Approaches to the study of history of science underwent critical changes in the last two centuries before they could more definitively tilt towards the social dimensions of the making of science. The development of history of science during the last fifty years has been marked by a proliferation of methods and perspectives rather than by the emergence of a consensus. Given this general background of the intellectual tradition of writing history of science, an effort is made here to assemble a group of scholars from different parts of India to write about 250 years of development of 'science' in the Indian context, covering late pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial periods.

Includes bibliographical references.

Papers presented at a national seminar on Science and society in modern India, held at Kolkata in 2005.