Four aspects of the institutionalization of physics research in India (1990–1950): Substantiating the claims of histortical sociology through bibliometrics

Abstract

This paper examines the process of the institutionalization of research in physics in India. In order to do so, it employs bibliometric data such as research publications in physics research journals between 1900 and 1950. This data is then analyzed to obtain certain indicators that are pointers of the aspects of the institutionalization of research in physics in India. The four aspects of institutionalization studied here are important for the researches of those adopting sociological approaches in the study of the history of sciences. Thus the bibliometric techniques employed complements the efforts of historians of science studying the professionalization of physics research in India, and in this case those dealing with disciplines like physics. Further, the bibliometric data helps substantiate the claims of historians of science that the years 1905 to 1935 were particularly important for the history of physics in India. The conclusions of historians are based on success stories of a few leading physicists of the time. Within an institutional framework, this paper argues that there was a larger ground swell indicative of the emergence of a phhsics research community in India.