Edavaleth Kakkat Janaki Ammal was the first Indian woman to be awarded a Ph.D in the botanical sciences. She received the degree from the University of Michigan , in 1931, where she specialised in plant cytology.
This distinction alone must warrant a celebration of her work, but her life and achievements remain largely unknown to us except for a few articles. This, despite the fact that in 1945, Janaki, often referred to as the first Indian woman botanist, co-authored Chromosome Atlas of Cultivated Plants that scientists fall back on to this day.
In the 125th year since she was born, readers can look forward to a well-researched biography of this outstanding woman scientist. Chromosome Woman, Nomad Scientist: E.K. Janaki Ammal, a Life 1897-1984, by Savithri Preetha Nair, 57, will likely be the first expansive archive-based analytical biography of an Asian woman scientist.
Read the full story here: Janaki Ammal, the nomad scientist
