Geek Nation

Geek Nation by Angela Saini

Geek Nation: how Indian science is taking over the world by Angela Saini was published globally in spring 2011. It hit the top of the non-fiction bestseller lists in India and was one of The Independent's best books of 2011. Angela has appeared on Meet the Author on the BBC, spoken at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Google in San Francisco, Columbia University Journalism School and has completed a whirlwind five-city tour of India.

So what is this book that everyone's talking about? Well, more than a million engineers and scientists graduate from Indian universities and colleges every year, and they are set to transform the country into a technological and scientific superpower. So at the dawn of this scientific revolution, Geek Nation is a journey to meet the inventors, engineers and young scientists behind this nation built not on conquest, oil or minerals, but on the scientific ingenuity of its people.

This isn't your typical science book. This is a geeky travelogue, filled with weird, wonderful and entertaining tales. Angela weaves the story of how ancient science is giving way to the new, and how the technology of the wealthy is passing to the poor. Delving inside the psyche of India’s science hungry citizens, she explores the reason why the government of the most religious country on earth has put its faith in science and technology. There are lie detectors, flying machines, thorium-powered nuclear reactors, space rockets and dozens more fascinating ideas and inventions.

Through witty firsthand reportage and penetrative analysis, Geek Nation explains what this means for the rest of the world, and how a spiritual nation squares its soul with hard rationality. Full of curious, colourful characters and gripping stories, it describes India through its people – a nation of geeks.