Education in astronomy and astrophysics: the Indian experience

Abstract

In the context of a vast region with one-sixth of the global population, the Indian subcontinent has a very rich tradition of teaching of astronomy as a science. The so called modern astronomy has mostly been developed over the past two centuries whereas the subject of astrophysics is barely a hundred years old. This work reviews briefly the current efforts in India in propagating these subjects not only at the research level but all the way down to the level of school children. With the creation of IUCAA, these efforts have been systematized and the response to them has been very rewarding.