The Structure of Scientific Hypotheses

 Qualitative definitions for physical quantities are mere hypotheses. For instance when I say that momentum is a measure of the quantity of motion in a body it makes no sense. Such definitions are retrospective at best and do not truly contain the meaning of the mathematical expressions. The same goes for even more obscure definitions such as mass of a body being a measure of the amount of matter contained in it. It makes much more sense to simply provide a mathematical expression and A measurement methodology. The method of measurement indicates its physicality and the mathematical expression is usually a law of physics. It could be that the means of measurement itself is based out of a law that helps to relate the mathematical quantity in question to other measurable quantities.

Honesty in science ends there. Hypotheses must be seen and recognised for what they are especially by those who do not belong to the scientific community. The world imagines that science is absolute. It is true that the scientist the best we have that the scientific approach lends a flexibility that is absolutely necessary if we have to truly understand the universe.

I have always wondered about mirrors. We speak of lateral inversion but when you stand on a mirror you are seen upside down what would you call that

I have always struggled with having a coordinate system with the three Axis not being at 90 degrees with each other. In such a case how would equations of lines planes and surfaces be

How would you define cos theta

I needed to clarify to myself that even cells are made up of atoms

Organised thought is intelligence

I have always looked for a link between the equations we write and the actual behaviour of bodies in classical physics. We write down some equations and then jump directly into looking for reasons why there are sources of error and deviations between calculator results and actual measurements. I felt that we never stop to think why this even works in the first place.

If I write a textbook or create a video course it will always have a retrospection section. Which would question the shuttle assumptions we have made along the way. 

To answer this specific question on why this works it is the law of physics that binds physical behaviour to the medium of mathematics. They so easily say that mathematics is a language in which laws are expressed. In truth mathematics is way more than that.

Mathematics is the intrinsic continuity of reality that allows us to even have a conversation. It is the glue of consistency across reality whose smallest failure can completely break understanding. A language is just a medium of communication. Ideas still exist even if there isn't a common medium to exchange them. Even if there is no language at all an idea can exist in an obscure for that still understood by thought in its own inexplicable way.

However, in the absence of mathematics ideas cannot exist.

I once wrote down a statement that I call Raam's law which simply states simply "mathematics works".

This is not a means for me to feed my own vanity but an opportunity to acknowledge the level of sophistication we are able to go to because of the internship consistency of mathematics. It is to pay respect to a fat that we have overlapped for a very long time and have taken for granted so easily.

A Simulation for Smell?

 We have simulation software packages to mimic a lot of physical and chemical phenomena, translating them into inputs for our sense-organs.

Why is it that smell isn't one of these yet? Could we have a smell based cinematic experience A softwware simulation of smell?

Sight is based on electromagnetic waves within the visible spectrum, sound is based on pressure waves within an appropriate frequency, touch - at least temperature is based on molecule vibration and again the infrared portion of the EM spectrum.

What are taste and smell? Direct chemical contact?

An Engineer's Prayer

नमस्ते प्रकृते माते, सुखजीवनकारणी,

गणितादिसकृतम् यन्त्रम्, चलेत् सम्यक् तवाज्ञया।

Aero's Plight - The Complaints Continue

I logged into Quora today as usual, and was greeted with a couple of messages -both requesting guidance regarding aerospace engineering - nothing new. I was about to close the window when I saw the phrase "end my life" in one of the two messages. My eyes quickly looked at the time when the message was received. 3 minutes ago. My heart began pounding. I swiftly typed out two replies to the man who had messaged me, giving him my number and asking him to give me a missed call, or to at least reply.

And then, keeping an eye on my phone, I sat back to read his message. He had completed his B.Tech in aerospace engineering in 2012 - he was senior to me by a year. I didn't have to read any further - it was going to be the same story - with him not having cleared IIT's GATE examination (results came out this week), and having absolutely no option ahead. And upon reading it, I realised that my prediction was right. A true dead end, yes. I have now become accustomed to answering such messages, but this one was over the edge. Depression? A suicide threat? I certainly wasn't going to be the right person, but this wasn't the time to look for an expert. He called me, and after a nice, long chat, I had him convinced that things weren't going to remain this bad, and that there were options ahead. I managed to convince him to approach Professors at an IIT near his place, and to try to do research under him with or without pay, so that he could possibly end up publishing a research paper - a suggestion I give to several people.

After nearly 20 minutes of mutual listening and talking, he told me that he felt much better - that he would try approaching Professors, and would remain in touch with me in case he needed guidance.

As I hung up, memories of how my classmates and close friends suffered (some continue to suffer) the consequences of picking a specialised course for their Bachelor's engineering degree came to me. My new friend's rant may have looked marginally melodramatic, but the crux of it was true.

His story summarises those of thousands of aeronautical/aerospace engineering graduates throughout India.

"Pathetic" will be a mild term to describe the situation of India's aero students. "Not that great" is what I'd say about aero at IIT Bombay, one of the best places for it in the country.

With core aerospace companies preferring mechanical engineers over aero, and non core companies simply ignoring this course in their list of eligible candidates, aerospace engineers are left stranded in that large island of vain jobseekers that spans the length and breadth of this great peninsula.

While this is the situation on one side, colleges happily open aerospace engineering departments, attracting misguided youngsters to fill seats, year after year. My own college, Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai has seen a steady growth of number of students joining aeronautical engineering. Ironically though, placements statistics have gone down - not merely by percentage, even in whole number counts. The situation is ten times worse at other colleges in India (particularly private ones) - with students realising the lack of options and dreading the approach of their graduation.

I will not deny it if this student is blamed for his own incapacity in clearing the GATE examination. The complaint I have is that there is virtually no other option, even for someone willing to let go of this field. Not all students can afford an MS abroad or an MBA (in India or abroad) - no PSU treats GATE Aerospace Engineering's (GATE Mechanical is different) score as a criterion for recruitment (DRDO is recruiting based on GATE Aerospace this year, but 5 students is far too less. A commendable step though).

I do not blame the system for this person's plight - he should not have blindly followed his heart, or someone's advice without researching upon career paths in aero engineering, but the system is to be blamed too: for letting him build castles upon a baseless dream, and then standing aside and watching it crumble. This is heartless, cruel..

Colleges owe students options. Colleges which offer them this course, the government which approves them to offer these courses - it should be taken care that at least a handful of students get some jobs. If that can't be ensured, only a handful of Institutions should be allowed to offer this course - perhaps just IITs and a couple of other Universities.

This problem is very real, but hardly known. Talks of aerospace being a booming industry are simply pointless speculations. If left uncared for, the number of unemployed aero engineers is going to grow exponentially.

I look around to see the IIT Bombay campus where life goes on so very smoothly for me - the department where I attend classes, the hostel mess whose food I complain about - all this is someone's dream. Someone who is ready to die if he doesn't achieve it.

This isn't fair. I've got to do something about it.

Someone has to.

Gravitational waves discovered! Yaay!

The Column Buckling Problem

A Saint moves on...

It is surprising to note how some faceless, yet familiar men's passing affects us deeply, sometimes even more than that of people we've known...

The only such experience I can recount is the passing of Dr. R. D. Sharma, the messiah of school students. And today, it came down as nothing short of a shock to me when my mother called to tell me that Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdin Abdul Kalam had breathed his last. Not a faceless man to me - in fact, I've had the fortune of seeing this man, this seer at the very college where he studied, where I studied....

Words fail to come forth, I have been urged to meet this man by my well wishers, and I have ruthlessly postponed my doing so, for years - all this now adds cumulatively to the regret that engulfs me, choking me...

The man who pushed the boundaries of engineering in India, of rocket science, the father of India's missile programme.... an unforgettable President, and exemplary human being and a beloved teacher...

It hurts - hurts like a near family member has gone.. There will be time to recollect his contributions to India, his speech at Hangar I, MIT, his interaction with students, but all I can think for now is that we can never hear that sweet voice again....

This may be news to many, but it is a personal loss to us, students of MIT, to the country and the world as a whole.. A simple, honest, sincere, brilliant man whose mortal coils may have been wiped from the face of the planet, but his memories shall stay in our hearts forever..

I was told that he had collapsed while talking to students - the very shoulders that supported the country, gave it hope... Nothing less that an icon for every Indian... Nothing less than a saint..