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Chemistry and Chemical Techniques in India The
volumes of the PROJECT ON THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE
IN INDIAN CIVILIZATION aim at
discovering the main aspects of India’s heritage and present them in an
interrelated way. These
volumes, in spite of their unitary look, recognize the difference between
the areas of material civilization and those of ideational culture.
The Project is not being executed by a single group of thinkers and
writers who are methodologically uniform or ideologically identical in
their commitments. In fact
different scholars make contributions with different ideological
persuasions and methodological approaches. The Project is marked by what,
may be called 'methodological pluralism'. In
spite of its primary historical character, this Project, both in its
conceptualization and execution, has been shaped by many scholars drawn
from different disciplines. It
is for the first time that an endeavour of such a unique and comprehensive
character has been undertaken to study critically a major world
civilization like India. This
volume presents a succinct account of chemical knowledge and techniques in
the Indian culture-area from prehistoric times to about the eighteenth
century AD. Metals
and metal-working; dyes and pigments; coinage; rocks and minerals;
cosmetics and perfumery; ceramics and glass; paper-making; pyrotechnics
and the like were among the important
chemical practices that were fostered by artisans and craftsmen who scaled
peaks of excellence specially
in metallurgy. Indian alchemy
which came up as a part of tantrik tradition soon transformed itself into
medicinal chemistry and added a veneer of mineral and metallic medicines
treated with plant extracts. A
notable aspect of Indian chemical practices in the ancient and medieval
periods was their inter-relationship with religio-philosophical ideas as
well as cultural embellishment. Such
practices, though mainly endogenous, were not devoid of some exogenous
influences from time to time. The
authors, who are experts in their fields, have portrayed the different
nuances of Indian chemistry and chemical techniques based on extensive
archaeological data as well as literary sources with their scholarly and
integrated interpretations. The
volume is a source book of great value to interested scholars and general
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