24 Facts About Jayant Narlikar

Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was born on 19 July 1938 and is an Indian astrophysicist and emeritus professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics.

Jayant Narlikar's father, Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar, was a mathematician and theoretical physicist who served as Professor and Head of Department of Mathematics at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, and mother, Sumati Narlikar, was a scholar of Sanskrit.

Jayant Narlikar's wife was mathematician Mangala Narlikar and they have three daughters.

Jayant Narlikar completed his school education from Central Hindu College now Central Hindu Boys School.

Jayant Narlikar received his BSc degree from Banaras Hindu University in 1957.

Jayant Narlikar then began his studies at Cambridge University at Fitzwilliam College like his father, where he received a BA degree in mathematics in 1959 and was Senior Wrangler.

Jayant Narlikar continued to work as a Fellow at King's College until 1972.

In 1972, Jayant Narlikar took up Professorship at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India.

In 1988, the Indian University Grants Commission set up the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, and Jayant Narlikar became the Founder-Director of IUCAA.

In 1981, Jayant Narlikar became a founding member of the World Cultural Council.

Jayant Narlikar is known for his work in cosmology, especially in championing models alternative to the popular Big Bang model.

Jayant Narlikar was appointed as the chairperson of The Advisory Group for Textbooks in Science and Mathematics, the textbook development committee responsible for developing textbooks in Science and Mathematics, published by NCERT.

Jayant Narlikar has received many national and international awards and honorary doctorates.

Jayant Narlikar was awarded 'Rashtra Bhushan' in 1981 by FIE Foundation, Ichalkaranji.

Jayant Narlikar received Maharashtra Bhushan Award for the year 2010.

Jayant Narlikar is an Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society of London, and a Fellow of the three Indian National Science Academies and the Third World Academy of Sciences.

Jayant Narlikar was featured on Carl Sagan's TV show Cosmos: A Personal Voyage in the late 1980s.

Jayant Narlikar received the Indira Gandhi Award of the Indian National Science Academy in 1990.

Jayant Narlikar served on the Physical Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize in 2009.

Jayant Narlikar presided over the 94th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held at Nashik in January 2021.

Besides scientific papers and books and popular science literature, Jayant Narlikar has written science fiction, novels, and short stories in English, Hindi, and Marathi.

Jayant Narlikar is the consultant for the Science and Mathematics textbooks of NCERT.

Jayant Narlikar married mathematics researcher and professor, Mangala Jayant Narlikar.

Jayant Narlikar is the uncle of the Cambridge University social sciences academic Amrita Narlikar.