Author: G V Pavan Kumar
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Chandra quotes Virginia Woolf
The well-known astrophysicist, S. Chandrasekhar, liked the writings of Virgina Woolf. In her words, he found a unique channel to philosophize his own work, as he did in 1957:
‘By accident, I found the following quotation from Virginia Wolff (Woolf) which expressed very accurately my attitude to my work of the past years. This quotation ends my Rumford Lecture.
“There is a square. There is an oblong. The players take the square and place it upon the oblong. They place it very accurately. They make a perfect dwelling place. The structure is now visible. What was inchoate is here stated. We are not so various or so mean. We have made oblongs and stood them upon squares. This is our triumph. This is our consolation.”’ (Chandrasekhar, 2010, p. 41)
Source: Chandrasekhar, S. 2010. A Scientific Autobiography: S. Chandrasekhar: With Selected Correspondence. (posthumously published)
Note: The source spells Woolf as Wolff
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Book Talk – Dileep Mampallil
Dileep Mampallil is an Associate Professor at IISER Tirupati, specializing in microfluidics and soft matter. As a prolific science communicator in Malayalam, he has authored books on evolutionary biology [molecular foundations and human origins] and the search for extraterrestrial life [cosmic evolution]. His latest book, We May Not Be Alone, Yet Alone, is written in English and explores the scientific quest for alien intelligence.
In this episode, he presents an overview of his recent book, motivated by some intriguing questions.
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Bose in Rajya Sabha – a video
Here, I briefly describe SN Bose’s speech in the Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha – 1954-55)
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DeWitt is a ‘de-influencer’?
The Indian Express recently reported that “Author Helen DeWitt’s refusal to accept the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize is a reminder that in a noisy world, the most imaginative stance may well be to let the book stand on its own.”
To quote: “DeWitt’s refusal, like Ferrante’s silence, is a reminder that in a noisy world, the most imaginative stance may well be to let the book stand on its own.” This kind of thinking and action is rare nowadays. Good to see this still persists. Perhaps, such people should be called ‘de-influencers’.
I have to add that DeWitt is already an established name in her field. By established, I mean, by name and perhaps by income too.
2 questions:
1) It may be relatively easier for a person of fame to reject further recognition. Will an upcoming writer (or equivalent in other fields) be able to do this?
2) The same person in a different situation may have reacted differently, and a different person in the same situation, too. In the human context, do we fully understand what an incentive is?
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