Namaste, Hola and Welcome!
I am G.V. Pavan Kumar.
By occupation, I am a Professor of Physics at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, India. By inclination, I am a student of science, and its history and philosophy.
My research interests are:
- Light-Matter Interaction: Optically Induced Forces – Assembly, Dynamics & Photonics, Light-driven Soft Matter.
- History and Philosophy of Physical Sciences – People, Ideas and Tools
Related to the first part, in my research group, we study the interaction of light with (soft) matter from a photonic force and non-equilibrium systems viewpoint. Until now, I have supervised 12 PhD theses, 12 MS theses, a few post-docs and several undergraduate students at IISER Pune (see my group members – past and present). I continue to learn a lot from them. See our publications sorted by: topics / r-chronology.
Related to the second aspect of my research, I am particularly interested in the historical and philosophical evolution of ideas and tools in the modern physical sciences and technology. I research the intellectual history of past scientists, innovators, and people driven by curiosity, and I write about them from an Indian and Asian perspective. My motivation is to humanize science. See some of my essays published in journals, magazines and blogs.
What and Why of this blog?
‘Vismaya‘ (विस्मय), means wonder (in Sanskrit and in Kannada – my mother tongue). I think wonder is the essence of science, and perhaps the essence of being human.
Conventional education in science and technology does not emphasize the historical and philosophical context in which discoveries and inventions were made. Here, I try to fill in some gaps that I find interesting and relevant.
In doing so, my aims are :
- To reveal the human element, such as wonder, effort, achievements and shortcomings, behind the discoveries and inventions from the past;
- to showcase how past scientific knowledge and rational thought evolved, and how they can help us understand the present and hopefully give us some directions to approach the future;
- to integrate research, learning and teaching with the writing of the history and philosophy of modern science, particularly physics.
In the same spirit, I host my podcast Pratidhvani – Humanizing Science.
I strongly advocate that knowledge should be open source. That is the spirit of this blog, too. Writing has been an integral part of my life, and I consider it an effective form of thinking. I have been blogging since 2008 or so. You can access my old blog site here. Also connected to my blog are:
YouTube channel – Science Meets History,
Note: My podcasts & blogs are motivated by my research, teaching and learning. I create them in my personal capacity.
VISMAYA - History & Philosophy of Science 