Author of The Vedic People ( Orient BlackSwan), English Education in India, 1715-1835 (Routledge), Sanskrit & British Empire ( Routledge), and (Jointly with Jayant Narlikar) of Astronomy in India (INSA).
INVENTIONS, etc
Herbert Ives (1882-1953), USA, invented parallax panoramagram ( the girl who winks as you pass by).
John Lubbock ( 1834-1913) in his 1865 book Prehistoric Times modified the three ages ( stone, bronze and iron) by introducing the terms palaeolithic and neolithic.
The word agnostic was coined by Thomas Henry Huxley ( 1825-1895) who had historic confrontation with Bishop Samuel Wilberforce on Darwinism.
Insulin was coined,in anticipation of its discovery, by Sir Edward Albert Sharpley-Schafer (1850-1935) in 1916. Six years later, it was invented by Banting and Best.
Kaleidoscope was invented in 1816 by the Scottish physicist Sir David Brewster (1781-1868).
Chloroform was discovered in 1831 by the American physician Samuel Gutherie (1782-1848).
Electromagnet was invented by the English physicist William Sturgeon (1783-1850).
Superphosphate manufacture was patented by the English scientist Sir John Bennett Lawes (1814-1900).
Thermos bottle was invented by a Scottish physicist, Sir James Dewar (1842-1923).
The first practical refrigerator was devised by a German chemist, Karl von Linde ( 1842-1934).
Antiseptic surgery was first introduced in 1867 by the English surgeon Lord Joseph Lister (1827-1912).
First airmail in history was carried by the French aeronaut Jean Pierre Francois (1753-1804), in 1784. A parachute was invented by him in 1785, A dog (or a cat) was dropped.
Coal gas lighting was invented by the Scottish William Murdock (1754-1839).