By TFL Mawlong
To ‘develop a scientific temper’ is one of the fundamental duties enshrined in article 51A of our constitution. Scientific temper is an attitude of mind which involves application of logic. Scientific temper enables us to avoid false generalization, avoid bias and readymade opinions and instils in us a capability to govern our personal thoughts and actions. It is a harbinger of progress. A question here is as a society are we showing the right effort for fostering scientific temper among our people?
Science education promotes scientific temper. The way people think and approach a problem, the ability of people to critically discern and to find the truth depends much on the level of what is called ‘science literacy.’ What makes up science literacy is not just a technical know-how or knowledge of scientific achievements, more importantly it is the ability to make sense of the world around us and to critically think about the ideas and events we encounter in everyday life. Jawaharlal Nehru was of the opinion that ‘science is a culture, a form of play-fullness, providing a sense of discovery and excitement’. He further reiterated that ‘science is not merely about productivity. It is a way of looking at the world…It is ultimately a way of training the minds to function according to the ways and method of science’. So what can be a better tool than science in the battle against the hegemony of orthodoxy in a society like ours? Unfortunately the societal interest in science seems to suffer a lapse.
The thrill, wonder and adventure usually associated with science are in serious deficit. On the lighter side, there’s this joke that any attempt to discuss science with a person one meets in a bus or fair would leave one with no phone number!.. What’s getting science a bad press? Lack of proper science education is a primary factor. To me, the media and the way science is being presented in our schools and colleges are responsible for this. In our local dailies, including this esteemed daily, where is the space dedicated to science and science education? If one looks at this esteemed daily, opposite the editorial page there is a full page dedicated to science and technology, but one can see there only ‘medicine and technology’, hardly any science! The space for science education is virtually non-existent. Not to talk about ‘science literacy’ articles. To highlight the negligence of media a little further let me to quote Markandey Katju, our former Press Council Chairman: “…instead of promoting scientific thinking, it (media) promotes superstitions, backward ideas and diverts attention from real issues to non issues like lives of film stars, cricket, astrology etc”
And how much science is there on the radio or television talk shows? When was the last time we heard an intelligent comment on science and science education by our Chief Minister or Education Minister for that matter? It appears that our mentality has limited our thinking of science as merely measuring electric current, deducing an equation, dissecting a china rose or looking at test tubes, etc within our school walls. Would it not be overwhelming if the public would think about the implication of science concepts like The Big Bang, Sub-atomic world, Newton’s law, DNA, Evolution, Green house effect, etc? But who is going to push or pull people out of their comfort zones?
Coming to our schools and colleges, the way science is taught is dull, boring and abstract. Inspiring, talented, dynamic and enthusiastic ‘science teachers’ are few and scattered. No one can deny that there is too much mechanical churning out of formulas and rote learning of facts. Classroom discussion of scientific ideas, concepts and application of science in everyday life is scarcely heard of. A proper focus and real interest in science is significantly lacking. Among the students also the enthusiasm for science is overshadowed by a dream of the glamour and buck of professional careers. As a result we have so many skills-less engineers and mediocre doctors. If we don’t have a real interest in science how can we possibly become good engineers or good doctors? RBI governor R. Rajan was right when he said that a diploma holder coming out of vocational training institution who has a keen interest in science is better skilled and employable than most of our ill-motivated engineers.
Science can be intellectually demanding, but it is also intellectually stimulating. As an example here, let me give the example of physics – an inductive natural science. A proper physics education (I mean ‘proper’ not a mechanical and rote learning education) can imbibe in a student the ability to analyse problems in a bottoms-up and top to bottom approach and come up with the simplest and best available solutions. And as exaggerated as this may sound, the NDTV survey some years ago reported that majority of our country’s best bureaucrats are those with a physics background. Unfortunately, if we talk about Physics, here as elsewhere, many students will just shrug their shoulders. Physics has been a pain in the neck for almost every student. It has an unfair reputation of being hard and boring!
Well hard, perhaps it is. But boring? That’s an issue which lies with the way physics is taught. In our secondary and higher secondary school, Physics seems like a hotch-potch of arbitrary rules. Trying to keep track of the rules of motion and friction, electricity and magnetism plus the intimidating numerical is what turns people off Physics. That’s a shame because Physics is quite thrilling, interesting and adventurous when properly taught and presented. Embedded deep in Physics is a critical temper of science. A foremost factor which kills people’s interest in Physics is the way it is taught in our schools and colleges – mostly by giving text bookish notes for students to mug up. What a way to teach science!!…
A sound science education at secondary school level can inculcate in a child a scientific outlook and temper. It can also give him/her a grasp of scientific developments, their significance and how they can change lives in this era when new technologies are constantly emerging. These are important for the progress of a community. But if science teaching in schools and colleges is in bad shape and competent science teachers remain elusive then science education would be substandard. We therefore ought to give science the support, the cheers and the love it deserves, if any improvement in science education and scientific temperament is to emerge.
For a short term improvement in understanding of science, media (print and electronic) is a good place to start. Real science should be skilfully and appealingly presented in the media. Sports could be used to teach science and mathematics. For instance, to appreciate the points table during our IPL or ISL, or a cricket player’s average strike rate, batting average and economy rate, etc., one must know basic statistics and to convert fractions into decimals. Every shot in a cricket match is Newton’s law of motion in action. Every shot in basketball game represents the launching of a basketball on a parabolic arc, a curve determined by the same gravitational physics that specifies the flight of a ballistic missile, or the Earth orbiting the Sun, or a satellite revolving the earth. Each successive bounce of a dropped basketball is nearer to the ground because of the law of conservation of energy. Then in football the formidable XXXL frame of the defenders and goal keepers offer an opportunity for teaching Newton’s first law of motion or law of inertia.
How Messi negotiates a forest of giants and tackles the ball without getting pushed is attributed to torque – a measure of rotational force – and Messi’s low center of mass, the important concepts of physics. This list is not exhaustive. In the classroom, in newspapers and on television, why can’t sports be used to teach science? Wouldn’t it be more appealing and interesting?
While lack of interest in basic science is apparent in adults, that isn’t the case with children. Otto Frisch says, “Children have one thing in common with scientists, curiosity”. Indeed. A curiosity in children is natural. Children are constantly engaging their sense of childlike wonder. They don’t worry about science being too hard. For them, done in a right way, science is an adventure and it is fun. So a basic approach to boost science literacy in society is by properly engaging children in science. We must therefore give careful thought to how science is being taught to young minds in schools. Here too media should take a step forward.
It may seem naive and forlorn to advocate for science education over radio, television and news papers. But shouldn’t media have a social responsibility? And need I remind that it is the duty of every citizen to strive towards excellence? It is time that our society prays to God for ‘Binah’ (Hebrew for processed wisdom also known as deductive reasoning or understanding one idea from another idea)