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D. P. Agrawal

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This article is about the science and technology historian. For the chairman of the Union Public Service Commission, seeD.P. Agrawal (academic).

Dharampal Agrawal withRajiv Dixit

D. P. Agrawal(Dharmapal Agrawal) is ahistorianof Indian science and technology, archaeologist,[1]and author. He has published works on Indianarchaeology,metallurgy,the history of science, andpalaeoclimate.

Biography[edit]

Dharma Pal Agrawal was born on 15 March 1933 atAlmora,United Provinces of British India(presently inUttarakhand).[2]

Career[edit]

He has worked with theArchaeological Survey of India,Tata Institute of Fundamental ResearchandPhysical Research Laboratory,all of which are All-India institutions. His researches were mainly done in the fields ofpalaeoenvironment,prehistoric archaeology,radiocarbon & TL dating,archaeometallurgy,India's contributions to the world of science and technology. At the Physical Research Laboratory, he was a Senior Professor and Area Chairman of the Quaternary Paleo-Climate Study Area, a large multi-disciplinary research group.[3][4]He has been a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania and at the International Research Center atKyoto,[2]

Contribution[edit]

Agrawal has made significant contributions to the fields of paleoenvironment, pre-historic archaeology, radiocarbon dating, the archaeology of metallurgy, and the history of science and technology in India. He has edited the journalMan and Environmentfor a number of years, and served on the advisory board of journalsWorld ArchaeologyandLe anthropologie.He is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences.[4]and a member of the National Commission on the History of Science. During his academic career he has published 15 books and about 250 papers on different topics.[3][5]

After retirement from the Physical Research Laboratory in 1993, he has been working as the Honorary Director of theLok Vigyan Kendrain Almora, where he coordinates research on "traditional knowledgesystems, "codifying the accumulated folk knowledge on the crops, medicinal plants and biodiversity. He is also the chief editor of a multi-volume international project on the history of science and technology.[3]

Works[edit]

Books
  • The Copper Bronze Age in India,Munshiram Manoharlal, 1971.
  • Prehistoric Chronology and Radiocarbon Dating in India(with S. Kusumgar) Munshiram Manoharlal, 1974.ISBN8121503167.
  • Protohistoric Archaeology of India(in Hindi, with P. L. Agrawal), U.P. Granth Akademi, Lucknow, 1975.
  • Essays in Indian Protohistory(withD. K. Chakrabarti). B.R.Publishers, 1978.ISBN8170180430.
  • The Archaeology of India.London: Curzon Press, 1981.
  • Man and Environment in India through Ages,New Delhi: Books and Books, 1992.
  • Dating the Human Past(with M. G. Vadava), Poona: Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies, 1995.
  • Central Himalayas: An Archaeological, Linguistic and Cultural Synthesis(with J.S. Kharakwal). Aryan Books International, 1998.ISBN8173051321.
  • Ancient Metal Technology and Archaeology of South Asia: A Pan-Asian Perspective.Aryan Books International, 2000.ISBN8173051771.
  • South Asian Prehistory: A Multidisciplinary Study(with J.S. Kharakwal), Aryan Books International, 2002.ISBN8173052360.
  • Bronze and Iron Ages in South Asia(with J.S. Kharakwal), Aryan Books International, 2003.ISBN8173052522.
  • The Indus Civilization: An Interdisciplinary Perspective,Aryan Books International, 2007.ISBN8173053103.
Edited works
  • Palaeoclimatic and Palaeoenvironmental Changes in Asia(with S. K. Gupta and P. Sharma).. New Delhi: Indian National Science Academy, 1988.
  • Radiocarbon and Indian Archaeology(with A. Ghosh). Bombay: Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, 1973.
  • Ecology and Archaeology of Western India(with Agrawal, D.P. and B.M. Pande). New Delhi: Concept Publishers, 1977.
  • Climate and Geology of Kashmir and Central India: The Last 4 Million years(with R. V. Krishnamurthy and S. Kusumgar). T.T. Publishers (New Delhi), 1985.
  • Traditional Knowledge and Archaeology,(with Sameer Jamal and Manikant Shah). Aryan Books International, 2007.ISBN8173053340.
  • The Harappan Technology and its Legacy,Rupa and Co, 2009 (with Infinity Foundation).ISBN8129115328.

Views and reception[edit]

The 1971 bookCopper Bronze Age in Indiareports an integrated study of the Copper-Bronze Age carried out at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, covering its chronology, technology and ecology.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^"UPSC questions poorly framed, says Indian History Congress".The Hindu.19 February 2011.Retrieved5 May2011.
  2. ^abDharma Pal Agrawal, Brief Bio-Data,Infinity Foundation, retrieved 2015-08-27.
  3. ^abcTraditional Knowledge Systems and Archaeology, About the Author,Amazon India.
  4. ^abFellowsArchived26 July 2013 at theWayback Machine,National Academy of Sciences, India,
  5. ^Dharma Pal Agrawal,Participant detail, 2002 Indic Colloquium, Infinity Foundation.
  6. ^Aspects of Ancient Indian Technology,Motilal Banarsidass, 1979, pp. 7–,ISBN978-81-208-3040-0

External links[edit]

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