The purpose of science is to make our lives better and happier. Science is that knowledge by which we understand nature and harness it for our benefit. Speaking as the Chief Guest at the International Conference on Science Communication for Scientific Temper here today, Justice Markandey Katju said, “It is true that scientific knowledge can be misused like atom bomb, but it can also be used to benefit mankind, whereas without science we will be living precarious, wretched lives. Not only the applied sciences like technology benefits people, but the fundamental sciences benefit mankind in the long run , even though not immediately.”
Referring to poverty of our country, Justice Katju said, “ 80% of our people are living in horrible poverty, with massive unemployment, skyrocketing prices, massive problems of healthcare, education, housing etc. 48 farmers have been committing suicide on an average every day , and 47 % of our children are malnourished, which is over 10% higher than in countries of sub-Saharan Africa e.g. Ethiopia and Somalia. Our national aim must be to abolish these evils and make our country highly prosperous for all our citizens.”
Dr Katju suggested Four People’s Principles (following Sun Yat Sen’s Three People’s Principles) to address the nation’s problems which should be our guiding principles for solving India’s problems. These are science, democracy, livelihood and unity of the People
When our country was on the scientific path, it prospered. With the aid of science we had built mighty civilizations thousands of years ago. The way out for our nation is to go back again to the scientific path shown by our great ancestors – the path of Aryabhatta and Brahmagupta, Sushrut and Charak, Ramanujan and Raman.
Giving details of scientific achievements in ancient times, Shri Katju said the decimal system and its Zero was an invention of ancient India and progress was not possible without this invention. Under our system to express one million we have just to write the number on followed by six zeros. We could thus express astronomically high numbers by simply adding 2 zeros to 1000 we get lac, crore , arab, kharab, padma, neel, shankh, mahashankh.
Expressing his disagreement with the view of some people say that democracy is not good for India, the problem in India is not that there is too much democracy but too little. We need more democracy, not less, and that means educating those masses, raising their cultural level, and involving them actively in the task on national reconstruction.He emphasized on fact that democracy and science go hand in hand. Scientific growth requires certain supportive values viz. Freedom to think, to criticize, and to dissent, tolerance, plurality, and free flow of information. These precisely are the values of a democratic society.
Regarding livelihood he said, “The economic growth in India has benefited only a handful of people. Unless this trend is stopped it will be disastrous for the country.”
Shri Mahesh Bhatt, film producer talked on ‘Scientific Temper: A National Dream’. He said, “The scientific temper that Jawaharlal Nehru crusaded for is born from a heartbeat: and that heart beat is doubt. A society which is not decorous enough to concede to itself that we are billions of times more ignorant than knowledgeable, is doomed. In the dawn of second decade of this new century, India must recognize that it is through his door of ignorance that one may journey towards reliable knowledge. Even the scientific community needs to wake up and face the blunt truth that their uncritical faith is scientific knowledge has created many of the problems now threaten the planet: and our wholesale reliance on scientific progress is both untenable and myopic”. Citing example of a flowering plant, Shri Mahesh Bhatt said that as it grows it unfolds leaf after leaf. During the growth period it sheds old leaves and give way to new structures. It shows us how to stay dynamic and adaptable. That is what scientific temper is all about, he added.
Dr Gangan Prathap, Director, CSIR-NISCAIR gave a statement on Scientific Temper.Citing wisdom from our saints and sages of ancient times, Dr Gangan said, “ Scientific Temper is compatible with observation and insight, reasoning and insight, reasoning and intuition, systematic work and creative impulse. It gives rise to an attitude of mind which while being conscious of wide areas of ignorance, is never the less optimysic about human ability to gradually unravel the mysteries that surrounds us.In this process scientific temper becomes part of the culture.”
Shri Bernard Schiele, Head, Graduate Studies in Science, Technology, Society, delivered the key note address.
Dr P M Bhargava, Former Vice Chairman,National Knowledge Commission, said, “ Scientific Temper calls for recognition of the several major differences between the scientific attitude and the theological and metaphysical attitude specially in respect of dogmas proclaimed in the name of religion. While science is univerasal, stablished religions are divisive.” Earlier Dr Subodh Mahanti, Director, Vigyan Prasar welcome the august gathering.
The 3-day International Conference on “Science Communication for Scientific Temper” has five Plenary Sessions and fifteen Parallel Sessions with about 88 lectures spread over three days from 10 January 2012. All the sessions are chaired by eminent scholars and science communicators. Altogether, there are thirteen invited lectures by resource persons from different walks of life. The Conference has been organized jointly by CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), Vigyan Prasar (VP), and National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) and DST.
Referring to poverty of our country, Justice Katju said, “ 80% of our people are living in horrible poverty, with massive unemployment, skyrocketing prices, massive problems of healthcare, education, housing etc. 48 farmers have been committing suicide on an average every day , and 47 % of our children are malnourished, which is over 10% higher than in countries of sub-Saharan Africa e.g. Ethiopia and Somalia. Our national aim must be to abolish these evils and make our country highly prosperous for all our citizens.”
Dr Katju suggested Four People’s Principles (following Sun Yat Sen’s Three People’s Principles) to address the nation’s problems which should be our guiding principles for solving India’s problems. These are science, democracy, livelihood and unity of the People
When our country was on the scientific path, it prospered. With the aid of science we had built mighty civilizations thousands of years ago. The way out for our nation is to go back again to the scientific path shown by our great ancestors – the path of Aryabhatta and Brahmagupta, Sushrut and Charak, Ramanujan and Raman.
Giving details of scientific achievements in ancient times, Shri Katju said the decimal system and its Zero was an invention of ancient India and progress was not possible without this invention. Under our system to express one million we have just to write the number on followed by six zeros. We could thus express astronomically high numbers by simply adding 2 zeros to 1000 we get lac, crore , arab, kharab, padma, neel, shankh, mahashankh.
Expressing his disagreement with the view of some people say that democracy is not good for India, the problem in India is not that there is too much democracy but too little. We need more democracy, not less, and that means educating those masses, raising their cultural level, and involving them actively in the task on national reconstruction.He emphasized on fact that democracy and science go hand in hand. Scientific growth requires certain supportive values viz. Freedom to think, to criticize, and to dissent, tolerance, plurality, and free flow of information. These precisely are the values of a democratic society.
Regarding livelihood he said, “The economic growth in India has benefited only a handful of people. Unless this trend is stopped it will be disastrous for the country.”
Shri Mahesh Bhatt, film producer talked on ‘Scientific Temper: A National Dream’. He said, “The scientific temper that Jawaharlal Nehru crusaded for is born from a heartbeat: and that heart beat is doubt. A society which is not decorous enough to concede to itself that we are billions of times more ignorant than knowledgeable, is doomed. In the dawn of second decade of this new century, India must recognize that it is through his door of ignorance that one may journey towards reliable knowledge. Even the scientific community needs to wake up and face the blunt truth that their uncritical faith is scientific knowledge has created many of the problems now threaten the planet: and our wholesale reliance on scientific progress is both untenable and myopic”. Citing example of a flowering plant, Shri Mahesh Bhatt said that as it grows it unfolds leaf after leaf. During the growth period it sheds old leaves and give way to new structures. It shows us how to stay dynamic and adaptable. That is what scientific temper is all about, he added.
Dr Gangan Prathap, Director, CSIR-NISCAIR gave a statement on Scientific Temper.Citing wisdom from our saints and sages of ancient times, Dr Gangan said, “ Scientific Temper is compatible with observation and insight, reasoning and insight, reasoning and intuition, systematic work and creative impulse. It gives rise to an attitude of mind which while being conscious of wide areas of ignorance, is never the less optimysic about human ability to gradually unravel the mysteries that surrounds us.In this process scientific temper becomes part of the culture.”
Shri Bernard Schiele, Head, Graduate Studies in Science, Technology, Society, delivered the key note address.
Dr P M Bhargava, Former Vice Chairman,National Knowledge Commission, said, “ Scientific Temper calls for recognition of the several major differences between the scientific attitude and the theological and metaphysical attitude specially in respect of dogmas proclaimed in the name of religion. While science is univerasal, stablished religions are divisive.” Earlier Dr Subodh Mahanti, Director, Vigyan Prasar welcome the august gathering.
The 3-day International Conference on “Science Communication for Scientific Temper” has five Plenary Sessions and fifteen Parallel Sessions with about 88 lectures spread over three days from 10 January 2012. All the sessions are chaired by eminent scholars and science communicators. Altogether, there are thirteen invited lectures by resource persons from different walks of life. The Conference has been organized jointly by CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources (NISCAIR), Vigyan Prasar (VP), and National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) and DST.
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