Serendipity and Learning

The above titled book by William Rosen (and I am still reading it) has set me thinking. As it goes through the industrial revolution (rather, the beginning of it) - it explores as to why the industrial revolution happened when it happened. Rather, how a lot of factors came to play in making it happen. For that alone this book is worth a read. It is worth reading how a 'dotcom' kind of ecosystem existed in England with the combination of tinkerers, rich patrons, correspondence and of course, the right kind of institutions. When one studies engineering, or even science, what we hear are the rock star stories. For instance, we know that Archimedes had a 'Eureka' moment. Likewise, in this book, I realized how a 'Eureka' moment helped James Watt resolve the problematic steam engine into a workable design. While it is very romantic to believe that discoveries happen accidentally, the fact remains that somebody like a James Watt (or others) slogged through many man...

I have been reading 'The Most Powerful Idea in the World' by William Rosen - with much interest. Ever since I saw the book mentioned in Bill Gates annual letter to his trustees or something, I wanted to read it. The reading did not start in a promising way. And then came James Watt. And the story of the condenser in the steam engine. The story of how James Watt  while working on a steam engine finally figured out the condenser as an answer is worthy of thought. It is part science, part industriousness, part perseverance, part insight, part creativity and totally engrossing. It struck me that in college, when we studied about the steam engine - we had but a theoretical rendering of the steam engine in Thermodynamics. There was no story there. We learnt about the steam engine in a matter of fact way, with about as much passion as one would read a telephone directory, totally bereft of the history or the emotion behind it. Or the time. Or the effort. Or the passion of a few ...

Over the weekend, I chanced upon a board at a school which was holding a science expo. The board said, “Open to all”. So, in a bid to give “exposure” to Science to the little one, we landed there. And walked around, talking to students – who were explaining things with a lot of gusto. The little one was, of course, impressed, seeing children do stuff and explain to him was a thrill in itself. Also, to see them demonstrate concepts such as robotics, electronics was something else. I can imagine the rush of adrenaline he must have had on seeing it. More on that in a moment. But first, a word on the exhibition itself. The Chemistry and Biology section were quite ordinary – not in terms of the exhibit itself – or on the enthusiasm of the students. What I mean here is that, as concepts go, the concepts that the chemistry and biology section were talking about are all atleast 50 years old. When I was in school (and that was not 50 years ago), we had pretty much the same exhibits then...