Patrick Blackett in India Military Consultant and Scientific Intervenor, 1947

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PATRICK BLACKETT IN INDIA: MILITARY CONSULTANT AND SCIENTIFIC INTERVENOR, 1947-72. PART TWOAuthor(s): Robert S. AndersonReviewed work(s):Source: Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 53, No. 3 (September 1999),pp. 345-360Published by: The Royal Society

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NotesRee. R.

Soc. Lond.

53

(3),

345-359

1999)

© 1999

The

Royal

Society

PATRICK

BLACKETT IN

INDIA: MILITARY

CONSULTANT

AND

SCIENTIFIC

INTERVENOR,

1947-72.PART

TWO

by

Robert S. Anderson

Simon raser

University,

urnaby,

ritish

olumbia,

Canada V5A S6

([email protected])

Summary

Patrick

lackett's

ole s a

military

onsultanto ndiawas described

n

PartOne

of

this

rticle.

utBlackett as and s bestknown

n ndia s an ntervenor

n

scientific

affairsndas an adviser o the esearch

ystem.

ere,

PartTwo showshow

he

came

tounderstandhe

olitical

conomy

f

science,

pecifically

he

olitical

imits f he

influencef he

cientific

ommunity

nd he

way

hat

ery

carce conomic esources

were

or

were

not)

mobilizedwithint.

Fewforeignersaveplayed rolein independentndia such as therole Patrick

Blackett

layed

between

947 and 1972. As

a

military

onsultant1e initiated

debate bout he effective

ole of scientific esearch

n

military evelopment

nd

promoted

he conditions nd careers

f scientists ttached o defence

esearch,

particularlyp

to about1964.Thiswas a

period

f

dramatic

hange

n

ndia,

with n

emphasis

on

comparatively

ow-cost

military evelopmentparticularly

hen

compared

with ater

eriods).

The same

period

lso marked he

steady

ecline

n

India's

foreignxchange

eserves,

nd Blackett nderstood

owthisdeclinewould

influence

trategic rogrammes,

eterminehe evel of

imports

nd establish

he

volume f ubsidiesought y he ndianGovernment.nargumentor self-reliance'

becamemore ndmore

necessary,lthough aradoxically

as

ncreasingly

ifficult

to

put

nto

ractice,

s each

year

went

y.

He

argued

or

and

against)

ew

weapons,

learned ow these

developments

r

purchases

were

financed,

nd

helped

n

some

instanceso make

ppointments

nd close deals. He reinforcedn attitudef

self-

reliance'

n

circulation

n

the

1940s,

rticulated

y

ndian

cientists

ong

before

ny

real

prospect

f

independence

or

ndia,

and which raded n the momentumf

Gandhi'sdeaof self-reliant

ndustry,

ade-at-home

oods,

nd

ndependent-minded

politics.

While Gandhiwould

not have

imagined

his

dea

applied

to

military

development,

ehru ndhis

political

llies/advisersearned hat

t

would

e a

policy

ofnecessity,ecause there ould be few lternatives.tthe same timeBlackett's

independent

iews on nuclear

weapons

and

the

arms

race' was a stimulant

o

345







346

Robert . Anderson

discussions

ith

Nehru,

omiBhabha ndother cientists. e was a

regular

uest

f

theChiefs f

Staff,

iscussing

oth isarmamentnd armaments.

n this

ense here

was an official

cceptance

f his

presence

nd advice.

During

his

period

ndia

learned owto optimizehepotentialfgreat-powerivalryo obtain avourable

terms

or

ommercialnd

military

ontractsnd

agreements.

Blackett and the

Council for Scientific nd Industrial

Research

What as

gonewrong,

think,

n

ome

overnment

esearchtationss that he

rinciple

f

scientificreedomas

ometimeseen

misapplied

o

mission-orientedand

D,

where

t

s

largelynapplicable.

(Patrick

lackett

971)

It

s not s a

mililtary

onsultant,

ut s an

ntervenor

n

scientificffairsnd

dviser

to

theresearch

ystem

hat

Blackettwas and is best known

n

India. He came to

understandhe

political

conomy

f

science,

pecifically

he

political

imits f

the

influencef

the cientific

ommunity

nd the

way

n

which

ery

carce

conomic

resources ere

or

were

not)

mobilizedwithint.

Although

lackett nd

Bhatnagar

(andNehru)

iscussed he

evelopment

f he

ast

overnment

esearch

rganization,

the

Council f Scientificnd

ndustrial esearch

CSIR),

his

nvolvement

ppears

intermittent

efore 955-56. After he

visit

n

thewinter f

1955-56,

Blackett s

curiously

bsent romndiafor

even

years

according

o

hisown

ecords).

he

1956

Gnatfightereal seems o end thefirst haseofthis nvolvement,hich egan n

1947. Until his sudden

death

in

January

955,

Bhatnagar

was

in

regular

communicationith

lackett,

nd

hey

ometimesoured SIR

laboratories

ogether.

This

s the

period uring

hich

habha,

hatnagar

ndNehru

ormedhe

powerful

triangle

f heAtomic

nergy

ommission,

utwe have ittle

vidence fBlackett's

activities,

f

ny,

n their ehalf.

lackett's

eeper

nvolvementith he

CSIR seems

tooccur fter

963-64,

uring

hich

eriod

iswork

s

military

onsultantecreases.

He

appears

o

have iked

hatnagar

nd

pproved

f he

eneral

irectionf he

CSIR's

evolutions the tate's

pplied

esearch

ystem,

ven

f

he sawresearchhatwas not

being pplied,

r

could

notbe.

In

the

eightyears

hat e knew

him

1947-55),

he

helped

Bhatnagar. hatnagar

aluedBlackett'snfluence ithNehru nd

supplied

Blackett ith he ist f

patents

e

needed

or

study

fdefence

roduction.

hatnagar

worked ard o find

ood

appointments

or is

aboratories

ndwas

ooking

utside

Indiafor andidates. here s no clue

n

the

papers

whether lackett

dvised or r

against

he

ppointment

f

non-Indians,

uthe

certainly

ssisted

hatnagar,

othari

and Bhabha to

identify

andidates

broad,

ften

cting

s a channelfor ndian

applicants.

herefore

n

1951Blackett

nterviewedCanadian

metallurgistorking

in

London,

whowanted o

get ob

in

ndia nd

ettle here

ermanently'.hatnagar

said the new National

Metallurgical aboratory

as

'in

the

charge

f a brilliant

young renchman',ndhewelcomedhe rrival f his anadian,W.K.A.Congreve,

from

ondon,

with lackett's avourable

pinion

asedon a

metallurgistolleague's

expert

ecommendation.2.V.

Hill

played

a

similarrole at this

time, ooking







Patrick

Blackett n

ndia.

Part two

ЪА1

Figure

.

Discussing

ock

magnetictudy,

962,

ata

nstitute,

ombay:

(left

o

right)

ikram

arabhai,

atrick

lackett,

.R.

Ramanathan,

.W. ahasrabudhe.

Reproduced

ith

ermission

f the ata nstitutefFundamental

esearch,

umbai.

The uthor

ppreciates

hekind

ssistance

f

E.R. Deutsch.

internationallyor oodcandidates orBhatnagar,utof courseHill already ad a

much

onger

nd

deeper

nvolvement

n

he

evelopment

f he

CSIR,

starting

n

1943.3

At

the ame ime lackett as

nspired y

research

roject

n solar

power

t the

National

hysical aboratoryNPL)

in

Delhi,

and went o considerable

engths

o

obtain

rench

eports

or

hatnagar

n

195

1

It s

curious

hatnagar

ouldnot btain

these

irectly,

ecause n

agreement

as

signed

hat

ear

etween rance

nd

ndia

on scientific

ooperation,ncluding

are

arths nd nuclear

ower.4

he NPL solar-

powered

ooker

roject

id notdeliver n its

promise,

utBlackett's

apers

do not

reveal vidence f

Bhatnagar's

mbarrassmentrNehru's

ispleasure

or

he

way

n

which heCSIR as a whole

xaggerated

ts

otential.

lackett's

nvolvement

n

the

NPL

wasto

becomemuch

eeper

n

few

ears.

series f

problems

rosewithinheCSIR

with

espect

o

eadership

f

heNational

hysical aboratory

NPL)

after hedeath

ofK.S.

Krishnan

n

1961,

nd Blackett as

appointed y

theMinister f Scientific

Research nd Cultural ffairs

Humayum

abir)

to conductwhat he

newspapers

called a 'full

enquiry

t NPL'.

Moreover,

ne of thesenews stories aid that

The

Director's

ost

was offeredo

Professorlackettast

year,

ut

he

declinedt.'5 here

is no trace fthis ffer

n

theBlackett

apers

t the

Royal

Society.

This

publicity

rompted

is

old friend rom

ondon,

now

iving

n

Orissa,

he

biologist

.B.S.

Haldane,

o nvite lackett o visit or

discussion bout heCSIR.

With evenyears' experience f living ndworkingntheCSIR, Haldane drew

Blackett'sttentionowhat

emust earn efore e

formedn

opinion

bout he

CSIR,

and

provided

lackett ith he

following

dvice:







348

Robert . Anderson

I

don't

nvy ouyourob.

Considerableffortsillbe made tthe

op

o

preventou

from

finding

ut he

ruth,

ndwhen

ou

do

get hrough

ounofficialources

ou

willhear ome

outrageous

iesfrom

eople

who annot

magine

n

uncorrupt

eason or

oing

nything.

adviseyou ogethold f he ontractfferedo uniorcientific orkerssuch smyself)

agreeing

o

go anywhere

ta

month'sotice.6

Blackett orked ast tthe

NPL,

and

ubmitted

report

n

a month. e

recommended

reorganization

fthewhole

Laboratory: oving

omeormost f

thosewho

worked

largely

n

basic research o a newCentre

orAdvanced

hysics

t

the

University

f

Delhi;

moving

hose

n

rain

ndcloud

physics

ut othe

Meteorologicalepartment;

moving otential

manufacturing

nits

n

radio,

lass

and ceramics utto

oin

their

industries;

nd

defining

hework

f

remaining

ivisions

ore

learly

hile

nhancing

communication

mong

hem. lackett

ound culturef

dministrative

igidity

n

the

NPL,wheremost eoplefoughtodefine ndprotectheboundaries f theirwork.

He

thought

his ould e

overcome

y

reorganization.

n

effect,

e

said,

heNPL

lacked

purpose.

hiswas nothis

first rushwith

heNPL. He had

earlier riticizedhe

fact

that heCSIR

pressured

ir K.S. Krishnan o

leave basic

research

n

a

university,

offering

ouble

his

professor's

alary,

o ask

him

o

try

o build

research radition

applied

o ndustrial

roblems.

lackett ad seen his

ame

phenomenon

t

Britain's

National

hysical

aboratory

t

Teddington.

othBlackettndA.

V

Hill

criticized

he

practice

n

ndia.D.S. Kotharilso

criticized

hatnagar

or

aking

cientists

way

rom

the

universities,

ut his own

Defence Science

Organization

id

the same

thing.

Bhatanagar

ndKothari

rgued

hat

herewas no other

ource f

competent

eople.

The CSIR struck committee o reviewBlackett's eport,our he abs and

recommend

ow he xecutive

ouncil f heNPL should

espond

o t.

n

April

963,

this

ommittee

eported

o

theExecutive ouncil hat:

TheCommittee

indstself

n

generalgreement

ith

he

pirit

f he lackett

eport.

n

what

follows,

he ommitteeouldike orecordts iews

oncerning

he

mplementation

f hese

ideas.

Its

own ssessment as that:

there hould

e

enough lexibility

o thatwhen n

individual

roject

s taken

p

which

requireshat cientistsrom ifferentisciplinese broughtogether,hen tshould e

possible

odo this

without

ifficulty.

his

spect

as

been

orely

eglected

itherto.

Therewas

an

exception

o their

pproval,

owever,

n

that:

the ommitteeas

not t ll

n

favourf ne

possibility

ndicated

y

Professor

lackett,

hat

of

completely

malgamating

he

proposed

entre orAdvanced

hysics

ith he

Delhi

University.

The

reportuggested

nstead n nstituteike heSaha Institute

n

Calcutta hatwas

autonomous

rom,

ut

very

lose

to,

he

University,

ith

Universityarticipation

n

itsGoverningody.The membersf his ommitteencludedM.G.K. Menon f he

Tata nstitute f

Fundamental esearch

TIFR) (who

authored he

report),

.C.

Majumdar

f

Delhi

University,

.K.

Saha and B.D.

Nag

Chaudhuri f

Calcutta's







Patrick

lackettn

ndia.Part wo

349

Figure

. Patrick lackett

eering

own 250 metre

recipice

hile

ollecting

ock

amples

nearKhandalan

the

Deccan

Trapsin

n

1962.

Reproduced

ith

ermission

f heTata nstitute

ofFundamental

esearch,

umbai. he uthor

ppreciates

hekind ssistancefE.R.

Deutsch.

Saha nstitutefNuclear

hysics

the atterhree ere tudentsf

Meghnad

aha

plusJ.C.Kapur,W.M.Vaidya nd L.C. Verman.7hisreport roposed hanges hat

did not

lways atisfy

lackett,

nd on his

copy,

esidethe ssue

of theCentre

or

Advanced

hysics,

e noted

All

this oes

not

gree

with

my

ecommendations'.uch

may

e

earned rom

study

f

his

ra

nd

hese ndividuals

n

theNPL. Blackett

as

well ware

f he

omplicated

istoricelations etween niversitiesnd

government

laboratories;

he ouddebatewas about owuniversitiesere

eing eprived

f

good

researchersndthereforeouldnot

demonstrate

ow

good

research as also a form

of

training.

n the ther and herewas criticismhat niversitiesere

nhospitable

to

good

researchersnd hat

overnment

aboratories

ctually

ere he ource fmost

goodresearchn ndia. or historicalxplanationf his ension,ee the ecentssay

by

Raina ndJain.8

The

saga

of theNPL reached

Blackett

gain

ate

n

December

1964,

when he

Director

eneral fthe

CSIR,

Husain

Zaheer,

wrote o him:

I

am

fraidmattersavenot

mprovedery

much

uring

he

ast

year.

he

Director,

hom

we

appointed

ast

October,

ad

ventually

o

be removed

rom

ervice.

hemain efect as

that e

couldnot

get

n wellwith

is

youngerolleagues.

owwe areon the ookout or

appointing

Director.

Thiswas the

Director

rought

n

to

mplement

he

hanges.9

Blackett ad ustbeen nChina and discussedwith aheerhisopinion hat he

Chinesewere

ar dvanced

n

electronicnstruments.

This

was not he

irstime his

warning

ad

been ounded

y

British

hysicist:ewspapershroughout

ndia arried







350 Robert . Anderson

the Statementf

Blacketťsfriend .D.

Bernal

n

December1954 that China has

mademore

apid rogress

n

science

han

ndia'.

Speaking

n

Madras,

ernal aid his

in

the context f his

support

or

the

'Five

Nehru-Chou

Principles'

and his

condemnationf the armsrace.Nehru,whohad, ikeBernal,ustreturnedrom

China,

was keen omeet

ernal

n

Delhi ohear is

views.)

The 1962

military

onflict

withChina

caused a

rapid

nd

agonizedreappraisal

f India's

development

nd

military

equirements.

omi

Bhabha was

appointed

hairman f an

Electronics

Committee

n

1963,

harged

o

plan

he

mobilization

f

ndian esourcesor ncreased

research,

evelopment

nd

production

n

electronics. aheer

accepted

Blacketťs

warning

bout

heChinese nd

electronics,

nd

quickly

utlinedhe

teps

wo

CSIR

laboratories ere

aking

one

in

electronic

ngineering

n

Palani and theother

n

scientific

nstrumentst

Chandigarh

but

did not dmit

in

his 1964

etter)

hat he

underdevelopmentf thesefunctions as retardingndia.Thereal ssue was not

simply

lectronic

nstrumentsor

esearchers,

r lectronic

ngineering

or

roduction

and

militaryystems,

ut lso consumer

lectronics,

s well s the

upply

nd

delivery

of

lectricity

tself.

lacketťs riend omiBhabha

had

ust

negotiated

ontracts ith

Canada nd he

USA for uclear

eactorshat ere ntendedo

solve his

roblem

nce

and for

ll,

butBlackett new t

wouldbe

many ears

ntil

hey

elivered

ower

o

the

grid.

Blackett

as,

t

this

tage, ewly ppointed

dviser o the

Ministerf Science

n

the

new Labour

Government.is

relationship

ith heCSIR

certainly

ontinued,

although

oon

Blackett ecame

Presidentfthe

RoyalSociety

ndwas even

busier.

Buthe didn't ose nterest.or xample, e received copy f he onfidentialeport

written

y

CG.

Wynne

f

mperial

ollege

or heDirector eneral f he

CSIR about

optical

designing.10

t

the

same

time,

Wynne

lso wroteBlackett

longpersonal

account fhis

visits oNational

eronautics

td,

he

Glass

ndCeramics

nstitutend

commercial

irms,

amenting

he mount f

money

wasted

n

assistance o

ndia nd

the

frustrationf talent

n

research entresike

theGlass and Ceramics nstitute

n

Calcutta.

e said

everyone

n

ndia

recognized

he

trategicecessity

f

developing

a

high-precisionptical

lass ndustry

nd

veryonehought

ndiawas

proceeding

oo

slowly

owardshat

oal,

but

veryone

lamed omeone

lse.This onformedith

he

viewsof a wide

range

f ndian

nd

foreign pinion

n

many

mattersf

strategic

necessity,

nd his

egativepinion

eached he cientific

dvisory

ommitteeothe

Cabinet

n

about

1966-67,

thus

nitiating

review f success and failure

n

the

scientific

nd ndustrial

ommunity.

In

a

way

the

Wynne eport

bout

pticsgave

Blackett is

subject

or heNehru

Memorial

ecture

year

ater. ttended

y

thePrime

Minister,

ndira

Gandhi,

nd

reviewed

n

all

newspapers,

is

ecture alledfor ew

hinking

bout the nnovation

chain'from

esearcho

production,

lbeit

n

a somewhatinear

way

f

hinking

bout

innovation.e wanted

ndustry

n

ndia nvolved

n

the

rocess

f

nnovationromts

inception.

e criticized he

sanctity'

f basic research. he Nehru

Lecture

was

gleefullyeceivednsomegovernmentnd ndustryuarters,ecause t hook hings

up

a bit.

urtheresearch

hould e

done

n

the

ublic

ebate

bout

lacketťs

ecture.

Some

researchers,

hose ives

epended

n

the

sanctity'

fbasic

research,

elt

e had







Patrick lackett n ndia. Part two

3 5

1

attacked

hem,

nd some

researchers elt

betrayed

ecause Blacketťs

ecture eemed

to undermine

hem,

ven

n

the aboratories

founded

by

Homi Bhabha and so often

visited

by

Blackett

himself.

This was a

widespread

reaction

among

researchers

knew

in

India,

both

in

Bombay

and

Calcutta.

He

probably

never heard

this

view and

would not

understand

that

researchers

'in

the ranks'

thought

the

support

orbasic

research

was

fragile.

He

was now

communicating

t a

level

very

far

removed fromresearchersin theranks',

and

to

him t

appeared,

ven

after

habha s

death

in

1966,

that

support

for

basic

research was

sufficiently trong.

A

few

days

after

he lecture

he wrote

to

Atma

Ram,

Director

General

of the

CSIR: '...it

has been

quite

clear

in recent

months hat

our

ways

of

thinking

re

very

imilar

..

I

do

realise

the

difficulty

ou

will have

in

guiding

ndian

policy

n

a new

direction'.11

Blacketthadnot so publicly ttackedwhat

he

viewed as

the irrelevance

of

much

research

n

ndia,

ncluding

asic

research,

up

to this date.

This

was an

extraordinary

Figure

. Patrick

lackett

bserving

ava

flows

orbirds)

ear

Khandala,

n 1962.

Reproduced

ith

ermission

f he

ata

InstitutefFundamentalesearch,

Mumbai.

he uthor

ppreciates

hekind

assistance

fE.R. Deutsch.

period

n

ndia

because

here as

uncertainty

round

he1967election

nd

he

upee

had

ust

been

devalued.

The brief

hrill f the

1965

war with

Pakistan

ad

been

forgotten,eplaced

y

oncern

bout

severe

rought

nd

famine

n

Bihar

nd astern

Uttar

radesh,

onfrontation

ith he

American

resident

nd the

death

f

Prime

Minister

hastri

n

1966.

Foreign

xchange

eserves

ad fallen

o their owest

evel

since ndependence.hesecretly lanned ndmanaged

evaluation

f the

rupee

n

June 966

from s 4.76

to Rs 7.50

to theUS

dollar

Rs

13.33 to

Rs

21

to

theUK

pound)

aused

massive

urtailment

f

mportation

f ndustrial

nd

cientific

upplies

and

quipment

among

ther ssential

tems).

t

also

brought

ven

trongerressures

for elf-reliance

nd

mport

ubstitution.

lacketťs

ehru

ecture

ight

months

ater,

with ts

call formore

realistic

hinking

bout

nnovation,

layed

n

the

historical

sensitivity

mong

lites

hatwas

caused

by

these ther

vents.

Blacketťs

nfluencextended

ight

nto he aboratories

t this

ime;

or

xample,

toAtma

Ram,

he criticized

the therwise

xcellent

man

Varma,

alkingightly

bout

starting

o

design

n electron

icroscope

t

NPL.

It

seems

hat ll

you

nd

have

been

sayingasnot een akenn t ll'.12 is nfluencelsoreached elhiUniversity,here

Blackett ad

been nvolved

n

planning

transfer

f a small

obsolete?)

ccelerator

from heCavendish

aboratoriest

Cambridge

o

Delhi;

at

first lackett

hought

t







352 RobertS. Anderson

would be a

good

machinefor

raining urposes,

buthe examined he

project arefully

when he visited ndia

only

to

realize:

that hemachine as asked or ot yphysicistst all but y ngineershowantedome

way

f

playing

round

ith

igh oltages.

do not

hink

hey

hould e allowed

o

do

this,

as the

echniques

ave lmost o

relevance

n

ny

ther ranch

f

ngineering.

hefact hat

they

houldwant o do this

hows, think,

he

nderlying

rive owards

restigeubjects,

whichs

quite danger

n

ndia s well s here.13

Was this emark

boutdisdain or

ngineers?

bout

preference

or

raining

ersus

'playing

round'?About

onquering

he

mpulse

or

restige? lthough

t

s difficult

to

ay,

thinkt

s about lackett

rying

o

help

AtmaRam

fight

ntrepreneurial

chaos'

and

bring

rder

nd control

n

his'

laboratories,

s much s it is about

voiding

unnecessarymportation.

am was

entering period

of confrontation

including

threatsfresignation)ith number fhis directorsf aboratories.

Right

hrough

his

usyperiod

Blackett

ept p

with

orrespondence

nd

visits,

until is final

isit

n

1971at

age

73. The

astvisitwas a nine-weekour

hrough

he

heat f ndia

n

March-May

971 While

here,

n

March,

e

observed

he

e-election

ofhis old

friendndira

Gandhi s PrimeMinister.rior o Blackett's

ourney,

tma

Ram's

ntentiono

resign

s

DirectorGeneral f the CSIR had been

signalled

o

Blackett,

nd he

pportunity

rose o

appoint

omeone

ounger.

ith reduction

f

his

military

ontacts,

lackettoured

ll

hisfamiliarcientificites uch s TIFR

and

the

NPL,

plus

new nes

ike he

pace

Research

entrendBharat

eavy

lectronics,

and a

dozen CSIR

institutes.e met hemost

powerful erson

n

Indian

cience,

Vikramarabhai; lsoM.G.K.Menon,Y.Nayudammawhosoon succeededAtma

Ram at the

CSIR)

and Pitambar antof the

Planning

ommission.

e toured he

Trombay

tomicResearch

entre

renamed

fter

habha)

with

he stronomer.

Chandrasekharrom

he

University

f

Chicago,

omeone e hadknown

ince

he

arly

1930s.

Although

he

CSIR

paid

he

xpenses

fBlackett

nd

his

wife ostanza n this

last

ourney,

e was also

invited o advise the ndianStatisticalnstitute

by

P.C.

Mahalanobis)

and the

University

rantsCommission

by

D.S.

Kothari).

His

conversationsith ndira

andhiwould ave hown lackett

hat

hough

heretained

her ather's

espect

or

cience nd

cientists,

hehad lso earned lotfromhe ebate

that

radually

inked science' more

trongly

o

'technology'.

ndiraGandhiwas

determinedo see more

ractical

esults

rom

he tate'smassivenvestment

n

cience-

based

ndustries.

his

was

the

equest

he

evidently

ade o Blackett o

help

her,

s

is shown elow.Whereas er atherad

ligned

ciencewitheducation' nd

culture',

Indira

Gandhi

ligned

science'with

technology'.

he

was also

prepared

o

redesign

institutionso achieve

this,and,

ike her

father,

ook a direct nterest

n

key

appointments.

or

example, uring

971,

he

agreed

hat he dministrationf the

Atomic

nergy

nd

Space programmes

hould e divided

nd that arabhai hould

stick o

space.

Various

aboratory

irectors rote o

him n

1971,

while

n

ndia nd

afterwards,

to askhim opersuadeAtmaRam topromoteheirbjectives,mproveiaisonwith

CSIR

headquarters

n

Delhi,

nd

provide

more reedomor heircientists

o nnovate.

Basically hey

ere

obbying,

bout

which lackett rote

o

Atma

Ram ater.Without







Patrick lackettn ndia.Part wo 353

being pposed

o their

leas,

he said the entral

roblem acing

SIR

laboratoriess

that

hey

ave:

shown tendencyoward ather asic research ithoutlways avingnyvery efinite

practicaloal.

ome f hework eems

ome obe

more uitable or

niversityepartments

than

or

overnment

esearch

tations,

hich ere

ndoubtedly

et

p

with he

eneral

oal

of

producing

ractical

esults

f use to

industry

nd

agriculture.

his

tendency

owards

purity

s

by

nomeans

nly

o

be

found

n

ndia

he

henmentioned

he

endency

n

he

UK].

I

thinkherere womain

easons or

his rifto

purity.

ne s that

t s often

much asier

todo

good

asic esearch

han

ood

pplied

esearchf nterest

o

ndustry.

he econd

eason

is the

widespread

isapplication

in my

view)

of the

principle

f the

mportance

f the

'freedom

f cience'

..

In

the ield

fbasic

uriosity-driven

esearch,

t s

fully

stablished

that

ble

esearch

orkershould

e

given

he

reatestossible

reedom

o

plan

nd

xecute

their wn

esearch.

What as

gone

wrong,

think,

n

some

government

esearch

tations

is that

he

rinciple

f cientific

reedom

as ometimeseen

pplied

omission-oriented

andD,wheret slargelynapplicable,nsteadfonly ocuriosityandD wheretdoes

apply.14

In

particular,

e said

that ome

aboratories:

do not

lways

eem o

understand

he

mportance

f

directing

ork

owards

market

requirement

nd lose ollaboration

ith

ndustry,

nd o

are

urprised

hen

heir ork

s

wasted.

hen here

re ome

ndividuals

n

ertain

tations

hodon't eem

obe

trying

ery

hard odo

anything

seful

ut

hinkt s more

mportant

o advance asic

research.

His recommendations

gain

pointed

o

strengthening

he

powers

f

the

Governing

BodyoftheCSIR over he trategicirectionf ts aboratoriesleaving he actics

'firmly

n

the handsof

the

directors').

e said

India should

tudy

ow

Harwell

Atomic

Research

entre nd

ndustry

ooperated,

nd how

government

unds

were

available

to

industry

cientists

not ust

to

government

cientists)

o fund

his

cooperation.

He

praised

the Central

Leather

Research

Institute

directed

by

Nayudamma)

or

ppointing

our conomists

o its

staff,

hus

providing

t

with

n

understanding

f tsmarkets

nd

clients

uperior

o other

SIR laboratories.

e did

not

exempt

ndustry

rom

riticism,

aying

the

backwardness

f much

of Indian

industry

tself was

partly

o blame.

But

Blackett

ointed

o a CSIR

study

f 10

years' xperience ith£10million xpendituren 23 industrialilotplants,which

concluded hat

he

plants

brought

n

ittle inancial

eturn'.

This last touroccurred

n

the

middleof

a Review

Commission

f

the CSIR

conducted

y

retired ustice

arkar,

o which

lackett

imself

madea

presentation,

andBlackettsked

he

High

Commissioner

n

London

n

September

971

for n

early

copy

f he arkar

ommission's

eport.

his s

furthervidence

hat t

age

73

he was

passionately

nterested

n ndia nd

njoyed

is

nfluence

n ts

cientific

ommunity.

He felt he cientific

ommunity

ad reached

certain

maturity

nd should

e

able

totackle

he

ractical

roblems

hat

onfronted

ndia,

amely overty

nd

population.

Blackett

iscussed

hiswith

rimeMinister

andhi,

hom e had

now

known or

4

years sinceshe was 30 yearsold). Before eaving ndiain 1971,he thuswrote

personally

o

AtmaRamto

propose

new

dvisory roup

or

he

Prime

Minister,

o

advise

her:







354

Robert . Anderson

about he reas

n

which fforts

hould e most oncentrated

in

way,

'task

aying

own

body'.

n

order

hat

&

D would ave relationoeconomic

rowth,

his

ody

hould ave

an economistn

t,

nd o

ensure

mplementation

f

he

ssignments

houldnclude

high

official. Thisworkhould ot ehamperednthe leaoffreedomor cientists.tmust

be

appreciated

hat cientistsrenot ree odo whatever

hey

ish,

ertainly

ot

n

he ield

of

pplied

cience...

In

orderhathis

valuationf

resent

ctivities

nd

ssignment

ffuture

tasks s done

nhampered

nd

xpeditiously,

o

obbying

hould e

allowed

nd he

ssues

should ot e

bogged

own

n

hose

uperficial

iscussionsnd o nd

fro

rguments

hich

can

lways

e

produced.

he

takesre

high,

imes

short,

nd heres

no

room or

rrelevant

arguments.

owwhen onditionsavebeen

reated

n

the

ountry,

hankso the

hinking

generatedecently,

his s the

pportunity

o

give

oncrete

hape

o the

R

&

D

related o

economic

rowth.

ven n allocation

f

resources,

tthemost 0-20%

may

e earmarked

for asic

esearch,

he

est

hould e devotedo

pplied

ork

earing

neconomic

rowth.15

Thiswas the ld voiceofBlackettrom he ate 1930s 'thestakes rehigh,he ime

is

short')

drawing

n his

wartime

xperience dvising

he Cabinet in

which,

nevertheless,

herewere often to

and fro

rguments',

ewof

whichwere

really

'irrelevant'venwhen e

disagreed

ith hem. lackett's

ole

n

the

trategicombing

controversy

f he econd

WorldWar s a

perfectxample.

Blackett as not

lone

n

his criticism

f the cientific

ommunity. riting

rom

New

York,

Mahalanobis arned lacketthat

e didnot ikewhatwas

going

n n

ndia:

'Indian cience s

in

a state f

confusion. The mmediate

uture oes not ook too

bright.

because

we still emain

structuredierarchical

ystem.'16y

now

Blackett

wouldhavebeen t

ease with

ierarchies,

aving

een o

long

t

their

op.

His naval

experience avehima permanentcaptainof theship' outlook n each of his

institutional

ositions.

lackett,

owever,

emainedn

optimist

bout

ndia,

eady

o

try

ew

hings.

s an

example,

hile

residentf he

Royal

ociety,

e

promoted

new

School f

Genetics n the

ampus

f he

ndian tatisticalnstitute

n

Calcutta

uring

1969-70,

efore

Mahalanobis ied.Thiswas the

ery

nstitute

here lackett'sriend

J.B.S.Haldanehad first

one

o workwhen e eft ritain o ive

n

ndia

n

1956.

Blackett

and

Vikram arabhai

Quite

ar romhe

olitics

f he

CSIR,

Blackett adformed

friendship

ith ikram

Sarabhai,

he

Cambridge-trained

hysicist

howas

appointed

habha's uccessor s

Secretary

o he

Department

fAtomic

nergy

n 1966.

arabhai tudiedt

Cambridge

as a

teenager

nd then eturnedfter he

war to

complete

is doctorate

n

1947.

Because hewarhad

hanged

he

omposition

f he

hysics epartment

t

Cambridge

so

greatly,

herewas no one

present

o examine arabhais thesis

n

cosmic

ray

physics.

o Blackett as asked o

be the xaminernd Sarabhai

aged 28)

was sent

to

Manchester or he

examination.

videntlyhey ot

on

well,

because Sarabhai

becameknown

n

theBlackett

ousehold s

'my

father'student'.

hey

met

n

ndia

in1948, nd 10yearsater lackett ent oAhmedabado dine tthe arabhai ouse

and ee the

hysical

esearch

aboratory

hat arabhai as

building.erhaps

lackett

recognized

hatVikram

arabhai,

whowas then

9,

wouldbe an

important

orce

n







Patrick lackettn ndia.Part wo

355

science

n

ndia.He

may

haveheard hat arabhai ad beendiscussed or

possible

role

n

the

CSIR after

hatnagar's

udden

eath

n

1955.After

inner,

arabhai

wrote

to Blackett o discuss

heirmutual nterest

n

the

explanation

f the atitude ffect

anomaliesnthe

ivergence

f he ctual errestrialagneticields romn deal ingle

dipóle

ield. arabhai

as

beginning

odirect is

gaze

to

ndia's

ole

n

pace.

A

further

dinner

n

Londonwas

proposed

o

talk boutState

upport

or cientific

esearch,

becauseSarabhai

was

building

n

industry-funded

extile

esearch

aboratory

t the

time ndhisown

hysics

aboratory.17

lackett

rew

o ike arabhai nd aw

him

when

he

was

in

India or

in

London. He wrote

moving bituary

orSarabhai

t the

internationalosmic

ay

onference

n

Jaipur.

nfortunately,

here

reno otheretters

between he wo

men

n

the

Royal

Society

rchives.

PatrickBlackett

and Homi

Bhabha

Along

with

heirovefor

hysics,

lackett

nd

Bhabha hared

loveformountains.

When

hese

leasures

ere

ombined,

he

oy

was

great.

hey

oth isited

he osmic

ray

aboratoryp

n

the

Alps.

Blackett

rote o Bhabha

n

195

1

wehave

early

0

photographs

f

V tracksrom

he icdu

Midi nd

t

ooks

s f herere

at east hree

eparate

eutral

asses,

wo

eing reater

han

rotonic

ass

Herr ott

certainly

asmade

heworld

eryomplicated.18

Longforgottenas thedisagreementver hemassofthepenetratingomponentf

cosmic

ays

t sea level.

Little id Blackett

now

hat his s where

habha's

lane

would rash

15

years

ater.

n

February

955,

Dag

Hammerskjold

nnounced

hat

Bhabhawould

be the

president

f the

first N conference

n the

peaceful

ses

of

atomic

nergy

n

Geneva

hat

ear.

W.Bennett-Lewis

fAtomic

nergy

anada

Ltd

was on

the

planning

ommittee

or he

conference,

nd

the discussion

f

Indo-

Canadian

ooperation

lossomed etween

hem

here. onsiderable

ressure

ad

been

brought

rom ehru

hrough

rishna

Menon

then

n

New

York)

o ensure

hat

someone

Bhabha?)

from

'neutral'

ountry

ouldbe chairman.

n

the nd

British

supportorBhabhawas decisive.Nehru abledBhabha nGenevagiving

im

full

freedomo

negotiate

he erms

f collaboration

ithCanada

on theCanada-India

Reactor.

hough

more

eavily

nvolved ith

he ndian

military

tthis

ime,

lackett

helped

habha et

up

a

geomagnetic

aboratory

n

a barrack ut tthe

TIFR in

1955,

before

he ew

building

as

completed.

lackett as

deeply

nvolved

n

researchbout

geomagnetic

eversal.

hey rought

.R. Deutsch

f

mperial

ollege

othe

TIFR for

a

year

o

calibratend rain

eople

with

he

ery

ensitive

agnetometer

hat lackett

had

developed.

t

was

a favouritexhibit

f the

Krushchev-Bulganin

isit o

the

TIFR in

Novemberhat

ear,

ndcontinued

unctioning

or

many

more

years.

By

theend of

1955 theUSA and

USSR had

exploded

othfission

nd fusion

(thermonuclear)ombs, ndtheUK hadexplodedhree ission ombs.Bhabha nd

Blackett

ad formed he

opinion

hat hese

were

unlikely

ver o be

used

in

war.

Evidentlyhey

lso

agreed

with

heviewthat he

original

iroshima

nd

Nagasaki







356

Robert . Anderson

bombs ad

been

nnecessary.erhaps

habha ad

grown

o

ccept

lackett's946view

that hese ombs

were hefirst ct

n

a

cold

diplomatic

ar

with

Russia,

o imit

he

USSR's

expansion

n

Asia.

It

should e rememberedhat venfor

eople

with heir

connectionse.g.both f hem new obert ppenheimerell), heManhattanroject

evidence efore

August

1945 was still

ecret,

nd thus heir

nterpretation

fthat

situation ouldhave been based on an

understanding

hat ome of thefactswere

concealed rom

hem.)

herefore,

hen n authoritativemerican ource evealed

something

t

was

consideredaluable. habhawrote oBlackett

uoting

ith

pproval

the iews fAdmiralWilliam

eahy,

heChief fStaff ho erved nder oth

resident

Roosevelt ndPresident

ruman,

hat he tomic ombwas not

actically ecessary.

Although

his s now learer han

t

was

then,

e

should

ot

miss

he

oint

meaning

that habhawas

well-informednddid

not

elieve ome f he

mythologyurrounding

theuse of thebomb ntheending fthewar.19 oreover,t the ime, habhawas

participating

n

a

year-long

eview f

declassifiedvidence

n

theuse and

effectsf

nuclear

xplosions,

ublishedy

he

Governmentf ndiawith Foreword

y

Nehru.20

BecauseBhabha onfided

n

him,

lackett

ept

breast f urrent

trategichinking

in

Delhi and n

atomic

nergy/nucleareapons

ircles

lsewhere.

think

his

arger

view was made

possible,despite

heir

ifferences,

y

a common

ackground

n

physics

nd sense f

belonging

oan

nternational

ommunity

f cientists.lackett's

passionate

nterestn

the role of

science nd

technology

n

developing

ountries

matched habhas.

Blackett's ole

n

strategy

atched ehru's ndBhabha's ecause

he

probably

new

hingshey

id

not,

ven

n

the ate 1950s nd

early

960swhen e

is said ohavebeen ut f heBritisholicy oop.AccordingoNye,Blackett ealized

in

the

arly

950s hat e

underestimatedhe ethal ffectsfradioactive

allout nd

the

apid evelopment

f

missiles ble to deliver mall

hydrogen

ombs.

However,

Blackettontinuedo

argue uring

he

1950s nd 1960s hat onventionalnd

nuclear

disarmamenthould

e

negotiated

n

parallel.'21

do notknowwhat

Blackett ould

have

hought

f

heknew hat isfriend omi

Bhabhawas

the

erson

ho,

adhe

ived,

would

have

been in

charge

f the decisionto

testnuclear

weapons

n

1974,

n

consultationith

he rimeMinister.t

s

nteresting

onote hat

lackettried

o

bring

Bhabha nto he

ugwash

onference

n

1961.

Bhabha

eplied

hat

t

would ake

him

too

long

to

study

he ssues for hat

articular eeting

nd nstead

ecommended

Vikram arabhai.

y

this

ime,

habha

was, think,

ore

aught

n n official et han

he realized ndfelt

onstrainedo

speak

ven

mong

cientistsboutnuclear

olicy.

Indiawas

taking

strong

tand

or isarmament

n

theTest-Ban

reaty egotiations

in

1961,

and whenBhabha

spoke,

even

nformally,

t

reflected ational

olicy.

Nevertheless,

habha

rranged

nd attended lecture

y

Blackett

n

Delhi n

early

1962 on

Military

olicy

nd

disarmament',

nd

he

andBlackett idboth ttend he

Pugwash

meetings

n

1963.

One

year

ater,

fter ehru's

eath,

he

first

hinese

tomic

ombwas

exploded

in

October

1964. Bhabha

complained

hat herewas no

protection

or ountries

capable fmakingtomic ombs utwhich adrefrainedromoing o. He saidthat

a climate

avourableo such ountries ust e created

mmediately.

habha

robably

got

the new Prime

Minister's

greement

o a

project

hat

prepared

ndia for n








underground

uclear

xplosion,

n

ate

1964.

A

fewmonths

ater habha nnounced

that ndia ould

make nuclear omb

n

18

months,

aying

'We are still

18 months

away

rom

xploding

ither bomb

r device

or

eaceful urposes,

ndwe are

doing

nothingoreduce hat eriod." ighteen onths as the igurerBhabha ited year

ago

andhe said

the ituation

ad not

hanged

ince hen.'22

What lackett

might

othaveunderstood

r

accepted

t the

imewas that

uclear

weapons

were

ecoming

een

n

ndia s a

great ymbol

fnational

restige,

symbol

around hich

olitical

arties

nd

non-political

roups

would

graduallyoin

together

people

ofotherwise

iffering

iews.

Of course

herewere ther

motivations,

ut

his

one

was crucial.

t s not lear

what

osition

lackett ook

with

espect

o Bhabha

s

preparations

or

uclear ests

n

1964-65,

but

t

s

highly

nlikely

hat

hey

ailed

o

discuss

hem. he

question

f

national

restige

ad

confronted

lackett

efore,

n

Britain's uclearweapons rogramme,ndhe hadargued gainst restigehere oo.

It

was

finally

t Bhabha

s unfortunate

eath

n

an aircrash

n

the Swiss

Alps

in

1966

at which

herewas

little

pportunity

or

Blackett

o mourn

that riends

f

Bhabha

were rawn

loser

ogether.

lackett

poke

n the adio

most

eelingly

bout

Bhabha;

his

may

havebeen

re-broadcast

n

ndia,

nd

was

certainly idely

uoted

in

ndian

apers,

ecause

Bhabha

was

considered

national

ero. etters

ere ent

to

Blackett,

hanking

im

for

his

speech,

nd

recognizing

hat lackett

imself

ad

lost

special

riend;

etters

ame

frommen

ndwomen

who iked

habha

reatly,

ike

thenew

Prime

Ministerndira

andhi.

lackett

as dentified

n

these etters

s a true

friend

f

ndia,

n an emotional

evel.

Blackett

new e

hadbeen

ough

n ndia

nd

hadopenlyhown isfrustrationithts onditions.tthe ame ime, e hadcreated

a circle f ffection

hrough

is

friendships

here,

ndhadfound

alentednd

ffective

people

who

were

doing

hekind

f

things

e believed

n. His

wife,

ady

Costanza

Blackett,

aid

that

n

the

ater

ears

fhis

ifehe cared

more

assionately

bout

his

work

n

ndia

han e did

aboutmost

ther

hings.23

Blackett' s

legacy

It s for istoriansnd scientistsf ndia otryo udgewhatBlackettchieved

n

India and

what

onsequences

is work

had. We

know ittle f

how Blackett

was

appraised

utside

he harmed

ircle

n

which

e

normally

oved,

ndwe

know

hat

historical

esearchs

necessary

ounderstand

ow his ew

ype

fdefence

onsultant

was

viewed

y

others.

f

Britain

madeuse

of Blackett

s a source

f

ntelligence

n

this

eriod,

e do

not

yet

now

ow.

The evidence

ere hows

hatwhatever

lackett

achieved,

e did so

only hrough

ooperation

ith

number f

powerful

eople

nd

through

he

prestige

e

brought

rom ritish

cience and

politics.

His

worldly

reputation

s a

consultant,

term e

himself

sed,

ays

great

eal bout

he

ontinuity

and nterconnection

fthe ndian

nd British

cientific,

ilitary

nd

political

lites

at thetime. t also saysmuch bout ndian wareness f British olitics ndthe

continuing

ndian

articipation

n

British

nstitutions

uch s

the

Royal

Society

nd

universities

uch s

Cambridge.







358

Robert .

Anderson

This

tory

uggests

hat here

s sometimes

n

nteresting,

reativend

useful ole

for utsiders

s intermediaries.

f,

n

another0

years,

e ook

backon Blackett's

ole

in

this ormative

eriod,

think

e

would ind hat

is

objectives

o

be

enduring.

hat

is, o mproveheworkingonditionsfpeopledoing esearch,odistinguisharefully

between

he

bjectives

f

nstitutions,

ocut

way

he

ureaucraticrambles

hat

row

up

around

he

practice

f

research,

o

think

arefully

bout

he

things

hat an be

developed ocally

nstead f

being mported

nd to balance

the State's nsatiable

desire or echnical

restige

ith

nhancing

rdinaryeoples'

abilities

o

provide

better

ife or

hemselves.

Not

ong

fter habha's

eath,

hen

lackett eceived

isOrder fMerit

n

1967,

he received letter

rom enior ivil

servant,

J. Kidwai. His

words

apture

he

perspective

n

which

atrick lackett as

viewed

y

a certain

eneration

s

part

f

the ineage fpeople onsidereds friendsf ndia. t alsocaptureshe piritnwhich

he seems ohave

gone

bout iswork.To no other

eople

utside

his

ountry',ays

Kidwai,

have

yougiven

he ame ense f

belonging.

ndno oneafter arold aski

has

had

the ame

mpact

n ndianminds s

you.'24

Visits

by PatrickBlackett to

India

According

o hisnote

n

theBlackett

apers, oyalSociety,

atrick lackett

isited

India

n

1947,

1948,1950,1953,1954,1955,

1963,1964,1965,1966,

1967 nd

1971.

Institutionsisited

usuallymany

imes)

Universities

Delhi,

Bombay,

alcutta,Madras,

tc.);

Tata nstitutefFundamental

Research,

ombay;

aha Institutef Nuclear

Physics,

alcutta;

ndian nstitutef

Science,

Bangalore;

Indian

Statistical

nstitute,

alcutta;

Physical

Research

Laboratory,

hmedabad;

ll Laboratories

ftheCouncil

f Scientificnd ndustrial

Research,

.g.

Glass

and

Ceramics,

etallurgy,

oads,

National

hysical

aboratory,

National Chemical

Laboratory,

National Aeronautical

Laboratory,

National

Metallurgicalaboratory;

ll Defence aboratories

nd ll Defence roductionites.

Acknowledgements

I thank he

Royal Society

or

permission

o

quote

from heBlackett

apers

n

its

Archives,

nd Sandra

Cumming

nd

Mary

Sampson

or

heir ind ssistance.

his

essay

is

drawn

from

my arger

work

entitled

Nucleus and

nation:

scientists,

international

etworb nd

power

n ndia

forthcoming,

999),

nd for easons

f

space

cannot

upply

he

necessary

ut

arger

ontext

or his

ortrait

fBlackett. he

majorpublished tudy

f

Blackett

s

by

Sir Bernard

ovell,

P.M.S. Blackett-

biographical emorial.amgratefulo Professorovellfor onversationsith im

onthis

ubject.

ermission

as

granted

y

he

Tata nstitute

fFundamental

esearch,

Mumbai,

or

eproduction

f

photographs.

am

grateful

o E.R.

Deutsch or is

kind








cooperation.

wo conferencesn Blackett

n

1998,

one

by

the

Royal

Society

t

Imperial

ollege,

London,

nd theother

y

the

RoyalNavy

t

Magdalene

College,

Cambridge,

ave

benefited

e

enormously,

nd

gratefullycknowledge

he

nsights

and nformationhat receivedhere,ncludingrom icholasBlackettndGiovanna

Bloor.For further

nformationee

thecollection f

essays

bout

Blackett,

atrick

Blackett:

ord,

rofessor,

ieutenant,

hich

willbe edited

y

Peter ore nd

published

in

2000

by

the

Royal

Naval Museum.

This research

was

completed

while was

Visiting

ellow t

Corpus

hristi

ollege,

ambridge.

his

ssay

s

necessarily

ork-

in-progress:

here

may

be other

nseendocuments

nd etters hat

if

known)

may

change

or

contradict he

picture

drawn

here.

I

alone am

responsible

for

the

interpretation

havemade.

Notes

1

R.S.

Anderson,

Patrticklackett

n

India:

military

onsultant

nd scientific

ntervenor.

Part

ne',

Notes ee.

R. Soc. Lond.

3,

253-273

1999).

2 S.S.

Bhatnagar

oP.M.S.

lackett,

2

April

5

1

P.M.S.Blackett

oS.S.

Bhatangar

7

April

1951;

Royal ociety

rchive.

3

The

relationship

etween

ill

nd

Bhatnagar

s

one

of he hemes

f

my

orthcoming

ook

Nucleus

ndnation:

cientists,

nternational

etworksnd

power

n ndia.

4

On

the

history

f

he olar

ower

esearcht

the

NPL,

see S.

Visvanathan,

rganising

or

science

Delhi,

Oxford

niversity

ress,

985).

5 The tatesmanCalcutta),4January63

6 J.B.S.Haldane

o P.M.S.

Blackett,

5

January

963,

Royal

Society

Archives.

n

the

relationships

etween

lackett,

ernal nd

Haldane,

ee G.

Wersky,

hevisible

ollege:

collective

iographyf

ritish

cientists

nd ocialists

f

he 930s

London,

reeAssociation

Books,

988).

ee also

B. Swan nd

F.

Aprahamian

eds)

D. Bernal:

life

n

cience nd

politics.

Verso,

ondon,

999).

7 M.G.K.

Menon t

l,

Report

o he xecutive

ouncil,

ational

hysical

aboratory,

April

1963,

Royal ociety

rchives..

8 D. Raina nd

A.

Jain,

Big

science

nd he

niversity

n

ndia',

n

J.

Krige

ndD. Pestře

eds)

Science

nthe wentieth

enturyLondon,

arwood

cademic

ublishers,

997).

9 H. Zaheer oP.M.S.

Blackett,

December

964,

Royal ociety

rchives.

1

CG.

Wynne,

eport

n

Optical

esigning,

or he

SIR,

June

66,

Royal ociety

rchives.

11 P.M.S.BlackettoArma am, December967,Royal ociety rchives.

12

P.M.S.

Blacketto

Atma

am,

December

967,

Royal

ociety

rchives.

13 P.M.S.BlackettoAJ.

Kidwai,

9 November

967,

Royal

ociety

rchives.

14 P.M.S.

Blackett,

eport

othe everhulme

rust,

2

May

1971,

Royal

ociety

rchives.

15

P.M.S.

Blackett,

Personal

otes

Atma

Ram',

no

date,

robably

pril-May

971,

Royal

Society

rchives.

16 P.C.Mahalanobis

oP.M.S.

Blackett,

9 June

971,

Royal ociety

rchives.

17

V

Sarabhai

oP.M.S.

Blackett,

4

February

958,

Royal ociety

rchives.

18 P.M.S.Blackett

oH.J.

habha,

3

February

951,

Royal ociety

rchives.

19 H.J.Bhabha o P.M.S.

Blackett,

1

April

1955,

Royal

Society

Archives. or

the ntire

discussion

f the ix months

efore nd

years

fter

ugust

945 see G.

Alperovitz,

he

decisionousethe tomic omb nd he rchitecturef nAmerican ythLondon, arper

Collins,

995).







360

Robert . Anderson

20

Government

f

ndia,

Nuclear

xplosions

nd their

ffects

Delhi,

The Publications

ivision,

1956).

21

MJ.

Nye,

A

physicist

n

the corridors f

power:

P.M.S. Blackett's

pposition

o atomic

weaponsfollowinghewar',presentedo ConferencenPatrick lackett,mperial ollege

London. Anril 99R.

22 Anthonv ukas. India rulesout secret tom esť. New York imes 9 November 1965Y

23 Personal

ommunication,

ir Bernard

ovell,

24

April

1998.

24

A.J.

Kidwai

to

P.M.S.

Blackett,

1

November

967,

Royal Society

Archives.

Patrick Blackett in India Military Consultant and Scientific Intervenor, 1947

Documents

Transcript of Patrick Blackett in India Military Consultant and Scientific Intervenor, 1947