For all people who want to know more about the beauty and secrets of physics, here are two very good non-technical resources:
1) The Cosmic Variance Blog. A Blog run by several authors including Caltech's Sean Carroll.
2) Blogging Heads. This site is not specifically for physics. It contains several good dialogues between people who know what they are talking about.
Have Fun !
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Background to the Kashmir Problem
We all know that Kashmir is the biggest issue between India and Pakistan. But I wonder how many of us know about the history and crucial facts about Kashmir. I was myself largely unaware about this issue.
Here is a document that gives a decent background to the Kashmir problem.
Here is a document that gives a decent background to the Kashmir problem.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Yashpal Committee Report
I woke up in the morning to find in my inbox an email by Prof. V.K. Tripathi (VKT). The email commented upon the recommendations of the Yashpal Committee report on higher education in India.
Here is the Yashpal Committee report.
Here are VKT's comments.
In his comments VKT addressed the dichotomy that haunts every part of India. There are people who go to expensive "English-medium" high schools (like I did) who have a perspective on their careers and ambitions. But at the same time India abounds with students who do not get access to good schools. Their language abilities are also limited. But many of these not-so-good students come to IITs - the hallmark of technical education in India and a world-brand.
So the professors in these esteemed institutions are faced with a dilemma. Their best students can perform miracles if properly stimulated and challenged. But pursuing such a vision can be almost lethal for the career of the not-so-good students, who will lag behind and even fail classes if the material is too advanced. Contradictory though it might seem, this problem is not insoluble. In this post I will propose a change in the IIT system that can potentially solve this problem. Let me begin.
I have recently come to a conclusion in my discussions with Sumeet about education in India that our major problem lies in the fact that our teachers in school expect everyone to be super-intelligent and extra-smart. Emphasis is always laid on constant perseverance to reach that ultimate level of academic achievement. The person who comes second in class is in some way not as good as the person who comes first.
This means that our system is catered to only the best amongst us. The average student's self respect is compromised so many times in his high-school life that he loses confidence in himself, his talents and his abilities. No doubt, the best of our people are comparable to the best in the entire world, but that leaves out a huge chunk of our population. This is the main reason why India lags behind the developed world in infrastructure, education, health care and almost everything that is a necessary ingredient of a modern life.
This attitude dominates the culture in IITs as well. The average student by this time has taken recourse to unfair means in order to survive in this harsh system and has lost all his academic integrity. The tale just continues. In an attempt to achieve a motley mix of including everyone and yet maintaining a "high" standard, IITs are inviting a catastrophe.
Our freshman physics course in IIT Delhi (that is supposed to be taken by all students) was taught out of the Electrodynamics textbook by D.J. Griffiths. Here at MIT, a course of that level is taught to Physics majors in their 3rd/4th year. Our freshman math courses covered analysis and algebra of the level that makes up a major chunk of the average MIT Math major's undergrad curriculum. The freshman chemistry course in MIT dealt with stuff we had covered in preparation for the JEE. Yes, the smart guys triumph - but majority of the people either fail or start disliking learning itself.
But here is where we start seeing the solution. There are people at MIT who are also superior to the average level. They have already tackled with that physics, that analysis and that algebra. But they have the option of not doing those courses. They have enough freedom in course choice and flexibility in the degree structure that they can pass out of classes that are compulsory. The system caters to the average person but leaves enough space for the smart people to develop their full potential.
If IITs develop enough flexibility in the curriculum and give enough choices to their students, their is no reason why we should be faced with a problem like we do. That of course has to be accompanied by a down-tuning in the level of our courses. The general curriculum should provide a quality education to the average student at a level he can understand.
I think that some professors in IITs would inevitably regret a "loss of pride" in down-tuning the course level, but that is their problem and insignificant for the society.
Here is the Yashpal Committee report.
Here are VKT's comments.
In his comments VKT addressed the dichotomy that haunts every part of India. There are people who go to expensive "English-medium" high schools (like I did) who have a perspective on their careers and ambitions. But at the same time India abounds with students who do not get access to good schools. Their language abilities are also limited. But many of these not-so-good students come to IITs - the hallmark of technical education in India and a world-brand.
So the professors in these esteemed institutions are faced with a dilemma. Their best students can perform miracles if properly stimulated and challenged. But pursuing such a vision can be almost lethal for the career of the not-so-good students, who will lag behind and even fail classes if the material is too advanced. Contradictory though it might seem, this problem is not insoluble. In this post I will propose a change in the IIT system that can potentially solve this problem. Let me begin.
I have recently come to a conclusion in my discussions with Sumeet about education in India that our major problem lies in the fact that our teachers in school expect everyone to be super-intelligent and extra-smart. Emphasis is always laid on constant perseverance to reach that ultimate level of academic achievement. The person who comes second in class is in some way not as good as the person who comes first.
This means that our system is catered to only the best amongst us. The average student's self respect is compromised so many times in his high-school life that he loses confidence in himself, his talents and his abilities. No doubt, the best of our people are comparable to the best in the entire world, but that leaves out a huge chunk of our population. This is the main reason why India lags behind the developed world in infrastructure, education, health care and almost everything that is a necessary ingredient of a modern life.
This attitude dominates the culture in IITs as well. The average student by this time has taken recourse to unfair means in order to survive in this harsh system and has lost all his academic integrity. The tale just continues. In an attempt to achieve a motley mix of including everyone and yet maintaining a "high" standard, IITs are inviting a catastrophe.
Our freshman physics course in IIT Delhi (that is supposed to be taken by all students) was taught out of the Electrodynamics textbook by D.J. Griffiths. Here at MIT, a course of that level is taught to Physics majors in their 3rd/4th year. Our freshman math courses covered analysis and algebra of the level that makes up a major chunk of the average MIT Math major's undergrad curriculum. The freshman chemistry course in MIT dealt with stuff we had covered in preparation for the JEE. Yes, the smart guys triumph - but majority of the people either fail or start disliking learning itself.
But here is where we start seeing the solution. There are people at MIT who are also superior to the average level. They have already tackled with that physics, that analysis and that algebra. But they have the option of not doing those courses. They have enough freedom in course choice and flexibility in the degree structure that they can pass out of classes that are compulsory. The system caters to the average person but leaves enough space for the smart people to develop their full potential.
If IITs develop enough flexibility in the curriculum and give enough choices to their students, their is no reason why we should be faced with a problem like we do. That of course has to be accompanied by a down-tuning in the level of our courses. The general curriculum should provide a quality education to the average student at a level he can understand.
I think that some professors in IITs would inevitably regret a "loss of pride" in down-tuning the course level, but that is their problem and insignificant for the society.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Math and Science Olympiads in India
In this post, I will give an overview of the process of selection of the Indian team to the International Olympiads in Math, Physics and Chemistry.
Physics
The first round is a written theoretical exam, called the National Standard Examination in Physics (NSEP) conducted every year by the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT). This exam in held in November (or thereabouts) every year. Here are some old question papers.
The students who get selected in NSEP appear in the Indian National Physics Olympiad (INPhO) in January (or thereabouts). Here is some useful information. This is also a theoretical, written exam. This is however conducted by the Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education (HBCSE, Mumbai).
The students, numbering about 30, who get selected in INPhO are summoned to an Orientation cum Selection camp in HBCSE, Mumbai. There theoretical and experimental examinations are held in order to select the top 5 students who will represent India at the international event, which is in a different country every year !
Chemistry and Biology
The process is very similar to Physics except that the team that represents India consists of 4 students.
Mathematics
This is well summarized here.
The math olympiad program funded by the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM). The program is run from the MO Cell at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Logistically, the country is divided into several regions.
The first round is called the Regional Math Olympiad (RMO) and is conducted in every region in December. (Some large regions have a pre-RMO round too.)
People who pass the RMO give the INMO (Indian National Mathematics Olympiad) in February.
Students who clear the INMO are summoned to a month long training cum selection camp (called the IMOTC) in HBCSE, Mumbai. They form what is called the Junior batch in this camp. They are joined by Seniors (students from previous years' camps who are still eligible). From this pool, six people are selected to go to the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO).
Personally, IMOTC-2004 (the first time I went there) was the single best academic experience in my high school life !
There are also International Olympiads in Astronomy and Informatics.
I know that India does really well in Physics and Astronomy Olympiads.
Please Note:
The syllabus for the Math olympiad is significantly different from what we learn in classes 11 and 12 (Broadly, it includes four topics: Euclidean Geometry in the Plane, Algebra, Number Theory and Combinatorics). This is not the case with Physics and Chemistry where most of the topics are covered by the JEE syllabus.
Physics
The first round is a written theoretical exam, called the National Standard Examination in Physics (NSEP) conducted every year by the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT). This exam in held in November (or thereabouts) every year. Here are some old question papers.
The students who get selected in NSEP appear in the Indian National Physics Olympiad (INPhO) in January (or thereabouts). Here is some useful information. This is also a theoretical, written exam. This is however conducted by the Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education (HBCSE, Mumbai).
The students, numbering about 30, who get selected in INPhO are summoned to an Orientation cum Selection camp in HBCSE, Mumbai. There theoretical and experimental examinations are held in order to select the top 5 students who will represent India at the international event, which is in a different country every year !
Chemistry and Biology
The process is very similar to Physics except that the team that represents India consists of 4 students.
Mathematics
This is well summarized here.
The math olympiad program funded by the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM). The program is run from the MO Cell at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Logistically, the country is divided into several regions.
The first round is called the Regional Math Olympiad (RMO) and is conducted in every region in December. (Some large regions have a pre-RMO round too.)
People who pass the RMO give the INMO (Indian National Mathematics Olympiad) in February.
Students who clear the INMO are summoned to a month long training cum selection camp (called the IMOTC) in HBCSE, Mumbai. They form what is called the Junior batch in this camp. They are joined by Seniors (students from previous years' camps who are still eligible). From this pool, six people are selected to go to the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO).
Personally, IMOTC-2004 (the first time I went there) was the single best academic experience in my high school life !
There are also International Olympiads in Astronomy and Informatics.
I know that India does really well in Physics and Astronomy Olympiads.
Please Note:
The syllabus for the Math olympiad is significantly different from what we learn in classes 11 and 12 (Broadly, it includes four topics: Euclidean Geometry in the Plane, Algebra, Number Theory and Combinatorics). This is not the case with Physics and Chemistry where most of the topics are covered by the JEE syllabus.
Math Camp, Aniruddha, Artin
On this blog, it will be my goal to post information and resources for high school students (especially Indian students) who really love math and science, and really want to go beyond the narrow confines of IIT-JEE.
http://www.mathcamp.org/
The Canada/US Math Camp is held every summer. A good number of international participants attend this camp every year: even scholarships are offered. I think this is a really good opportunity for all school students to get exposed to some "real" math. Getting to visit another country is, of course, an added benefit that gives you a perspective on your culture, value system and upbringing.
I got to know about this from Aniruddha Bapat, a student from Pune (now going to class 12) who attended the 2009 camp. He also visited MIT, and talked to professors in the Physics department. Here is a small anecdote:
Me, Aniruddha and his sister, Asilata Bapat, were coming down the stairwell opening near the ATM machines in building 10 on the infinite corridor. Walking past us was an elderly man. Asilata and I nodded to him, and he waved back to Asilata - she had taken a course with him. He went his way - we went ours. After the gentleman was a few paces away, Aniruddha asked, "Who was that guy?". "Michael Artin". And... you should have seen the look on the boy's face: amazement, thrill, joy !! As if he had met one of the greatest people in this world. I saw in him a deep sense of appreciation of "academic culture". I think this emotion, if brought to every student in India, can potentially lead to us being a better nation !
Of course, having a good background in math, Aniruddha knew Artin as the author of the famous Algebra textbook, which is, in fact, given out to all the Junior participants in the Indian IMOTC (Int'l Mathematical Olympiad Training Camp - held in Mumbai every summer).
http://www.mathcamp.org/
The Canada/US Math Camp is held every summer. A good number of international participants attend this camp every year: even scholarships are offered. I think this is a really good opportunity for all school students to get exposed to some "real" math. Getting to visit another country is, of course, an added benefit that gives you a perspective on your culture, value system and upbringing.
I got to know about this from Aniruddha Bapat, a student from Pune (now going to class 12) who attended the 2009 camp. He also visited MIT, and talked to professors in the Physics department. Here is a small anecdote:
Me, Aniruddha and his sister, Asilata Bapat, were coming down the stairwell opening near the ATM machines in building 10 on the infinite corridor. Walking past us was an elderly man. Asilata and I nodded to him, and he waved back to Asilata - she had taken a course with him. He went his way - we went ours. After the gentleman was a few paces away, Aniruddha asked, "Who was that guy?". "Michael Artin". And... you should have seen the look on the boy's face: amazement, thrill, joy !! As if he had met one of the greatest people in this world. I saw in him a deep sense of appreciation of "academic culture". I think this emotion, if brought to every student in India, can potentially lead to us being a better nation !
Of course, having a good background in math, Aniruddha knew Artin as the author of the famous Algebra textbook, which is, in fact, given out to all the Junior participants in the Indian IMOTC (Int'l Mathematical Olympiad Training Camp - held in Mumbai every summer).
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