemploy their expertise to confirm teachings of the sadhus and, not infrequently, to deplore the naturalistic theory of Darwinian evolution."C. Mackenzie Brown, ''Hindu Perspectives on Evolution: Darwin, Dharma, and Design'', Routledge, 2012, p. 193, 229. Brown concludes that for Raman, "the urge to lyricize and scientize tradition is clearly irresistible". Robert M. Geraci, chair of religious studies at Manhattan University, describes Raman as "well-known in American conversations about religion and science",Robert M. Geraci, ''Temples of Modernity: Nationalism, Hinduism, and Transhumanism in South Indian Science'', (Lexington Books, 2018)
p. 82
and "the leading voice in this problematic approach to Hinduism and science--who should nevertheless be commended for his work in bringing such conversations to the fore of academic inquiry", and states that Raman "represents the community seeking harmony between Hinduism and science." Elsewhere, Geraci observes that Raman "maintains a tenuous balance between credulity and skepticism." Yiftach Fehige, prefacing an anthology featuring Raman's writing, similarly critiques Raman's approach to Western religions, describing Raman as positioning himself "in opposition to fundamental principles and insights that characterize the field of science and religion" as outlined previously in the book. Fehige notes as well that Raman discounts the ability of Christianity to have been a force behind the development of modern science. '' Numen''s review of the piece finds that Raman "embraces generalizations, willfully brackets (i.e., ignores) local contingencies, and defines both science and religion as essential human phenomena," and "distinguishes "ancient" from "modern" science in normative epistemological terms, showing little interest in historical categorizations or even chronology," but that "despite its many flaws, one commendable outcome of Raman's argument is its disentanglement of "science" and scientific conduct from the clutches of theological biases that see it as intrinsically linked to European Christendom." Another text noted that Raman responded to
Wendy Doniger Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (born November 20, 1940) is an American Indologist whose professional career has spanned five decades. A scholar of Sanskrit and Indian textual traditions, her major works include, 'The Hindus: an alternative history'; ' ...
's criticism of the
Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (ch ...
as a text promoting war by imploring "bookish academics" to show sensitivity to the sacredness accorded the text.
Krista Tippett Krista Tippett (née Weedman; born November 9, 1960) is an American journalist, author, and entrepreneur. She created and hosts the public radio program and podcast '' On Being''. In 2014, Tippett was awarded the National Humanities Medal by U.S. ...
says "V.V. Raman describes... how Hinduism's overarching regard for beauty and the arts has helped to avoid a point-counterpoint between the different forms of knowledge that science and religion convey."


Publications

Robert M. Geraci identified Raman as "the most prolific author on Hinduism and science".Robert M. Geraci, ''Temples of Modernity: Nationalism, Hinduism, and Transhumanism in South Indian Science'', (Lexington Books, 2018)
p. 180-81
Raman has published a large number of books and articles, some through traditional publishing companies and others through self-publication venues.


Books

*''Truth and Tension in Science and Religion'' (Beech River Books, 2009) *''Indic Visions in an Age of Science'' (Metanexus, 2011)


Other

*. * "Albert Einstein: The Human Side", with Helen Dukas, ''American Journal of Physics'', Volume 47, Issue 12, p. 1107 (1979). * One of the numerous contributing authors to Scribner's ''Dictionary of Scientific Biography'' (1981). * "Technology Has Improved Society", for ''Technology and Society: Opposing Viewpoints'' by Auriana Ojeda, Opposing Viewpoints series, Greenhaven Press (2002), p. 23. * One of the 108 contributing authors to the Sage ''Encyclopedia of Religious and Spiritual Development'', 1st Edition (2005). * "Exposing Academic Hinduphobia", book review (2007). * Contributing author and one of four executive editors of the '' Encyclopedia of Hinduism'' produced by the Indian Heritage Research Foundation and published by Rupa & Co. (2010). * "Science International (Beyond the West): The Ups and Downs of Trans-Cultural Science", in ''Science and Religion: East and West'', edited by Yiftach Fehige, Routledge (2015).Egil Asprem
Book Review, "Science and Religion: East and West,"
'' Numen'', Vol. 66, Iss. 2-3, page 38.
* "Thoughts on Deism and Pandeism," in ''Pandeism: An Anthology of the Creative Mind'' (John Hunt Publishing, 2019) .


Personal life

The Tamil language is Raman's mother tongue. One source notes that Raman has a "long-running interest in questions of science and religion", and another that he "meditates each morning on symbols of numbers, music, and science, describing this as an aesthetic experience." In
Ira Flatow Ira Flatow (; born March 9, 1949) is a radio and television journalist and author who hosts Public Radio International's popular program '' Science Friday''. On TV, he hosted the Emmy Award-winning PBS series '' Newton's Apple'', a television s ...
's book, ''Present at the Future'', Raman describes considering himself to be "as much a physicist as one devoted to the other dimension of human life, mainly the spiritual". Raman has two children, a son named Dave a daughter named Indira. The latter is a neurobiologist, and director of the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neurosciences (NUIN) PhD Program.


References


External links


Religious NaturalistRIT Lecture Addresses Science and Religion in Today's World April 17HINDUISM AND SCIENCE: SOME REFLECTIONSReflections of Varadaraja (V. V.) Raman, On Becoming 80V.V. Raman – My Ten Principles of Religious NaturalismA Religious Naturalist Invocation''Closer to Truth'' series profile of Varadaraja V. Raman
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raman, Varadaraja V. Living people 1932 births University of Calcutta alumni University of Paris alumni Indian emigrants to the United States 21st-century American physicists Rochester Institute of Technology faculty Presidents of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science American male writers of Indian descent American religious writers Religious naturalists American male non-fiction writers