Category: podcasts

New episode on podcast : Conversation with Aditi Sen (De)

Aditi Sen (De) is a Professor at HRI, Allahabad. We had a freewheeling conversation on her biography, research on quantum information, motherhood, her experience of working in Europe and India. Also we have small segment in Bengali বাংলা (her mother tongue) on quantum research and motivations. Listen as we humanize science…

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0PxgZe1sdPwlIkDCUXwDht?si=1aWctGNcRmmc3i1H4SmT9g

YouTube: https://youtu.be/NPxLccZ5Z64

Google podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9lMTcyMGUwYy9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/YTcyYjg0N2MtYWZiMS00M2E1LTljODgtMmFiNDE2NjZlZGQ3?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwiY-86xwuf_AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

1.     “Aditi Sen (De).” Accessed June 27, 2023. ⁠https://sites.google.com/view/aditisende⁠

2.     “Aditi Sen De.” In Wikipedia, April 14, 2023. ⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aditi_Sen_De&oldid=1149772049⁠.

3.     Konar, Tanoy Kanti, Ayan Patra, Rivu Gupta, Srijon Ghosh, and Aditi Sen De. “Multimode Advantage in Continuous Variable Quantum Battery.” arXiv.org, October 29, 2022. ⁠https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.16528v1⁠.

4.     Physics World. “Quantum Batteries Harvest Energy from Light,” April 9, 2022. ⁠https://physicsworld.com/quantum-batteries-harvest-energy-from-light/⁠.

5.     “Schrödinger’s Cat.” In Wikipedia, May 16, 2023. ⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat&oldid=1155122246⁠.

6.     “Dagmar Bruß | Falling Walls.” Accessed June 27, 2023. ⁠https://falling-walls.com/people/dagmar-brus/⁠.

7.     ICFO. “ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences.” Accessed June 27, 2023. ⁠https://www.icfo.eu/⁠.

8.     “ICREA.” Accessed June 27, 2023. ⁠https://www.icrea.cat/Web/ScientificStaff/anna-sanpera–trigueros-318⁠.

9.     “Maciej Lewenstein.” In Wikipedia, June 24, 2023. ⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maciej_Lewenstein&oldid=1161681689⁠.

10.  “Marek Żukowski.” In Wikipedia, February 9, 2023. ⁠https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marek_%C5%BBukowski&oldid=1138310178⁠.

11.  “Universität Düsseldorf: People.” Accessed June 27, 2023. ⁠https://www.tp3.hhu.de/en/people⁠.

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.

Two Chandrasekhars and their students

I discuss the legacy of two important individuals Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar and their students. I highlight their styles of doing research and how they inspired important schools of thought. I emphasize the role of economic privilege and gender. I discuss Bimala Buti and mention about interesting books on women in science : Lilavatis Daughters and Lab Hopping.

“Bimla Buti.” In Wikipedia, February 8, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bimla_Buti&oldid=1138208481.

“Chandra :: About Chandra :: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar – The Man Behind The Name.” Accessed June 14, 2023. https://chandra.harvard.edu/about/chandra.html.

“Chandrasekhar and His Limit – Google Books.” Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Chandrasekhar_and_His_Limit/HNSdDFOJ4wkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP1&printsec=frontcover.

Chandrasekhar, S. Liquid Crystals. Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Cladis, Patricia E., Banahalli R. Ratna, and Ranganathan Shashidar. “S. Chandrasekhar (1930–2004): Discotic Liquid Crystals.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition 43, no. 26 (2004): 3360–3360. https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.200460918.

Dunmur, David, and Tim Sluckin. Soap, Science, and Flat-Screen TVs: A History of Liquid Crystals. Oxford University Press, 2014. https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Soap_Science_and_Flat_Screen_TVs/2iSQDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover.

Goodby, John W. “Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar (1930–2004).” Nature 428, no. 6986 (April 2004): 906–906. https://doi.org/10.1038/428906a.

Gray, G. W., G. R. Luckhurst, and E. P. Raynes. “Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar. 6 August 1930 — 8 March 2004: Elected FRS 1983.” Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 53 (January 2007): 127–41. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbm.2007.0015.

Great Indians: Professor Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-lJjR7pM7k.

“Imprints Collection.” Accessed June 17, 2023. https://wwws.rri.res.in/htmls/library/imprints_collection/bios/obituary_chandrasekhar.html.

“Imprints Collection – Collected Publications of Prof. Jayaraman.” Accessed June 14, 2023. https://wwws.rri.res.in/htmls/library/raman_era/Publications/sc@rri.html.

“Kameshwar C. Wali.” In Wikipedia, May 16, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kameshwar_C._Wali&oldid=1155091599.

Kumar, G. V. Pavan. “Raman’s Nephews.” Scatterings (blog), February 27, 2020. https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2020/02/28/ramans-nephews/.

“Lilavatis Daughters | Women in Science | Initiatives | Indian Academy of Sciences.” Accessed June 17, 2023. https://www.ias.ac.in/Initiatives/Women_in_Science/Lilavatis_Daughters.

NobelPrize.org. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 1983.” Accessed June 14, 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1983/chandrasekhar/biographical/.

Penguin Random House India. “Lab Hopping.” Accessed June 17, 2023. https://penguin.co.in/book/lab-hopping/.

“Prof. G S Ranganath.” Accessed June 14, 2023. https://wwws.rri.res.in/htmls/library/imprints_collection/album/Prof.%20G%20S%20Ranganath/index.html#.

“Prof G S Ranganath | Imprints Collection | Raman Research Institute.” Accessed June 14, 2023. https://wwws.rri.res.in/htmls/library/imprints_collection/bios/gsrangnath.html.

“Prof G Srinivasan.” Accessed June 14, 2023. https://wwws.rri.res.in/htmls/library/imprints_collection/album1/Prof%20G%20Srinivasan/index.html.

“Prof. G. Srinivasan | Imprints Collection | Raman Research Institute.” Accessed June 14, 2023. https://wwws.rri.res.in/htmls/library/imprints_collection/bios/srinivasan.html.

“Prof. S. Chandrasekhar | Imprints Collection | Raman Research Institute.” Accessed June 14, 2023. https://wwws.rri.res.in/htmls/library/imprints_collection/bios/chandrasekhar.html.

“Sivaramakrishna Chandrasekhar.” In Wikipedia, February 8, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sivaramakrishna_Chandrasekhar&oldid=1138214704.

“The Women Scientists of India | Women in Science | Initiatives | Indian Academy of Sciences.” Accessed June 17, 2023. https://www.ias.ac.in/Initiatives/Women_in_Science/The_Women_Scientists_of_India.

Wali, Kameshwar C. A Quest for Perspectives: Selected Works of S Chandrasekhar (With Commentary)(In 2 Volumes). IMPERIAL COLLEGE PRESS, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1142/p175.

———. A Scientific Autobiography: S Chandrasekhar. WORLD SCIENTIFIC, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1142/7686.

Wali, Kameshwar C. Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar. Centennial Publications of the University of Chicago Press. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo3774392.html.

Wali, Kameshwar C. S Chandrasekhar: The Man Behind the Legend. PUBLISHED BY IMPERIAL COLLEGE PRESS AND DISTRIBUTED BY WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHING CO., 1997. https://doi.org/10.1142/p030.

New episode on podcast

How does science approach failure and ignorance? What is an experiment? What can we learn from a failed experiment? How ignorance plays a relevant role in science and technology? I discuss these and related issues in this episode.

  1. Chalmers, Alan Francis. What Is This Thing Called Science? Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated, 2013. https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/What_is_this_Thing_Called_Science/WQh5wDlE8cwC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover.
  2. “Experimental Determination of the Velocity of Light, by Albert A. Michelson.” Accessed June 8, 2023. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11753/11753-h/11753-h.htm.
  3. “History of Scientific Method.” In Wikipedia, May 8, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_scientific_method&oldid=1153802180
  4. “Edward W. Morley.” In Wikipedia, April 15, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_W._Morley&oldid=1149891428.
  5. “Dayton Miller.” In Wikipedia, November 12, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dayton_Miller&oldid=1121492015.
  6. Kumar, G. V. Pavan. “Importance of a Failed Experiment.” Scatterings (blog), September 8, 2019. https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2019/09/08/importance-of-a-failed-experiment/.
  7. NobelPrize.org. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 1907.” Accessed June 7, 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1907/michelson/facts/.
  8. “Scientific Method.” In Wikipedia, June 9, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scientific_method&oldid=1159248399.
  9. Swenson, Loyd S. The Ethereal Aether; a History of the Michelson-Morley-Miller Aether-Drift Experiments, 1880-1930. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1972. http://archive.org/details/etherealaetherhi0000swen.
  10. Firestein, Stuart. Ignorance: How It Drives Science. Oxford University Press, 2012. https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Ignorance/GbD052_PH0cC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover.

New Episode : Ashkin’s Story – no prize to Nobel prize

References :

  1. “The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of Americ….” Accessed May 31, 2023. ⁠https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11797471-the-idea-factory⁠.
  2. Ashkin, Arthur. Optical Trapping And Manipulation Of Neutral Particles Using Lasers: A Reprint Volume With Commentaries. World Scientific, 2006.
  3. NobelPrize.org. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 2018.” Accessed June 2, 2023. ⁠https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2018/ashkin/biographical/⁠.
  4. Kumar, G. V. Pavan. “Trapping Questions and Evolving Answers.” Scatterings (blog), August 12, 2018. ⁠https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2018/08/12/trapping-questions-and-evolving-answers/⁠.
  5. “Bell Labs (18 Books).” Accessed May 31, 2023. ⁠https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/136522.Bell_Labs⁠.
  6. “Understanding Comets.” Accessed June 2, 2023. ⁠http://www.ianridpath.com/halley/halley2.html⁠.
  7. IUCAA Science Day Events Webcast, 2019. ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4tIbxTwasM⁠.
  8. NobelPrize.org. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 1997.” Accessed May 31, 2023. ⁠https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1997/summary/⁠.
  9. “Steven Chu – Nobel Lecture: The Manipulation of Neutral Particles.” Accessed June 3, 2023. ⁠https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1997/chu/lecture/⁠.
  10. NobelPrize.org. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 2018.” Accessed May 31, 2023. ⁠https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2018/summary/⁠.
  11. Nokia Bell Labs. “Nokia Bell Labs Awards,” July 3, 2020. ⁠https://www.bell-labs.com/about/awards/⁠.

New Episode : Science, Rationality and Compassion

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

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

“Tarka Sastra.” In Wikipedia, July 8, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tarka_sastra&oldid=1097005247.

Adam Grant [@AdamMGrant]. “Compassion Is Kinder and Healthier than Empathy. Evidence: When We Feel Others’ Pain, We Often Get Overwhelmed and Withdraw. When We Feel Concern for Their Pain, We Reach out and Help. The Point of Compassion Isn’t to Share Their Feelings. It’s to Care about Their Feelings. Https://T.Co/EHDwUxHUJd.” Tweet. Twitter, May 24, 2023. https://twitter.com/AdamMGrant/status/1661377095736389640.

In Defense of Science & Scientific Method, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng9ifSod7_k.

Kumar, G. V. Pavan. “51. A Case for Science + Philosophy.” Scatterings (blog), October 13, 2021. https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2021/10/13/51-a-case-for-science-philosophy/.

Kumar, G. V. Pavan. “Connection between Science and Empathy.” Scatterings (blog), March 5, 2022. https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2022/03/05/connection-between-science-and-empathy/.

New episode : Six Jugalbandis of Scientific Research

Namaste, Hola, Welcome!

I am G.V. Pavan Kumar, the author of this blog.

My research interests are :

  • Optics and  Soft Matter Physics
  • History of Science

In my research group, we study the interaction of light with soft-matter from a photonics viewpoint.

Until now, I have supervised 11 PhD theses, 11 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 / chronology.

Another strand of my research is the history of science. I am interested in the historical evolution of ideas in physical sciences and technology. I research the life and work 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.

Writing has been an integral part of my life since my childhood (1980s), and I have been in the process since the ‘pre-internet’ era. 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, 

podcast – Pratidhvani: Humanizing Science. 

My blog integrates all of the above.

official profile

lab webpage

twitter feed

You can access and listen to my audio podcast – Pratidhvani – Humanizing Science, on -Spotify, YouTube (audio), Google Podcast or Apple podcast (all links below).

Youtube channel

Podcast Pratidhvani – Spotify

Podcast Pratidhvani -Google podcast

Podcast Pratidhvani -Apple podcast

You can give your feedback here.

Note: My blogs/podcasts/videos are motivated by my research, teaching and learning. I create them in my personal capacity.

Inspirations from Japan

(G. V. Pavan Kumar, “OMC 2023,” Scatterings, April 21, 2023, https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/04/21/omc-2023/)
(G. V. Pavan Kumar, “Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop – History of Optical Manipulation,” Scatterings, April 19, 2023, https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/04/19/halina-rubinsztein-dunlop-history-of-optical-manipulation/)
(G. V. Pavan Kumar, “3 Axis Pendulum at Yokohama City : An Introduction,” Scatterings, April 17, 2023, https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/04/17/3-axis-pendulum-at-yokohama-city-an-introduction/)
(G. V. Pavan Kumar, “Cup Noodles Museum – Food + Science + Technology + Inspiration,” Scatterings, April 22, 2023, https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/04/22/cup-noodles-museum-food-science-technology-inspiration/)
(G. V. Pavan Kumar, “Two Talks in Tokyo,” Scatterings, April 25, 2023, https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/04/25/two-talks-in-tokyo/)
(G. V. Pavan Kumar, “Ocean, Okinawa and OIST…,” Scatterings, April 29, 2023, https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/04/29/ocean-okinawa-and-oist/)
(G. V. Pavan Kumar, “Osaka and Optical Manipulation,” Scatterings, May 2, 2023, https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/05/02/osaka-and-optical-manipulation/)
(“Super-Kamiokande,” Wikipedia, April 18, 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Super-Kamiokande&oldid=1150512078)
(“The University of Tokyo,” The University of Tokyo, n.d., https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/museums.html)
(James Poskett, Horizons: A Global History of Science [Penguin UK, 2022])
(“It Matters Who Does Science,” n.d., https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/it-matters-who-does-science)
(Hideki Fujiwara et al., “Optical Selection and Sorting of Nanoparticles According to Quantum Mechanical Properties,” Science Advances 7, no. 3 [January 13, 2021]: eabd9551, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abd9551)
(Yohei Zushi and Kazumasa A. Takeuchi, “Scaling and Spontaneous Symmetry Restoring of Topological Defect Dynamics in Liquid Crystal,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119, no. 41 [October 11, 2022]: e2207349119, https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2207349119)
(Yosuke Minowa et al., “Optical Trapping of Nanoparticles in Superfluid Helium,” Optica 9, no. 1 [January 20, 2022]: 139–144, https://opg.optica.org/optica/abstract.cfm?uri=optica-9-1-139)
(Takuya Iida and Hajime Ishihara, “Theoretical Study of the Optical Manipulation of Semiconductor Nanoparticles under an Excitonic Resonance Condition,” Physical Review Letters 90, no. 5 [February 5, 2003]: 057403, https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.057403)

Pratidhvani-Humanizing Science: podcast on reflections of Academic Scientist

As an extension of my blog, I am starting a podcast in my individual capacity :

Pratidhvani – Humanizing Science

In several Indian languages, including Kannada, Marathi, Sanskrit, Hindi and many more, the word – Pratidhvani (ಪ್ರತಿಧ್ವನಿ/प्रतिध्वनि) – means resonance, reflection (of sound). Through my podcast, I intend to reflect on my thoughts as an academic scientist on some topics related to science, technology, history and philosophy of science. Listen to my first podcast, and let me know what you think.

Download the audio file

References :

Kumar, G.V.P., 2023. Science + History —> better Science. Scatterings. URL https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2023/04/01/science-history-better-science/ (accessed 5.11.23).

Kumar, G.V.P., 2022. 12 Years as a faculty member in India – 12 lessons. Scatterings. URL https://backscattering.wordpress.com/2022/05/25/12-years-as-a-faculty-in-india-12-lessons/ (accessed 5.11.23).

Weinberg, S., 2003. Four golden lessons. Nature 426, 389–389. https://doi.org/10.1038/426389a

Mankutimma’s Aphorisms!!: 789, n.d. . Mankutimma’s Aphorisms!! URL http://mankutimma-aphor.blogspot.com/2012/12/789.html (accessed 5.11.23).