COLLABORATION IN INDIAN PHYSICS - A CASE-STUDY OF THE MACRO AND MICROPARAMETRIZATION OF SUB-DISCIPLINES (1800-1950)

The decade beginning 1920 is an important watershed in the history of physics in modern India. This is evident from the bibliometric data av ailable on the publications in physics between 1800 and 1950. The pape r studies the evolution of collaboration in four subdisciplines of phy sics during this period. In order to do so, two sets of measures of re search collaboration have been employed. The collaboration index and c ollaboration coefficient have been calculated for the sub-disciplines. As far as the micro-parametrization of the discipline is concerned, c ollaboration measures developed by Egghe are obtained for the research careers of four leading Indian physicists, who were responsible for t he institutionalization of physics research in India. In the present c ase the role of individuals responsible for the institutionalization o f physics research is seen to be germane to the explosion of the numbe r of publications in the 1920s. At the conjucture of the history of sc ience and scientometrics, it is evident how the former can endow the l atter with a modality of explanation; further, it is evident how scien tometrics can inform the efforts of historians of science.