Dhruv Raina is a philosopher and historian of science from India. He is best known for his work on the domestication of science in colonial India, transnational intellectual networks of science and historiographies of science. He was Professor of History of Science Education at the Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies (ZHCES), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (2003-2023). Before joining JNU, he was a scientist at the National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), New Delhi from 1991 to 2002. He was the first Heinrich Zimmer Chair for Indian Philosophy and Intellectual History, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany (2010–11). His basic training is in physics (MSc Physics, IIT Bombay), and he completed his doctoral studies with Aant Elzinga in the philosophy of science from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden on the Jesuit enlightenment historiography of Indian astronomy and mathematics.
His intellectual association with S. Irfan Habib led to the publication of a series of research articles (collected lately as a volume titled, Domesticating Modern Science, 2004) on the cultural redefinition of modern science in colonial India. They edited a volume on Joseph Needham (Situating the History of Science, 1999) and also the section on Science in Twentieth South and South-East Asia for volume 7 of UNESCO's History of Mankind Project.[1]
He is currently on the Council of the Division for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (2020-2023).[2]