Ayesha Mukherjee is Associate Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture in the Department of English and Film, University of Exeter. She was educated at Presidency College and Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Her book Penury into Plenty: Dearth and the Making of Knowledge in Early Modern England (2015) recovered intersections between the histories of early modern science, medicine, economics and literature, with special attention to the works of the Elizabethan scientist, medical practitioner, socio-economic analyst, trader and poet Sir Hugh Platt (1552-1608) who tried to 'remedy' famine. She has edited and contributed to A Cultural History of Famine: Food Security and the Environment in India and Britain (2019). Her next monograph in progress is titled Placing Famine: Cultural and Medical Geographies of Dearth in India and Britain, 1550-1700. From 2014-16, Ayesha was Principal Investigator on the AHRC-funded project Famine and Dearth in India and Britain, 1550-1800 in collaboration with colleagues from Jadavpur University and Aligarh Muslim University in India, and the Exeter Digital Humanities team.
Argha Manna was trained as a cancer researcher. He is currently a science illustrator who runs an online platform named 'Drawing History of Science' where he blends his passion for science, history, and comics to carve a unique genre. His artwork tells stories from the history of science through comics and other forms of visual narratives, combining prose writing with sequential art. His current collaborative work, with institutions in India and abroad, includes projects on Indian Women in Science (with Sci-Illustrate, Munich, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, India), History of Cell Biology (with the Bengali newspaper Anandabazar Patrika), and stories of the early days of the Royal Society (with the Indian newspaper The Telegraph).
