Author: Prof VPN Nampoori

SPOTLIGHT: DR MANI LAL BHAUMIK Globally, every minute somebody is undergoing an eye surgery called LASIK. When every Lasik is completed, a royalty amount is instantly transferred to a scientist who invented the excimer laser which is the laser device employed for Lasik surgery. In this article we introduce that world famous scientist, Dr Mani Lal Bhaumik who rose to the highest pedestal of fame from a poor family in a small village called Tamluk in Bengal. Standing in front of his huge mansion at Bel Air, California, Dr Bhaumik was deep in thought. He wandered around the lawn to…

Image Courtesy: CERN Quantum Mechanics and the Theory of Relativity are two pillars of human knowledge generation during the 20th century, causing two revolutions in the history of science and technology. Quantum Mechanics describes the microcosm involving atoms and molecules, while the Theory of Relativity opens up a window to the vast spread of the universe to understand the origin of the universe involving millions of galaxies and stars. The 20th century opened its eyes to the Quantum Theory of Max Planck in 1900, describing light-matter interaction through energy quantization. The year 1905 was a magical year when Albert Einstein…

Editor’s note: This is the concluding part of the series on mathematical, quantum mechanical and consciousness-based analysis The first part of the article in the last edition of Science India (October 2024) introduced the subject of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and described all the necessary points related to its declaration and its relationship with consciousness. In the following sections, we deal with mathematical and quantum mechanical descriptions of the topic under consideration. MATHEMATICAL STRUCTURE OF CONSCIOUSNESS It has been suggested that a picture on which the physical correlates of consciousness immediately collapse once superposed: In the course of some such dynamical evolutions…

Editor’s note: This is the first of the two-part series on mathematical, quantum mechanical and consciousness-based analysis One of the strong pillars holding the edifice of Indian philosophy is its declaration of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’,which means “the world is one family”. This focal point of Indian philosophy originates from not much well known Mahopanishad (found in Samaveda, one of the four Vedas) through the following verse: अयं बन्धुरयं नेति गणना लघुचेतसाम् । / उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् ॥ (Mahopanishad, 6.71) ayaṃ bandhurayaṃ neti gaṇanā laghucetasām l / udāracaritānāṃ tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam ॥ Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam teaches that we are all connected, regardless of our nationality, race, religion, or ethnicityand share the same planet,…

On 23 August 2023, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) reached a significant milestone with the successful landing of Chandrayaan-3’s lander and rover on the south pole of the Moon. Recognizing this achievement, and congratulating ISRO for taking “Make in India to the Moon”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared that 23 August will henceforth be observed as the National Space Day. He also announced the naming of the Chandrayaan-3 landing site as the Shiv Shakti point and the crash site of the failed Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019 as the Tiranga point. SPACE, SHIVA-SHAKTI AND NATIONAL SPACE DAY It is…

Kerala has a wealth of scientific and technological practices being followed since ancient times. Brass artifacts and idols from a village called Mannar near Kottayam, bronze plate to take food made by artisans in Kadavallur village near Trichur, Pavithra mothiram (Payyannur mothiram, holy ring) made with gold made by artists from Payyannur in the same form as pavithram of Darbha grass usually used by Acharyas during holy rituals, brass lamps and idols from Payyannur near Kasargod, etc., are some of the examples. Advancements in the studies of Mathematics and Astronomy by Kerala school of Mathematics during the 14th-19th centuries are now appreciated by modern…

Image Courtesy: Aurore Simonnet for the NANOGrav Collaboration Recently, there was a comment by one of the leaders of Kerala Rationalist Association (Kerala Yukthivadi Sangham) that Vedas do not have anything connected to findings of modern science. One of the drawbacks of the so-called rationalists is their views are based on the laws of nature as depicted by mechanics of Newton during the 17th century through his three laws of motion. The deterministic approach of Newtonian mechanics has been side-tracked by later developments in physical sciences by rejecting absolute space–time by special theory of relativity by Einstein and his connection law…

The Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutra are known as the prasthanathraya, forming the foundations of Indian philosophy of Vedanta. Upanishad is the Sruiti Prasthana, Bhagavad Gita is a Smriti Prasthana and Brahma Sutra is Nyaya Prasthana. The sutra technique is the most followed mode of Indian literature like Brahma Sutra, Sulba Sutra, etc. It should be noted that the word ‘sutra’ is used in two different meanings–like short form representation of literature to help memorise as in Brahma Sutra, and as a thread to detail the techniques as in Sulba Sutra. BEFORE THE BIG BANG Thomas Hertog, one of the last students of…

It was in 1986 that the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) recommended the Government of India to celebrate February 28 as National Science Day (NSD) every year. It was on February 28, 1928, that Prof CV Raman discovered the Raman Effect which fetched him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. In continuation of NCSTC recommendations, various schools, colleges, universities and research institutions and non-governmental organisations started celebrating NSD every year with financial help from the Department of Science and Technology. The NSD programmes are tailored for school and college students and research institutions so as to…

Nachiketha: What is mind? Yamadharma: The charioteer of five-horsed chariot. Nachiketa: And who is the traveler? Yamadharma: The soul Nachiketha: What is soul? Yamadharma: that you have to find yourself through self-realization Mind is the true laboratory where behind illusions we uncover the laws of truth. It is in this context that we introduce one of the greatest Indian mathematicians who lived in Kerala during the middle ages. Astronomical and mathematical development in India is not well known after 10th century AD and many important works that prove the presence of many great astronomers and mathematicians of Kerala remain little…