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{{short description|Indian philosopher and writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
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| birth_place = [[India]]
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| occupation = Writer, academic
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'''Meera Nanda''' (born 1954) is an Indian writer and [[historian of science]],<ref name=three/> who has authored several works critiquing the influence of [[Hindutva]], [[postcolonialism]] and [[postmodernism]] on science, and the flourishing of [[pseudoscience]] and [[Vedanga|vedic science]]. She currently is a [[Visiting Professor|visiting faculty]] of humanities and social sciences at [[IISER Pune]].

== Life and career ==

Nanda was educated in science and philosophy with a PhD in [[biotechnology]] from the [[Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi]] and a PhD in science studies from [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]].<ref>[http://calendar.iisc.ernet.in/abstract.php?mid=MID201018179 Reception of Darwinism in India (A talk by Professor Meera Nanda)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210045424/http://calendar.iisc.ernet.in/abstract.php?mid=MID201018179 |date=10 February 2015 }}, Indian Institute of Science</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?author=38|title=Mukto-Mona Writers' Corner - Meera Nanda|website=mukto-mona.com}}</ref>

She was a [[John Templeton Foundation]] Fellow in Religion and Science (2005–2007).<ref name=three>[http://www.threeessays.com/authors.php?id=4 Meera Nanda Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629052436/http://www.threeessays.com/authors.php?id=4 |date=29 June 2012 }} Three Essays.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=In defence of secularism|url=http://www.hindu.com/br/2006/11/21/stories/2006112100521400.htm |author= Ranjit Hoskote| work=[[The Hindu]] |date=21 November 2006|author-link=Ranjit Hoskote }}</ref> In January 2009, she was a Fellow at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute for Advanced Study, in the [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]] for research in Science, Post-Modernism and Culture.<ref>[http://www.jnu.ac.in/JNIAS/Scholars_invited.htm List of scholars invited to JNIAS] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716191040/http://www.jnu.ac.in/jnias/Scholars_invited.htm |date=16 July 2010 }} JNIAS [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]] website.</ref> She was also a visiting faculty of history and philosophy of science at [[Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali]] from 2010 to 15 May 2017. She was a visiting faculty member of the department of Humanities and Social Sciences, [[Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune|IISER Pune]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=IISER Pune|url=http://www.iiserpune.ac.in/people/faculty-details/194|access-date=2021-04-16|website=www.iiserpune.ac.in}}</ref> in 2019 and 2020.

==Religion and Hindu nationalism==
Nanda has authored several works on religion, most notably ''Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and Hindu Nationalism in India'' (2004),<ref>{{cite news |title=Book Review: Paradigm shift |url=http://www.hindu.com/br/2005/05/03/stories/2005050300281600.htm |work=[[The Hindu]] |author= Ranjit Hoskote|date=3 May 2005|author-link=Ranjit Hoskote }}</ref> and her 2009 book ''The God Market'' which examined how India is experiencing a rising tide of popular Hinduism, including [[Indian government|government]] financing of [[Hinduism]] despite the nation's secular characteristic. The book was reviewed by [[William Dalrymple (historian)|William Dalrymple]] in ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook Magazine]]''.<ref name=glitter>{{cite web|title=Review: The Glitter in The Godliness|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?263657|publisher=[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]|accessdate=8 September 2013|author=William Dalrymple|authorlink=William Dalrymple (historian)|date=18 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Books: A market for holy men: How globalization has had an impact on Hinduism and our public sphere |url= http://www.livemint.com/2009/08/21210545/A-market-for-holy-men.html?h=B|publisher=[[Mint (newspaper)|Mint]] |date=21 August 2009}}</ref>

==Works==
* ''Postmodernism and Religious Fundamentalism: A Scientific Rebuttal To Hindu Science''. New Delhi: Navayana. 2000. {{ISBN|81-89059-02-5}}
* ''Breaking the Spell of Dharma and Other Essays''. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2002. {{ISBN|81-88394-09-2}}.
* ''Prophets Facing Backward: Postmodern Critiques of Science and the Hindu Nationalism in India''. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|81-7824-090-4}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=h3mUi5Uan_UC&pg=PA42&dq=Meera+Nanda+writer&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false Excerpts]
* ''Wrongs of the Religious Right: Reflections on secularism, science and Hindutva''. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2005. {{ISBN|81-88789-30-5}}
* ''The God Market''. Random House, 2010. {{ISBN|81-8400-095-2}}.
* ''Ayurveda Today : A Critical Look'', with C. Viswanathan. Penguin, 2010. {{ISBN|9780143065128}}.
* ''Science in Saffron: Skeptical Essays on History of Science''. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2016. {{ISBN|978-93-83968-08-4}}.<ref>{{citation |first=Meera |last=Nanda |title=Hindutva's science envy |url=http://www.frontline.in/science-and-technology/hindutvas-science-envy/article9049883.ece |newspaper=Frontline |date=16 September 2016 |accessdate=14 October 2016}}
</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* [http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?220622 Society/Essays: Sangh Parivar, The Pizza-Maker, (2003)] ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]''
* ESSAY: Postmodernism, Hindu nationalism and `Vedic science' (2003) [http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2026/stories/20040102000607800.htm Part 1] and [http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2101/stories/20040116001408700.htm Part 2], ''[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070211190612/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2219/stories/20050923002109200.htm PERSPECTIVE: Is India a science superpower? (2005)] ''[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070210155653/http://www.flonnet.com/fl2301/stories/20060127003309700.htm DEBATE: Vedic creationism in America. (2006)] ''[[Frontline (magazine)|Frontline]]''
* [http://nirmukta.com/2010/01/21/review-the-god-market-how-globalization-is-making-india-more-hindu-by-meera-nanda/ Book Review: "The God Market: How Globalization is making India more Hindu" (2010)]
* [http://www.frontline.in/science-and-technology/hindutvas-science-envy/article9049883.ece ''Hindutva's science envy''], Frontline September 16, 2016

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.threeessays.com/books/science-in-saffron/ ''Science in Saffron''], publisher's page.
* [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303857130_Science_in_Saffron_Skeptical_Essays_on_History_of_Science ''Science in Saffron''] at researchgate.net.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanda, Meera}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Jawaharlal Nehru University faculty]]
[[Category:Philosophers of science]]
[[Category:IIT Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni]]
[[Category:Indian women philosophers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian philosophers]]
[[Category:Political philosophers]]
[[Category:American women writers of Indian descent]]
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian scientists]]
[[Category:Writers about Hindu nationalism]]
[[Category:20th-century American philosophers]]
[[Category:American women philosophers]]
[[Category:Biotechnologists]]
[[Category:Women biotechnologists]]
[[Category:Critics of postmodernism]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:Indian women political writers]]
[[Category:Indian political writers]]
[[Category:Indian political philosophers]]
[[Category:American women non-fiction writers]]

Meera Nanda - Revision history

imported>Marcocapelle at 14:46, 31 July 2021