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Jayant Narlikar

जयंत नार्लीकर
1938 – 2025
AstronomyPhysics

Cosmologist and science communicator; founded IUCAA

Uttar Pradesh connection: Grew up in Varanasi, where his father taught at BHU; studied at Banaras Hindu University

Story

Prof. Jayant Narlikar developed the Hoyle–Narlikar theory of gravity with Fred Hoyle and founded the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune. He wrote popular science books and stories in Marathi, Hindi and English.

Key contributions

  • Hoyle–Narlikar theory of gravity
  • Founding director of IUCAA (1988)
  • UNESCO Kalinga Prize for popularising science

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Photos: Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons, unless uploaded by Awadh Vigyan Bharati. Ancient scholars are shown with symbolic images where no portrait exists.