Dawn of Modern Marine Science in India (Collection of Papers on Natural History)

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It was felt for some times by The Council of the Asiatic Society, that it is high time that collection of chosen scientific communications, published in the past, in different issues of the Journal of the Asiatic Society, be published in order to expose the world at large to the glorious past of the Society. Professor Jyotirmoy Dutta, the Physical Science Secretary of the Council, took up this difficult task.

The present volume entitled "Dawn of Modern Marine Science in India" is a collection of thirty-one papers on the exploits of the India's first marine survey steamer RIMSS 'Investigator', published between 1885 and 1913, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Over and above the collection and edition of the above papers, Professor Dutta has included two very interesting and illuminating features, both fruits of his intense research, in this volume. One is an introduction, in which he has not only elaborated on the subject matters of these papers and the way he has arranged them in the book but also brought in focus the untiring efforts of the Council of The Asiatic Society for years, from 1871 to 1884, in convincing the Govt. of India of the importance of scientific survey of the conditions of life and matters in the oceans and seas of India and how these efforts resulted in the establishment of the Marine Survey Department, creation of the post of a Surgeon-Naturalist, building of the RIMSS 'Investigator' and initiation of her expeditions. The second feature is a collection of the biological sketches of all the authors of these papers. These sketches tell us the life-stories and the achievements of these rumors, some of whom, in later years, became world-famous in their fields of research and also show us how deeply they associated themselves in the development and management of The Asiatic Society.

The Council of the Asiatic Society decided in 1997 to publish significant articles on scientific subjects contained in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, during the Nineteenth Century, to provide glimpses of some important scientific work on 'Man and His Environment' to the modern readers. This task was assigned to me and to Mr. Samar Bagchi. Mr. Samar Bagchi declined because of his other pre- occupations. Then I requested Prof. Jyotirmoy Dutta, our then Physical Science Secretary of the Society, to undertake to do the task and thankfully he agreed. Initially, it was planned to prepare a collection of assorted articles for the Volume. While searching for the old journals of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Prof. Dutta chanced across a series of articles between 1885 and 1913, which could be interconnected as a comprehensive account of the Modern Marine Science in India. The original plan of publishing as assorted collection was modified. Prof. Dutta with painstaking care worked on this area, covering the exploits of the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship 'Investigator'. It was a labour of love for Prof. Dutta. The Introduction of this Volume as also biographical sketches of the authors, which Prof. Dutta edited will indicate the hard work involved in preparing this book, which has been aptly named as "Dawn of Modern Marine Science in India".

The present publication is a collection of thirty-two communications published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal (JASB) between 1885 and 1899, as 'Natural History Notes' and another paper published in the same journal in 1913, all based on the exploits of the Royal Indian Marine Survey Ship 'Investigator between 1884 and 1912.