Janaki Ammal and Salim Ali

Your book introduces two Indian scientists who spent their lives studying the living things of India.

Janaki Ammal (1897–1984) was a botanist: a scientist who studies plants. She worked to record and protect India's rich plant biodiversity. She played a key role in the Save Silent Valley movement, which saved a forest in Kerala. She was the head of the Botanical Survey of India, and there she started programmes to record the plant diversity of India.

Salim Ali (1896–1987) travelled all over India to watch birds. He made lists of birds and recorded their travel routes and habitats. He found the places with many kinds of birds and worked to protect them.

He helped save Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, and Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary in Mandya, Karnataka.

Salim Ali wrote a famous series of 10 books on the birds of the Indian subcontinent. He is called the 'Birdman of India', and he received the Padma Vibhushan in 1976.