Science provides an unparalleled view of the order and symmetry of the universe and its workings from subatomic particles to the infinity of space. Principles of Science looks at the evolution of scientific thought over time and at the landmark moments of discovery. It also helps students understand the essence of the scientific temper which is characterized by unbiased observation and multiple methods of validation and falsification. With the many fields of science within its purview, mathematics emerges as the unifying link.
Health is a simple word hiding a complexity that spans multiple disciplines, including natural as well as social sciences. Even used in the restricted context of human health, its meaning changes from birth to death, from past to present, and even from culture to culture. This course on scientific thinking provides a view of health from multiple lenses, including physiology, digital technology, medical history, and sociology. I hope that this will serve as a model of how to scientifically analyze ‘wicked’ interdisciplinary topics where neither the questions nor the answers, are well-defined. We will cover the following topics in the context of health:
a) The four paradigms of science: empirical, theoretical, computational, and data-driven. For example, how would the risk of a pandemic be seen across these paradigms.
b) The importance of fundamental science and disruptive new theories and technologies. For example, how did germ theory and microscopes change the field of infectious diseases and public health.
c) Reductionist methods of studying complex systems and why context is critical. For
example, how does one study aging and how the underlying questions need to be
better defined before we will find useful answers.
d) Why we need evidence in healthcare. For example, beta blocker treatment in heart
failure was contraindicated (by logic) until the 90s but became an essential part of
treatment (by evidence) within a decade.
e) What is the future of health in a digital age. For example, how will the revolutions in
genomics, wearables, connectivity, and computation, change the way we define, measure, promote, and protect health.
This course throws a light on the principles of science and central role of chemistry in science. Historically, chemistry has been focusing on the variation of matter, their properties and how these matters can undergo interesting chemical transformations. The intriguing chemical and physical properties of these matters attract the attention of scientific community. Chemistry has been the building block of matters, small to large. Materials at different length scales will be addressed and how different pedagogies can explain matter at varying length scales
Therefore, in this course, we will discuss about principles of science involved in the deeper understanding of matters (from quantum dots to supramolecular arrangements) at different length scales.
Focus will be on concepts and units of lengths, change of paradigm and pedagogy as small molecules become larger molecules, polymers, biomolecules, transition from quantum mechanics to classical mechanics at a pedagogical level. General principles of thermodynamics and kinetics will be highlighted as basic principles of science.
At a chemical length scale, periodic table of elements, their electronic structure and properties, introduction to organic chemistry as a great utility in science from building blocks of life to renewable energy, healthcare, medicines, and materials with value-addition in society will be discussed to understand logic of chemical reactivity.
Science entails the systematic pursuit of knowledge, which essentially involves
unbiased observations and multiple methods of validation. Science gives us the ability
to understand how our world works and how we interact with our physical
surroundings. It not only incorporates basic ideas and theories about how our universe
behaves but it also provides a framework for learning more and tackling new questions
and concerns that come our way. Science enables you to integrate with your
surroundings, both living and non-living. Scientific principles and methods are being
used in our daily life at every moment. Learning these principles, methods and practice
helps us to cope with our daily life and approach the problems in a logical way. It also
helps us to embark on a detailed study of sciences if someone chooses.
The course narrates some of the key historical, philosophical, theoretical and technical
developments in the evolution of the sciences and offers a synoptic view of the
scientific principles that we face in our daily life.
This course discusses how we evolved the concept of age and time- age of the earth and of the solar system, time in relativity (and arrow of time, entropy), time in biological systems (biological clocks) etc. Through this course we would be like to bring to the students, our current understanding about the scale and age of the Universe, and how this knowledge has evolved; How biological systems including human body maintain temporal patterns; impact of climate change and ecological damage on biological time and the evolution of survival strategies that require understanding of past, present and future.
The course will start with a general introduction and historical perspective to the concept of time in our day-to-day life and in physics and in biology. We shall discuss the history of measurement of time and invention of clocks. Without involving much mathematics, the course will help students derive the relationship between speed of light and time, space-time continuum, age of the universe, stars, earth etc. We would then follow the concept of time in biology in the context of birth-growth-ageing-death. Seasonal variations in morphological and life-history traits as measurement of time, mechanism of timekeeping – biological clocks, circadian rhythms. We will also discuss the evolutionary time and the important concepts pertaining to our understanding of this such as generation time of different living beings. The course ends with discussions on human cognition and the concept of time: conceptual understanding of past, present and future.
The course is taught through lectures, discussions, flip-the-classroom mode (students making presentations on various related topics), reading books/watching movies and assignments.
Health is a simple word hiding a complexity that spans multiple disciplines, including natural as well as social sciences. Even used in the restricted context of human health, its meaning changes from birth to death, from past to present, and even from culture to culture. This course on scientific thinking provides a view of health from multiple lenses, including physiology, digital technology, medical history, and sociology. I hope that this will serve as a model of how to scientifically analyze ‘wicked’ interdisciplinary topics where neither the questions, nor the answers, are well-defined. We will cover the following topics in the context of health:
1) The four paradigms of science: empirical, theoretical, computational, and data- driven. For example, how would the risk of a pandemic be seen across these
paradigms.
2) The importance of fundamental science and disruptive new theories and technologies. For example, how did germ theory and microscopes change the field of
infectious diseases and public health.
3) Reductionist methods of studying complex systems and why context is critical. For example, how does one study aging and how the underlying questions need to be better defined before we will find useful answers.
4) Why we need evidence in healthcare. For example, beta blocker treatment in heart failure was contraindicated (by logic) until the 90s but became an essential part of treatment (by evidence) within a decade.
5) What is the future of health in a digital age. For example, how will the revolutions in
genomics, wearables, connectivity, and computation, change the way we define, measure, promote, and protect health.
Department: Chemistry | Semester: Monsoon 2024 and Spring 2025
This course throws a light on the principles of science and central role of chemistry in science. Historically, chemistry has been focusing on the variation of matter, their properties and how these matters can undergo interesting chemical transformations. The intriguing chemical and physical properties of these matters attract the attention of the scientific community. Chemistry has been the building block of matters, small to large. Materials at different length scales will be addressed and how different pedagogies can explain matter at varying length scales
Therefore, in this course, we will discuss about principles of science involved in the deeper understanding of matters (from quantum dots to supramolecular arrangements) at different length scales.
Focus will be on concepts and units of lengths, change of paradigm and pedagogy as small molecules become larger molecules, polymers, biomolecules, transition from quantum mechanics to classical mechanics at a pedagogical level. General principles of thermodynamics and kinetics will be highlighted as basic principles of science.
At a chemical length scale, periodic table of elements, their electronic structure and properties, introduction to organic chemistry as a great utility in science from building blocks of life to renewable energy, healthcare, medicines, and materials with value-addition in society will be discussed to understand logic of chemical reactivity.
In this foundation course we will try to understand how science works in the context of the physical universe as a whole, i.e. in the domain of astronomy and cosmology. To do this we will focus on four scientific questions, and how scientists go about answering them. These questions are —
Are there planets outside the solar system?
What is the nature of space and time in deep space?
What is the nature of space and time near massive objects?
Did the physical universe have a beginning and will it have an end?
In the first section we will figure out, among other things, how Newton’s theory of gravity can be used to reveal invisible objects.
In the second we will learn Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which is a theory about space and time with extraordinary consequences like length contraction and time dilation.
In the third we will explore how Einstein modified Newton’s theory of gravity, explaining that it was not a force but a modulation of the fabric of space-time masquerading as a force. The consequences are dramatic near exotic objects like black holes, and we will try to understand what they are.
In the final section we will see how all of this underlies our understanding of the physical universe as a whole and try to see if we can find answers to some fundamental questions about it. We will finish with some tantalising unsolved problems. In the process of answering our four questions we will discover, hopefully, how science works.
The course is being designed for non-science majors, but I will expect students to be willing to learn how simple mathematical formulas and graphs work, and to do some basic calculations.
Planet Earth: Its status in the Universe, potential threats and the ultimate fate
Semester: Monsoon 2024
A formidable combination of astronomical and geological conditions has made it possible for the Earth to harbour life on it. But there are many catastrophic events in the space that may destroy life, even the planet which in the vast cosmic arena appears as a mote of dust suspended in a beam of sunlight and floating in the vast emptiness of space. Search for extra-terrestrial life has taught us an important lesson that our world, mother Earth is an extremely rare place in our galaxy and possibly the only planet that has the required astrophysical and geological conditions for harbouring life. Even if there are other planets similar to the Earth wherein life may exist, the number of such planets in the vast galaxy is extremely small and so we are alone at least within a radius of few hundreds of light years. This course will unfold the fact that our home, the planet Earth is so special yet so vulnerable, so crowded yet so lonely, so common yet so unique, so insignificant yet so great!
The following topics will be covered in the whole course:
Our address in the Universe, the hierarchy in the structure of the visible Universe – super clusters of galaxies, clusters of galaxies, galaxies, the Milky Way Galaxy, stars: the building blocks of galaxies, The Sun and the Solar System.
Birth of the Sun and its planets including the Earth. A brief history of the solar planets
We are made of star dust – the origin of heavy elements including carbon the building block of organic molecules.
Life is a puzzle: Definition of life- its main functions: Metabolism, replication and evolution by natural selection. Origin of life on the Earth.
Evolution of life in a changing Earth – the first, second and the third atmosphere of the Earth, formation of the Oceans, Continents and forest. The ecological system.
The potential threats to the Earth – Astronomical, Geological and Man-made threats. Extinction of life in the past.
The natural protection for life – The extremely rare combination of astronomical and geological coincidences that has enabled life on the Earth to survive and evolve.
Are we alone? Search for extra-terrestrial biosignature and techno-signature.
The evolution of the Sun – from a faint young star to a red giant and a changing
environment of the Earth – from habitable to uninhabitable planet.
Why this course? Almost all High School graduates have studied science in school. However, almost invariably the science they studied mostly were about the products of science and not the process behind the product (discoveries or inventions), disconnected with the person(s) responsible for the discovery or the invention or the role of the society and funding. The aim of this course is to make students aware about how science is done. This will include how discoveries or inventions are made, how society, including the media or the state, responds, how prizes are awarded (or not awarded) for discoveries, how the nature of science has changed from being the pursuit of isolated individuals to Big Science, where a large number of people collaborate worldwide, and how science can be used to understand global issues like epidemics, climate change or the large scale environmental pollution, all immediate concerns for humanity at large.
Summary: In this course we will be exploring scientific discoveries and inventions, stories behind the discoveries, people associated with the discoveries, response of the society, the state and the media to discoveries, including recognitions and awards. This will be accomplished through lectures, readings, discussions, student seminars on self-assigned topics and/or assigned by the instructors, interviewing scientists at Ashoka University after reading some of their select publications in primary journals, and by enacting a play (Oxygen by Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffmann).
Outcome: At the end of the course it is expected that students will be more aware of the process of science as a human pursuit, albeit special, that operates with tacit support from the society, and with far reaching implications of the inventions and discoveries, often beyond what the discoverer ever imagined. It will also inculcate scientific temperament and make the younger generation aware of global catastrophes that the planet currently faces like epidemics, climate change and environmental pollution.
anurag.agrawal@ashoka.edu.in
