Lighting the Spark of Science Communication

Nov 05, 2025
Foreword by Prof. Soumitra Banerjee

I warmly welcome the initiative of the IISER student community to publish the popular science magazine InScight. Popular science has the remarkable ability to spark curiosity in young minds and inspire schoolchildren to pursue careers in science. It also plays a vital role in educating the general public about genuine scientific ideas, helping them distinguish science from pseudoscience. This is truly the need of the hour if we aspire to build India into a scientifically informed nation. Yet, India faces a shortage of quality popular science writers; we have not seen the emergence of authors comparable to George Gamow, Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, or Richard Dawkins.

Gautam Basu traces Jagadish Chandra Bose’s extraordinary scientific evolution - from pioneering wireless communication to founding the field of biophysics. Read the article to find out more.

Excellence in any craft demands continuous practice, and popular science writing is no exception. No one is born with the ability to communicate science compellingly. One must learn from the works of the great masters—observe their style, structure, and clarity—and then practice consistently. But such practice thrives only when there is a platform to showcase it. I hope InScight will become that platform for budding popular science communicators.

India also lags behind advanced nations in another crucial area: science journalism. Very few Indian newspapers employ dedicated science journalists, and consequently, scientific breakthroughs achieved within the country seldom reach the wider public. I sincerely hope that some IISER students will consider science journalism as a career path. Here too, a medium is needed for students to develop and refine their journalistic skills, and I trust that InScight will help fill this gap.

From a financially humble childhood, doing odd jobs to fund his education, to becoming a scientist shaped by Germany, industry, and decades at NCL, this interview with Prof. Arvind Natu brings out the inner self of the current top most office holder of IISER Kolkata, the chairperson of the Board of Governors.

The November 2025 issue presents an engaging spectrum of topics—from physics to biology—and I am confident that readers will find it both enlightening and enjoyable.

Prof. Soumitra Banerjee,
Retired Professor,
Department of Physical Sciences,
IISER Kolkata