Professor G. Nagarjuna is a visiting professor at IISER Pune, following his professorship at Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (TIFR, Mumbai).
He is a dedicated teacher and researcher who explores how science and philosophy intersect. In this episode, we explore his journey, which spans from studying biology to teaching science education and using technology. He is passionate about free software, open-source learning, and developing unique ways to map out how we build and share knowledge like a giant, connected network.
ChatShaala. ‘ChatShaala – chatShaala for Life-Long STEM Education! Collaborative Open Online and Ongoing Learning through STEM Games, Activities and Projects and Earn Badges from the Referees!’ Accessed 17 September 2026. https://metastudio.org/.
Africa and Africans have had rich knowledge about astronomy. The authors of a recent paper on arXiv explore some interesting issues of where that knowledge comes from and who is exploring it.
The abstract reads:
Africa has deep and diverse traditions of astronomical knowledge, ranging from archaeological astronomy, pharaonic stellar timekeeping, and manuscript astronomy in Timbuktu and the Sahel, to ecological seasonal astronomy in southern Africa and calendrical computation in the Ethiopian tradition. These multiple epistemic traditions form part of a long intellectual history that precedes and intersects with contemporary astronomy on the continent. In the context of this long-standing intellectual heritage, an important question arises regarding the contemporary circulation of African astronomical knowledge within the global scientific system. This study therefore examines where African astronomical knowledge is produced, validated, and circulated in modern scholarly communication. Using bibliometric data from the Web of Science Core Collection, our analysis investigates publication and citation patterns in the research area Astronomy and Astrophysics between 2000 and 2025, with particular attention to the publication venues of African scholars. The findings highlight a critical paradox: while African researchers are active contributors to global astronomical discovery, the intellectual capital generated through this work is largely stored, validated, and circulated through publication systems located outside the continent. This pattern reflects broader asymmetries within global scholarly communication, where dominant publishing infrastructures shape visibility, citation impact, and authority. By applying a decolonial lens to metrics such as citation impact and ownership, the paper calls for a critical reassessment of the academic practices that sustain epistemic coloniality. It concludes that achieving scientific equity requires a strategic shift in publication choices to build and fortify a sovereign African knowledge archive.
There are some impressive snapshots of old manuscripts. An example is shown below:
There are many more interesting points in the manuscript. Check it out.
Reference to the paper:
Koch, Rhea, and Amare Abebe. ‘From Timbuktu to SKA: Who Owns the Astronomy Knowledge Africa Produces?’ arXiv:2608.21119. Preprint, arXiv, 21 August 2026. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.21119.
In his formative years, Karl Popper, the celebrated philosopher of science, had a cabinetmaker as his first teacher. His introduction to epistemology was through an apprenticeship in a furniture shop.
As he mentions: “I believe I learned more about the theory of knowledge from my dear omniscient master Adalbert Pösch than from any other of my teachers. None did so much to turn me into a disciple of Socrates. For it was my master who taught me not only how very little I knew but also that any wisdom to which I might ever aspire could consist only in realizing more fully the infinity of my ignorance.” (Popper, 2002, p. 2)
In Sanskrit, the word Satyagraha (सत्याग्रह) is made of two parts: ‘Satya’ (सत्या) means truth. ‘Āgraha‘ (आग्रह) means insistence. In this blog, my aim is to connect the scientific thought process to the concept of Satyagraha.
At the beginning of this year, I posted a doodle on three ways to make India more scientific. It drew quite a bit of attention across various platforms, including the one you are reading this message on.
In that doodle, I mentioned three points on how to inculcate a scientific viewpoint among us:
Speaking about science in our mother tongue. This means using our household language as a medium for scientific discussion.
Encouraging people to ask questions. It goes without saying that the bedrock of our exploration is curiosity, and the primary prerequisite for curiosity is asking questions and trying to figure out the answers.
Projecting scientific thinking as a lifestyle.
It is the third point that is central to our discussion. So, what do we mean by projecting scientific thinking as a lifestyle? It means we should be able to incorporate scientific thought processes into our everyday lives. For example, utilizing simple mathematical and statistical thinking to understand the affairs of the world. Adopting it as a lifestyle also means making it a part of ourselves, such that it becomes an automatic way of looking at the world. This means it should become second nature for us to use a scientific viewpoint when observing our external world, especially when we have to make decisions. We have to actively seek scientific information and try to understand how it connects to our lives. The source of scientific information becomes important, and we should critically evaluate the source before we adopt it into our lives.
This also brings us to the point of how to utilize scientific thinking without compromising our humility and compassion. Just because we are equipped with scientific thinking, it does not mean that we should be condescending. This is where patience, humility and compassion have a role to play. The ability to understand others’ viewpoints and then respond scientifically is one of the most important aspects of our scientific education. Even when we criticize someone’s viewpoint, our critique will hold value only if we try to refute it from a scientific perspective. Many complex issues do not have straightforward solutions. This does not mean that there is no solution at all, but to arrive at a solution, we need to understand the problem in detail. This understanding is essentially how we develop an appreciation for somebody else’s viewpoint. We should be patient enough to hear others’ perspectives and then evaluate them with as much information as is available. This is a gradually learned process.
Another hallmark of scientific thinking is the willingness to change our viewpoints in light of new data that proves our old data wrong. This ability to self-correct is probably one of the greatest strengths of scientific thinking, and it is this trait that we must cultivate in our lives.
What is important for fostering scientific thinking is knowing how to utilize it in our everyday lives and trying to explore what the actual truth is. Indian philosophical roots have a word for the pursuit and/or insistence of truth. It is called Satyagraha. Although people in India associate Satyagraha with the anti-colonial movement, its deeper philosophical meaning connects well to the pursuit of science and scientific thinking. Like all tools and thought processes, it is vital for us to ensure scientific thinking is utilized in the proper context and in a humane way. Rational thought from an Indian philosophy has a lesson for us: pursue the truth with intent. Science, after all, is Satyagraha (सत्याग्रह).
I heard that some (dummy) schools across India skip the lab component of school education. If this is true, it is a major disservice to the intellectual development of a student and should be curtailed.
Note: a class demo/YouTube video cannot compensate for a lab.
At the heart of becoming good at building things is to experiment. A lab is a place to do such experiments, and in there, a student can think and learn by using their mind and hands. A lab is not just about equipment, but a form of thinking, which develops a(p)ttitude.
This form of thinking is important not only for scientific pedagogy but also for the development of skills complementary to what one learns in a classroom. There is no serious education in STEM without exposure to a laboratory (including maths/computer science)
Downstream in a society, a culture of lab is closely connected to thinking, questioning, tinkering, building, testing and manufacturing. And eventually economics.
A culture of experimental thinking is fostered in a lab.
Binay Panda is a Professor at JNU’s School of Biotechnology. The Oxford-educated scientist specializes in genome science, cancer genomics, and data integration, while advocating for open science and Indian biofoundries. He is also an avid long-distance cyclist.
In this freewheeling conversation, we discuss his intellectual journey and his thoughts on doing science, particularly in India.
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