Reflections - Editorial, February 2004

Reflections

T R Seshadri was President of Indian Science Congress held at Hyderabad, in 1967. The presidential address he delivered is still largely relevant with respect to scientific activities, science policy, university education, national research institutions, etc. in India. Here are excerpts from that address.

G Nagendrappa

Science and National Welfare
1967, Hyderabad

Prof. T R Seshadri, F.R.S., F.N.I.

Science and Spirituality … .

Indian thought upholds both religion and Science as valid disciplines in the pursuit of truth. India’s thinkers never found any contradiction between the two. The method of investigation in the field of religion is largely the same as in the positive sciences. A thorough scientific study of the facts of the inner life was undertaken by the great thinkers of ancient India; the insights which they gained were re-tested and amplified by a galaxy of subsequent thinkers. It is because of this that Indian spirituality has stood the test of time and is also fully hospitable to modern Science.