On October 28, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur flew a small plane in the vicinity of Delhi firing a chemical cocktail into clouds in the hope that it could make them rain. This was the first time that cloud seeding was attempted in India as a measure to control air pollution. The rain, the logic went, would make the air borne particulate matter settle. This however was a failure. India has a history of experimenting with cloud seeding thanks to the importance of agriculture and rains. But the history of the science suggests it was of immense interest to militaries. What were the lessons from its early history and what have India's experiments with cloud seeding revealed? The hosts dive into these questions and more. Tune in! Hosts: Sobhana K Nair and Jacob Koshy Recorded, edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston

The solar cooker was the first indigenously developed technological device in Independent India that a generation of scientists and Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, imagined would be an example of technology development. The promise was that millions of Indian villagers would use solar cookers to make their meals. It was breathlessly championed by the National Physical Laboratory, Delhi - a CSIR lab. Very soon however, its poor sale and lack of public acceptance led to a loss of morale among scientist and a fear of state-sponsored technology development.  Tune in to this episode to hear why solar cookers were the God That Failed in India. Hosts: Sobhana K Nair and Jacob Koshy Recorded, produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston

Many of us are familiar with the name Srinivasa Ramanujan and his black and white photograph. He was one of India’s brightest mathematicians. In this episode we dive into his life - from struggling to pass college in Tamil Nadu to reaching the hallowed halls of Cambridge. Ramanujan’s notebooks scribbled with theorems that he discovered continue to frustrate whole generations of mathematicians, who were forever underestimating the sheer density of mathematical riches they contained. This is also the story of the unusual and profound relationship he had with British Mathematician G.H. Hardy. Hardy, who recognised and honed his genius. The two couldn’t have been more different. Hardy, a confirmed atheist while Ramanujan believed that his unique mathematical abilities were God given. Hardy drilled into him the importance of proof. The two worked together for seven-years at Cambridge. Ramanujan died on 26 April 1920 at the age of 33. Hosts: Sobhana K Nair and Jacob Koshy Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston

This episode looks at two of the stalwarts of colonial-era scientists: CV Raman and Meghnad Saha. While Raman - the first and only Indian physics Nobel Laureate - is better known, Meghnad Saha came from a very different background that probably motivated his attitude towards using science for the larger public good. This was different from Raman, who was largely apolitical, and saw science in its purest sense of unravelling the mysteries of the universe. These scientists crossed paths in Calcutta but eventually, distraught by the politics of the place, Raman moved to Bangalore - first to the Indian Institute of Science and eventually setting up his own Raman Research Institute. Hosts: Sobhana K Nair and Jacob Koshy Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston

On June 3rd, Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, revealed that India will be divided into two -- India and Pakistan. Eight days later the State of Travancore, which occupied 7662 square miles in present-day Kerala announced that it would stay independent. The Dewan of Travancore, Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyar, argued that, like Belgium or Thailand, Travancore can exist independently of the two dominions. His ambitions were powered by the extensive Monazite reserve of India. Monazite is a reddish-brown phosphate mineral that contains rare-earth elements, primarily cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, and thorium, often with small amounts of uranium. In the atomic age with all countries, especially the US, looking for sources of nuclear fuel, this was a credible bargaining chip. Homi J. Bhabha, the father of Indian Nuclear Science, also believed in the potential that Monazite held. He believed that this could be utilised for producing nuclear power to meet energy needs of the country. Decades later, Monazite has not lived up to its promise. The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston

‘Sawai’ Jai Singh II (1688-1743) is largely remembered today for establishing the foundations of Jaipur. His life-story is mostly told through a political lens - as is that of most rulers in medieval India - via conquests and loyalty (or disloyalty!) to the extant Mughal empire. However Jai Singh was a scholar of considerable talent and devoted considerable time, energy and resources to astronomy. He developed and improved astronomical tables that tracked planetary motion as well as important stars. He is best known for building a series of observatories or ‘Jantars’-- called ‘Jantar Mantar’-- in Jaipur, Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura among others. Though they are in disuse, they are still testimony to the fact that some Indian medieval rulers contributed to advancing science and led quests to unearth new knowledge about nature. There is also the abiding mystery of how a man as scholarly as Jai Singh completely missed the news in 16th and 17th century of the emerging Scientific Revolution The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston For more episodes of The Rearview:

Ross an army surgeon was born in Almora on May 13 1857, three days before the Great Indian Rebellion. On August 20, 1897, discovered the Malarial parasite in gastro-intestinal tract of a female Anopheles mosquitoes and eventually established the transmission cycle, while serving as army surgeon in India. This groundbreaking discovery laid the foundation for the methods to combat the disease that killed millions and continues to affect many.  He won the Nobel prize in 1902 for it. He was the first British and the first Indian born person to win the Nobel. Tune in to hear his story.  The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston

With William Lambton having completed the Great Trigonometric Survey upto Central India, it fell to his successor, George Everest, to take up the mantle. Unlike his predecessor, who commanded a fierce loyalty among his subordinates, George Everest could be tempestuous and irritable, but he brought his own pioneering innovations to the question that inspired the Survey: How does one accurately map the shape of the Earth.  The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston

Mount Everest has been an enigma for centuries. While an object of worship historically, it presented itself as a tantalising puzzle to the measurement-obsessed surveyors of the East India Company. However this puzzle presented itself in the way it did, only because of an ambitious enterprise that sought to answer a much more fundamental question: What is the exact shape of the earth?  In the first of a  two-episode deep dive, we look into the exploits of William Lambton, who pioneered India's first 'Big Data' exercise called Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston

‘Our whole universe was in a hot dense state and then 14 billion years ago expansion started it .’ This episode is about a scientist and one of the giants of cosmology who would have disagreed with the BareNakedLadies theme song to the Big Bang Theory. Jayant Vishnu Narlikar, who passed earlier this month, was, as a scientist, best known for advancing alternate interpretations to the mainstream consensus that the Universe began as Big Bang. But there is much more to him - institution builder, science writer, astrology-debunker and passionate advocate of everyone honing a scientific temper. The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston Listen to more Rearview podcast episodes:

This week, we explore the lives of three Indian scientists, Kamala Sohoni, Anna Mani, and Janaki Ammal, who were the first women to get doctorates in science in India, making them the first women scientists in India. Spanning meteorology, botany, and nutritional sciences, they had long careers in prominent scientific departments – even heading some of them – at a time when these were overwhelmingly male bastions. Drawing on their published works, we explore their experiences as women scientists, their views on sexism, and whether they worked to improve working conditions for other women scientists. The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Recorded, edited, and produced by Jude Francis Weston

Science isn’t always the noble pursuit of truth. Ambition and greed can sometimes corrupt even promising scientists. This episode delves into one of the all-time great hoaxes perpetrated by Indian palaeontologist and geologist, Vishwajit Gupta, of Panjab University. Over decades, he passed off fossils from different parts of the world as ‘Himalayan fossils’ and was widely commended by an unsuspecting scientific community, until Australian geologist John Talent ripped apart his facade. Gupta’s fraud was similar to what is considered the greatest hoax in science ever, namely, Piltdown Man. How did Gupta carry out his crimes, and how did Talent expose him? Listen in Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Audio edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston

In this episode we dive into the life of Dr Subhash Mukherjee, an obstetrician and gynaecologist from erstwhile Calcutta, who should have been one of India’s most famous and decorated doctors but whose life too a very tragic turn. Dr Mukherjee pioneered techniques in what was then, the fledgling science of In Vitro Fertilisation but his work was ridiculed and denigrated by the establishment, so much so, that it influenced his unfortunate decision to end his life. Why didn’t Mukherjee get the credit he deserved? How did the world eventually learn of his genius. Listen to the Rearview to find out. The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston 

Homi Bhabha, back from England, and embroiled into the scientific institutions of colonial India begins work on his vision of setting up independent scientific institutions. How did he manage to carve out a virtually uninhibited line of communication with Jawaharlal Nehru? How did he get a free hand to shape the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research? Why In spite of resources and patronage,  has the nuclear story in India nit achieved its potential? The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston 

In this episode of The Rearview, we delve into the early years of Homi Jehangir Bhabha, considered the Father of India's atomic energy program. How he gave up a promising career as a theoretical physicist, was nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics, and was as accomplished a musician and artist as he was a scientist. The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston 

In this episode of The Rearview, we chronicle the life of Salim Ali, India's foremost ornithologist and conversationalist. His childhood aim was to be a renowned hunter but the feathered beings charmed him off this ambition. During his lifetime, he carried out extensive bird surveys of the subcontinent - from the far reaches of Afghanistan to the icy plateau of Tibet, Bhutan, Pakistan, and India. His books are still used as field guides for both amateur and professional birders. Later in his life he tirelessly campaigned to conserve India's varied ecosystems - from the Silent Valley to the Bharatpur wetlands. The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Recorded by Aniket Singh Chauhan and Jude Francis Weston Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston. References: AIR Archives Radio Autobiography of Dr. Salim Ali The Fall of a Sparrow The Book of Indian Birds

JBS Haldane was an avowed communist fired by a belief, shared by several intellectuals in the early 20th century, that scientific progress had the potential to shape society. However, Haldane's support for Communism was tested, particularly by the controversial Soviet biologist, Trofim Lysenko, the most influential scientist in the Joseph Stalin regime. Eventually, Haldane was disillusioned by being constantly hounded by the British Secret Service. The episode concludes with his eventual passage to India where he played a key role in setting up biostatistics research at the Indian Statistical Institute. The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Produced and edited by: Jude Francis Weston 

John Burdon Sanderson Haldane a British-born scientist who moved to India at the age of 65-years. He was a pioneer in the field of population genetics, the man who bridged the gap between Darwinian and Mendelian theories, a scientist without science degree, and a Marxist, a public intellectual who made science accessible to his generation and a forever rebel.  The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Produced and edited by: Jude Francis Weston 

00:00 Introduction 02:59 Vikram’s early life 05:00 Gandhi and Tagore 07:11 ‘The Retreat’ 09:30 Vikram’s parents 13:00 Time in Cambridge 16:51 Mrinalini Sarabhai 20:33 Homi J Bhabha 24:15 Sarabhai group 29:50 Interesting anecdote 32:41 Atomic Energy  45:02 Vikram Sarabhai's stand on nuclear bombs 52:17 End. Vikram Sarabhai was the founding chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation. Though he died relatively young at the age of 52, Sarabhai influenced not ony space but also India's atomic energy programme. While very much a product of his times, he was one of the rare Indians, who despite being born into wealth and privilege, chose to direct his resources and abilities to nurturing public scientific institutions. Some of these were so ahead of their time, that their public impact has only begun in the last two or three decades. The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. References/credits:  Elton John - Rocket Man https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtVBCG6ThDk  ISRO and Vikram Sarabhai during it's early years https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2S_9RRbK0Q  Mrinalini Sarabhai 1972 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_CDj25Dh1k Rocket Boys Trailer | SonyLIV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOD-78_0pPU  The Martian -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKd6-ugozkA  Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Produced and edited by: Jude Francis Weston  Listen to more Rearview podcast episodes:

The 29th Conference of Parties (COP) just concluded in Baku, Azerbaijan. In the last 29 years of COP, there have been several dramatic moments, with Presidents crashing meetings, delegates slashing their hands, tears and several sleepless nights. The world though has come a long way from climate change cynics to making incremental changes to contain the catastrophe headed our way. But it hasn't exactly been a linear journey. For every two steps ahead, the world has often moved ten steps backward. Come with us as we take you through the roller coaster history of COPs.  The Rearview is a podcast where the hosts guide you on a scenic route through the history of science. Filled with fascinating anecdotes, deep archival dives, and a closer look at the quirky minds behind groundbreaking ideas. References:  Despite Repeated Warnings - Paul McCartney   US President offers alternative to Kyoto accord  1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment  Trump decides to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement Floods of tears as climate change 'hard man' breaks down at summit President Obama at Copenhagen Climate Change Conference Venezuelan Climate Envoy Recalls 'Bloody Palm' Incident 12-year-old protestor disrupts event at COP28 UN Climate Summit Climate activist Thunberg hits back at Trump over anger management taunt Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair Guest: Priscilla Jebaraj Recorded, produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston