The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘Success of science lies in sheer love of it’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 24, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘Success of science lies in sheer love of it’

Staff Reporter

Nobel laureate speaks on ‘Science and Spiritual Quest’

Bhaktivendata Institute, TTD organise conference
1,400 delegates take part in the conference

Roger D. Kornberg

TIRUPATI: “The goal of science is ‘understanding’, which is remarkable in a number of ways, while the challenge of science is abstraction”, said Roger D. Kornberg, a noted scientist and a Nobel laureate in chemistry (2006) here on Sunday.

In his talk on ‘The knowable nature of scientific truth’ delivered on the second day of the All-India Students Conference on ‘Science and Spiritual Quest’ organised by the TTD and Kolkata-based Bhaktivedanta Institute, Prof. Kornberg spoke on various aspects of new frontiers in biology and its implications in science and spirituality. He spoke on the five aspects of life in science - the purposes and aspirations, the nature of the activity, the feelings that it engenders, our responses, limitations of our innate abilities and the implications for the human condition.

Terming the pursuit of science as a ‘joy’, he noted that an important key to success in science is the ‘sheer love’ of it. With reference to qualities like faith, passion and the quest for larger meaning, he pointed out that science might seem to resemble religion, while the ultimate difference lay in objectivity of truth.

Anita Goel, chairperson of Nanobiosym Labs, Cambridge, USA, who spoke on ‘Molecular evolution and the dynamics of molecular machines that read and write DNA’, explained how science should focus on building common ground of understanding between the world religions and make the world a better place to live by ending the divorce between science and spirituality.

The entire proceedings of the session saw young scientists, Abhishek Tiwari, Prabhakar, Manoranjan Sinha, sharing their experiences and knowledge in ‘artificial intelligence’, neuro sciences and beyond.

‘Tirupati through ages’, a cultural programme was performed by students of SV College of Music and Dance. Manipuri arts troupe ‘Ranga Niketan’ depicted drum show, martial arts and ‘Rasa’ dance .

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