Isaac Newton and others…… 2 of 3 31 August 2007

This is about Albert Einstein, the German physicist.

· He was born on 14 March 1879 and died on April 18, 1955

· He won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics

· His scientific contributions prove that he was a rare genius:

- Theory of relativity

- Mass-energy equivalence, E = mc²

- The law of the photoelectric effect

- Special theory of relativity

- General theory of relativity which extended the principle of relativity to non-uniform motion, creating a new theory of gravitation.

- Relativistic cosmology

- Capillary action

- Critical opalescence

- Classical problems of statistical mechanics and their application to quantum theory

- An explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules

- Atomic transition probabilities

- Quantum theory of a monatomic gas

- Thermal properties of light with low radiation density (which laid the foundation for the photon theory)

- Theory of radiation including stimulated emission

Gopal

…..keyingin is better than idling

Isaac Newton and others…… 30 August 2007

1 of 3

If you were to ask me to name three all-time greats, my answer would be simple: Newton, Einstein and Leonardo da Vinci.

This piece is about Sir Isaac Newton, a true genius

· He was born in England on 4 January 1643

· He was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist rolled into one.

· His treatise Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion.

· He enunciated the principles of conservation of momentum and angular momentum.

· He invented the reflecting telescope and developed a theory of colour based on the observation that a prism decomposes white light into a visible spectrum.

· He also formulated an empirical law of cooling and studied the speed of sound.

· He shares the credit with Gottfried Leibniz for the development of the calculus. He also demonstrated the generalized binomial theorem, developed the so-called “Newton’s method” for approximating the zeroes of a function.

· He died on 31 March 1728.

Gopal

…..keyingin is better than idling

Shame to defence administrators…… 28 August 2007

Two recent reports in the Press – one pertaining to the US defence administration (Pentagon) and the other to the Indian Army – suggest that all is not well with these two entities.

Pentagon is not able to account for 190 000 pistols and rifles, 135 000 body armours, and 115 000 helmets given to the Iraqi security forces in the years between 2004 and 2006. It is believed that these have fallen into the enemy hands in Iraq. Ofcourse, the American military defence industry will be very pleased with this news. More such losses, more the demand for fresh stocks! With all the real-time data-collection technology that the US has, this is the story.

In India, some senior army officers have taken the soldiers defending the country at Siachin and other high-altitude places for a ride. This scandal spread over the last six years has resulted in food and other items like chocolates, food supplements, snow boots, and parachutes meant for soldiers to be sold in open market. Shame to those army officers!

Gopal

…..keyingin is better than idling

Bottled water….Pause and Think…. 27 August 2007

· At Rupees Fifteen for a litre of bottled water, it is 4200 times the price of one litre of tap water.

· Water is a fundamental human right of an individual and infact should be available free as it is a resource given by nature.

· In 2004, the consumption of bottled water in India was 5.1 billion litres.

· The Indian bottled water industry is valued at Rs. 1 800 crores and is expected to grow at 40 percent annually.

· There are 1 200 water bottle factories spread all over india.

· Quality is still not assured as there is no proper mechanism in the country for inspecting bottled water.

· A mind-boggling five litres of water are required to produce one litre of bottled water.

· A study conducted in the US showed that for producing 26 billion litres of bottled water, an equivalent of 20 million barrles of oil was required.

· This is a time to pause and think: Can we not drink tap water after boiling it for twenty minutes?

Gopal

…..keyingin is better than idling

Consulting your doctor? Some guidelines 22 August 2007

Part II of II….

· Request your doctor to write the generic names of the medicines in the prescription. In case the doctor writes only the brand names, please make a note of their generic names printed on the packing of medicines after buying them.

· Do not take the entire family to your doctor; restrict the number of persons to three including the patient. Avoid taking children (unless they are patients themselves).

· Always carry with you a bottle of water and some healthy dry snacks; they will be useful if you have to wait for the doctor.

· Do not forget that the doctor is also a human being; do not nag him or her.

· If you do not trust a doctor do not go to that person.

· Do not intimidate the doctor by talking about your political and other connections.

· Always insist and collect bills from the medicine store; this way the store keeper will be more careful while dispensing medicines.

· No self-medication please

· Consume correct dosage.

Gopal

..keyingin is better than idling

Consulting your doctor? Some guidelines 21 August 2007

Part I of II….

· Classify all medical papers as prescriptions, investigation- reports etc. and file them in a folder with the latest ones at the top.

· Always take the folder with you when you visit the doctor.

· As far as possible meet the doctor with prior appointment, unless in case of an unforeseen situation.

· Write out in a piece of paper (or keyin in your mobile phone) the list of the symptoms, unsual behaviour of your body, the medicines that you are presently taking etc. and read it out to the doctor. Remember, the doctor bases his treatment on what you tell him. Insufficient information means less-than-effective treatment. Be truthful to your doctor; do not hide or dilute information.

· Inform the doctor if you are allergic to any medicines, if you are diabetic etc. Women should disclose if they are pregnant.

· Speak clearly and precisely and quickly; there are more patients waiting outside and the doctor does not have the luxury of time.

Gopal

…..keyingin is better than idling

Prediction of earthquake…Amazing… Part 2-19 August 2007

Varahamihira….While the predictions of Zhonghao Shaou are amazing, more mind-boggling is the fact that a similar theory was propounded by an Indian as early as the Sixth Century A.D.

A word about that great person. He is none other than Varahamihira (505 to 587 A.D.), a philosopher- mathematician- astronomer. He was born in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh). His works, Pancha-Siddhantika (The Five Astronomical Canons) and Brihat Samhita (The Great Compilation), are considered seminal texts on ancient Indian astronomy.

In chapter 32 of Brihat Samhita under the heading ‘Signs of Earthquake’ he seeks to correlate earthquakes with cosmic and planetary influences, underground water, undersea activities, unusual cloud formations, and the abnormal behaviour of animals. Like Zhonghao Shaou, he also spoke of unusual cloud formations before the occurrence of an earthquake.

He classified earthquakes into different kinds. He claimed that indications of occurrence of one particular kind of earthquake would appear in the form of unusual huge cloud formations resembling blue lilies, bees a week before it takes place.

Gopal

…..keyingin is better than idling

Bend it better than Bechkam…. 17 August 2007

If Beckham can bend the trajectory of the ball, our ritual-gurus can bend anything: two examples of Bent Rules are given below:

Aadi thallupadi

First rule: It is inauspicious to buy items in the Tamizh month of Aadi.

Bent rule: Make one small purchase a day before the onset of Aadi. Subsequent purchases during Aadi would be considered as continuation of shopping done in an auspicious month and hence no cosmic ill-effect!

Outcome: The Nallis, the Pothys, and the Thangamaligais laugh their way to the banks. Common people are thrilled; no need to suspend their shopping for a month!

Parasthana

First rule: Day X is not a ‘good’ for undertaking travel.

Bent rule: Take out one small packing out of the house on a `good day’ prior to day X and deposit it in a neighbour’s house. The travel is deemed to have begun on a `good ‘ day!

Outcome: Travel as per convenience without a feeling of guilt!

Gopal

…..keyingin is better than idling

Climate change, myth exploded…. 13 August 2007

A favourite topic among the grey-haired ones in Bangalore apart from pollution, traffic, land prices, corruption and, irresponsibility of the younger generation is Bangalore Weather. `When I was young, Bangalore used to be so pleasant. Now it has become a veritable hell’, so would go the monologue. What do the climate statistics for Bangalore compiled by the Indian Institute of Science reveal?

- the average annual temperature in the past 100 years has increased just by 0.5 degree Celsius. (Chennaivaasis and Hyderbadees will also be surprised with the statistics of their cities; increase of 0.5 degree Celsius in Chennai and decrease of 0.2 degree Celsius in Hyderabad.

- however, the number of days per year experiencing more than 35 degree Celsius and less than 12 degree Celsius has gone up.

- the highest temperature recorded in the city is 38.9 degree Celsius and that happened in the year 1931 (air-conditioned city?)

- people in overcrowded areas and concrete jungles may experience tempertures 2 degrees Celsius more than what is recorded by the meterological department at any time.

Gopal

…..keyingin is better than idling

Defining Science……. 12 August 2007

- The systematic observation of natural events and conditions in order to discover facts about them and to formulate laws and principles based on these facts.

- The organised body of knowledge that is derived from such observations and which can be verified or tested by further investigation.

- An intellectual activity carried on by humans that is designed to discover information about the natural world in which humans live and to discover the ways in which this information can be organised into meaningful patterns. The ultimate purpose of science is to discern the order that exists between and amongst the various facts.

- It consists simply of the formulation and testing of hypotheses based on observational evidence; experiments are important where applicable, but their function is merely to simplify observation by imposing controlled conditions.

- The practice of generalising from observations to form a rational explanation – a theory – of a particular part of our world and then testing that theory by experiment, rejecting it if it does not make up, accepting it `provisionally’ if it does. (my favourite)

Gopal

…..keyingin is better than idling