"The line is finite" -Prof. Rohini Godbole

​P​rof. Rohini Godbole has always been a very Strong supporter of women, science and women in science as everybody knows. She used to say "when it comes to science​, take no nonsense if somebody is saying something wrong, tell it upfront, take no rubbish". She was known as a no nonsense personality to us. As her students, well-wishers, friends this news of her being no more comes as a great shock.

As a kid, doing my bachelors in one of the colleges in Mumbai, I learnt ​that Mumbai​ University physics department, conducting a frontier symposium and just out of curiosity I registered. The symposium started with a talk by professor Godbole on particle physics. We were just learning nuclear physics in BSc at that time, Shell model etc, and this subnuclear particles, standard model interactions etc was too advanced and fascinating for me at that time. Much more than that, was this figure who was presenting it who had a very engaging way of speaking. Later I learnt that she is professor Rohini Godbole, an excellent teacher and a great orator. After joining IISc, I went and met her where she was a faculty in the centre for high energy physics. She met with great affection, and since then I got into her contact. She loved people from Mumbai University as she had a special place for Mumbai University physics department, where she spent almost a decade doing lectureship and it strengthened that bond of ours in IISc.

After joining IISERTVM, as a coordinator of the science club, I pursued her for about three years to give a talk on the occasion of UNESCO Day for girls and women in science, which happens to be on 11th of February every year. She was super busy. When it materialised the hall was full with no place to sit, it was a 200 seater capacity hall where she gave her talk for more than an hour. The audience was so fixed to her narration. She presented the data on how women are underrepresented in science,  in faculty positions, in positions of power in Academics. We spoke a lot on her way back to the airport. The next time, I invited her to give a session in the teachers training program for PG teachers in Kerala that was being conducted at our institution. She obliged and made it again. She gave two talks, one like a plenary talk for all the teachers of physics, chemistry, maths and biology as representation of women in science, teachers, and another one for physics teachers on scattering theory and problems in PG course.

We took some time out to visit a Riverside restaurant nearby IISER along with Prof. Mustansir and his wife. We had a great time with my kid, and she loved the place. She liked Photography. She took a lot of pictures of the mountains, river, and even my kid.

She was a fantastic speaker​/orator. She ​​was so good at literature​ and languages. She used to use Sanskrit Shloka during her speech/class.​ The audience could not afford not to listen to her. As a teacher she has inspired many generations.. She taught for about 50 years, first at Mumbai University and later at IISc Bangalore. She kept her zeal as a young teacher in the Physics department of MU and continued her research ambitions at TIFR Mumbai with her friends/peers/collaborators. (bio-sketch)That gave her recognition as a renowned particle physicist and you could see the hallmark of her works if you visit CERN laboratories in Europe.  I felt so proud when I saw her picture flashing on displays of International center for theoretical physics at Trieste in Italy. 

To me, ​Prof ​G​odbole, was like a motherly figure, teacher, well wisher, and a pillar of support. I was among those fortunate ones who  ​receive New Year greeting with postcard pictures in an email​ from her in the first week of January. For me, this was a pleasure and an honour. The email used to be accompanied with her pictures of the year gone by clicked somewhere during her academic visit. In this year’s mail she mentioned that “ I have realised something in 2023.. the line is finite…". As I hear the shocking news about her demise today, those words resonate in my mind.. the line is indeed finite.. 

-Dr. Vinayak Kamble

https://indico.cern.ch/event/1005799/contributions/4222223/attachments/2188122/3697501/IWGS-feb11-2021.pdf

Spider-man

मराठी आवृत्ती 

This young man came to meet me at a function where I had just finished giving a lecture in a college in Kochi. I was very happy yet surprised to meet him as the young man was from Konkan region of Maharashtra and was pursuing his PhD degree in this college in Kochi, Kerala. 

The reason I was surprised is that although this college is very old (about 80 years) and quite famous in the state of Kerala, I don't think its fame has reached Maharashtra, about a thousand kilometer away. It would be understandable if it was one of the reputed institutes in the country like an IIT or a central university etc, but when it is not, why would anyone come from such a long distance to do research here?

His name is Gautam Kadam and his obsession with spiders has been going on for a long time. For this purpose, he collected spider species and found 12 new ones in many parts of the country. He took meto his lab where he (mainly) and his fellow research colleagues have collected literally hundreds of species of spiders. As can be seen in the picture, they come in vastly different sizes. Some would fit of the tip of the finger and some on the palm, in fact, bigger than that. They have collected and studied spider species larger than that. It contains both venomous and non-venomous. Some are scorpions, some are spider-like species. He has also handled and rescued snakes. He knows it by-heart the characteristics of these spiders as well as the parts of the country where they are found. In fact, you can put your finger on a map of the country and he is so knowledgeable that he can tell you about the spider species there.

As I talked to him more, I realized that he chose this college so far away because he has a passion for spiders. After completing his masters in Wildlife Biology at Bandodkar College, Thane, Maharashtra, he worked on collecting a large number of spider species pan India and even discovered a few new species from places as remote as Meghalaya^[1]. In between he also worked at Salim Ali Centre. He found a laboratory here in Kochi, that was one of the few in the country that worked on spiders and had some of the most sophisticated microscopes to examine and study very small spiders.

 

       

To preserve all these, they are kept in a solution of absolute i.e. 100% ethanol. If it evaporates after some time, it has to be refilled. They are taken out of it and looked at under a microscope to study the different nuances of their bodies. He then removed one such spider from a vial in front of me and placed it in a petri dish. He was going to show me what these spiders look like under a microscope. We have often seen them lurking in corners in our homes. I've tried taking pictures of some interesting looking spiders to try out my new lens adapter for a macro lens but I would end up seeing them 20 to 50 times larger than their actual size now. So, he put it under the microscope and in a minute or two he adjusted the focus to show me the spider. It was a female and her belly side was visible. Female spiders are generally larger than males. He also noted that among spiders, female spiders also eat males. They usually remove a part of the spider to look at the part under the microscope for detailed study, and this was a specimen that had already been dissected. Some of those pictures are shown here.

After a long search for various spiders, Gautam has collected a large number of specimens for himself to study. It is found in various parts of Tamil Nadu. It is a huge task to analyze all those samples thoroughly and write research papers on these findings of their features and characteristics. They check and record information from large datasets to find some new species that have not yet been recorded.

 

Now I understood why he came to such a remote place despite passing exams like GATE and why he didn't take admission in many well ranked institutes when he was eligible. His passion for spiders is immense and contagious. This is something that motivates him in his research even when he has no financial support from any fellowship and has to use his savings to survive. This obsession is something you may have heard/seen/read in stories of people who desperately try to pursue their passion for science, art, sports or anything else. Doing a PhD requires self-motivation and passion and he has it all. Coming from a rural background with no history of education at home, Gautam has set a role model for the children in and around his village. 

-Dr. Vinayak Kamble
IISER Trivandrum

---

[1] https://hubnetwork.in/unveiling-the-unknown-new-spider-species-discovered-in-baladinggre-village-in-meghalaya/ 

स्पायडर मॅन

English Version

कोचीच्या एका महाविद्यालयात मी नुकतेच व्याख्यान दिले होते त्या कार्यक्रमाच्या ठिकाणी हा तरुण मला भेटायला आला. त्याला भेटून मला खूप आनंद झाला पण आश्चर्यही वाटले कारण तो तरुण महाराष्ट्रातील कोकण प्रांतातील होता आणि केरळमधील कोचीमधल्या या महाविद्यालयात पीएचडी पदवीचे शिक्षण घेत होता. 

मला आश्चर्य वाटण्याचे कारण असे की, जरी हे कॉलेज खूप (सुमारे 80 वर्षे) जुने आणि केरळ राज्यात बऱ्यापैकी प्रसिद्ध असले तरी त्याची ख्याती सुमारे हजार किमी दूर महाराष्ट्रात पोहोचली असेल असे मला वाटत नाही. एखाद्या आयआयटी किंवा केंद्रीय विद्यापीठ इत्यादी प्रमाणे देशात नामांकित संस्थांपैकी ती एक असती तर ते समजण्यासारखे होते पण तसे नसताना येथे संशोधन करण्यासाठी कोणी इतक्या लांबून का यावे? 

जसजसे मी त्याच्याशी अधिक बोलत होतो तसतसे मला हे समजले की त्याने हे महाविद्यालय इतके दूर निवडले कारण त्याला कोळ्यांबद्दल (spiders) खूप आवड आहे. बांदोडकर कॉलेज, ठाणे, महाराष्ट्र येथे वन्यजीव जीवशास्त्रात पदव्युत्तर शिक्षण पूर्ण केल्यानंतर, त्यांनी संपूर्ण भारतात मोठ्या संख्येने कोळ्याच्या प्रजाती गोळा करण्याचे काम केले आणि मेघालयसारख्या दुर्गम ठिकाणाहून काही नवीन प्रजाती शोधून काढल्या. मध्यंतरी त्याने सलीम अली केंद्रात सुद्धा काम केले. त्याला देशभरात इथे एक प्रयोगशाळा सापडली जी कोळ्यांवर काम करणाऱ्या, देशातील मोजक्या प्रयोगशाळांपैकी एक होती आणि ज्यांच्याकडे अतिशय लहान आकाराच्या कोळ्यांचे परीक्षण आणि अभ्यास करण्यासाठी काही अत्याधुनिक सूक्ष्मदर्शक आहेत. 

त्याचे नाव गौतम कदम आणि हे कोळ्यांबद्दलचे त्याचा हा ध्यास तसा बऱ्याच काळापासून आहे. त्याने त्यासाठी देशाच्या बऱ्याच भागांमध्ये पायपीट करुन कोळ्यांच्या 12 प्रजाती जमा शोधल्या आहेत.[1] तो मला त्याच्या प्रयोगशाळेत घेउन गेला जिथे त्याने (मुख्यत:) आणि त्याच्यासह इतर संशोधन करणाऱ्या विद्यार्थ्यानीं कोळ्यांच्या अक्षरश: शेकडो प्रजातींचे संकलन केले आहे. चित्रात दिसत असल्याप्रमाणे अगदी बोटाच्या टोकावर ते तळहातावर मावतील, किंबहुना त्याहीपेक्षा आकाराने मोठ्या कोळ्यांच्या प्रजाती त्यांनी जमा केल्या आहेत, अभ्यासल्या आहेत. त्यात विषारी-बिन विषारी सगळेच आहेत. काही विंचू आहेत, काही कोळी सदृश्य जाती आहेत. त्याने साप सुद्धा हाताळलेत आणि सापाची सुटका केली आहे. त्याला या कोळ्यांच्या गुणविशेषांसह त्या देशाच्या कोणत्या भागात आढळतात याची माहिती तोंडपाठ आहे. किंबहुना, तुम्ही देशाच्या नकाशावर बोट ठेवा आणि तो तुम्हाला तिथल्या कोळ्यांच्या जातींबद्दल सांगू शकेल इतका त्याचा अभ्यास आहे. 

            

 या सर्वांचे जतन करण्यासाठी त्यांना ऍबसोल्यूट म्हणजे १००% एथेनॉलच्या द्रावणात ठेवले जाते. काही काळात त्याचे बाश्पीभवन झाल्यास ते पुन्हा भरावे लागते. त्यांच्या शरिराच्या वेगवेगळ्या बारकाव्यांचा अभ्यास करण्यासाठी त्यांना यातून बाहेर काढून त्यांना सुक्ष्मदर्शकाखाली बघितले जाते. असाच एक कोळी त्याने नुकताच एका कुपीतून काढला आणि पेट्री डिशमध्ये ठेवला. हे कोळी सूक्ष्मदर्शकाखाली कसे दिसतात हे तो मला दाखवणार होता. आपण अनेकदा त्यांना आपल्या घरात, कोपऱ्यात लपलेले पाहिले आहे. मॅक्रो लेन्ससाठी लेन्सचे माझे नवीन अडॅप्टर वापरून पाहण्यासाठी मी कधीतरी काही रंजक दिसणाऱ्या स्पायडरचे फोटो काढण्याचा प्रयत्न केला आहे परंतु मला ते 20 ते 50 पटीने वास्तविक आकारापेक्षा मोठे दिसेल. म्हणून, त्याने ते सूक्ष्मदर्शकाखाली ठेवले आणि एक-दोन मिनिटांत त्याने मला कोळी दाखवण्यासाठी फोकस व्यवस्थित केला. ती मादी होती आणि तिची पोटाकडची बाजू दिसत होती. कोळ्यांच्या मादी सामान्यत: पुरुषांपेक्षा मोठ्या असतात. त्यांनी असेही नमूद केले की कोळ्यांमध्ये मादी कोळी नरांना खाऊन देखील टाकतात. तपशीलवार अभ्यासासाठी सूक्ष्मदर्शकाखाली भाग पाहण्यासाठी ते सहसा कोळ्यांचा एक भाग काढतात आणि हा असाच एक नमुना होता ज्यासाठी आधीपासून विच्छेदन केले गेले होते. त्यापैकी काही चित्रे येथे दाखवली आहेत. 

 विविध कोळ्यांचा प्रदीर्घ शोध घेतल्यानंतर गौतमने अभ्यासासाठी स्वत:साठी मोठ्या प्रमाणात नमुने गोळा केले आहेत. तामिळनाडूच्या विविध भागात त्याचा वावर असतो. त्या सर्व नमून्यांचे संपूर्ण विश्लेषण करणे आणि त्यांची वैशिष्ट्ये आणि वैशिष्ट्यांच्या या निष्कर्षांवर शोध निबंध (research papers) लिहिणे हे एक मोठे काम आहे. काही नवीन प्रजाती शोधण्यासाठी ते मोठ्या डेटासेटची माहिती तपासतात आणि रेकॉर्ड करतात ज्यांची अद्याप नोंद झाली नाही. GATE सारखी परीक्षा उत्तीर्ण असूनही तो इतक्या आडगावच्या ठिकाणी का आला आणि अनेक चांगल्या रँक असलेल्या संस्थांमध्ये प्रवेश मिळण्याची संधी असूनसुदधा तो का नाही गेला हे आता मला समजले. कोळ्याबद्दलची त्याची आवड अफाट आणि संसर्गजन्य आहे. ही अशी गोष्ट आहे जी त्याला कोणत्याही फेलोशिपद्वारे आर्थिक पाठबळ नसताना आणि त्याच्या बचतीचा वापर जगण्यासाठी कराव्या लागणाऱ्या कठीण टप्प्यांमध्येही त्याला त्याच्या संशोधनात प्रवृत्त करते. हा ध्यास अशी गोष्ट आहे जी तुम्ही अशा लोकांच्या कथांमध्ये ऐकली/पाहिली/वाचली असेल जी विज्ञान, कला, क्रीडा किंवा इतर कशासाठीही त्यांची आवड जोपासण्याचा जिवापाड प्रयत्न करतात. पीएचडी करण्यासाठी स्वयं-प्रेरणा आणि ध्यासाची आवश्यकता असते आणि हे सर्व त्याच्याकडे आहे. घरात शिक्षणाचा कोणताही इतिहास नसलेल्या, ग्रामीण पार्श्वभूमीतून आलेल्या गौतमने आपल्या गावातील आणि आसपासच्या मुलांसाठी एक आदर्श ठेवला आहे. 

 -डॉ विनायक कांबळे 

भारतीय विज्ञान शिक्षण आणि संशोधन संस्था (IISER) तिरुवनंतपुरम, केरळ

[1] https://hubnetwork.in/unveiling-the-unknown-new-spider-species-discovered-in-baladinggre-village-in-meghalaya/

गुरुत्वीय लहरी

साधारण एका शतकाआधी आईनस्टाईन नावाचा एक अवलिया जगाला कोड्यात पाडणाऱ्या प्रश्नाच्या उत्तराचं भाकीत करून गेला, त्याच्या सामान्य सापेक्षतावादाच्या सिद्धांतातून. बऱ्याचदा, या सिद्धांताच्या पूर्वार्धात मांडलेल्या विशेष सापेक्षतावादाच्या सिद्धांताबद्दल जे काही बोललं जातं, ते सांगताना केवळ वेळेच्या सापेक्षतेबद्दल सांगितलं जातं, पण ह्या सगळ्या प्रश्नांची व्याप्ती फार मोठी आहे. या सगळ्या विषयात वेळेची व्याप्ती, अवकाशाची व्याप्ती अतिप्रचंड स्वरुपाची आहे. म्हणजे वेळेच्या किंवा काळाच्या मोजमापाची व्याप्ती विश्वाच्या वयाच्या तुलनेची (विश्वाचे अंदाजे वय १३.७ × १०^९ वर्षे ) आणि याची जागेची म्हणजे अवकाशाच्या मोजमापाची व्याप्ती विश्वाच्या पसाऱ्याच्या तुलनेची आहे (अंदाजे १०० हजार प्रकाशवर्षे).

सौजन्य विकिपीडिया

तर, न्युटनच्या सफरचंदाच्या ख्यातनाम गोष्टीवरून जगाची अशी समजूत होती किंवा आहे की "गुरुत्वाकर्षण" म्हणजे दोन वस्तूंमधले परस्परांना आकर्षित करून घेण्याचे बल. पण आईनस्टाईनच्या सामान्य सापेक्षतावादाच्या सिद्धांतात हीच गोष्ट पूर्णतः वेगळा आयाम घेते. तो असे म्हणतो, की मुळात अवकाश आणि काळ हे परस्परांपासून विभक्त नाहीत तर एकमेकांशी संलग्न असून एक बहुमितीय पटलाची निर्मिती करतात. आणि अवकाशात कोणतीही वस्तू तिच्या आजूबाजूच्या त्रिमितीय अवकाश आणि काळ मिळून बनलेल्या या बहुमितीय पटलावर स्वत: भोवती एक उतार निर्माण करते. म्हणजे एखाद्या ताणलेल्या दोऱ्यावर कुठेतरी बोट ठेवून दाब दिल्यास जसे दोर खाली वाकेल त्याप्रमाणे. किंवा ताणलेल्या कापडावर एखादा जड चेंडू फेकल्यास तो जसे कापडाला एक खोबण निर्माण करेल तसेच काहीसे. अर्थात, या उताराची व्याप्ती त्या वस्तूच्या वस्तुमानावर अवलंबून असते, ज्याला आपण त्याचे गुरुत्वाकर्ष्णाचे क्षेत्र (field) म्हणू शकतो. आणि, त्यावर एखादी दुसरी वस्तू आल्यास (जिला स्वत: चे असे सीमित गुरुत्वाकर्ष्णाचे क्षेत्र असेल) ती आपोआप या उतारावरून घरंगळत जाते. अशा वक्राकार बहुआयामी अवकाशात दोन बिंदूमधील किमान अंतर सरळ रेषेत न राहता ते सुद्धा वक्राकार होते. त्यामुळे अशी लहान वस्तू आपल्याला त्या मोठ्या वस्तू भोवती वर्तुळाकार किंवा लंब वर्तुळाकार रित्या फिरत असल्याचा भास होतो, आणि याला वस्तुमान नसलेले प्रकाशकिरणही अपवाद नाहीत.

गुरुत्वीय लहरी (Gravitational Waves) याच अवकाश - काळ यांच्या बहुमितीय पटलावर उमटतात. एखाद्या महाकाय खगोलीय वस्तूंच्या वेगातील बदल किंवा एका अजस्त्र म्हाताऱ्या ताऱ्याचा महास्फोट अशा गुरुत्वीय लहरीना निर्माण करतो आणि या पुढे त्या अवकाश - काळाच्या पटलावर प्रवास करतात. पण प्रकाशाच्या लहरीप्रमाणे त्याचे इतर कोणत्याही पदार्थासोबत विनिमय न होता त्या अखंडित अवस्थेत मार्गक्रमण करतात. आणि म्हणूनच, त्याच्या निर्मिकाबद्दलची माहिती त्यात अबाधित राहते. म्हणून त्यांचा अभ्यास करणे आपल्या या विश्वाच्या बद्दलच्या ज्ञानात अमुल्य भर घालू शकते. 

कालच्या जगभरात कौतुकाचा वर्षाव केल्या जाणाऱ्या घटनेत अशाच गुरुत्वीय लहरीचा प्रत्यक्ष पुरावा शास्त्रज्ञाना सापडला आणि म्हणून हा लेख प्रपंच. अशा गुरुत्वीय लहरीचा शोध घेणं तसे अवघड असते आणि Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) ने त्यासाठी तयार केलेले अजस्त्र लेझर वर आधारित उपकरण केवळ मोठ्या तीव्रतेच्या लहरीचा शोध घेऊ शकत होते. आणि ही काल शोधलेली लहर सुद्धा अशाच दुर्मिळ खगोलशास्त्रीय घटनेचा परिणाम आहे. दोन परस्पराभोवती फिरणारी कृष्णविवरे (black holes) एकमेकात विलीन होऊन त्या संयोगाक्षणी ह्या लहरींचा जन्म झाला. “LIGO” ने त्यासाठी वापरलेल्या उपकरणात एका लेझर लहरींचा एका द्विभाजक आरशाच्या सहाय्याने मोठ्या "L" आकाराच्या दोन किरणांमध्ये विभाजन होते. जे अशाच ठराविक अंतरावरील (४ किमी) आरशाच्या सहाय्याने पुन्हा परावर्तीत होऊन पुन्हा उगमाच्या ठिकाणी येऊन एकमेकांना छेदतात, ज्यायोगे त्यांचे व्यतिकरण (interference) होते.

अशात गुरुत्वीय लहरी जिथून जातात तिथे अवकाश एका दिशेने किंचित आकुंचन पावते, तर त्याच्या काटकोनाच्या दिशेत किंचित प्रसारण पावते. मग या उपकरणाच्या एका बाजूच्या प्रकाशाची लांबी दुसऱ्या बाजूपेक्षा किंचित कमी होते, जी त्याच्या व्यतिकरण प्रक्रियेवरून मोजली जाऊ शकते. केवळ एवढेच नव्हे तर कोणत्या दिशेला लांबी कमी / जास्त झाली आहे यावरून सदर खगोलीय घटना कोणत्या दिशेला झाली आहे, याचाही अंदाज बांधता येतो. वर दाखवलेल्या छायाचित्राप्रमाणे इतक्या मोठ्या अंतराच्या प्रमाणावर प्रयोग करून देखील त्याच्यातल्या मोजमापाच्या अचूकतेचे विशेष कौतुक आहे, कारण यात निर्माण झालेला अंतराचा बदल हा फक्त अणुच्या केंद्राकाच्या लांबीइतका होता, जो मोजण्यात त्यांना यश आले. तुलनाच करायची झाली तर जर हे उपकरण सूर्यापासून आपल्या दुसऱ्या सगळ्यात जवळच्या ताऱ्यापर्यंत पसरले असते, तर हा लांबीबदल केवळ आपल्या मानवी केसाच्या जाडी इतका भरेल. हे सगळं खरंच भारावून टाकणारं आहे, या सगळ्या अफाट पसरलेल्या विश्वाच्या पसाऱ्याची लांबी थक्क करून सोडणारी आहे. त्यात अश्या एखाद्या दुर्मिळातील दुर्मिळ घटना जगाच्या इतिहासात फार मोठ्या पाऊलखुणा सोडून जातात. 

-डॉ विनायक कांबळे 

निळेशार वाटे हे आभाळ सारे

निळे वाहते पाणी त्याखालूनी

कुण्या गावचा पूल दोन्ही किनारे

पहा जोडतो पाय तो रोवूनी

निळ्या डोंगराच्या पुसटत्याच रेषा

फिक्या होत जातात क्षितिजातूनी

निळ्या या नभाने उधळून द्यावे

निळे दान अपुल्याच हातातूनी

निळी होत जाते मी डोकावताना

निळ्या खोल डोहातली होऊनी

नदीच्या तळाशी कुठे खोल आर्त

निळे सूर येतात पाण्यातूनी

दिशा होत जाता निळ्या सावळ्याशा

निळे रंग येतात स्वप्नातूनी

तुझी होत जाते तशी वाहताना

प्रवाहात माझ्या मी गाण्यातूनी

-विनायक कांबळे

The Challenges of Science Outreach in India -2 (Importance of Women Participation)

In the previous article, we saw what science dissemination and scientific temper are and how they are related to each other. We also briefly dealt with how financial support from the government for scientific research is crucial and can lead to subsequent economic growth. In the last part we looked at the dissemination of science at the school or college level and how a person can contribute to the cause with some of the challenges mentioned.

There are some other important factors affecting the scientific dissemination and scientific temper in society to discuss, for example: government apathy, lack of participation of women - underprivileged community, inappropriate educational methods, errors in implementation etc. In this article we will look at the element of women in science.

Women make up half of India's (and the world's) total population. Although this ratio varies from state to state, one can say that as a general average, at least. At least in the twentieth century and earlier, the majority of scientists known to the world were men. That doesn't mean women didn't have the intellectual capacity necessary for scientific research, but you don't see their names in those ideals? Why?

If we wish to improve this perception, we need to bring more women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) areas so that it becomes a usual scene to have significant woman participation in STEM jobs, conference and especially positions of power. This problem is multiferous, involving multiple aspects such traditional gender-specific roles, gender biased social rules, cultural practices, subconscious biases (of men and women) etc. 

Historically, the right to education for women came very late, about one to two centuries ago in India and a little earlier than that in the west, but relatively recently. Therefore, the concept of female scientist does not come naturally to the public mind. That is, the characters we see as scientists in our movies, advertisements, and novels are mostly white-coat(lab apron)-wearing, bushy-haired, and occasionally eccentric "males". (with a few exceptions)

However, in the last century, women not only practiced science but also started contributing to the field of scientific research and some of them are recognized for their work such as: ________________(Fill in names of five female scientist here, can you?)

Anna Modyil Mani: This doodle by Google for Anna Mani, one of India's first women scientists, on her 104th birth anniversary. She was born in 1918 in Kerala. She was a physicist and meteorologist. She has also served as the former Deputy Director General of India Meteorological Department.

In the Indian context there are certainly women who have made invaluable contributions in the field of science.[1] On one side, Kamala Sohoni's struggle to get admission to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore [2] while on the other, a large number of women today earn doctorates in science and are seen working in science. This change is definitely welcoming. 

In a common household, both boys and girls are given equal opportunities for education. At least among urban and middle class groups. In working class, low-income or rural and remote areas, the issue of education for most girls is still critical because their social status has not changed much. However, statistics show that even today there is no hindrance to the education of girls till class 10th. Eg : According to the 2011 census, the total literacy percentage in Maharashtra is about 83%, of which about 90% for males and about 75% for females. The overall literacy rate of India as a whole is approximately 74%, with males averaging 82% and females averaging 64%. The lowest total literacy is in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar is 63-69% and in the same state women's literacy is 53-57%. Rajasthan has the lowest female literacy rate in the country at a little less than 53%. [3]

There is a huge disparity in the overall male-female literacy rate. Although it is diminishing with time, there is no doubt that it is still there. At every educational stage, primary, secondary, higher secondary, graduation and beyond; At each such stage the gap gets wider. The dropout rate of girls from the education stream also increases at a much faster rate than that of boys. There is no doubt that this education will be useful for girls to do independent jobs and businesses.[4] But girls' education and gender discrimination in education have an equally serious impact on the program of inculcating our scientific temper in the society.

The scientific temper is not just reading the science taught in the book and absorbing it or doing a technical project, but it is rational in believing or practicing anything in daily life. Besides, can it be proven with evidence on the tests of science? It is important to keep a clear conscience. It is also important to identify the gray area between common misconceptions - superstition and their scientific refutation.

As Mahatma Phule said that if a woman learns, a family becomes literate, the scientific approach of a woman helps to make a family's approach to life scientific. For example: Still in the Indian family system the women of the house are heavily involved in determining the customs and practices (from cooking to anything else) to be followed at home. Mothers and grandmothers, from such roles, in the upbringing of those children unknowingly inculcate the culture of what and how much to believe. So if the mother's attitude is scientific, it helps the children to become the same. In our daily life, whether it is health care, cleanliness in our surroundings, caste-gender discrimination and the resulting social discrimination in all these things, a person's perspective is created and influenced from home. Over time, the person's way of thinking may change, but it takes effort to make such a big change as to hear, understand, and change something against the strongly held belief in your mind, and basically you have to have the openness to accept ideological change. We originally defined our term scientific temper as "a disposition always ready to welcome new knowledge, new experiments, even if their results are contrary to our orthodox opinions and strong convictions."

Besides, when a new information is presented in the media or in a program for the dissemination of science, the aim is to make it accessible to all so that the newly learned knowledge can be known to people from all walks of life. The benefits of that information are manifold in their personal lives such as dispelling superstitions, preventing diseases, promoting technology with new knowledge, enabling people doing agriculture-industry, etc. to do it better. This is to make students interested in science and attracted to enter the field of research. By not giving importance to the participation of women there, we are about to deduct half of the society from the census.

Therefore, the scientific approach of women in the society, or their enlightenment is also an investment aimed at the future generation's scientific approach. But at such a time women being uneducated or less educated becomes a problem in many ways. Therefore, as stated in the conclusion of the first part, it becomes the responsibility of the so-called educated scientific community (both men and women) of the society to integrate them into the mainstream and thereby contribute to the country in terms of challenges arising from geographical barriers as well as social gender barriers.

-Dr. Vinayak Kamble

Member, Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS)

And

Assistant Professor, Department of Physics

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

References and Notes:

1.Recommending books like “Lilavathi’s Daughters” edited by Rohini Godbole and Ram Ramaswamy on this subject. Although “Contribution of Women in Indian Science” is important information to the reader, it is not the subject of discussion at hand and hence the subject may be handled separately sometime in future and the subject of discussion for now is the factor of women in science dissemination”

2.https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/everyday-explainers/google-doodle-kamala-sohonie-cv-raman-8671266/

3.https://loksabhadocs.nic.in/Refinput/New_Reference_Notes/English/Girls%20Education%20in%20India.pdf

3. We see how many women are actually in jobs. Also if the world was so fair and neutral, every political and administrative position would have equally reflected the proportion of women. Unfortunately it is not so.