''Lilavati's Daughters'' is a collection of nearly one hundred biographical essays on

women scientists The presence of women in science spans the earliest times of the history of science wherein they have made significant contributions. Historians with an interest in gender and science have researched the scientific endeavors and accomplishment ...

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

. Published by the Indian Academy of Sciences (Bangalore) in 2008, the book was edited by Rohini Godbole and Ram Ramaswamy. Reviews have appeared in The Hindu, Nature and C&E News, among other places. The book contains brief biographical and autobiographical sketches of women scientists working in India. Covering a range of disciplines, in these essays the scientists talk of what brought them to science, what kept their interest alive, and what has helped them achieve some measure of distinction in their careers. This collection represents the cultural diversity of the country as well as a diverse range of disciplines, so that any student could gain from the insights and experiences of professional women to whom they may be able to relate at many levels. The title of the collection is a nod to the 12th-century treatise, '' Lilavati'', written by the Indian mathematician

Bhāskara II Bhāskara II (c. 1114–1185), also known as Bhāskarāchārya ("Bhāskara, the teacher"), and as Bhāskara II to avoid confusion with Bhāskara I, was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. From verses, in his main work, Siddhānta Shirom ...

wherein problems in

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th c ...

algebra Algebra () is one of the areas of mathematics, broad areas of mathematics. Roughly speaking, algebra is the study of mathematical symbols and the rules for manipulating these symbols in formulas; it is a unifying thread of almost all of mathem ...

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...

, etc. are discussed via poetic conversations addressed to his daughter Lilavati. The book has been translated in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

as "Leelavatiyude Pennmakkal", published by the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath. A shorter (and different) version of Lilavati's Daughters was brought out as "The Girl's Guide to a Life in Science", edited by Ram Ramaswamy, Rohini Godbole and Mandakini Dubey (co-published with Young Zubaan, New Delhi). This is also an initiative of the Women in Science (WiS) Panel of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore.

There are short biographies of the botanist E. K. Janaki Ammal, the chemists

Asima Chatterjee Asima Chatterjee (23 September 1917 – 22 November 2006) was an Indian organic chemist noted for her work in the fields of organic chemistry and phytomedicine.''The Shaping of Indian Science''. p. 1036. Indian Science Congress Association, Pr ...

and

Darshan Ranganathan Darshan Ranganathan (4 June 1941 – 4 June 2001) was an organic chemist from India who was known for her work in bio-organic chemistry, including "pioneering work in protein folding." She was also recognized for her work in "supramolecular ass ...

, India's first female physician Anandibai Joshee, the anthropologist

Iravati Karve Irawati Karve (15 December 1905 – 11 August 1970) was a pioneering Indian sociologist, anthropologist, educationist and writer from Maharashtra, India. She was one of the students of G.S. Ghurye, founder of Indian Sociology & Sociol ...

, the biochemist Kamala Sohonie, the medical researcher Kamal Ranadive, physicist B. Vijayalakshmi and meteorologist

Anna Mani Anna Mani (23 August 1918 – 16 August 2001) was an Indian physicist and meteorologist. She retired as the Deputy Director General of the Indian Meteorological Department and also served as a visiting professor at the Raman Research Institute. ...

. Autobiographical sketches by a number of distinguished scientists, many of who are currently working in India complete the book. Further details can be found on the Indian Academy of Sciences website. The book presents stories of women scientists who have conducted significant research and have won awards such as the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is confe ...

, the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished servi ...

, the Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Award, the C. V. Raman Award, and other national and international awards. It features female scientists who have been heads of research institutes and have been nominated as Fellows of National Academy of Sciences.

References

2008 non-fiction books 21st-century Indian books Books about scientists Indian biographies Lilavati's Daughters {{science-bio-book-stub

Contents

References