Insights into a world of science
A new book makes A M Harun ar Rashid happy
Aladdin's Real Lamp by M. Shamsher Ali is an interesting book written by a well known personality of Bangladesh whose popular science presentations on radio and television have become household words during the last quarter century. The mythical Aladdin's lamp was invented in China, which is now boasting to become the second largest economy of the world, thanks to science and technology. The last page of this book says, "Since science has now become a way of life, the general masses who pay the taxes for development and for whom the fruits of research must finally be targeted must also be educated about what science can do for them. This would increase their appreciation of science and would encourage them to shape their children to be the active players of the day. We learn about Aladdin's Lamp in stories, little realizing that the lamp is already in our hands in the new millennium. Science is that Lamp". This is what Professor Ali has assiduously set out to explain in this well-produced book of about two-hundred fifty pages which are enlivened with lovely stories of various personalities of science whom the author has had the good fortune of meeting during his eventful career. One such hilarious story is about the shaving razor for which the Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, passed the order that until the time India attained the quality of foreign blades, ten percent of the people of India should keep beards! It is not clear whether this order was abided by. Another cute story involves again Pandit Nehru and the famous scientist Homi Bhaba, who was then Chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission. In Professor Ali's words, "Nehru liked Bhaba so much that one day Bhaba rang Pandit Nehru after midnight. 'What is the matter?' Panditji asked. Bhaba replied, 'Panditji, Apsara is critical!' The term Apsara has a literary meaning of Sursundari, but here it was just the name given to a reactor. Nehru said,' Come on Bhaba! this is no time for a joke.' But when Bhaba explained the concept of 'Criticality' in a reactor, Nehru was beside himself with joy" I can not vouchsafe the veracity of the story but it certainly reminds me of our long and painful Odyssey with the Rooppur nuclear power plant with which Prof. Ali has long been associated. Rooppur is still a distant dream for the people of Bangladesh! This well-written book has addressed many vitally important and relevant issues connected with science and technology education in Bangladesh and it is correct when it says; "The so-called early specialization that exists in the present time is reducing in effect people to an intellectual darkness in other subjects." The result is that many arts and social science graduates do not have a clue about modern science and technology, even through we claim to be entering the modern "digital age". In the words of Prof. Ali, "Thanks to the widespread use of information and communication technology people are becoming more and more conscious of the problems of life and environment and are beginning to appreciate relevant issues. Science is finally beginning to emerge as a cultural activity of man." This is probably true for many, but not for all. The madrasa system of education does not consider science and technology education as "the cultural activity of man". In Prof. Ali's words, "Unfortunately in the Madrasha system of education which is followed by a sizable section of the Muslim students especially in the rural areas of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, lessons in science are not considerable and up-to-date" Not considerable and up-to-date only? They are above all not modern. In this connection, let us remember the story about Dr. I. H. Usmani, Chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, who was addressing a gathering of government officials. He was trying to explain how heavy elements could be artificially produced by particle accelerators. One bureaucrat in the audience said, "ye ajib baat hai. This is strange. Do you mean that man is doing what Allah could not do?" After narrating this story, Prof. Ali has commented that educated people can also be scientifically illiterate! The book is a pleasant reading and hugely informative. There is one missing link. There is no index in the book. An index can be a very useful thing for a reference book like this. Incidentally there are few printing mistakes in the book. For example, the name of the first Prime Minister of Pakistan has been printed as Liakat AH Khan (p 32). This should be corrected by adding a corrigendum, if possible. I wish this splendid book a wide circulation.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments