The Indian Academy of Science

Founded in 1934

The Indian Academy of Science was founded in Bangalore in 1934. It was formally registered on 24 April 1934 with the formal inauguration taking place on 31 July 1934. There were 65 founding fellows and on the day of the inaugural meeting Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was elected as the first president. Raman, who had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930, was also a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, the Paris Academy of Sciences and the USSR Academy of Sciences. He is best known for the phenomenon of inelastic light scattering which is named the 'Raman effect' after him. Raman held the Presidency of the Academy until his death in 1970.

Among the aims of the Academy, as set out at the time of its foundation, were:-

To promote progress and uphold the cause of both the pure and applied branches of science.
To encourage and publish important researches in the branches of science comprehended by the Academy and to represent internationally the scientific work of India.
To publish books, memoirs, journals, proceedings and transactions relating to scientific researches in pure and applied branches initiated by the Academy and those conducted under the direction of Provincial Academies, the Universities and Government Scientific Institutions.
To organise and arrange for the meetings of the Congresses, Committees and Conferences for reading and discussing papers submitted to the Academy, advising Government and other bodies on scientific and other matters referred to the Academy and to co-operate with the National Research Council when instituted.

The Academy Proceedings began publication in July 1934 and in July 1935 it split into two, one part devoted to physical sciences and the other to life sciences. In 1973 publications were further split into several journals aimed as specific scientific disciplines. At this time publication of the Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences - Mathematical Sciences began. We should mention the special issues that are produced, in particular the Srinivasan Ramanujan Birth Centenary Volume published in December 1987:-

The life and work of Srinivasa Ramanujan are of unique significance to all enthusiasts of mathematics, professionals and amateurs alike. It is a matter of pride for us in India, that despite the unfortunate brevity of his life and lack of formal training his work continues, even after seven odd decades, to generate new and vital mathematics and more and more of it is being applied outside mathematics. The story of the towering genius is, on the other hand, an invaluable reminder to us to explore with confidence our potentialities as also to keep up a dynamic interaction with the global mainstream.

The Academy runs many conferences each year. Recent mathematics conferences organised in 2003 were Theory and applications of statistics held in St Thomas College, Pala and Current trends in mathematics held in Madras Christian College, Chennai. Today the Academy has over 800 Fellows together with 45 Honorary Fellows.

Visit the society website.

Last Updated August 2004