Pratidhvani - Humanizing Science

Pratidhvani - Humanizing Science

By G V Pavan KumarScience
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Pratidhvani - Humanizing Science episodes

  • Ep. 13 : Conversation with Saptarshi Basu - Dreams, Droplets and Fluid Dynamics

    Our youtube channel : https://www.youtube.com/@g.v.pavankumarlab2908/playlists

    Please subscribe and share…

    Saptarshi Basu is a ‘Pratt and Whitney Chair Professor’ at Mechanical Engineering department of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru . Saptarshi lab webpage : https://www.saptarshibasulab.com/

    His research interests include Multiphase transport processes. Atomization and sprays, Micro-nanoscale transport in droplets, Combustion.  

    In this episode we discuss his dreams, transition from Engineer to a Scientist, his philosophy on research, teaching and academia; Segments on covid related work, Rabindra sangeet & many other things

    Listen as we humanize science…

     

    References :

    1.     “Saptarshi Basu | webpage : https://mecheng.iisc.ac.in/people/saptarshi-basu/.

    2.     “Amazon.In.” Accessed July 15, 2023. https://www.amazon.in/Books-G-Venkataraman/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AG.+Venkataraman.

    3.     Borderless. “Abhisar by Rabindranath Tagore,”

    September 14, 2021. https://borderlessjournal.com/2021/09/14/abhisar-by-rabindranath-tagore/.

    4.     “College Street (Kolkata).” In Wikipedia,

    April 4, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=College_Street_(Kolkata)&oldid=1148195301.

    5.     “Manik Bandopadhyay.” In Wikipedia,

    March 5, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manik_Bandopadhyay&oldid=1142950285.

    6.     “Park Street, Kolkata.” In Wikipedia,

    March 12, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Park_Street,_Kolkata&oldid=1144224604.

    7.     “Poem: Can Death Be Sleep, When Life Is But a

    Dream by John Keats.” Accessed July 15, 2023. https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/can-death-be-sleep-when-life-dream.

    8.     Popova, Maria. “When Einstein Met Tagore: A

    Remarkable Meeting of Minds on the Edge of Science and Spirituality.” The
    Marginalian (blog), April 27, 2012. https://www.themarginalian.org/2012/04/27/when-einstein-met-tagore/.

    9.     “Rabindranath Tagore.” In Wikipedia,

    July 5, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rabindranath_Tagore&oldid=1163532295

    10.  “Rabindranath Tagore - Verses - কথা - অভিসার (Abhisar).” Accessed July 15, 2023. https://www.tagoreweb.in/Verses/kotha-39/abhisar-1211.

    11.  “Satyajit Ray.” In Wikipedia, July 14,

    2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Satyajit_Ray&oldid=1165363344.

    12.  “South Point School.” In Wikipedia,

    June 1, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=South_Point_School&oldid=1158045282.

    13.  “Srinivasa Ramanujan.” In Wikipedia,

    June 2, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Srinivasa_Ramanujan&oldid=1158140678

    14.  “The Last Leaf.” In Wikipedia, March

    22, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Last_Leaf&oldid=1145991454.

    2 hr 9 min
  • Ep. 12 : Conversation with Nagaraj Balasubramanian - Cell Biologist with a sense of Aesthetics

    Nagaraj is a cell biologist and an Associate Professor of Biology at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune.

    He is a scientist who interfaces with society and has a keen sense of aesthetics and love for music.

    His webpage : https://www.adhesionlab.com/public

    He is on twitter : https://twitter.com/AdhesionLab.

    In this conversation, we discussed various things including

    ·     his biography

    ·     importance of school teachers

    ·     growing up in the-then Bombay

    ·     reading widely as student

    ·     background in microbiology

    ·     transition to cell-biology

    ·     doing PhD in cancer hospital

    ·     impact it had in on his research

    ·     importance of being curious

    ·     importance of stupidity in science

    ·     his transition from US to India

    ·     research on cellular matrix

    ·     connection to mechano-biology

    ·     multidisciplinary aspect of his work

    ·     elements of aesthetics

    ·     his deep interest in design

    ·     how to adapt your research to Indian

    ecosystem

    ·     sociological aspects of doing research in

    India

    ·     his outreach activities

    ·     his initiatives with Spic Macay

    ·     'great nation deserves great art'

    ·     a remarkable story on a concert by

    Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

    ·     emotion that music evokes

    ·     small segment in his mother tongue - Tamil

    ·     recitation of Hindi poem

    ·     engagement with art

    ·     interdisciplinary approaches towards research

    problems

    ·     some projects in outreach

     

     References:

    1. adhesionlab. “HOME.” Accessed July 14, 2023. https://www.adhesionlab.com.
    2. adhesionlab. “NAGARAJ.” Accessed July 14, 2023. https://www.adhesionlab.com/public.
    3. “Martin Schwartz, PhD.” Accessed July 14, 2023. https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/martin-schwartz/.
    4. Sand Mandala: Tibetan Buddhist Ritual,
      5. 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBrYUlOYK0U.
    5. “The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research.” Journal of Cell Science 121, no. 11 (June 1, 2008): 1771. https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.033340.
    6. Schwartz, Martin A. “The Importance of Indifference in Scientific Research.” Journal
      7. of Cell Science 128, no. 15 (August 1, 2015): 2745–46. https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.174946.
    7. Schwartz, Martin A., and Alpha S. Yap. “The Importance of Character Development in
      8. Scientific Research.” Journal of Cell Science 136, no. 13 (July 5, 2023): jcs261405. https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.261405.
    8. “Spicmacay IISER Pune.” Accessed July 14, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/SpicmacayIISERPUNE.
    9. “Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.” In Wikipedia, July 14, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vishwa_Mohan_Bhatt&oldid=1165336574.
    10. “इस पार उस पार - हरिवंशराय
      11. बच्चन| Is Paar Us Paar - Harivansh Rai
      Bachchan. काव्यालय| Kaavyaalaya: House of Hindi
      Poetry.” Accessed July 18, 2023. https://kaavyaalaya.org/ipup.

      -----

      2 hr 24 min
    11. Ep. 11 : Conversation with Seema Sharma - The Experimental Particle Physicist

      Seema Sharma is an experimental particle physicist who was also part of the experimental discovery of Higgs Boson at CERN. She is an Associate Professor, in the department of physics at the Indian institute of Science education research, Pune – India.

      Seema Sharma’s Webpage: ⁠http://sites.iiserpune.ac.in/~seema/⁠.

          In this episode we discuss about her journey from Rajsamand Rajasthan, to TIFR Bombay, then to FermiLab US and then

      to IISER Pune. We did a deep dive on what it takes to be an experimental physicist. We discuss about the role of conceptual understanding of various topics in physics, including quantum physics, to do cutting edge experiments. She further revealed her understanding of doing mega science projects in large
      collaborative networks and how it has influenced her thinking. There is a small and nice segment in Hindi in which Seema explains about her research and motivations.

      Listen…as we humanize science

      References:

      1.       “Rajsamand.” In Wikipedia, January 19, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rajsamand&oldid=1134565017

      2.       “The Higgs Boson | CERN.” Accessed July 10, 2023. https://home.cern/science/physics/higgs-boson.

      3.       “Tata Institute of Fundamental Research | TIFR.” Accessed July 10, 2023. https://www.tifr.res.in/.

      4.       “Sunanda Banerjee.” Accessed July 10, 2023. http://iacs.res.in/athusers/index.php?navid=0&userid=IACS090.

      5.       “Fermilab | Home.” Accessed July 10, 2023. https://www.fnal.gov/.

      6.       “Home | CERN.” Accessed July 10, 2023. https://home.cern/.

      7.       “Inquiring Minds.” Accessed July 10, 2023. https://www.fnal.gov/pub/inquiring/physics/index.html.

      8.       “The Large Hadron Collider | CERN.” Accessed July 10, 2023. https://home.cern/science/accelerators/large-hadron-collider.

      9.       Weinberg, Steven. “Four Golden Lessons.” Nature 426, no. 6965 (November 2003):

      389–389. https://doi.org/10.1038/426389a.

      10.   “William Dalrymple (Historian).” In Wikipedia, July 1, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Dalrymple_(historian)&oldid=1162930456.

       


      1 hr 37 min
    12. Ep. 10 : Conversation with Sutirth Dey - The Evolutionary Biologist

      Sutirth Dey is an evolutionary biologist. He is a Professor of Biology at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. In this conversation we discussed about his own evolution as a biologist, his career trajectory from Patna, Delhi, Bangalore to Pune, and how his knowledge, research and teaching has been influenced by the interactions he had over the years. There is a nice segment in Bengali and Hindi where he explains his research on evolutionary biology and ecology. We also discussed his deep interest in reading and Qawwali music, and many more things…

      Listen, as we humanize science.

      Sutirth is on Twitter : https://twitter.com/SutirthDey.


      References :

      1.     “PBL@IISERPune.” Accessed June 30, 2023. https://sites.google.com/a/acads.iiserpune.ac.in/sdlab/.

      2.     “PBL@IISERPune - Sutirth.” Accessed June 30,

      2023. https://pbl.acads.iiserpune.ac.in/sutirth.

      3.     “MolBioForAll.” Accessed June 30, 2023. https://sites.google.com/acads.iiserpune.ac.in/molbioforall/home.

      4.     “Amitabh Joshi | Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for

      Advanced Scientific Research.” Accessed June 30, 2023. https://www.jncasr.ac.in/faculty/ajoshi.

      5.     Anderson, P. W. “More Is Different.” Science

      177, no. 4047 (August 4, 1972): 393–96. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.177.4047.393.

      6.     “Biostatistics: A User’s Perspective.”

      Accessed June 30, 2023. https://sites.google.com/acads.iiserpune.ac.in/biostatscourse/home.

      7.     Dey, Sutirth, and Amitabh Joshi. “Stability

      via Asynchrony in Drosophila Metapopulations with Low Migration Rates.” Science
      312, no. 5772 (April 21, 2006): 434–36. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1125317.

      8.     IndiaBioscience. “Standing Conventional Wisdom

      on Its Head,” July 14, 2017. https://indiabioscience.org/columns/conversations/standing-conventional-wisdom-on-its-head.

      9.     “Mewa Singh.” In Wikipedia, May 24,

      2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mewa_Singh&oldid=1156769563.

       


      1 hr 46 min
    13. Ep. 9 : Conversation with Aditi Sen (De) - The Quantum Information Theorist

      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 a small segment in Bengali -বাংলা (her mother tongue) on quantum research and her motivations.

      Listen as we humanize science...


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

      2.    “Aditi Sen De - Professor - Harish-Chandra

      Research Institute | LinkedIn.” Accessed June 28, 2023. https://in.linkedin.com/in/aditi-sen-de-88b1777.

       

      3.     “Aditi Sen De.” In Wikipedia, April 14,

      2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aditi_Sen_De&oldid=1149772049.


      4.     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.


      5.     Physics World. “Quantum Batteries Harvest

      Energy from Light,” April 9, 2022. https://physicsworld.com/quantum-batteries-harvest-energy-from-light/.


      6.     “Schrödinger’s Cat.” In Wikipedia, May

      16, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat&oldid=1155122246.


      7.     “Dagmar Bruß | Falling Walls.” Accessed June

      27, 2023. https://falling-walls.com/people/dagmar-brus/.


      8.     ICFO. “ICFO - The Institute of Photonic

      Sciences.” Accessed June 27, 2023. https://www.icfo.eu/.


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


      10.  “Maciej Lewenstein.” In Wikipedia, June

      24, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maciej_Lewenstein&oldid=1161681689.


      11.  “Marek Żukowski.” In Wikipedia,

      February 9, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marek_%C5%BBukowski&oldid=1138310178.


      12.  “Universität Düsseldorf: People.” Accessed

      June 27, 2023. https://www.tp3.hhu.de/en/people.

       


      1 hr 38 min
    14. Ep. 08 : Gripping History of Laser Invention

      I tell the story behind laser invention. It is a story of human imagination, tenacity, invention of a device, intense competition, blame and humor. I discuss how 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.
        8. 59 min
      8. Ep. 6: Importance of Failed Experiments

        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.


        References :

        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.blog/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.

         


        50 min
      9. Ep. 5 : Ashkin's Story - no prize to Nobel prize

        References :

        1. “The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of Americ….”
          2. Accessed May 31, 2023. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11797471-the-idea-factory.
        2. Ashkin, Arthur. Optical Trapping And Manipulation Of
          3. Neutral Particles Using Lasers: A Reprint Volume With Commentaries. World
          Scientific, 2006.
        3. NobelPrize.org. “The Nobel Prize in Physics 2018.” Accessed
          4. June 2, 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2018/ashkin/biographical/.
        4. Kumar, G. V. Pavan. “Trapping Questions and Evolving
          5. Answers.” Scatterings (blog), August 12, 2018. https://backscattering.blog/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
          9. May 31, 2023. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1997/summary/.
        9. “Steven Chu - Nobel Lecture: The
          10. 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
          11. 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/.

          12. 45 min
        12. Ep. 4 : Science, Rationality and Compassion

          References :

          1. Watson, Peter. “Ideas: A History from Fire to Freud.” Accessed May 26, 2023. https://peterwatsonauthor.com/books/ideas-a-history-from-fire-to-freud/.
          2. Pinker, Steven. “Rationality.” Accessed May 26, 2023. https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Rationality/HT0NEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover.
          3. “Tarka Sastra.” In Wikipedia, July 8, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tarka_sastra&oldid=1097005247.
          4. 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.
          5. In Defense of Science & Scientific Method, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng9ifSod7_k.
          6. Kumar, G. V. Pavan. “51. A Case for Science + Philosophy.” Scatterings (blog), October 13, 2021. https://backscattering.blog/2021/10/13/51-a-case-for-science-philosophy/.
          7. Kumar, G. V. Pavan. “Connection between Science and Empathy.” Scatterings (blog), March 5, 2022. https://backscattering.blog/2022/03/05/connection-between-science-and-empathy/.
            8. 31 min
          8. Ep. 3 : Six Jugalbandis of Scientific Research

            References discussed in this episode :


            ·       “Jugalbandi.” In Wikipedia, March 14,

            2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jugalbandi&oldid=1077148368.

            ·       Dyson, Freeman J. “Is Science Mostly Driven by

            Ideas or by Tools?” Science 338, no. 6113 (December 14, 2012): 1426–27. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1232773.

            ·      

            “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.” In Wikipedia,
            May 2, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Structure_of_Scientific_Revolutions&oldid=1152843404.

            ·      

            Galison, Peter. Image and Logic: A Material Culture of Microphysics.
            Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1997. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo3710110.html.

             

            ·       “The Hedgehog and the Fox.” In Wikipedia,

            April 21, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Hedgehog_and_the_Fox&oldid=1150956564.

            ·       “You and Your Research.” Accessed May 20,

            2023. https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/YouAndYourResearch.html.

            ·       Alon, Uri. “How To Choose a Good Scientific

            Problem.” Molecular Cell 35, no. 6 (September 24, 2009): 726–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2009.09.013.

            ·       Weinberg, Steven. “Four Golden Lessons.” Nature

            426, no. 6965 (November 2003): 389–389. https://doi.org/10.1038/426389a.

            ·      

            Whitesides, George M., and John Deutch. “Let’s Get Practical.” Nature
            469, no. 7328 (January 2011): 21–22. https://doi.org/10.1038/469021a.

            34 min

          About Pratidhvani - Humanizing Science

          From the publisher's feed

          Namaste, Hola, & Welcome from G.V. Pavan Kumar.