Indian society is characterized by immense diversity, a fact which the public and scholars of all hues have never failed to acknowledge and remind us. This claim is undeniably true but what needs reminding too is the other parallel fact of unity. Among the various structural and socio-cultural traits which Indians across cultures, castes, classes and creeds share, it is the love for sport and in particular cricket which stands out.
In this age of the image, given that the use of the visual in academia has not been the norm, it is interesting to know how established scholars came to appreciate that there is now space for images. Well-known historian Vinay Lal’s thirty-year teaching experience in the US led him to believe that ‘the printed text is but a foreign object to most students.
Ever since his emergence on the political canvas in the early decades of the twentieth century, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), Father of the Indian Nation, has dominated politico-philosophical ideas and socio-cultural formations across space and time. Gandhi had become a legend in his own lifetime
Dancing peacocks, sinuous Kalpavriksha Trees of Life laden with fantastical flowers, fruits and birds…We Indian textile buffs have all feasted our eyes, either in person or in books, on the fabulous painted and printed chintz textiles that were produced on the Coromandel coast in India and their embroidered counterparts for the English and European market during the 17th and 18th century.
So, are mathematical models magical or mistakes? Neither is what Erica Thompson systematically demonstrates in her book. She quotes statistician George Box, who said, ‘All models are wrong’, but then, goes on to highlight its second part, ‘All models are wrong, but some are useful.’Mathematical models lie in a place somewhere between blind faith and total rejection—judicious application. The book explores the limitations and pitfalls of relying solely on mathematical models to understand complex systems.
It is not too often that one comes across a comprehensive book on Indian publishing. We grew up on A Career in Book Publishing and 15 Years of Indian Publishing by Samuel Israel, the doyen of India’s publishing industry. One of the earliest books on publishing is BS Kesavan’s (First National Librarian of independent India), History of Printing and Publishing in India in three volumes. We also have BG Verghese’s edited essays in Indian publishing titled Beyond the Headlines.