Category: History

Chandra quoting Milne..

One of my all time fav. quotes. Chandra got it from Milne. Chandra had great temperament for scholarly work, & one can learn a lot from his style of working. His biographer, KC Wali, was a particle physicist, & his article linked is worth reading: https://jstor.org/stable/24100199

If interested, you can listen to a podcast I did on Chandra (one of the two of the similar name)…

https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/06/17/new-episode-on-podcast-two-chandrasekhars-and-their-students/

10 things I learnt from Chandrayan 3

On 23rd Aug 2023, ISRO made history by landing a spacecraft close to the south pole of the moon. For a long time in India, I have not seen such an enthusiasm for science and technology, and it was indeed heartening to experience this. In reference to the proceedings in recent times, below are some brief lessons I learnt :

  1. For space programs, strong foundations in computation coupled with deep understanding of computer-assisted hardware is vital. Traditionally, India had good strength in computational aspect, but this mission showcased its capability in computer-assisted hardware and manipulation. As expected, ISRO is leading the way, and it is important to emulate this software-hardware coherence in other sectors.
  2. Science and Technology need not be a zero-sum game. Collectively, they have a lot to offer to the Indian society. The mission shows how investing in scientific activities can positively influence a society. In an essence, collective scientific endeavors like Chandrayaan strengthens our democracy.
  3. ISRO’s ability to learn from past failure is commendable. It showcased how scientific experiments should be approached, and how missions should be accomplished.
  4. There was a significant proportion and contribution of women in Chandrayaan 3.
  5. A reasonable and sustained research-budget given to a dedicated set of people can, sometimes, achieve remarkable things. That should not be a reason to limit funding towards research. This should encourage our society to further support scientific research.
  6. Some parts of social media and online news portals played a better role in broadcasting and discussing the mission than Indian TV channels.
  7. Some news papers (I read Indian Express (in print) and non-paywalled parts of Hindu online) did a good job of explaining many scientific concepts.
  8. Global south has tremendous scientific potential. The Indian sub-continent must take up collective scientific endeavors to have a greater impact in the region. India can lead the way.
  9. Classical physics and Engineering Science is alive and kicking. There is still a lot to explore and understand nature at ‘macro’ scale. It also highlights the importance of strong foundations in science and mathematics.
  10. At the heart of all these things is human curiosity and rationality. Nurturing this curiosity and rationality is our collective responsibility. It not only offers transient joy, but also orients our collective action to make this world a better place. After all, it resonates with वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम (“The World Is One Family“).

Born before Oppenheimer: molecular quantum mechanics

Related Twitter thread

Link to essays on Oppenheimer

Linked below is a fantastic, well researched & authentic biographical sketch of Oppenheimer – through a series of essays by Ashutosh Jogalekar

The movie has created a hype, and in India, people have taken interest for various reasons.

At the core – Oppenheimer was a scientist, in true spirit.

Essays on the life and times of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Ashutosh Jogalekar

A case for compassionate rationality

Nowadays, it is very common to see various advertisements and social media posts where blatantly unscientific and irrational suggestions are explicitly presented, and even celebrated.

Perhaps this is one of the best ways to avoid probabilistic thinking, which is not natural to human beings. Irrationality attracts a lot of people, and those who understand this utilize it for their benefit. It is the fastest way to group people into a stream as you don’t need to explain. The burden of explanation is always on the rational and not on the irrational. Essentially, it is an asymmetric game.

Generally, any explanation leads to more questions. These questions can further lead to enquiry and that has a cognitive cost. Irrationality does not have to pay that cost.

This has been happening for ages, just that their forms keep changing. It is important to emphasize that cultures across the world, including India, have elements of spirituality and rationality.

Most of the time, the spiritual element is over-emphasized, whereas the philosophical and rational aspect is not given the same prominence. If you dig deeper into any culture, it is the philosophical and rational that has elevated the thought process by asking probing questions, but it is the spiritual which captures the attention.

One way to overcome this problem is to emphasize the rational aspect of the culture. If people start appreciating the fact that there were many people from their own cultural roots who did think deeply and questioned everything, then there is a historical connection. Importantly it leads to a realization that rationality is not something foreign but a cultivated human behavior indigenous to ones own culture.

This is where I make a case for compassionate rationality. It is important that we take the path of patience and explain the gravitas of rationality and its cultural roots without being condescending in our tone and in our thoughts. We need to emphasize its benefits compared to blind faith. We need to make a strong case that rationality has a historical past in our own culture, and importantly it has utility in the present and in the future.

After all, being an atheist/rationalist is not incompatible with being an empathetic and compassionate person. One can still not believe in god and appreciate the cultural roots. One can still go to a temple/mosque/church/any place of worship and be in awe of the architectural beauty and creativity. One can still have a friend who is deeply religious, and have a meaningful argument.

One can still be rational and human.

References for further exploration:

Watson, Peter. “Ideas: A History from Fire to Freud.” Accessed May 26, 2023. https://peterwatsonauthor.com/books/ideas-a-history-from-fire-to-freud/.

Sen, Amartya. The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity. Penguin UK, 2006. https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/The_Argumentative_Indian/gcGiwyBS3YwC?hl=en&gbpv=0

Pinker, Steven. “Rationality.” Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Rationality/HT0NEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover.

Episode 4. Science, Rationality and Compassion, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewZIue55Zl0.

Podcast: Gripping History of Laser Invention

I tell the story behind laser invention. It is a story of human imagination, tenacity, device invention, intense competition, blame and humour. I discuss how the Cold War era USA created an environment to innovate and compete, all thanks to Sputnik…

References :

  1. Hecht, Jeff. Beam: The Race to Make the Laser. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. https://global.oup.com/academic/product/beam-9780199738717?cc=in&lang=en&.———.
  2. Hecht, Jeff. “Short History of Laser Development.” Optical Engineering 49, no. 9 (September 2010): 091002. https://doi.org/10.1117/1.3483597.
  3. Maiman, Theodore H. The Laser Inventor: Memoirs of Theodore H. Maiman. Springer, 2017. ⁠https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/The_Laser_Inventor/bjxEDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover⁠.
  4. Townes, Charles H. How the Laser Happened: Adventures of a Scientist. Oxford University Press, 2002. https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/How_the_Laser_Happened/hhQzVno6dyIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover.
  5. Boyd, Robert. “Charles H. Townes (1915–2015).” Nature 519, no. 7543 (March 2015): 292–292. https://doi.org/10.1038/519292a.
  6. Garmire, Elsa. “Memories of Charles Townes.” Nature Photonics 9, no. 6 (June 2015): 347–50. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2015.91.
  7. Maiman, T. H. “Stimulated Optical Radiation in Ruby.” Nature 187, no. 4736 (August 1960): 493–94. https://doi.org/10.1038/187493a0.