|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DO you remember Rancho, the protagonist of the film Three Idiots, who had a habit of questioning each and everything? This is the sort of curiosity that Prof Yash Pal intends to inculcate in the youth. Every child is born with an "eternal why", and answering his simple questions is not always simple. Indeed, it needs sufficient clarity in concepts and simplicity in language, and Prof Yash Pal has done this job skillfully. The specialty of his answers to young minds is not only "what" he says but also the "way" he says.
Children grow up struggling with some questions regarding the world surrounding them. The attempt to answer them provides an opportunity to Prof Yash Pal to unravel his interesting perspective. For example, according to the author, we become a single organism with the bicycle while riding it. He extends this principle to the field of management, as he says that the same is also needed to control an institution, a corporation or a country. The book contains questions pertaining to everyday life: Why do tears come when we cut an onion? and Why do tears taste salty? Some questions pertain to understanding the scientific facts, like, What are stem cells? and What is global warming? Why doesn’t the poison in a snake’s body kill the snake itself? The reason is that the stuff that snake venom is made of cannot be called poison. It would be relatively harmless if ingested. But when injected into the blood stream, it can become lethal, quickly affecting the heart and brain. The book explains that the Moon’s period of revolution around the Earth is exactly the same as the period of its rotation around its axis. That is the reason we see only one face of the Moon, unless we travel out to space to look at its back. This has been done and the back side of the Moon has been photographed by spacecraft. The authors’ earlier book, Discovered Questions, published by the NCERT, is also a compilation of similar questions and answers. As Prof Yash Pal explains, it is the result of joyful interactions with children. The answers to the questions are given in an everyday conversational tone and do not expect any prerequisite knowledge from the reader. Interesting illustrations are provided in the book to enhance the learning experience and to make answers more attractive.
|
Prof Yash Pal, a former
Chairman of the UGC, is a well-known scientist and educationist. He has
a PhD degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He has also done many science programmes like "Turning Point"
that telecast on Doordarshan. His column, "This Universe",
appears regularly in The Tribune. Co-author of the book and his
son, Dr Rahul Pal is a young scientist. He is presently working with the
National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi.