“Aeroplane is a vehicle which travels through the air from one country to another country, from one continent to another continent, and from one planet to another planet.”
...was the timely explanation given at the 2014 Indian Science Congress as part of a paper titled “Ancient Indian Aviation Technology” by Anand Bodas and Ameya Jadhav.
Siddartha Deb writes about the curious story of how the supposedly ancient document "Vymanika Shastra" or “Science of Aeronautics" on which this presentation was based came to be written. Except that the document is not that ancient.. it is about a hundred years old and the flying machines that it describes are incapable of flying...
Deb also opines about the role of a resurgent Hindu nationalism and what all this tells us about India's place in the modern world. There are some very funny passages in the article, but ultimately you are left feeling sad... sad about a spineless science administration for letting this absurdity play out at a science conference. And sad at the delusions that drive people, at the resulting perversion of science, at the increasing intolerance for rational debate in this country and the damage it is doing to our society.
...was the timely explanation given at the 2014 Indian Science Congress as part of a paper titled “Ancient Indian Aviation Technology” by Anand Bodas and Ameya Jadhav.
Siddartha Deb writes about the curious story of how the supposedly ancient document "Vymanika Shastra" or “Science of Aeronautics" on which this presentation was based came to be written. Except that the document is not that ancient.. it is about a hundred years old and the flying machines that it describes are incapable of flying...
Deb also opines about the role of a resurgent Hindu nationalism and what all this tells us about India's place in the modern world. There are some very funny passages in the article, but ultimately you are left feeling sad... sad about a spineless science administration for letting this absurdity play out at a science conference. And sad at the delusions that drive people, at the resulting perversion of science, at the increasing intolerance for rational debate in this country and the damage it is doing to our society.
http://www.sanskritimagazine.com/vedic_science/why-modern-scientists-shouldnt-dismiss-vedic-knowledge-of-air-travel/
ReplyDelete