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Meera Nanda

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Meera Nanda
Born1954 (age 69–70)
India
OccupationWriter, academic

Meera Nanda (born 1954) is an Indian writer and historian of science,[1] who has authored several works critiquing the influence of Hindutva, postcolonialism and postmodernism on science, and the flourishing of pseudoscience and vedic science. She currently is a visiting faculty of humanities and social sciences at IISER Pune.

Life and career

Nanda was educated in science and philosophy with a PhD in biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and a PhD in science studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.[2][3]

She was a John Templeton Foundation Fellow in Religion and Science (2005–2007).[1][4] In January 2009, she was a Fellow at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute for Advanced Study, in the Jawaharlal Nehru University for research in Science, Post-Modernism and Culture.[5] She was also a visiting faculty of history and philosophy of science at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali from 2010 to 15 May 2017. She was a visiting faculty member of Humanities and Social Sciences, IISER Pune in 2019 and 2020.

Religion and Hindu nationalism

Nanda has authored several works on religion, most notably Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India (2004),[6] and her 2009 book The God Market which examined how India is experiencing a rising tide of popular Hinduism, including government financing of Hinduism despite the nation's secular characteristic. The book was reviewed by William Dalrymple in Outlook Magazine.[7][8]

Works

  • Postmodernism and Religious Fundamentalism: A Scientific Rebuttal To Hindu Science. New Delhi: Navayana. 2000. ISBN 81-89059-02-5
  • Breaking the Spell of Dharma and Other Essays. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2002. ISBN 81-88394-09-2.
  • Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and the Hindu Nationalism in India. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2004. ISBN 81-7824-090-4. Excerpts
  • Wrongs of the Religious Right: Reflections on secularism, science and Hindutva. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2005. ISBN 81-88789-30-5
  • The God Market. Random House, 2010. ISBN 81-8400-095-2.
  • Ayurveda Today : A Critical Look, with C. Viswanathan. Penguin, 2010. ISBN 9780143065128.
  • Science in Saffron: Skeptical Essays on History of Science. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2016. ISBN 978-93-83968-08-4.[9]

References

Further reading

External links