Photo etching 'Theodolite' by Chila Kumari Burman, 2017, black and white. The frame embellished with mirror pieces.

This etching reproduces a photograpg of the Great Theodolite designed and built by William Cary for use by William Lambton in The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India. The theodolite is owned by the Survey of India in Dehradun, but the photograph was taken for the Science Museum's 'Science in India' exhibition in 1982. The map of the Survey features in another work in the series (2019-162).

One of 29 works produced by Burman as a commission to accompany the Science Museum’s ‘Illuminating India’ season in 2017-18. The works respond to objects and narratives in the history of science in India particularly to the exhibition ‘5000 Years of Science and Innovation’, as well as to the wider religious and cultural history of the sub-continent. This was Burman's first significant engagement with the history of science and medicine, with the works ranging across print, collage, photography and mixed-media, including experiments with iPad technology.