The astrophysicist and cosmologist Jayant Narlikar was one of the 4th Science Centre World Congress' conferecist. Well known for his engagement in science popularization actions, the Indian is the director of the respectful institution Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, responsable for the continuing growth of astronomy and astrophysics nucleus at universities in India.
Professor Jayant Narlikar was born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra on July 19, 1938. At Cambridge University Narlikar received his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in 1960, 1964 and 1963 respectively. In that period, he developed a work on the steady state theory of the universe, which provided for the first time a description of the continous creation of matter within the framework of Einstein's general relativity theory. He also worked on electrodynamics, which led him to a new theory of gravity which is now known as the conformal theory of gravity.
Back to India Narlikar continued his work on cosmology and astrophysics, being engaged, between 1977 and 1985, in the study of quantum fluctuations in the vicinity of space-time singularities at the origin of the Universe. He is also reminded for his active participation in the ongoing controversy about the distance of quasars.
Apart from his scientific research, however, Narlikar has also written books and articles at the non-technical level in Marathi, Hindi as well as English, along with other actions to popularize science. For these services he has received several state and national awards including INSA's Indira Gandhi Award, UNESCO's Kalinga Award and the Godavari Gaurav Puraskar of the Kusumagraj Pratishthan.
Professor Narlikar has won inumerous awards and served on several national committees, such as the Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (1986-90) and the Indo-US Sub-Commission on Education and Culture (1985-89). In 1994 he became the President of the Cosmology Commission of the International Astronomical Union.
