Colonial perceptions of hunger
Perceptions of famines are as important for historians to study as the famines themselves, says a British historian. The British created famines …
Missionary women doctors in nineteenth century Delhi
Throughout the 1860s a frail young European woman with a medicine chest was a conspicuous presence at the women's ghats of the river Yamuna in …
Book review: Environmental issues in India
Book>> Environmental Issues in India: a Reader edited by Mahesh Rangarajan Pearson-Longman 2007
An empire withers away
Recent findings suggest the Akkadian empire, which once flourished on the banks of the Euphrates, collapsed because of a sudden dearth of water.
History books tell us about just a few who fought for India’s freedom: P Sainath
Sainath’s book ‘The Last Heroes’ is an attempt to tell the stories of unsung heroes behind freedom struggle from British …
Unpopular opinion: Ranajit Guha and Subaltern Studies writers were ‘caste-blind’, says section of experts
They covered tribal and Dalit movements and yet never delved into issues of identity and autonomy, the experts told DTE
Archaeology shows how hunter-gatherers fitted into southern Africa’s first city, 800 years ago
One of the foundational developments that took place that led to the rise of the Mapungubwe Kingdom was the accumulation of wealth
I was part of the team that found the Homo naledi child’s skull: How we did it
The child has been named “Leti” after the Setswana word “letimela”, meaning “the lost one”
The Sundarbans: India must protect the world’s largest delta from a dystopian future, and now
We must get out of ‘beyond disaster response’ mode in the Sundarbans and take urgent action to save it
Melting Mongolian ice reveals fragile artifacts that provide clues about how past people lived
Ice patches also preserve ‘ecofacts’ that trace important ecological changes, like shifting tree lines or changing animal habitats
The Sikh Gurus' service to the sick can be a lesson for today's pandemic
Down To Earth speaks to Mohinder Singh, professor and director of the National Institute of Panjab Studies and Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan,New …
'There are more than 60,000 tree species in the world & my book had room for only 80!'
Jonathan Drori, author of Around the World in 80 Trees tells S S Jeevan about the phylogeny, ecological services, and the sociological …
Exploring the similarities in human action
EXPALANATION AND UNDERSTANDING IN THE HUMAN SCIENCE Gurpreet Mahajan Publisher: Oxford University Press Price: Rs 150
Monument to hunger
The 1784 famine of Lucknow region and a nawab's philanthropic gesture gave us a magnificent monument
History or just story
THE ECOLOGICAL INDIAN, MYTH AND HISTORY· Shepard Krech III· W W Norton Company, USA·pp318·US $27.95
Subaltern, forgotten: How mainstream narratives neglected the Bhumij, among the first to revolt against the British
The Prime Minister released ‘Dictionary of Martyrs‘ of India’s Freedom Struggle, selecting 1857 as the watershed year, …
Cross-continent social networking may have existed 400,000 years ago, fire use patterns suggest
The various groups of hominins were tolerant towards one another and exchanged ideas much like modern humans
Ancient southern Kalahari was more important to human evolution than previously thought
Ga-Mohana was much wetter than today, with pools of standing water and waterfalls tumbling down the hillside
‘Chinese food is so entrenched in our lives; COVID-19 can’t change that’
Down To Earth talks to Miranda Brown, historian of premodern Chinese food and medicine and University of Michigan professor, about Chinese …
The revenge of the boar
The wild pig can be a danger to humans, as some very special ones in northern Iraq found recently
Barbarism to animals has a hoary pedigree
Through the centuries, human beings have tried to establish their dominance over animals, killing them for both food and sport. Even today, …
Dots not joined
Book>> False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World by Allan Beattie Penguin Indian Price Rs 450
Is it really hotter now than any time in 100,000 years?
Earth is currently on course to reach temperatures of roughly 3°C above preindustrial levels by the end of the century
Restoring a century-old building in Chandannagar helps raise awareness about heritage management
The Registry Building constructed in 1875 served as the register office as well as the first French courthouse
The next invasion of insect pests will be discovered via social media
The proliferation of smart phones means many people have an encyclopedia of knowledge, a high-resolution digital camera and GPS in their pockets
