Jerel Walker of the fame of Halliday, Resnick ,Walker textbook fame has a superb article on this: https://www.reed.edu/physics/332/pdf/Leidenfrost.pdf
Wikipedia has a reasonable explanation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leidenfrost_effect#:~:text=The%20Leidenfrost%20effect%20is%20a,the%20liquid%20from%20boiling%20rapidly.
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 :
Great to see Kamala Sohonie featured on google doodle today. She was (probably?) the 1st woman to get a science PhD in India – circa 1939.
Also featured in the book “Lilavati’s Daughters” which I mentioned in my recent podcast
Going by the timelines, Iravati Karve got PhD in 1930, in anthropology, which is generally categorized as ‘social science’. Nevertheless, all inspiring.
Iravati had deep connections with Pune, and taught Deccan College
More about her : https://www.ias.ac.in/public/Resources/Initiatives/Women_in_Science/Contributors/Iravati.pdf
More bios of inspiring scientists : https://www.ias.ac.in/Initiatives/Women_in_Science/The_Women_Scientists_of_India
Albert Abraham Michelson was a celebrated American experimental physicist. He was associated with one of the most famous experiments in physics : Michelson-Morley Experiment, which formed an important input for Einstein’s special theory of relativity.
Recently, I discussed about this experiment in one of my podcasts.
Michelson’s ability to design and develop optical instruments including the interferometer named after him, was one of vital elements in his legendary pursuit to measure velocity of light. He continued to refine this measurement over a period of 40 years or so.
He was also the first American to win a Nobel prize in science (physics, 1907). Americans adored him, and he shot up to fame with his ingenious experiments and became a folklore of United States.
There is a very nice historical account of the Michelson-Morley-Miller experiment in the book titled : The Ethereal Aether; a History of the Michelson-Morley-Miller Aether-Drift Experiments, 1880-1930. by Swenson, Loyd S. published in 1972.
(Yes, you read it right, there was another guy called Dayton Miller who played a critical role in refining the experiment initiated by Michelson and Morley )
In Swenson’s book, there are two stanzas from a poem by Edwin Herbert Lewis that highlights Michelson’s legend. Below I reproduce the same :
But in Kyerson rainbows murmur the music of heavenly things.
Is not this stranger than heaven that a man should hear around
The whole of earth and the half of heaven and see the shadow of sound?
He gathereth up the iris from the plunging of planet’s rim
With bright precision of fingers that Uriel envies him.
But when from the plunging planet he spread out a hand to feel
How fast the ether drifted back through flesh or stone or steel
The fine fiducial fingers felt no ethereal breath. They penciled the night in a cross of light and found it still as death.
Have the stars conspired against him? Do measurements only seem?
Are time and space but shadows enmeshed in a private dream?But dreaming or not, he measured. He made him a rainbow bar,
E.H. Lewis
And first he measured the measures of man, and then he measured a star.
Now tell us how long is the metre, lest fire should steal it away?
Ye shall fashion it new, immortal, of the crimson cadmium ray.
Now tell us how big is Antares, a spear-point in the night?
Four hundred million miles across a single point of light.
He has taught a world to measure. They read the furnace and gauge
By lines of the fringe of glory that knows nor aging nor age.
Now this is the law of Ryerson and this is the price of peace-
That men shall learn to measure or ever their strife shall cease.
Indeed humans shall learn to measure or ever their strife shall cease…
I am G.V. Pavan Kumar, the author of this blog.
My research interests are :
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.
You can access and listen to my audio podcast – Pratidhvani – Humanizing Science, on -Spotify, YouTube (audio), Google Podcast or Apple podcast (all links below).
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.
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.
References :
Kumar, G.V.P., 2023. Science + History —> better Science. Scatterings. URL https://historyofscience.in/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://historyofscience.in/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).
Here is the video blog on the Cup Noodles Museum at Yokohama. I visited this place recently, and was inspiring. Also, has some connections to history of science and scientists. Some notes/references at the end.
Notes & References :
CUPNOODLES MUSEUM YOKOHAMA (no date) CUPNOODLES MUSEUM YOKOHAMA. Available at: https://www.cupnoodles-museum.jp/en/yokohama/ (Accessed: 22 April 2023).
‘Hideki Yukawa’ (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hideki_Yukawa&oldid=1148467040 (Accessed: 22 April 2023).
‘Momofuku Ando’ (2023) Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Momofuku_Ando&oldid=1143758937 (Accessed: 22 April 2023).
Space Noodles | Science and Education | Trends in Japan | Web Japan (no date). Available at: https://web-japan.org/trends01/article/020920sci_r.html (Accessed: 22 April 2023).
‘Cup Noodle’s Nissin develops space ramen, space curry rice for astronauts to eat among the stars’ (2020) SoraNews24 -Japan News-, 17 September. Available at: https://soranews24.com/2020/09/17/cup-noodles-nissin-develops-space-ramen-space-curry-rice-for-astronauts-to-eat-among-the-stars/ (Accessed: 22 April 2023).
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1949 (no date) NobelPrize.org. Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1949/yukawa/biographical/ (Accessed: 22 April 2023).
I recently read an interview of Lorraine Daston, a reputed historian of science on “Does Science Need History?”
She was interviewed by the philosopher Samuel Loncar
The long-form discussion is about history of science and how and why it is relevant not only to the public but also to the practicing scientists.
In the later part of the interview , I found an interesting and important observation made by Lorraine :
“One of the greatest achievements of science, contrary to what anyone would have thought not just circa 1700 but circa 1800, is the creation of the only effective international governance system that we have. In the face of two planetary crises—climate change and a global pandemic—it has not been the UN, it has not been the G8, that got together to diagnose the problem and suggest a solution. It has been the international community of scientists, and I would be extremely loath in any way to undermine the only example of semi-effective international governance we have.”
This is probably one of the important comments on science I have come across in recent times. In an age where nation-states are still fighting (big and small) wars, this is indeed a profound reminder on what truly is the instrument of effective (inter)national governance.
Do check out the whole interview. It has many interesting strands, branches and discussion including philosophy of science, publishing and some great references to explore.
As I have mentioned previously in my blogs, part of the reason why I blog is to bring out the human side of doing science. Interviews like these reinforces this thought, and encourages me as scientist to look into the history of science as not something decoupled from the science itself, but as a part of ones research in understanding why we, as human beings, are interested in science. In my opinion, our science education (and research) will be vastly enriched by including and emphasizing history of science as integral part of science. Frequently, I have also found that some of the best commentaries and criticism on science as human endeavor emnating from historians of science.
After all, it was history of science which opened our eyes towards understanding the structure of scientific revolutions. Hence Science + History —> better Science, and perhaps better human beings !
Recently I came across an editorial in Nature Physics, titled as Physics is our playground, which emphasized how playfulness has had an important role in some of the major inventions and discoveries in physics.
A particular example of this is the discovery of graphene, and how it has evolved into one of the most important topics in condensed matter science. Nowadays graphene is used as ‘Lego’ blocks to build higher order structures and the so-called ‘Van der Walls’ heterostructures are one of the most exciting applications of 2D materials. What started as a playful project in the lab has now turned out to be an important part of emerging technologies.
Two important inferences can be drawn from the playful attitude towards doing science :
First is that making modular elements and stacking them creatively can lead to emergence of new structures and function. Anyone who has used lego blocks can immediately relate to it.
Second is that toys are powerful research and teaching aids. Please note, that I emphasized research and teaching here. This is because toy-models are ubiquitous in research, and they help us create modular state of a problem in which unnecessary details are discarded and only the essential parts are retained. This way of thinking has been extremely powerful in science and technology (for example : see ball and stick models in chemistry and mega-construction models in civil engineering )
When it comes to toys and education, there is no better example than the remarkable Arvind Gupta (see his TED talk). His philosophy of using toys as thinking aids is very inspiring. Being in Pune, I have had a few opportunities to attend his talks and interact with him (as part of an event at science activity center at IISER-Pune), and I found his approach both refreshing and implementable. Importantly, it also showed me how creativity can emerge from constraints. To re-emphasize this, let me quote APS news article on Andre Geim :
“Geim has said that his predominant research strategy is to use whatever research facilities are available to him and try to do something new with the equipment at hand. He calls this his “Lego doctrine”: “You have all these different pieces and you have to build something based strictly on the pieces you’ve got.””
Now this is an effective research strategy for experiments in India !