Jayant Vishnu Narlikar FNA, FASc, FTWAS (born 19 July 1938) is an Indian astrophysicist and emeritus professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA).

He then began his studies at Cambridge University at Fitzwilliam College like his father,[5] where he received a BA (Tripos) degree in mathematics in 1959 and was Senior Wrangler.

In 1972, Narlikar took up Professorship at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai, India.

Narlikar was part of a study which cultured microorganisms from stratospheric air samples obtained at 41 km.

Birla Award, and the Prix Jules Janssen of the Société astronomique de France (French Astronomical Society).

Apart from his scientific research, Narlikar has been well known as a communicator of science through his books, articles, and radio & television programs.

[16] In 2014, he received a Sahitya Akademi Award for his autobiography in Marathi, Chaar Nagarantale Maze Vishwa.

He is also the consultant for the Science and Mathematics textbooks of NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training, India).

The couple have three daughters: Geeta, a biomedical researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, Girija and Leelavati who are in computer science.