Nurturing the Scientific Temper and Vision of Ancient Indian Physicists through NCERT Science Textbooks: An Analysis

Abstract

Scientific temper, according to Jawaharlal Nehru is a journey towards the search for truth, divinity of everything living, their cooperative development, leading to greater freedom and higher stages of human growth (1946, p.515). This spirit is visible in our Ancient Indian Physicists, documented in the surviving literature, dealing with the  new frontiers of physics. As part of textbook review, undertaken bythe National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in 2017, Ancient Indian Knowledge had been incorporated.The objectives of the study were to analyze the content of the revised NCERT Science Textbooks from the point of view of integrating the scientific knowledge and spirit of ancient Indian Physicists,to identify the gaps,and to make recommendations for the effective integration of the above-mentioned components in the Science Textbooks.This was a descriptive study undertaken through content analysis. It was found that the content on Ancient Indian Physics Knowledge in the revised edition of NCERT Science Textbooks is concentrated only in Science Textbook of class VIII,in the chapter“Stars and Solar System".There is a scope to incorporate the original investigations and discoveries of Ancient Indian Physicists. The Union Cabinet of Government of India incorporated the vision and wisdom of the ancient Indian knowledge system while launching the New Education Policy in July 2020, designed to transmit and incorporate United Nation’s SDG4. The Indian Government has taken a policy decision to once again incorporate the ancient Indian knowledge related with science and other disciplines in the forthcoming revision of NCERT Textbooks.