Meera Nanda (born 1954) is an Indian

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and

historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

, who has authored several works critiquing the influence of

Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...

postcolonialism Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and extractivism, exploitation of colonized pe ...

and

postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

on science, and the flourishing of

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

and vedic science. Meera Nanda taught History of Science at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali from 2009 to 2017, and later - from 2019 to 2020 - she was a Guest Faculty in Humanities and Social Sciences at IISER Pune. In 2023 she became a fellow with the

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...

Life and career

Nanda was educated in science and philosophy with a PhD in

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and a PhD in science studies from

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

. She was a

John Templeton Foundation The John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Foundation) is a Philanthropy, philanthropic organization founded by John Templeton in 1987. Templeton became wealthy as a Contrarian investing, contrarian investor, and wanted to support progress in relig ...

Fellow in Religion and Science (2005–2007).Meera Nanda Profile
Three Essays. In January 2009, she was a Fellow at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute for Advanced Study, in the

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

for research in Science, Post-Modernism and Culture. She was also a visiting faculty of history and philosophy of science at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali from 2009 to 15 May 2017. She was a visiting faculty member of the department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IISER Pune in 2019 and 2020.

Religion and Hindu nationalism

Nanda has authored several works on religion, most notably ''Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India'' (2004), and her 2009 book ''The God Market'' which examined how India is experiencing a rising tide of popular Hinduism, including

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

financing of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

despite the nation's secular characteristic. The book was reviewed by

William Dalrymple William Benedict Hamilton-Dalrymple (born 20 March 1965) is a Delhi-based Scottish people, Scottish historian and art historian, as well as a curator, broadcaster and critic. He spends nine months of each year on his goat farm in India. He i ...

in '' Outlook Magazine''.

Works

* ''Postmodernism and Religious Fundamentalism: A Scientific Rebuttal To Hindu Science''. New Delhi: Navayana. 2000. * ''Breaking the Spell of Dharma and Other Essays''. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2002. . * ''Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and the Hindu Nationalism in India''. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2004.
Excerpts
* ''Wrongs of the Religious Right: Reflections on secularism, science and Hindutva''. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2005. * ''The God Market''. Random House, 2010. . * ''Ayurveda Today : A Critical Look'', with C. Viswanathan. Penguin, 2010. . * ''Science in Saffron: Skeptical Essays on History of Science''. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2016. . * ''A Field Guide to Post-Truth India.'' New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2024. ISBN 978-93-83968-44-2.

References

External links

''Science in Saffron''
publisher's page.
''Science in Saffron''
at researchgate.net. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nanda, Meera Living people Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University Philosophers of science IIT Delhi alumni Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni Indian women philosophers 21st-century Indian philosophers American women writers of Indian descent 1954 births 21st-century Indian women scientists 21st-century Indian scientists Writers about Hindu nationalism 20th-century American philosophers American women philosophers Biotechnologists Women biotechnologists Critics of postmodernism 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers 20th-century Indian women writers 20th-century Indian writers 20th-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian scientists 20th-century American women 21st-century American women Indian women political writers Indian political writers Indian political philosophers American women non-fiction writers

Life and career

Religion and Hindu nationalism

Works

References

Further reading

External links