Science and Colonialism: Content and Character of Natural Sciences in the Vernacular School Education in the Madras Presidency (1820–1900)

Abstract

Premising that place of instruction as the primary site of reproduction of world views are crucial for study of meaning change in the science and that the roles of authorship, production, distribution and reception of works within particular sciences and particular periods are important to understand the history of science education, this study examines the scientific education in three types of modern schools, viz, Missionary, Government and Private vernacular schools in the Madras Presidency during the nineteenth century. Though inadequate and elementary, science was not totally absent from the scheme of school education in the Madras Presidency and the place of science in the vernacular education and the attended efforts in publications on science in the vernacular languages can be seen in the context of the socio-political dynamics of the nineteenth century Madras Presidency. This paper locates the place of natural sciences in the school education.

UNAMBIGUOUS IDENTIFICATION OF THE STAR <italic>ĀRDRĀ</italic>

“…Madras Observatory was established in 1786 and evolved into an international solar observatory in the next 100 years (see Kochhar and Orchiston, 2017). There was a paradigm shift in the educational system, with Western scholars teaching astronomy along with subjects like English and mathematics (Venkateswaran, 2007). These developments ought to have helped in blending the two streams; this was not easy in spite of the efforts by a few who were conversant with both systems, such as Chintamani Raghoonathacharry of Madras Observatory (Shylaja, 2009b;Venkateswaran, 2009).…”