Guest guest Posted March 24, 2004 Report Share Posted March 24, 2004 Dear Jyotishis, what do you think about this? Astrology is not a Science This web site describes a letter that was written in response to a recent decision by the University Grants Commission in India, sanctioning the "science of Astrology" as an academic discipline at Colleges and Universities in India [Reference: Science Vol 292, No. 5514, p.27 (2001) ]. Please take a moment to read the letter below. If you agree with the letter, please join distinguished scientists from around the world in expressing your concern. The following is the text of a letter that was sent to the chairman of the University Grants Commission of India and other Indian officials on July 25, 2001. To, Dr. Hari Gautam, Chairman, University Grants Commission Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg New Delhi - 110 002 Dear Dr. Gautam: Recently, the University Grants Commission has proposed that the study of Vedic Astrology be sanctioned as an academic discipline at colleges and universities in India due to "...an urgent need to rejuvenate the science of Vedic Astrology...". We believe that the criteria for validation in astrology are fundamentally different from those on which science is based. Therefore, we strongly disagree with the characterization of astrology as a science. Scientific education in India is highly respected all over the world. The inclusion of astrology as a science would represent a major setback. We believe that other ways can be found to promote respect for India's ancient culture that do not involve a direct contradiction with contemporary science to which so many Indians have been distinguished contributors. We urge the Universities Grants Commission to withdraw this initiative. cc: The Honorable Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India. *********** A short list of eminent scientists who have signed the letter: Prof. Sheldon Glashow, Boston University, Nobel Laureate in Physics Prof. P. W. Anderson, Princeton University, Nobel Laureate in Physics Prof. Guenter Ahlers, University of California at Santa Barbara, Fellow AAAS Prof. Abhay Ashtekar, Pennsylvania State University, President, ACIPA Prof. Jeeva S. Anandan, University of South Carolina, Past President, ACIPA Prof. Sol M. Gruner, Cornell University, Director, CHESS Prof. Will Happer, Physics department, Princeton University Prof. Jainendra Jain, Physics department, Pennsylvania State University Prof. Shamit Kachru, Packard Fellow, Physics department, Stanford University Prof. Lawrence Krauss, Lilienfield Prize winner, Case Western University Prof. Shrinivas Kulkarni, John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Professor, California Institute of Technology Prof. Elliot H. Lieb, Princeton University, Member U.S. National Academy of Sciences Prof. Jean-Claude PECKER, Membre de l'Institut, Prof. Honoraire au College de France Prof. Joseph Polchinski, Physics department, University of California at Santa Barbara Prof. Claudio Rebbi, Physics department & Center for Computational Science, Boston University Dr. Anirvan Sengupta, Bell Laboratories, Lucent Techologies Prof. Shivaji Sondhi, Physics department, Princeton University Prof. Alan Sokal, Professor of Physics, New York University Prof. Kameshwar Wali, Syracuse University, ACIPA Scientist of the Year 2001 Prof. Anthony Zee, Physics department, University of California at Santa Barbara *********** Co-ordinating committee: Shyamsunder Erramilli, Boston University Anupam Garg, Northwestern University Harsh Mathur, Case Western Reserve University Web Site manager: Brian Gregor, Boston University REFERENCE: ***** Excerpt from Science Vol 292, No. 5514, p.27 (2001): [For the original reference, the magazine web site is http://www.sciencemag.org ] Indian scientists are dismayed by government plans to sanction Vedic astrology as an academic discipline. The University Grants Commission (UGC) is soliciting proposals from universities to "rejuvenate the science of Vedic astrology," which uses Hindu teachings and planetary alignments to plumb earthly events. ****** TOP Here is the complete list of signatories: First Last Place Ramkiran I.I.T. Bombay Krishna Indian Institute of Technology Archana Achalere department of Physics,University of Pune Sreangsu Acharyya gssl Jose Afonso Imperial College Of Science, London Guenter Ahlers University of California at Santa Barbara Rupasri Ain University of Kansas Medical Center Ujjaini Alam IUCAA Daniel Altschuler National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center Mahesh Anand University of Cambridge Jeeva Anandan University of South Carolina Joseph Andersen Physics Dept. University of Queensland Jean-Louis Aroui Universite Paris 8 Sunil Arya Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Abhay Ashtekar The Pennsylvania State University Kumar Bahuleyan Brain & Spine Center Jayanth Banavar Penn State University Rama Bansil Boston University Rahul Basu The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai 600 113 Timothy Bedding University of Sydney Ralf Bennartz University of Kansas Nikhil Bhatnagar James Logan High School Harish Bhatt Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore 560 034, India Pijushpani Bhattacharjee Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore 560 034, India Satyaki Bhattacharya University of California, San Diego Rangeet Bhattacharyya Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Varsha Bhosle rediff.com Hayley Bignall University of Adelaide Pravina Borhade Department of Physics,University of Pune Richard Bossart Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Switzerland Michael Burton Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies John Butler Boston University Iver Cairns University of Sydney Mark Calabretta Australia Telescope National Facility Ramez Campbell University of Queensland Bidisha Chakrabarty Datamatics Technologies Limited Sumita Chakraborty University of Michigan Subrata Chakraborty Physical Research Laboratory Philip Charles University of Southampton Philip Charles University of Southampton Anirban Chatterjee Prajakta Chaudhari Department of Physics, University of Pune Aaron Chippendale Australia Telescope National Facility John Chivers R. Sekhar Chivukula Boston University Brajesh Choudhary California Institute of Technology Durga Choudhury A private company Anne Coles University of Queensland Neil Comins University of Maine Liz Craig Kansas Citizens For Science Hans Crockett Imperial College Arnold Dahm Case Western Reserve University Stephen Danford Univ of North Carolina at Greensboro Ranjan Das Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tapas Das IUCAA/Astronomy Unit, School of Math. Sci. QMW. Univ of London Ranjan Das Tata Institute of Fundamental Research K. Das Gupta Indian Institute of Science Ujjaini Dasgupta Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Amitava Datta Jadavpur University Giancarlo De Pol Dipartimento di Fisica - Padova Shantanu Desai Boston University Avinash Dhar Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Richard Dodson University of Tasmania Jean Dommanget Comité Para Peter Drummond University of Queensland John Dunlop Auckland Stardome Observatory Binita Dutta Rallis Research Center Sushma E Sun Microsystems, India Isabel Echeverria University of Wisconsin Thomas Eck Case Western Reserve University Shyamsunder Erramilli Boston University Stefan Estreicher Texas Tech University Akilesh Eswaran University of Cambridge Duncan Farrah Imperial College, London David Farrell Case Western Reserve University Ansar Fayyazuddin Stockholm University Christopher Fellows University of Sydney Gerardo Fernández Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas Lorenzo Fortunato Padua university and INFN Andrew Fraknoi Foothill College Roger Freedman University of California, Santa Barbara Deborah Fygenson University of California, Santa Barbara Rebecca Gardiner Keele University Anupam Garg Northwestern University Robert Geller University of California Tapasi Ghosh Arecibo Observatory, NAIC/Cornell University Amit Ghosh Pennsylvania State University Tapasi Ghosh Arecibo Observatory, NAIC/Cornell University Rajesh Gopakumar Harvard University Scott Gordon Physics Department, Queensland University Brian Gregor Boston University Yves Grosdidier IAC Sol Gruner Cornell University Sarva Guha Urmi Guha Industry Alberto Guijosa Stockholm University Alok Gupta Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad Rajalakshmi Gurumurthy Indian Institute of Astrophysics Thomas Gutierrez University of California, Davis Devon Hamilton OSC Salman Habib Los Alamos National Laboratory Siyuan Han University of Kansas Diana Hannikainen University of Southampton Helen Hansma University of California William Happer Princeton University Lynn Hatfield Texas Tech Universityy Alan Held Universitaet Bern Broch Henri University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis (France) Christian Hoelbling Boston University Daniel Hone UC Santa Barbara Mi Hong Boston University Gary Horowitz University of California, Santa Barbara Juyang Huang Texas Tech Univ. Faheem Hussain The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste Hans Isaksson Karolinska Institute Liviu Ivanescu Universite de Montreal Savitri Iyer State University of New York at Geneseo Distler Jacques University of Texas at Austin Shilpa Jain Dept. of Physics, Pune University Jainendra Jain Pennsylvania State University Shilpa Jain Dept. of Physics, Pune University Allen Janis University of Pittsburgh Thiagarajan Jayaraman Institute of Mathematical Science, Chennai Pallavi Jha University of Cambridge Simon Johnston University of Sydney Melanie Johnston-Hollitt Adelaide University Edwin Jones University of South Carolina Janhavi Joshi Indian Institute of Science Shamit Kachru Stanford University Christian Kaiser University of Southampton Ivan Kelly University of Saskatchewan Mike Kenyon Keele University Lisa Kewley Australian National University Pushpa Khare Physics Department, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, 751004 Johan Kieken Observatoire de Bordeaux Noretta Koertge Indiana University Kiran Kolwankar Ecole Polytechnique Kenneth Kowalski Case Western Reserve University Lawrence Krauss Case Western Reserve University Kapil Krishan Georgia Institute of Technology Badri Krishnan Pennsylvania State University Rajendra Kshirsagar Dept. of Physics, University of Pune Shrinivas Kulkarni California Institute of Technology Gauri Kulkarni Department of Physics, University of Pune Vinod Kumarappan Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai Paul Kwiat University of Illinois Kenneth Lane Boston University Dan Larhammar Uppsala University Elliott Lieb Princeton University Leslie Lieberman University of Florida Jose Lopez University of PR at Mayaguez Kevin Lynch Boston University Georgeta Maris Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy Subhendra Mahanti Michigan State University Karmadeva Maharana Utkal University Martin Mahner Center for Inquiry - Europe Sriparna Majumdar Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Parthasarathi Majumdar The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, India Arnab Majumdar Boston University Krishnamruthy Manchikanti TIFR Swapan Mandal Visva Bharati University Sergey Marchenko Universite de montreal Rose Marloe CIA, Langeley Smita Mathur The Ohio State University Anil Maybhate Indian Institute of Science Harry McDonald Kansas Association of Biology Teachers Steven McGahey University of Queensland Vince McIntyre Australia Telescope Douglas McKay University of Kansas Gerald Meisner University of North Carolina - Greensboro Adrian Melott University of Kansas Frederic Mina West Morris Central HS Marc Mistral Subhendra Mohanty Physical Research Laboratory Peter Morse Santa Monica College Eugene Mosca United States Naval Academy PIa Mukherjee Kansas State University Ayash Mukherjee Indian Institute of Science Subir Mukhopadhyay Stockholm University Partha Mukhopadhyay All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi César Valentín Murillo Robles Gobierno del Estado de Zacatecas Jayant Murthy The Indian Institute of Astrophysics Nils Mustelin Technology Center Finland Ajay Nandgaonkar Department of Physics, University of Pune, Pune, India Meenakshi Narain Boston University Ramesh Narayan Harvard University David Newman University of Alaska - Fairbanks Ezra Newman University of Pittsburgh Reuben Ogburn Stanford University Richard Ogley Keele University Archana Pai Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics Debjani Pal Indian Institute of Science Birendra Pandey Centre for Plasma Astrophysics, K.U. 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