Biographical / Historical Note
Rajesh Kochhar is a former Professor of Astrophysics, and former Director, National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies, New Delhi, India. He is a former President of International Astronomical Union Commission on History of Astronomy. He has been a Fulbright Visiting Lecturer, Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow, and British Council Visiting Scholar at University of Cambridge, UK. He is the recipient ofIndian National Science Academy's 2014 Indira Gandhi Prize for Popularization of Science. He has published original research in a number of fields and lectured extensively in India and abroad including Harvard, Cornell, University of Texas at Austin, Belfast, Brighton, Royal Dublin Society, Tubingen, Copenhagen University and National Museum Copenhagen.He is the author of The Vedic People: Their History and Geography (2000) and English Education in India, 1715-1835: Half-caste, Missionary, and Secular Stages (2020).