Michel Danino’s lifelong interests are centred on Indian civilization. After higher education in France in science and engineering, he came to live in India in 1977. A keen student of archaeology and ancient history, he has authored books on protohistorical India (including The Lost River: On the Trail of the Sarasvati, 2010) and on Indian culture (Indian Culture and India’s Future, 2011), with a few more under preparation, and numerous book chapters, research papers and articles. He has taught and lectured on aspects of Indian civilization at several institutions, including IIT Gandhinagar since 2011, where he was instrumental in the creation of the Archaeological Sciences Centre, which he currently coordinates. Since 2016, he has also coordinated a unique multi-instructor course on Indian Knowledge Systems, which has aroused much interest across India. His recent courses have been “Perspectives on Indian civilization”, “Introduction of the history of science and technology in India” and “Indian systems of ethics”.
Michel Danino was a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research (2015-18) and is currently a member of the Indian National Commission for History of Science, besides the convener of a CBSE committee for an elective course, Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India (with a two-volume textbook co-edited with Prof. Kapil Kapoor).
Research Interests: Archaeology and history of ancient India, History of Indian science and technology, Indian Knowledge Systems, Indian heritage, Cultural education
Education:
Mathématiques supérieures & Mathématiques spéciales at Lycée Pierre Corneille (Rouen, France)
Electrical and Electronics Engineering at École Supérieure d’Électricité (Gif-sur-Yvette, France)
Selected Publications:
“Demilitarizing the Rigveda: A Scrutiny of Vedic Horses, Chariots and Warfare”, Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, XXVI (1) Summer 2019, pp. 5–32
“The Sarasvati River: Issues and Debates”, in S.K. Acharyya, Kunal Ghosh and Amal Kar, (eds), Saraswati: The River par Excellence, The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, 2020, pp. 217–234
Climate, Environment, and the Harappan Civilization, in Ranjan Chakrabarti, (ed.), Critical Themes in Environmental History of India, Sage, New Delhi, 2020, pp. 333–377
“Methodological issues in the Indo-European debate”, Journal of Biosciences, Vol. 44, July 2019, pp. 44–68
Sri Aurobindo and India’s Rebirth, (ed.), Rupa Books, New Delhi, 2018
“Issues in Indian Metrology, from Harappa to Bhāskarāchārya”, Ganita Bhārātī, vol. 37, no. 1–2, 2015, pp. 125–143
Knowledge Traditions & Practices of India, Textbook for Class XI (Vol. 1) and XII (Vol. 2), CBSE, New Delhi, 2013 & 2015 (co-editor with Prof. Kapil Kapoor)
Non‐Utilitarian Use of Proportions in Harappan Town‐Planning, Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology, 2: 2014, pp. 41–53
Work Experience:
Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (May 2018 to present)
Guest Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (Sep 2011 to May 2018)
Member, Academic Council for History of Science & Technology, JNU Centre for HRM, from August 2019
Scholar-in-residence, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, for a lecture series on “Exploring Indian Civilization” (Aug to Nov 2014)
Visiting faculty, Indian Institute of Management Ranchi (Jan 2012 – Aug 2013)
Visiting faculty, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, for a lecture series on “Science and Technology in Early and Classical India” (Feb to Mar 2011)
Guest lecturer on India’s cultural history at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Coimbatore campus, 2007–11)
Member, Indian Council of Historical Research (2015–18)
Member, Indian National Commission for History of Science, INSA (2018 to 2020)