New sciences

Gautam Desiraju of the Indian Institute of Science (but earlier at the University of Hyderabad) along with  J J Vittal of the National University in Singapore and A Ramanan of the IIT Delhi have written the first (and definitive) text on a new field, Crystal Enginnering.

Desiraju is one of the founders of the field, so he is ideally suited to have the first (pedagogic) word as well. This book is important because it is the first textbook in an area that has become very popular in recent times. There are around 250 research groups in crystal engineering worldwide today. The subject has been researched for around 40 years but there is still no textbook at the level of senior undergraduates and beginning PhD students. This book is expected to fill this gap.

The writing style is simple, with an adequate number of exercises and problems, and the diagrams are easy to understand. This book consists major areas of the subject, including organic crystals and co-ordination polymers, and can easily form the basis of a 30 to 40 lecture course for senior undergraduates.

From World Scientific, in our Chemistry Section. In paperback, 232 pages, Rs 895  ISBN: 9789814366861

Another new title, Computational Statistical Physics is the outcome of a Department of Science and Technology Winter School held at the IIT Guwahati,  edited by Sitangshu Santra (IIT-Guwahati) and Purusattam Ray (IMSc, Chennai).

The present book is an outcome of the SERC school on Computational Statistical Physics held at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, in December 2008. Numerical experimentation has played an extremely important role in statistical physics in recent years. Lectures given at the School covered a large number of topics of current and continuing interest.

Based on lectures by active researchers in the field- Bikas Chakrabarti, S Chaplot, Deepak Dhar, Sanjay Kumar, Prabal Maiti, Sanjay Puri, Purusattam Ray, Sitangshu Santra and Subir Sarkar- the nine chapters comprising the book deal with topics that range from the fundamentals of the field, to problems and questions that are at the very forefront of current research.

This book aims to expose the graduate student to the basic as well as advanced techniques in computational statistical physics. Following a general introduction to statistical mechanics and critical phenomena, the various chapters cover Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulation methodology, along with a variety of applications. These include the study of coarsening phenomena and diffusion in zeolites.

In addition, graphical enumeration techniques are covered in detail with applications to percolation and polymer physics, and methods for optimization are also discussed. Beginning graduate students and young researchers in the area of statistical physics will find the book useful. In addition, this will also be a valuable general reference for students and researchers in other areas of science and engineering.

 

In our Physics section, in softcover, 298 pages, Rs 450. ISBN: 9789380250151

More tribute

Cynthia Talbot, Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, edits a new book for Yoda. 

KNOWING INDIA: Colonial and Modern Constructions of the Past honours the contributions of Thomas R. Trautmann to the fields of anthropology and history by presenting research from leading scholars who are his contemporaries, colleagues, and former students. Divided into four sections, the 17 essays in this volume look at modes of conceptualizing and classifying traditional South Asian society, perceptions of the precolonial past in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and aspects of precolonial India's historical development and writing. 

Contributors include reputed contemporaries of Trautmann such as Madhav Deshpande, David Lorenzen, Romila Thapar, and Sylvia Vatuk, as well as former students like Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, Bhavani Raman, and Parna Sengupta who engage with and take off from questions raised by Trautmann. Also containing essays by Michael Dodson, Kenneth Hall, Anne Hardgrove, Judith Irvine, Carla Sinopoli, and Cynthia Talbot, the book ends with three tributes to Trautmann by Tom Fricke, Richard H. Davis and Rama Mantena. 

In our History section,  in paperback. 424 pages. Rs 595, ISBN: 9789380403038

Guru Dakshina

Two recent books that are festschrifts for leading economics gurus are Development Windows for Prof. V M Rao, and Dimensions of Economic Theory and Policy for Prof. Anjan Mukherji. 

What is the role of human capital in the regional location of the software industry? Why did policy rate cuts in India not lead to a rapid lowering of the banks' lending rates in the context of the financial crises? How does women's education impact on patrilocal marriage and cultural norms? What is the impact of the quality of teachers on the growth process in a small economy with a universal public education system? This volume engages with various such topical issues through an innovative use of theory and quantitative tools. The essays underline the significance of economic policy having sound theoretical moorings.

With an interesting mix of topics that have gained importance in the economics discourse in recent times alongside the more classical issues, the volume is divided into three broad themes: (i) general equilibrium, macroeconomics, and dynamic modelling in economics; (ii) applications of game theory to economics and information economics; and (iii) applications of theory to policymaking. The topics covered in Part I include Markov processes, general equilibrium under uncertainty, wealth effects and macroeconomics, aspects of economic growth, and applications of dynamic modelling to forest management and international trade. Part II analyses efficiency wages, collusion in oligopolies, cartels in international competition, price competition in a mixed duopoly, strategic aspects of liability rules, and liquidity preference. Part III provides a rigorous analysis of some socio-economic problems of India.

Professor Mukerji's was one of the anchors of the Centre for Economics Studies and Planning at the JNU, leading the group on mathematical economics. He had a number of distinguished students, three of who are the editors of Dimensions of Economic Theory and Policy, published by OUP. 

In our Economics section, 480 pages in hardcover. Rs 850,  ISBN: 9780198073970

The second book, Development Windows, has been edited by R. S. Deshpande, K. V. Raju, S. M. Jharwal, and D. Rajasekhar, and is published by Academic Press, New Delhi.

The process of understanding development has its roots in the gathered wisdom and training of the elaborator/researcher. Basically the concept has manifold dimensions. Social Scientists have broadly come to terms with the concept of development flavoured with these make-believe borders of disciplines. This is likely to grow worse, if the interdisciplinary underpinnings are not kept in view. This volume makes an attempt to address some of the concerns confronted in literature by providing a partial peep through a few windows to observe development and these are studied by acclaimed social scientists from various disciplinary backgrounds. These windows are opened with a purpose and from an angle, keeping in view the widespread academic interests and research areas frequented by Prof. V.M. Rao, through his writings. Five areas are chosen here: aggregate economic development, agricultural development, irrigation development, poverty and issues of governance. The authors in unison argue for the necessity of a holistic understanding of an economy, society and further need for development of indigeneous way of thinking. It touches upon promising themes of development both at micro as well as macro-level to legitimise the well-deserved places for the issues among the imminent problems. Each of these windows gives us glimpses of different facets of development from the vantage point of the author as also a view from diverse angles, at the world of development. Though fragmented, one gets a picture of the seemingly continuum of development. The intention of this volume is to create an excellent collage of these views through different windows.

As the recent review in The Hindu put it,  The practice of economics in India, especially over the past four decades, has been marked by theory getting eclipsed by a mass of empirical work. The full ramifications of this development warrant a deep and extensive analysis. But there is little doubt that empirical work, carried out with high level of professional competence, provides a sound basis for policy formulation. And in this business of laying such strong empirical foundation few have excelled Professor V. M. Rao.

Also in the Economics section and in Development Studies, 590 pages in hardcover, Rs 1295.  ISBN: 9788171888085

The One True Path

Navayana's new book,  The Buddha’s Way to Human Liberation: A Socio-Historical Approach is by  Nalin Swaris, a Srilankan who was ordained a Catholic priest in 1962 in Bangalore. Swaris gave up priesthood and went to the Netherlands where he obtained a Master’s in Social Sciences in 1973, and followed it up with one in Religions from the Catholic University of Nijmegen. He completed his PhD on the “Buddha’s Way” at the State University of Utrecht in 1997 with summa cum laude. Swaris was also a human rights activist and the author of Buddhism, Human Rights and Social Renewal. He died in April 2011.

In this magisterial study of the social élan of early Buddhism, Nalin Swaris argues that the radical thrust of the Buddha’s teaching is based on his realisation that ‘the individual’ is a fiction of human craving. The Buddha’s decision to found a community of compassion and sharing was the practical expression of his conviction that individualism is the principal obstacle to human happiness. The Buddha’s Way was not discovered and preached in a social vacuum. Orthodox Hinduism classifies its sacred traditions into srutis (sacred truths of the Vedas ‘heard’ by ancient rishis while in a trance) and smritis (codes of conduct). In deliberate counterpoint to the brahman tradition, the majority of the Buddha’s discourses begin with the declaration: Evam me sutam—‘Thus have I heard...’.

Swaris argues persuasively that Buddha’s teachings are not esoteric, but grounded in everyday life. The Dhamma is not a revealed truth that humans could not have discovered by themselves. It is like a light brought into a darkened room so that people could see what is already there, once the fog of delusion is dispelled.

In a style that would appeal to both lay readers and scholars, Swaris shows how the Buddha anticipated Marx, Derrida and Foucault by centuries. 


David Loy, author of A Buddhist History of the West: Studies in Lack says “This highly original work uses a multidisciplinary perspective to determine the original message of Shakyamuni Buddha. Critiquing the usual belief that the Buddha’s ideal of human liberation ‘is to be realised in solitude, away from the everyday concerns of ordinary men and women,’ Swaris demonstrates that the Buddha’s path to awakening is oriented towards social liberation. His main argument offers a different (and persuasive) way of understanding anatta, the doctrine of non-self and non-substantiality. He argues that anatta provides the perspective from which to understand the meaning and significance of all other Buddhist doctrines, especially those relating to the theory and practice of the Buddhist moral life. This is in sharp contrast to the usual interpretations of early Buddhist teachings that are now current in academic Buddhology.”

In our Religion section, in hardcover, 388 pages, Rs 590. ISBN: 9788189059316.