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
*****
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.
******
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Here is the complete list of signatories:
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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. Leuven |
Sanjay | Pandey | L. B. S. College, Gonda |
Sagar | Pandit | University of North Carolina |
Pushkaraj | Panse | University of South Florida |
Abhay | Parvate | Department of Physics, University of Pune |
Simon | Pasquier | Observatoire de Bordeaux |
Ramesh | Patnaikuni | Aishwarya Financial Consultants |
Biswajit | Paul | Tata Institute of Fundamental Research |
R. | Pawar | |
Jean-Claude | Pecker | College de France |
Sharon | Peperkamp | CNRS |
Christopher | Phillips | Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe |
Slavich | Pietro | University of Padua |
Shyamoli | Plassmann | Pennsylvania State University |
Joseph | Polchinski | University of California, Santa Barbara |
Massimo | Porrati | New York University |
N | Pradhan | National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore |
Gauri | Pradhan | Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Pune |
N | Pradhan | National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore |
Preethi | Pratap | M.I.T. Haystack Observatory |
Promod | Pratap | University of North Carolina at Greensboro |
Preethi | Pratap | M.I.T. Haystack Observatory |
Manoj | Puravankara | Indian Institute of astrophysics |
Sreerekha | R. | |
Firoz | Rajgara | Tata Institute of Fundamental Research |
Sharad | Ramanathan | Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies |
Sriram | Ramaswamy | Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore |
Sumathi | Rao | Harish-chandra research Institute, Allahabad |
Arikkala | Rao | Tata Institute of Fundamental Research |
Sumathi | Rao | Harish-chandra research Institute, Allahabad |
Bharat | Ratra | Kansas State University |
Kalyan | Ray | Deccan Herald |
Koushik | Ray | The Abdus Salam International Centre For Theoretical Physics |
Kalyan | Ray | Deccan Herald |
Baisakhi | Raychaudhuri | Cleveland Clinic Foundation |
Claudio | Rebbi | Boston University |
Sidney | Redner | Boston University |
Tom | Rhodes | |
Gunnar | Ries | Hamburg University |
Donna | Riordan | Adelaide University |
Edward | Robinson | New York University |
Stephen | Roeder | San Diego State University |
Clara | Romero | Université Paris 8 |
Michael | Roth | industry |
Boudewijn | Roukema | Observatoire de Paris - Meudon |
Manojit | Roy | University of Michigan |
Abhishek | Roy | University of California, Berkeley |
Manojit | Roy | University of Michigan |
Jayant | S | Tata Technologies Ltd |
SEEMA | SATIN | Dept of Physics, Pune University |
John | Safko | University of South Carolina |
Nita | Sahai | University of Wisconsin |
Tarun | Saini | IUCAA |
Christopher | Salter | National Astronomy & Ionosphere Center; Cornell University |
Christopher | Salter | National Astronomy & Ionosphere Center; Cornell University |
Scott | Samuels | The University of Montana |
Tapobrata | Sarkar | Tata Institute of Fundamental Research |
Robert | Sault | Australia Telescope |
Benjamin | Segall | Case Western Reserve University |
Rahul | Sen | DCL, Calcutta,India |
Subhra | Sen Gupta | Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore |
Aniruddha | Sengupta | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
Anirvan | Sengupta | Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies |
R. | Shankar | The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai |
Jatak | Sharma | University of Texas at Austin |
Prashant | Sharma | Boston University |
Jatak | Sharma | University of Texas at Austin |
Ashutosh | Sharma | Department of Physics |
Bettadapura | Sharma | LSI Logic Corporation |
Stephen | Shawl | University of Kansas |
Elizabeth | Simmons | Boston University |
Ken | Simpson | University of Adelaide |
K. | Singh | Tata Institute of Fundamental Research |
Vandana | Singh | |
Alabhya | Singh | Alabhya.com |
Neeta | Singh | Alabhya.com |
Parampreet | Singh | Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune. |
Vandana | Singh | |
William | Skocpol | Boston University |
Peter | So | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Alan | Sokal | New York University |
Shivaji | Sondhi | Princeton University |
Sameet | Sreenivasan | Boston University |
Sundar | Srinivasan | The Johns Hopkins University |
Ajit | Srivastava | Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar |
Franz | Streisselberger | |
H. | Stroke | New York University |
Kandaswamy | Subramanian | National Centre for Radio Astrophyisics, TIFR |
Damonn | Sypher | University of Queensland |
Chandra sekhar | T.V. | Martin-Luther University |
Jean-Pierre | THOMAS | AFIS |
Ranjeet | Tate | University of Wisconsin - Madison |
Philip | Taylor | Case Western Reserve University |
Arun Varma | Thampan | Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) |
Sivarani | Thirupathi | University of Montpellier |
Tanmay | Vachaspati | Case Western Reserve University |
Mayank | Vahia | Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai |
Marc | Vandiepenbeeck | IRM |
Shikha | Varma | Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar |
Raju | Venugopalan | Brookhaven National Laboratory |
Abhijat | Vichare | University of Pune |
Yogesh | Wadadekar | Inter University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics |
Spenta | Wadia | Tata Institute of Fundamental Research |
Kameshwar | Wali | Syracuse University |
George | Warr | University of Sydney |
Andrew | White | Centre for Quantum Computer Technology, University of Queensland |
Mogens | Winther | |
Masako | Yamada | Boston University |
Matias | Zaldarriaga | NYU |
Barbara | Zaniol | University of Padua |
Philippe | Zarka | Observatoire de Paris, Meudon |
William | Zealey | University of Wollongong |
Anthony | Zee | University of California |
Cornelis | de Jager | University of Utrecht |
Parthasarathy | Kalale | |
Marko | Kolanovic | New York University |
Swapna | Mahapatra | utkal university |
Thierry | Morel | Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) |
Philip | Phillips | University of Illinois |