The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Inspiring students with lives of great scientists

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Tuesday, Jul 01, 2008
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Inspiring students with lives of great scientists

Special Correspondent

C.N.R. Rao brings out the human aspects in them

He stresses the need to keep the love for
science alive
Says the traditions of scientific inquiry should be passed on to posterity

Treasuring knowledge: Scientist C.N.R. Rao performing an experiment at the J.N. Tata Auditorium at the Indian Institute of Science Campus in Bangalore on Monday.

BANGALORE: The idea of a science lecture may evoke yawns from youngsters, but not this one held in Bangalore on Monday.

The J.N. Tata auditorium at The Indian Institute of Science reverberated with youthful fervour as over 500 science students enjoyed every bit of the lecture delivered by senior scientist C.N.R. Rao.

The theme, “Climbing the infinite ladder, recounting legends” organised by the Kishore Vaigyanic Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) also helped. The respected scientist, despite his eminence in the field of pure science, had done a lot of preparation to bring out the human aspects of great scientists who made it possible for us to reach this stage of technological development. His call to the students “to not lose love for science,” was amply demonstrated by examples from these eminent lives.

Favourite scientist

Terming Michael Faraday as his favourite, Dr. Rao said: “Faraday did not have more than three years of schooling and did not have any formal education in mathematics, yet he became one of the greatest scientists and stood in the hall of fame of Nobel Laureates alongside his mentor Humphrey Davy. It was sheer love for science that made Faraday a great scientist.

As students and teachers of science, we should never lose love for the subject.”

Dr. Rao also cited examples from the lives of Jagdishchandra Bose (father of the radio), John Bardeen (originator of the transistor), Hans Albrecht Bethe (particle astrophysicist) and Neville Mott (British physicist) and said:

“We should all pass these traditions on to the future generations. This is the only way we will be able to preserve the spirit of scientific inquiry.”

He highlighted the role of teachers and peers in this endeavour, in his lecture, which was peppered with witty remarks.

Experiment

Earlier, he began his lecture with an experiment that demonstrated how rockets get their thrust through which he explained Newton’s Third law.

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