B.V. Subbarayappa (MSc, PhD), a chemist turned historian and philosopher of science, was the
elected president (1998-2001) of the History of Science division of the International Union of
History and Philosophy of Science (under ICSU, Paris)—the first non-westerner to be elected.
He is the recipient of the Copernicus Medal from the Polish Academy of Sciences (1973) and has
received the Karnataka State Award (2008). He has also been awarded by the National Academy
of Sciences, India, of which he is an elected Fellow, and has an Honorary Doctorate (1999) from
the University of Bologna. He is the author/editor of twenty books and over a hundred papers
on the history of Indian science, science and society, and related themes.
