Nucleus and Nation: Scientists, International Networks, and Power in India , Robert S. Anderson U. Chicago Press, Chicago, 2010. $60.00 (683 pp.). ISBN 978-0-226-01975-8
I was a young physics student in India when the country conducted its first nuclear test on 18 May 1974 in the desert in Rajasthan. It took the world by surprise, not least because many found it inconceivable that the feat was achieved by a country beset with poverty and a lack of adequate industrial and technical infrastructure. For Indians, that “peaceful nuclear device” was a source of national pride and a matter of international prestige. But the test resulted in several nations placing severe sanctions on India, including a ban on technical equipment being shipped into the country. That ban adversely affected India’s research effort for nearly two decades. Indian laboratories and universities could not even import medium-sized computers or advanced oscilloscopes from the...
