Whines in India (was Re: "Science" in India)

[hans henrich hock]

Hear, hear!

I'm giving this list one more week to get to avoid ad-hominem
attacks--no matter at whom they are directed and from whom they come.
If there is no change, I will ask to withdraw from the list.

Hans Henrich Hock


>Michael,
>I am sure you are not in the same league of India-bashing
>as Steve Farmer is.  Can we give the country some credit
>that's due?  To extrapolate that a faking Rajaram was
>a product of failing Indian science is just dangerous
>and is extremely subjective.
>
>Again I am repeatedly told that this forum is not for
>political opinions.  So why are these statements made
>and as Dominic would say "needs airing"?  Do they really
>to help the cause of "Indology"?
>
>I would continue to say that the discipline in Indian
>educational system is superior to many other systems.
>However I believe thay are not matters for discussion
>here.  Can we refrain?
>
>Let us fight inobjective scholarship, but not a people!
>All of us should examine our hearts for any bias in
>reaching a conclusion.
>
>Regards,
>
>Bijoy Misra
>
>On Mon, 23 Oct 2000, Michael Witzel wrote:
>
> > >A total of 39 Science/Technology Institutes...
> > >... eight (the largest number from any single country) are from India.
> > >Five of the top eight schools are from India.
> >
> > >Even Japan .... has only five schools ....
> >
> >
> > So sorry, fuzzy math!
> >
> > If Japan had the population of India, it should have/would need 8 times as
> > many top institutions, thus c. 40  ....
> >
> > But, not with just 120 million people: for whom would they produce all
> > these engineers/technocrats? For export?
> >
> > India has five schools and should have, in comparison to Japan's
> > population, c. 40
>
> >
> > China (minus HK, Taiwan) with just 5 is roughly comparable.
> >
> > Simple absolute numbers don't do it. Otherwise, what about relatively small
> > countries/units,
> > Singapur and Hongkong, having one each??  Or, Thailand, etc. etc. etc.
> > ========================================================
> > Michael Witzel
> > Department of Sanskrit & Indian Studies, Harvard University
> > 2 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, USA
> >
> > ph. 1- 617-496 2990 (also messages)
> > home page:  http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm
> >
> > Elect. Journ. of Vedic Studies:  http://www1.shore.net/~india/ejvs
> >