Lilavati's Daughters: The Women Scientists of India, is a collection of (auto)biographical essays of about 100 women scientists who have worked and are working in India. The name is drawn from The Lilavati, a twelfth-century treatise in which the mathematician Bhaskaracharya addresses a number of problems to his daughter, Lilavati. Although legend has it that Lilavati never married, her intellectual legacy lives on in the form of her daughters - the women scientists of India.

Covering a range of disciplines in these essays these Indian women scientists talk of what brought them to science, what kept their interest alive, and what has helped them achieve some measure of distinction in their careers. What makes a successful career in science possible for a woman? Many answers to this question can be found somewhere in the essays written by Lilavati's Daughters.

The book is directed towards the reading public. A young student with research ambitions will find this an important collection where she or he can learn firsthand of women who functioned and achieved their goals in the Indian social and academic environment. Others will also find the essays to be of value and interest for what they say. And as is often the case, also for what they do not say...

The book was released during the Inaugural session of the 74th Annual Meeting of the Indian Academy of Sciences on October 31, 2008 at IIT, Delhi. The book was released by Prof. D. Balasubramanian, President of the Indian Academy of Sciences.