A Selection of Pioneering Research Papers of The Journal of The Asiatic Society On Geology and Physics

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The Journal of the Asiatic Society can boast of long span of continuous publication for one hundred and seventy-one years as the exclusive house journal of the Society. From the date of the inception of the Society in 1784 till 1842, all the papers presented in the meeting of the Society as well as the invited papers, used to be published by agencies other than the Society. In spite of realizing the necessity of such a journal, the Society could not manage to bring out one mainly due to financial crunch and publishing was conceded to private enterprisers.The first such publication was brought out in 1788 in the journal titled Asiatick Researches, and five volumes of the journal were published between 1788 and 1797. The popularity of these volumes in India and abroad, evident from the fact that a pirated edition was brought out from England in 1798, and its French translation from Paris, prompted the Society to publish the journal on its own from 1798. This effort of the Society continued up to the publication of its twentieth volume in 1839. The Asiatick Researches normally published 'elaborate and finished' articles, and shorter forms of communications did not find any place in the journal in spite of frequently containing new ideas or information on new discoveries. These communications found place in two other journals, titled Quarterly Oriental Journal and Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society, between 1821 and 1827. Both the journals were discontinued in 1827. Gleaning of Science, another monthly journal edited by Captain J.D. Herbert, appeared contemporaneously, and the Asiatic Society took advantage of publishing its monthly proceedings therein. With the departure of Captain Herbert from Calcutta, James Prinsep took up the publication in a changed form as well as name. The first volume in this new incarnation came out in 1832, with due sanction from the Society, under the title of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. The publication was able to maintain regularity, and many papers reserved for the Asiatick Researches were diverted for publication to this journal. The journal became the de facto publication of the Society, superseding the Asiatick Researches. Four years after the retirement of James Prinsep in 1838, the publication of the Asiatick Researches was ultimately discontinued, and the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal was officially taken over by the Society in 1812. Thereafter the journal continued to be published as the Society's house journal.

I have great pleasure in presenting this publication to the discerning scholars engaged in scientific studies in the field of Geology and Physics.

This compilation of kindred papers on the scientific disciplines of Geology and Physics, published from time to time in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, has been the outcome of the efforts of the Society to revitalise and reactivate its in-house academic activities. Special mention may be made in this regard about the recent publication of the Society entitled "Dawn of Modern Marine Science in India.", during 2001-2002. This is a compilation of papers on various aspects of marine science published in different issues of the Journal of the Society during the 19th century. Acceptance and acclamation of this publication by a wide cross section of readers, obviously for the intrinsic worth of the contents, bear out the usefulness and desirability of such exercise.

Earlier aiso the Society has attempted several evaluative reviews of its past publications. In the Centenary Review of the Asiatic Society (1784-1883), such collections were published on (1) Archaeology, History and Literature, by A.F. Rudolf Hoernle, and on (ii) Natural Science, by P. N. Bose. The reviews documented the history and pattern of developments in the respective branches of science and arts during the course of a century, from the 1840s to 1940s. The positional parameters of the aims and objectives of such reviews conform to what Bernal said about scientific publications, *.. a large quantity of good scientific work may be permanently lost because it was not appreciated when it was published, and subsequently everybody has been so busy in keeping up with recent publications that there has been no time to sift through the records of the past." (Bernal J. D., The Social Function of Science: George Routledge & Sons Ltd., London, 1914, pp. 117-118)

The reviews mentioned did serve their purpose, and the desirability of such exercise was also emphasised by one of the outstanding Presidents of the Society, Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, in the early 20th century, as pointed out by the Editor of the present volume.

The newness of the present compendium lies in introducing a system of evaluative comment on each paper being reproduced.