12. (a) To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem. (b) To cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom. (c) To uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. (d) To defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so. (e) To promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
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Editor's Notes
Interesting to see how national thinking about science, and technology, has been evolving. Those involved in writing SPR had grown up in an age of tremendous growth in Sciences and technology and had seen its impact. Early twentieth century were golden years in evolution of physics, quantum theory, Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, Wave-particle duality, quantum mechanics, and so on. Technological inventions had changed the conditions of western societies. Nuclear fission technology altered the balance of power. The power of science & technology was very manifest. Hence the statement, Science the greatest enterprise of human kind today. Science has led to the growth and diffusion of culture to an extent never possible before. It has not only radically altered man's material environment, but, what is of still deeper significance, it has provided new tools of thought and has extended man's mental horizon. It has thus influenced even the basic values of life, and given to civilization a new vitality and a new dynamism. Note the philosophical orientation of SPR.
Note the statement about technology being more important than material and capital. This was stated at a time when India had difficult situation in respect of materials and capital; technology was ‘optimistically’ projected as the only option. The Technology key to national prosperity is a true statement; this was beginning to be realized by economists at that time, but here the statement is more of seizing on the only hope that was available to bank upon. The SPR promotes all types of research – pure, and applied. The debate was between basic scientific research and applied sciences. There were proponents of both with strong views. The applied wscience view resulted in the establishment of CSIR, and ICAR , etc. Hard core technology development was still a new concept. The scientific establishment was more confident of basic research and applied research and accepted it in policy statement but somewhat less sure of being able to pursue technological developments. Not surprising therefore that a forceful statement committing to technological development does not appear. Note the statement about’ securing benefits of scientific knowledge…’.; The beliefs in power of Science and Scientists is evident in the statement in SPR that, ’The Government of India have decided to pursue and accomplish these aims by offering good conditions of service to scientists and according them an honoured position, by associating scientists with the formulation of policies, and by taking such other measures as may be deemed necessary from time to time.’ It is a moot point whether this was indeed realised in reality. It could well be argued that the vision about scientists’ status and centrality to development has been sidelined. There is a tacit admission of failure when the same point is reiterated in subsequent policy statements.
Notice the inward stance – self-reliance, imposition from outside, indigenous development, public sector. This is reflective of the international isolation and political stance of the country in international arena. Also reflects the poorly developed private sector and the distrust in private sector.
From ‘small science’ undertaken by a small group with limited equipment and funds to ‘big science’, requiring large resources, multi-institutional and multi-country participation. This is an ‘opening of the mind set’ and recognition of new reality. This is significant evolution in planning and strategizing S&T effort. Note the recognition of economic value of knowledge, and acceptance of global IPR framework. Note also the focus on wealth creation and global competitiveness. A subtle shift. Earlier the focus was entirely in terms of human welfare. %This remains but now wealth creation is emerging in the consciousness of the nation.
Note the first statement. On scientific temper and its societal role. Note socio-economic development objectives. Note emergence of national strategic and security objectives. It is now much more than socio-economic development tool; it is now recognized as vital to country’s security and strategic concerns. Reference to autonomy and freedom is a tacit admission that this has been missing; that the system has been functioning under bureaucratic control.
The hardening and tempering of steel are complementary processes. Steel is hardened to provide it with a better edge or greater firmness. Steel that has been hardened automatically becomes more brittle. Brittle steel cannot be shaped readily and will break easily. Tempering takes hardened steel and makes it more ductile. The tempered steel is stronger and can be worked into new shapes. Tempering consists of heating the steel to a specific temperature (below its hardening temperature), holding it at that temperature for the required length of time, and then cooling it, usually instill air. The resultant strength, hardness, and ductility depend on the temperature to which the steel is heated during the tempering process.
Each highlighted word is to be reflected upon. Sharing, and independent verification are key.
Many levels of communication: Scientist to Non-scientists , both intelligent laymen and the uninitiated and uneducated Scientist to peer scientist (in the same field) Scientist to other scientist (in other fields, related or unrelated.) Non-scientist to non-scientist (about scientific approach, scientific temper, fighting obscurantist views, blind unscientific beliefs, etc.) What is our scope here, in Vigyan Prasar? Communication is transferring a signal from point A to B without attenuation and distortion. That is the challenge in Science Communication. Accuracy of the message delivered. It should not get distorted beyond acceptable limits. Another is that the message should not get attenuated to the point that it is ineffective and lacks credibility. In Electrical engineering transferring a signal from one system to another is compromised by mismatch of internal impedance of the two systems. Here too each system has its impedance. The transmitting scientist is impeded by the paradigm and jargon internal to the discipline; the receiving person by his/her own knowledge and cultural paradigm, and unfamiliarity of the transmitter’s paradigm of looking at phenomena and the jargon that must be understood and overcome before getting to the issue. For effective communication to happen impedance mismatch must be minimized.
Paradigmatic: There are rules about how new knowledge is acquired, or principles/theory are extended, as well as core concepts that limit the search. In other words, basic science is as much a set of cognitive constructs, principles, and values as it is a set of activities. Every few (or several) years the rules may be overturned as some dramatic paradigm-shifting body of research is performed, although these events are relatively rare. Ecumenical: In contrast, applied research & development tends to be more ecumenical in approach, with solving the problem at hand more pressing than maintaining purity of approach. There is a greater willingness to employ a swap meet approach to data, methods, and patching together a conceptual framework. Ecumenical: including or containing a mixture of diverse elements or styles; mixed: an ecumenical meal of German, Italian, and Chinese dishes.
In science, the researcher seeks ‘truth’ and asks questions of interest to himself, seeks to gather the most precise data possible, and sets out to support or refute a hypothesis. In technology will focus on the most manipulative variables rather than the most explanatory. The precision of the data is weighed against the cost of obtaining it and other practical concerns (such as time required against the need to solve the problem speedily). Basic science tends to be organised around its structure of knowledge, such as Physics, Chemistry or Mathematics. The organisation structure should facilitate pushing basic understanding in a specific knowledge area; therefore in Universities basic science is done in ‘Departments’ which are named as Department of Physics, or Department of Chemistry. In technology the concern is around solving a practical problem and achieve a particular ‘functionality’. Knowledge drawn from many different disciplines may have to be utilised, or indeed, empirical approaches may be used. The organisational structure, accordingly is not around scientific disciplines but around the nature of product or the problem, for example, Optical Fibre Division, Rotatory EngineDivision, Turbine Division, Metal Fabrication Division, Foundry & Forge Division, etc. Since problem solving may draw upon many different areas, a matrix structure may be most useful in harnessing different knowledge and skills.
Wave particle duality a scientific principle led to the design of electron microscopes. Scanning Electron Microscope enabled understanding the surfaces at molecular and atomic level and enabled development of surface physics SEM allowed understanding of the structure of bacteria and viruses leading to microbiology and virology This scientific knowledge has led to the development of biotechnology Science of materials at nanometer levels (molecular level and below) has given rise to nanotechnology Understanding the science of superconductivity led to development of superconducting magnets; in future could lead to magnetically levitated trains Science of emission of light from semiconductors led to development of LEDs.LASERS and MASERs the result of the science of materials.
In human history Innovation has been critical for the rise in population and in per capita income and human welfare. Note the major technological developments: development of Agriculture around 9000BC, pottery about 6000BC, Plow and irrigation between 5000 and 4000BC. Population grew in tandem with innovation. Note the period from1800s onwards: a tremendous spurt in technological innovation and almost vertical growth in population. The simultaneity of very high density of technological innovation and very rapid growth in population - is this a mere accident or does it suggest causality? Look also at the next slide.
Not only has population grown with technological innovation, the prosperity also shows a simultaneous relationship with technological innovation. Notice the exponential growth in GDP per capita since the 1800s, the time when the intensity of technological innovation grew rapidly. Look also at the next slide.\\
Even though the world growth in GDP per capita has accelerated since the 1800s, notice the differentials among countries and regions. The general picture is that countries with higher GDP per capita are those that have witnessed earlier technological innovation and deployed it in their economic system, whereas, countries deficient in technological innovation and deployment of technology are among the poorer ones. What message does it convey? Does it say something about why we should be concerned about technological innovation, and why as managers of future development the study of technology and innovation is strategically important?
In earlier economic models, output (Q) was expressed as a function of capital (K) and labor (L) and technology was assumed away: equation 1. Economist Robert Solow in 1957 [add to refs] became famous for noting that increases in capital and labor did not fully account for economic growth. There was another factor (T) which represented technical change and enhanced the productivity of capital and labor. Thus technology was inserted as separate factor (T) which augmented the productivity of capital and labor: equation 2. However technology was assumed to be exogenous. It took nearly three decades before Paul Romer in 1986 [add to refs] modeled technology not as exogenous manna from heaven, but as the result of explicit effort. Thus the new growth theory modeled technology (T) as the result of explicit inputs, namely R&D and human capital (HC): equation 3. A good deal of empirical work has been done on the relationship between growth and the reduced form of the basic growth equation, where R&D and HC are substituted for technology: equation 4 Show slide on contribution of technology to Economic Growth for USA, Japan
The justification condition calls for evidence for proving the truthfulness of knowledge. Belief, which reveals an attitude towards the proposition, does not justify the proposition itself; it needs evidence of truth. Belief formed without valid evidence does not constitute knowledge. As long as there is a chance, howsoever slight, that our belief is mistaken, our belief in the truth of something does not constitute our true knowledge of it. Therefore, in Western philosophy, the pursuit of knowledge is heavily laden with skepticism , which has induced philosophers to search for the method to help them establish the ultimate truth of knowledge beyond all doubt. They have aimed to discover “ fundamental knowledge without proof or evidence ”, on which all other knowledge could be grounded.
The decision on what knowledge to pursue is a value decision, shaped by Societal values and Culture. Thus the nature of emerging Knowledge Society is influenced by societal culture and value system, as also subjective knowledge of individuals that shapes the Culture.
A strong movement in USA and Europe to restructure Professional education –of scientists, engineers, and managers to include strong component of social sciences and humanities. Without this they cannot be true professionals.
Let us examine the meaning of Culture. Discuss Clifford Geertz definition and reference to meaning and symbols; note communication through cultural symbols. You cannot import symbols from an alien culture and hope to communicate effectively. An understanding of culture, ability to recognize the cultural symbols and then to leverage them for purposes of communication is crucial to effective science communication. Medium is also important; the platform for communication. One needs to understand the peculiarities and characteristics of each medium in order to use it effectively. Text, Static Pictures, Voice, Movies, Exhibitions, Melas, Jathas, Nukkad Nataks, Broadcast media like Radio and TV (both are different).
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