Reportedly the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, commonly known as the Royal Society, has existed for almost 360 years. Meanwhile in these 360 years, it has seen notable fellows like Isaac Newton (1672), Charles Darwin (1839), Michael Faraday (1824), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Albert Einstein (1921), Dorothy Hodgkin (1947), Alan Turing (1951) and Francis Crick (1959), and also Indian scientists. Correction: Indian male scientists.
The first Indian male scientist, Ardaseer Cursetjee, who was a Parsi shipbuilder and engineer belonging to the Wadia shipbuilding family, was elected to be part of the society in 1841. Almost 180 years later, Gagandeep Kang, an Indian woman scientist has been elected to the society. Why did it take so long for this to change to occur?
Speaking to news magazine Gagandeep Kang, who is currently the Executive Director of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, said that she was 'delighted' that her research designed and done in India has been recognized.