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vtontalapur wrote: "An educated Indian is more likely a colonized mind than the uneducated and free minds."
Having lived among my fellow Indians in the US during the last 50 plus years, I totally agree with that statement!
Just look at the presentation of the recent news items on the Higgs-Boson particle both in the US and the UK media. I read the one by Gautam Naik in the Wall Street Journal (July 3,2012) and listened to ad nauseum the broadcasts by George Alagaiah on the BBC News on the Higgs boson particle. Some others have even dropped the Boson part from the Higgs-Boson identity. It is now frequently referred to as the Higgs particle!
The original Higgs-Boson particle was named after the deduction of Peter Higgs who based it on the formulation of Satyendranath Bose's work on quantum physics. Bose's discovery saw the light of day only after he was able to get an endorsement of his work by Einstein since Bose's paper on quantum statistics (which formed the basis for the speculation of a "God Particle") was first rejected for publication until Einstein read it and intervened by having it translated into German and got it published.
Bose-Einstein collaboration yielded the Bose-Einstein statistics and the Bose-Einstein Condensate principle. Peter Higgs built on their work and hence the "God particle" is usually referred to as the Higgs Boson particle.
In none of the articles written by either Indians or non-Indians, I have seen any reference to the works of either Bose or Einstein in having contributed to the discoveries of Peter Higgs.
Such is the "physiology" of "digestion" and the "sociology" of "colonization".
Alex
*********
Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1996, 1997, and 2001 to physicists whose work was based entirely on foundations laid by Satyendranath (SN) Bose decades earlier. Yet SN Bose himself has not even been nominated for the award! It is interesting to speculate what could cause Western academy to give their highest honors to people like Amartya Sen, as opposed to SN Bose.
British colonialists believed that the Indian mind was incapable of scientific thought and discovery, and was best suited to grapple with topics such as mysticism. As a result, science was barely given any attention during schooling; theoretical physics was completely ignored. And whatever science was taught was communicated in English, which inhibited permeation of knowledge among large sections of society. In fact, science education was dictated by the needs of the Indian job market, where subordinate roles such as physicians' assistants, were reserved for Indians. Meanwhile, scientific education in Britain was not accessible. Oxford and Cambridge did not admit Indians until 1870, and even then, those that studied pure sciences could not get jobs in India, even though they graduated at the top of their Oxbridge classes.
It is in this environment that SN Bose and his classmate, Meghnad Saha TAUGHT THEMSELVES physics! Physics textbooks written in English were not available, so Bose and Saha had to first learn German, and then translate texts they obtained serendipitously! Despite such incredible odds, Saha went on to develop the Saha ionization equation, which helped lay the foundation for modern astrophysics; though Saha was nominated for a Nobel Prize 4 times, he too never received the award. And though he developed groundbreaking theories and statistical methods in particle physics, SN Bose could not even get his work published until Einstein intervened on his behalf!
During their careers, Saha and SN Bose both had numerous interactions with another Indian scientist, Jagadish Chandra Bose (no relation). For those not aware, JC Bose is the father of modern wireless communication, a distinction originally given to Italian scientist Marconi, who misappropriated and digested JC Bose's work without giving him credit. A brilliant, multi-faceted scientist, JC Bose also attempted to describe integral unity in physics, physiology, botany, and psychology. However, he was ridiculed, falsely accused of plagiarism, and even blocked from publishing his work by the British establishment. And like SN Bose and Saha, JC Bose was never given a Nobel Prize for his work, though he made seminal contributions in theoretical and applied physics.
Other than their lack of recognition, what else do these Indian scientific geniuses have in common? JC Bose, SN Bose, and M Saha were all staunchly in favor of forming an independent Indian scientific establishment. They were very much Indian nationalists and helped to build the first Indian institutes for scientific study and experimentation, despite British protests. And all 3 recognized the importance of scientific education for Indian students, and were strongly in favor of making changes to the racist British system where they experienced difficulty getting even teaching positions.
While their achievements may endear them to Indians, its worth asking whether their nationalistic fervor, insistence on development of indigenous institutions for study, and protests against colonial racism may even today effect the perception of these men by Western academy. Further, the fact that they so quickly grasped experimental scientific concepts and methods, and so easily outperformed their Western 'colleagues' despite incredible odds very much flies in the face of traditional Western racist thought regarding intelligence and the Indian mind.
Scientists or thinkers who are products of Indian education systems are perceived as threats by the West. The threat is significantly reduced however, if top-notch minds (especially those harboring a negative view of their birthplace and countrymen) can be made to leave India and take up the cause of Western Universalism. Western academy will thus do whatever possible to inhibit the growth of indigenous Indian research and education, and at the same time provide an alternate (ie., Western) destination for minds and talent (which cannot be utilized at home because of institutional maldevelopment) to flourish. In this regard, S. Chandrasekhar and V. Ramakrishnan, two Indian-born scientists who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, left their country to work in Western academy.
And though he is not a scientist, Amartya Sen, conditioned by Western academy to act as their academic sepoy, has not only been given a Nobel Prize, but is also in charge of rebuilding Nalanda University.
SB
************
I don't know what digestion/colonization is going on in the popular culture, because my education is from the particle physics area, where there is no confusion about Higgs Boson, and that is the community I pay attention to for my news about physics. The actual problem, if it can be called that, is that about nine people independently came up with the fundamental idea underlying the Higgs boson, at basically the same time. So why call it the Higgs?
AG
Rajiv comment: I sense a concern that the "Boson" part of the name "Higgs-Boson" might fade and get dropped, thereby erasing the original idea which S.N. Bose postulated in early 20th century. Such re-namings have happened in science and original discoverers got forgotten over time, especially when they are non-Western. It is interesting enough that Fermi and Dirac of the Fermi-Dirac statistics each got the Nobel. And Einstein of the Bose-Einstein also got it (for some other discovery), but Bose was the ONLY one on this list who did not. The importance of bosons has been considerable long before the latest version of that particle, the Higgs-Boson, got discovered. Personally, ever since I learned the Bose-Einstein as an undergrad in Physics, I have speculated its implications to the philosophy of science. I am unable to formulate anything beyond mere speculation. I hoped that a good samkhya scholar would delve into this.
Rajiv Malhotra.
Having lived among my fellow Indians in the US during the last 50 plus years, I totally agree with that statement!
Just look at the presentation of the recent news items on the Higgs-Boson particle both in the US and the UK media. I read the one by Gautam Naik in the Wall Street Journal (July 3,2012) and listened to ad nauseum the broadcasts by George Alagaiah on the BBC News on the Higgs boson particle. Some others have even dropped the Boson part from the Higgs-Boson identity. It is now frequently referred to as the Higgs particle!
The original Higgs-Boson particle was named after the deduction of Peter Higgs who based it on the formulation of Satyendranath Bose's work on quantum physics. Bose's discovery saw the light of day only after he was able to get an endorsement of his work by Einstein since Bose's paper on quantum statistics (which formed the basis for the speculation of a "God Particle") was first rejected for publication until Einstein read it and intervened by having it translated into German and got it published.
Bose-Einstein collaboration yielded the Bose-Einstein statistics and the Bose-Einstein Condensate principle. Peter Higgs built on their work and hence the "God particle" is usually referred to as the Higgs Boson particle.
In none of the articles written by either Indians or non-Indians, I have seen any reference to the works of either Bose or Einstein in having contributed to the discoveries of Peter Higgs.
Such is the "physiology" of "digestion" and the "sociology" of "colonization".
Alex
*********
Nobel Prizes were awarded in 1996, 1997, and 2001 to physicists whose work was based entirely on foundations laid by Satyendranath (SN) Bose decades earlier. Yet SN Bose himself has not even been nominated for the award! It is interesting to speculate what could cause Western academy to give their highest honors to people like Amartya Sen, as opposed to SN Bose.
British colonialists believed that the Indian mind was incapable of scientific thought and discovery, and was best suited to grapple with topics such as mysticism. As a result, science was barely given any attention during schooling; theoretical physics was completely ignored. And whatever science was taught was communicated in English, which inhibited permeation of knowledge among large sections of society. In fact, science education was dictated by the needs of the Indian job market, where subordinate roles such as physicians' assistants, were reserved for Indians. Meanwhile, scientific education in Britain was not accessible. Oxford and Cambridge did not admit Indians until 1870, and even then, those that studied pure sciences could not get jobs in India, even though they graduated at the top of their Oxbridge classes.
It is in this environment that SN Bose and his classmate, Meghnad Saha TAUGHT THEMSELVES physics! Physics textbooks written in English were not available, so Bose and Saha had to first learn German, and then translate texts they obtained serendipitously! Despite such incredible odds, Saha went on to develop the Saha ionization equation, which helped lay the foundation for modern astrophysics; though Saha was nominated for a Nobel Prize 4 times, he too never received the award. And though he developed groundbreaking theories and statistical methods in particle physics, SN Bose could not even get his work published until Einstein intervened on his behalf!
During their careers, Saha and SN Bose both had numerous interactions with another Indian scientist, Jagadish Chandra Bose (no relation). For those not aware, JC Bose is the father of modern wireless communication, a distinction originally given to Italian scientist Marconi, who misappropriated and digested JC Bose's work without giving him credit. A brilliant, multi-faceted scientist, JC Bose also attempted to describe integral unity in physics, physiology, botany, and psychology. However, he was ridiculed, falsely accused of plagiarism, and even blocked from publishing his work by the British establishment. And like SN Bose and Saha, JC Bose was never given a Nobel Prize for his work, though he made seminal contributions in theoretical and applied physics.
Other than their lack of recognition, what else do these Indian scientific geniuses have in common? JC Bose, SN Bose, and M Saha were all staunchly in favor of forming an independent Indian scientific establishment. They were very much Indian nationalists and helped to build the first Indian institutes for scientific study and experimentation, despite British protests. And all 3 recognized the importance of scientific education for Indian students, and were strongly in favor of making changes to the racist British system where they experienced difficulty getting even teaching positions.
While their achievements may endear them to Indians, its worth asking whether their nationalistic fervor, insistence on development of indigenous institutions for study, and protests against colonial racism may even today effect the perception of these men by Western academy. Further, the fact that they so quickly grasped experimental scientific concepts and methods, and so easily outperformed their Western 'colleagues' despite incredible odds very much flies in the face of traditional Western racist thought regarding intelligence and the Indian mind.
Scientists or thinkers who are products of Indian education systems are perceived as threats by the West. The threat is significantly reduced however, if top-notch minds (especially those harboring a negative view of their birthplace and countrymen) can be made to leave India and take up the cause of Western Universalism. Western academy will thus do whatever possible to inhibit the growth of indigenous Indian research and education, and at the same time provide an alternate (ie., Western) destination for minds and talent (which cannot be utilized at home because of institutional maldevelopment) to flourish. In this regard, S. Chandrasekhar and V. Ramakrishnan, two Indian-born scientists who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, left their country to work in Western academy.
And though he is not a scientist, Amartya Sen, conditioned by Western academy to act as their academic sepoy, has not only been given a Nobel Prize, but is also in charge of rebuilding Nalanda University.
SB
************
I don't know what digestion/colonization is going on in the popular culture, because my education is from the particle physics area, where there is no confusion about Higgs Boson, and that is the community I pay attention to for my news about physics. The actual problem, if it can be called that, is that about nine people independently came up with the fundamental idea underlying the Higgs boson, at basically the same time. So why call it the Higgs?
AG
Rajiv comment: I sense a concern that the "Boson" part of the name "Higgs-Boson" might fade and get dropped, thereby erasing the original idea which S.N. Bose postulated in early 20th century. Such re-namings have happened in science and original discoverers got forgotten over time, especially when they are non-Western. It is interesting enough that Fermi and Dirac of the Fermi-Dirac statistics each got the Nobel. And Einstein of the Bose-Einstein also got it (for some other discovery), but Bose was the ONLY one on this list who did not. The importance of bosons has been considerable long before the latest version of that particle, the Higgs-Boson, got discovered. Personally, ever since I learned the Bose-Einstein as an undergrad in Physics, I have speculated its implications to the philosophy of science. I am unable to formulate anything beyond mere speculation. I hoped that a good samkhya scholar would delve into this.
Rajiv Malhotra.
