The Rearview

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 

India has nearly 30 calendars at the time of Independence and they seemed one too many. This prompted Jawaharlal Nehru to task a committee chaired by the physicist, Meghnad Saha, to reform India’s calendars and come up with a rational, scientific calendar that accurately charted the festivals while being scientific. How did various clocks in India reconcile and become Indian Standard Time and because time is ultimately fixed for arbitrary reasons, what happens when our body clocks go out of whack.

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:

The Doors - Break On Through

Pink Floyd - Time

Bob Dylan - The Times They Are A-Changin' 

Apna Time Aayega from Gully Boy

Susan Maughan - Time Is Such a Funny Thing

Coldplay - Clocks

Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where The Time Goes?

Hosts: Jacob Koshy and Sobhana K Nair

Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston

In September 2022 Government of India brought the first batch of Cheetahs from Namibia to the Kuno National Park, in an effort to reintroduce Cheetahs, which disappeared from Indian Forests for nearly 70-years now. But it was not the first time the African Cheetahs were coming in. Listen in to know more.

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 

Intro music by Jacob Koshy

It is that time of the year when a select few individuals across the globe get calls at unearthly hours from Sweden to tell them that they won the world's most coveted award. In this episode of The Rearview, we dive into the story of Jagadis Chandra Bose inventor extraordinaire, scientist, teacher, philosopher, pioneering science fiction writer - and alongside Mahatma Gandhi, arguably pretty high up on the long list of people who should have got the Nobel Prize but didn’t. This despite his groundbreaking work in plant physiology and radio waves.

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 

Intro music by Jacob Koshy

Music - Lorne Balfe - "Nobel Prize"

The annual southwest monsoons are an inseparable part of India's economy and cultural ethos. Thanks to this, there's a long historical association with trying to forecast its arrival, distribution and impact across the country. The India Meteorological Department, the official forecaster of the monsoon, has its inception in India's colonial past and through the decades has evolved multiple methods and approaches to predicting the monsoon.

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 

Music by Jacob Koshy

Prominent among the controversies at the Olympics this year was a boxing match between Algerian Iman Khelif and Angela Carini, from Italy. The bout, which lasted all of 46 seconds, was won by Khelif and was memorable despite having little to do with pugilism. Accusations flew that she had won because she was a man and, by implication, had cheated. While Khelif was eventually vindicated, this incident was just another pit stop in the long and fractious controversy surrounding sex determination and elite sport. 

Are the biological categories of ‘men’ and ‘women’ sacrosanct? Is  the dispute about ‘woke’ ideas contesting for publicity? How accurate is the science on sex-determination? What is the origin-story of these controversies?

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 

Podcast music by Jacob Koshy