Ode to women in Chemistry

Many women have contributed towards the growth and development of science in general and chemistry in particular from the time immemorial.  Several women contributed to the proto-science of alchemy in Alexandria around the 1st or 2nd centuries AD. The best known among them, Mary the Jewess, is credited with invention of several chemical instruments, including the double boiler (bain-marie) and a type of still.  In medieval Europe, many of the women chemists were self taught and worked clandestinely. These women worked as assistants to their fathers, brothers and husbands. Hildegard  of Bingen, Germany practised naturopathy. She  was well known for her healing powers involving practical application of tinctures, herbs, and precious stones. Hildegard also wrote   about the need to boil water as early as in twelfth century in her medicinal texts. Marie-Anne was Lavoisier's wife and colleague. She used to conduct chemistry experiments at home. She translated documents from English for him and prepared sketches and engravings of laboratory instruments. She hosted parties at which prominent scientists could discuss chemistry and other scientific ideas. These early chemists were not very well known, were allowed less access to research facilities than their male counterparts, had fewer job opportunities, published less and received lesser awards and recognition.

It was however Madam Curie who changed the rule. She defied all norms and won two Nobel prizes in Physics and Chemistry. In doing so she inspired a whole generation of future women scientists and engineers. Her daughter Irene Curie-Joliot was also a Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Marguerite Perry started her career as assistant to Madam Curie and discovered eighty seventh element of periodic table.  In fact International Year of Chemistry 2011 coincided with the 100^th anniversary of Nobel prize in Chemistry to Madam Curie. Despite winning Nobel Prize she was denied a post in her native place Warsaw because of her gender. She was not allowed membership in French academy of science due to the same reason. She however overcame all prejudices and discrimination. Madam Curie clearly changed the role of women in Society too.

Many, other women chemists and biochemists, made important contributions in their fields. Some won Nobel Prize while others won various types of accolades and recognition.  Rosalind Franklin used x-ray crystallography to see the structure of DNA.  Gerti Cori was a biochemist and became first American woman to win a Nobel Prize in science. Dorothy Crowfoot-Hodgkin was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for using x-rays to determine the structure of biologically important molecules. Recently, Ada Yonath of Israel received Nobel Prize for her work on Ribosomes. Emma Perry Carr was the first recipient of the America society Garvan medal for her work on ultra violet spectra of simple unsaturated hydrocarbon. Marjori Caserio is an expert  educator  and  author of organic chemistry.

Maria Telkes an industrial chemist is known for creating the first thermoelectric power generator in 1947 and the first thermoelectric refrigerator in 1953 using the principles of semiconductor thermoelectricity. She designed a house using Phase Change Material  to make it warm without using fuel . Rachel Carson’s powerful book ‘Silent Springs’ documents the impact of Pesticide on Marine life. She is a pioneer of Green Chemistry. Ruth Wiener is another environmental chemist of repute.

The above list is just indicative and not exhaustive. Presently many female Chemists are working, around the globe for the growth of knowledge in chemistry and betterment of society. Although their percentage is small as compared to their male counterparts but their contributions are by no means small.

Women possess indigenous technical knowledge and practice chemistry in their everyday lives. It is however a pity that the sciences which are of practical use in the household are excluded from recognition. All home makers are expert in kitchen chemistry, molecular gastronomy and food processing. They perform chemical operations like ignition, combustion, boiling, measuring, facilitation of heat transfer, mass transfer, phase change, fermentation, Pasturization, Coagulation et al on daily basis. Moreover women process fruits and vegetables available in one season to be used in lean season. Due credit must be given to the practice of open sun drying of vegetables by Kashmiri women in summer. These dried vegetables known as ‘Hokh Seun’ in local parlance provides assortment and nutritional security in harsh winter months. By experimentation and practice home makers ensures the right moisture content in dried vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are home processed to make Jams and pickles. Homemakers also process milk to obtain cottage cheese, butter and curd which have longer shelf life, better nutritional values and provide range in food value. Every woman is an expert in kitchen chemistry, thermodynamics and heat transfer which she has learnt by practice and experience. Due credits should be given to grandmothers and great grand mothers who wrap the pots  full of cooked rice with blankets to ensure that it remains hot at time of consumption. Warm milk is mixed with right amount of culture to prepare yoghurt. The temperature is maintained to ensure proper reaction. Grandmas are practical chemists and drugists. Many common ailments are treated at home using kitchen condiments like turmeric, tulsi, garlic, clove, amla etc.

Scientific Temper

Scientific temper

Science and Technology have become an inseparable part of our daily life; hence creation of scientific awareness and inculcation of scientific temper has now a days become the need of the hour. It was Pandit Nehru who introduced the concept of modern ‘scientific temper’ – a phrase taken to mean an enquiring attitude and analytical approach that leads to rational thinking and the pursuit of truth without prejudice in his book Discovery of India. Scientific temper has to be fostered with care at the individual, institutional, social and political level. The spread of scientific temper in a society should be  more pervasive than the spread of science and technology.   Scientific temper is an attitude of mind which calls for a particular outlook and pattern of behaviour. It is of universal applicability and has to permeate through our society as the dominant value system influencing the way we think and approach our problems. The spirit of enquiry and the acceptance of the right to question and to be questioned are fundamental to scientific temper. It recognises the fact that knowledge often progress by disproving earlier ideas, beliefs, theories and laws. It considers knowledge as open ended and ever evolving. Scientific temper and humanism are included as fundamental duty of all citizens in our constitution in 1976. Various stakeholders are involved in developing statement of scientific temper and its dissemination. A meeting of manyacademicians, scientists and eminent citizens was convened in 1981 at Coonoor near Ooty for this purpose. Scientific temper statement was revisited and revised in 2011 at Palampur in wake of newer development in terms of growth of ICT and shift of economy from industry based to knowledge based. The scientific temper was recently discussed and deliberated in an ‘International Conference on Science Communication for Scientific Temper’ at New Delhi from 10-12 January 2012 convened by NISCAIR. The scope of scientific temper was broadened by including experts from arts and humanities apart from natural and social scientists. The conference consisted of four plenary sessions and fifteen parallel sessions.  During these deliberations strategies were developed to disseminate scientific temper. Several methods and media were selected for this purpose. It was decided that education is the foremost medium to inculcate scientific temper among children and youth. Role of Radio, Television and new electronic medium was discussed. Hands on science activities, science movements,  science museums and extension centres play important role in building scientific temper among masses.  Science fiction can also be used to inculcate scientific temper. Science communication and rational thinking has played a great role in diluting superstitions related with natural phenomenon like solar or lunar eclipses. Role of government practices and policy issues in spreading of scientific temper was also deliberated upon.  Several studies are also being conducted to find out or quantify scientific temper among masses. Science communicators are trying to develop indicators for gauging scientific temper. During valedictory session of the conference a revised statementof scientific temperendorsed by all participants was released.  Valedictory session was addressed by eminent scientists and scientific policy makers.

Seamless celestial globe

All of us are familiar with an ordinary terrestrial globe which shows the earth, with its physical and political characteristics. A celestial globe shows the night sky with stars and their constellations. In a celestial globe the positions of the stars are recorded with the use of coordinates in relation to each other. These were used primarily for solving problems in celestial astronomy. The altitude of the Sun and the right ascension and declination of the stars could be calculated with these by inputting the location of the observer on the meridian ring of the globe. These globes were used previously in analogue computer devices to record the positions of the stars and study their movements. These days, one can get an educational celestial globe from any shop that sells globes and children can get a basic grounding in the field of astronomy by studying these globes. It is a pity that such globes are not available in Kashmiri markets.

The invention of the celestial globe is generally attributed to the Chinese. About 4th century BC, the Chinese were using these devices to make astronomical calculations.  Later on, this invention of the Chinese was further developed by the Koreans.  The modern world recognizes the celestial globe invented by the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes as the first authenticated version of the instrument. Many Islamic astronomers and medieval Europeans have also contributed to the development of the celestial globe. In the 12th century, Jabir ibn Aflah (Geber) was the first to design a portable celestial sphere to measure and explain the movements of celestial objects. The credit for the invention of the seamless celestial globe goes to the Indians and that too to a Kashmiri. Considered one of the most remarkable feats in metallurgy, it was invented in Kashmir by Ali Kashmiri ibn Luqman in 998 AH  and twenty other such globes were later produced in Lahore and Kashmir during the Mughal Empire. Ali Kashmiri created many masterpieces in Kashmir  in the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, and during  Akbar’s rule the craft found its way into the city of Lahore.   The largest globe was made during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan by Muhammad Salih Tahtawi. It was being inscribed in both Arabic and Persian. The last was produced in Lahore by astronomer and metallurgist Lala Balhumal Lahuri   during Sikh ruler Jagatjit Singh Bahadur’s reign. Seamlessly cast globes continued to be made in Lahore up to the mid 19th century until the arrival of the British Empire. Before they were rediscovered in the 1980s, it was believed by modern metallurgists to be technically impossible to produce metal globes without any seams, even with modern technology. Hollow objects are typically cast in two halves. These Mughal metallurgists pioneered the method of lost-wax casting while producing these seamless globes.

Report on Hands on Science Activities at NIT Srinagar

Hands-on science refers to interactive science which is fun to watch, perform and learn. Hands-on science movement has now gained momentum in India. It started with ‘Quest’ programme on Doordarshan in early eighties by Mr. Samar K. Bagchi. These days several practitioners of Hands on activities are using their talent to educate and entertain students throughout India. Notable among them are HC Verma, BN Das, Suresh Agarwal and Arvind Gupta. Moreover Septuagenarian SK Bagchi is still active. These educationists travel throughout India and conduct workshops, give stage shows and organize science melas.  Recently Prof. BN Das and Samar K. Bagchi visited Kashmir valley on the Invitation of J&K Students Welfare Society. The conducted stage science shows at NIT Srinagar, Iqbal Islamia Mission high school Kralsangri, Srinagar, JNV Aglar Pulwama and Maryland Public high school, Niwa, Pulwama.

In all workshops experiments on science  were performed/demonstrated. In some workshops teachers also participated. The students and teachers witnessed  how simple but sensitive and precise experiments at low cost materials can be designed to improve the understanding of science at the school level. The teachers also get experience for quantitative measurement with sufficient accuracy to verify certain laws etc from these experiments.

Prof. Das and Mr. Bagchi have designed modules of science topics like – force, gravity, surface tension, Bernoulli’s principle, air pressure, buoyancy & Archimedes principle, heat, light, magnetism, static electricity, current electricity, sound, vibration and waves. At NIT the audience consisted of B.Tech students, faculty and children of faculty members. At NIT the resource persons demonstrated activities on force, gravity, surface tension, Bernoulli’s principle and magnetism. They involved students in various demonstrations and activities.  To have a feel about One Newton force, one student was asked to push another student with One Newton force. If acceleration due to gravity is taken roughly as 10 meter per second square then One Newton force is about 100 gram weight. One can have a feel of this force by pushing the pan of a pan balance so that it shows 100 gram on its scale. Several demonstrations on Bernoulli’s principle were given. The audience enjoyed inflating the Bernoulli’s bag. Kids loved when a balloon filled with water was swallowed by a jar in which a small candle was burned to displace air. Small children enjoyed the activities on surface tension, cohesive and adhesive forces. Magnetic lines of forces were drawn using iron fillings and a bar magnet. Everybody was struck by the beauty of magnetic lines of forces.  

Celebration of International Year of Chemistry at NIT Srinagar: A report

Chemistry – Our Life, Our future was the focal theme of last year being celebrated as International year of chemistry. The achievements of chemistry, and its contributions, to the well being of humankind were celebrated throughout world in various forms. The year 2011 coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to Madame Marie Curie for discovery of Radium and Polonium.  This gave us an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of women to science in general and to chemistry in particular. To change the persistent stereotype of scientists as male, the poster of IYC depicts a female scientist. The other important goals of IYC celebrations were to promote green or sustainable chemistry. The other objectives of IYC include, increase the public appreciation and understanding of chemistry in meeting world needs, encourage interest of young people in chemistry and highlight the nature, beauty and relevance of chemistry to the modern world.

In this back drop the department of Chemistry, NIT Srinagar organized a one day seminar on ‘Chemistry: Our Life our Future. They were ably supported by other departments of Institute in organizing the seminar.  The seminar is attended by many faculty members from various colleges of the valley. Senior faculty members from Kashmir University also graced the occasion with their benign presence. The key note address delivered by chief guest Prof A H Zargar a renowned endocrinologist of the valley was most illuminating. He gave an elaborate explanation of Iodine and its role in brain development. He also discussed about the consequences of Iodine deficiency and its scenario in Kashmir valley.

Prof MA Qureshi of Kashmir University gave an in-depth analysis of role of chemistry, particularly MRI in medical diagnosis. Prof Khaliquz Zaman Khan gave a general talk on the role of chemistry in daily life. Prof AR Yusuf from CORD, Kashmir University deliberated on the role of Chemistry in Environmental Pollution and its control. Prof MF Wani of Mechanical engineering department, discussed on the role of chemistry in ‘Surface Tribology’. Tribology is the science of reducing friction and development of  lubricants. Dr. Rubab talked about role of women in development of chemistry. She also highlighted the role of women in Kitchen chemistry. Dr Kowsar Majid, the organizer of this seminar gave a wonderful explanation of molecular electronics. According to her conducting polymers, pigments and proteins are going to be the future of electronics industry.

Since one of the important goals of IYC was to attract young talents towards chemistry, Mr. Aryan Raj, a second year chemical engineering student was given a chance to deliberate on the role of chemistry in daily life. A quiz “Fun with Chemistry ‘was conducted by Dr Seemin Rubab for campus Children. Four team viz., Bhatnagar, Faraday, Jabir bin Hayyan and Mam Curie participated in the quiz. The Competition was won by Faraday team. The Director NiT Srinagar, Prof Rajat Gupta took keen interest in the whole proceedings and was very pleased to encourage youngsters.

hands on Maths

In our times there was no concept of Maths lab but now a days the idea of hands on math is picking up. The math lab could be developed for primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary level. The concept of Mathematics Laboratory has been introduced with the objective of making teaching and learning of the subject interactive, participatory, fun filling and joyful from primary stage of schooling up to higher secondary. The other purpose could be strengthening the learning of mathematical concepts through concrete materials and hands-on-experiences. Maths lab could also be helpful in relating classroom learning to real life situations and discourage rote and mechanical learning. Not much hardware is required for developing primary and middle level maths lab or even secondary level math lab. Some special types of paper such as isometric dot paper, grid paper, origami paper, squared paper, card board, full protractor, plastic ruler,  thread and match sticks or tooth picks  are sufficient to start hands on math endeavour. Tangrams, Tessellation  and Origami are very good activities to initiate child towards geometry and creative learning in maths.

The seven pieces that make up a tangram can be cut from a single square. There are thus two small triangles, one medium size triangle, two large triangles a square and a lozenge shaped piece. The medium sized triangles and the square and the rhomboid are all twice the area of one of the small triangles. Each of the large triangles is four times the area of one of the small triangles. All the angles in these pieces are either 90⁰, or 45⁰ or 135⁰.The puzzle lies in using all seven pieces of the Tangram to make birds, houses, boats, people and geometric shapes. Tangrams have fascinated mathematicians and lay people for ages.

Origami (Ori-folding, gami –paper) is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. Using just square sheets of paper, a variety of three dimensional objects are formed.  It is the art of creating a structure by folding a single sheet of paper according to a pattern without cutting. Its educational value specially teaching geometry, algebra and trigonometry through origami is undisputed. Some of the origami patterns are geometric, and they make it possible to see geometry in the principles of origami. By systematically folding a paper one could fold lots of angles, polygons, curves and 3D polyhedra. In some way Origami can be considered as a stepping stone towards appreciation and building up of mathematics lab at schools. Origami–Fun and Mathematics by VSS Sastri and Square pegs in round hole by Arvind Keskar demonstrate how children can learn to make different geometric models through paper folding in an enjoyable manner. Origami is a wonderful way to learn practical geometry. These books also serve as a manual for developing teaching aids in mathematics. These authors conduct workshops on ‘Maths through Origami’. If you think  origami is  for school kids, then you are mistaken there is now research on applying paper-folding techniques to engineering in a field dubbed as "origami engineering."  The Japan Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics has set up a research group called Mathematics of Origami Engineering.

A tessellation or tiling of the plane is a pattern of two dimensional figures that fills the plane with no overlaps and no gaps. A regular tessellation is a highly symmetric tessellation made up of congruent regular polygons. Only three regular tessellations exist: those made up of equilateral triangles, squares, or hexagons. Khatambands are practical application of tessellations.

One can make flexahederon  and mobius strips and play with them for hours. As one turns fexahederon  paper sculpture inside-out, it changes colors. First yellow, then blue, then red, then green, and then yellow again. One can keep turning it inside-out, cycling the colors, as long as one likes. For making a flexahederon one may consult the site www.sci-toys.com

The Möbius strip is a surface with only one side and only one boundary component. It is a non orientable surface. A model can easily be created by taking a paper strip and giving it a half-twist or full twist and then joining the ends of the strip together to form a loop. It  has several curious properties. A line drawn starting from the seam down the middle will meet back at the seam but at the "other side". If continued the line will meet the starting point and will be double the length of the original strip. Cutting the above two Möbius strips along the center line yields two entirely different but interesting results.

Apart from the above mentioned toys and activities, full protractors,  plastic scale and nuts also come handy for mathematical activities. Two crossed plastic scales could be riveted in the centre of full protractors and the adjacent and opposite angles could be measured to find various relationships. Similarly three scales could be riveted to make triangles and three full protractors could be used to read internal and external angles to find the relationships between various angles. Algebraic equations like (a+b)² = a²+b²+2ab can also be visualised with the help of paper sheets. I urge students to experience hands on mathematics this winter rather than going for a maths tuition.

Hands on science

Hands-on science refers to interactive science which is fun to watch, perform and learn. Hands-on science movement has now gained momentum in India. It started with ‘Quest’ programme on Doordarshan in early eighties by Mr. Samar K. Bagchi. These days several practitioners of Hands on activities are using their talent to educate and entertain students throughout India. Notable among them are HC Verma, BN Das, Suresh Agarwal and Arvind Gupta. Moreover Septuagenarian SK Bagchi is still active. These educationists travel throughout India and conduct workshops, give stage shows and organize science melas. These days getting resource on learning science through hands on activities has become easy due the effort of these pioneers. Every school going child must have a copy of ‘Hands on’ by Arvind Gupta. Hands-on is a collection of some interesting activities, geometry by paper folding, toys, tangrams, pumps, caps, experiments, simple science models etc.  Making patterns out of tangrams, seeds, stones, thumbprints apart from being fun are deeply creative and satisfying activities.  Film-roll cans, mineral water bottles, rubber slippers, crown caps make lovely action toys. Samar Bagchi’s book based on his telivsion programme is also available in the market. NCSTC network has published ‘Head and Hands: activity guide for science clubs’ which is a collection of activities in several areas including Origami and Astronomy. Origami is a wonderful way to learn practical geometry and Algebra. Two books on Origami one by VSS Sastry and the other by Arvind Keskar is available in Indian market.  These books serve as manual for developing teaching aids in mathematics. Several CDs on hands on science are also available. The CD prepared by HC Verma on Hands on activities in Physics is marketed by Vigyanprasar whereas CD prepared by Suresh Agarwal on hands on science is being made available on contacting the author. The web site www.sci-toys.com  and arvindguptatoys.com will be helpful in learning hands on science.   These two sites provide instructions of making many no cost low cost science models, toys and demonstrations.

These days NCERT books on experiments carry ideas on demonstrations, projects and activities. Teaching –learning has now become a collaborative effort between students and teachers. Teachers may guide their students in opening science clubs and affiliating their clubs to VIPNET of Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Petroleum Conservation Research Association (PCRA) also encourages formation of clubs at school level and conducting small projects on energy conservation. Science Clubs in India have a large network and infrastructure. These clubs are provided with outreach materials like posters, CDs and activity kits. Several activity kits such as on Astronomy, biodiversity, earth quake and Weather are marketed by Vigyanprasar. Teachers and students may collaborate in producing exhibition modules in several areas including history of science, low cost experimentation, science -technology - society issues, gender issues, health education, mathematics and astronomy. Exhibition modules are great resources of informal learning. They may  be displayed to public on important occasion such as National science day, Technology day, Teachers day, Renewable Energy Day and Children day etc.