Joy of Science

Many summers ago, as a young fifteen year old student of the Advanced level (A-Level) of the University of London, I recall the practical test that we had. A few weeks before the exam, we were given to understand that our practicals would be on a topic related to ‘coupled pendulums’. “What on earth is that?!” One wondered and went about trying to understand what it meant and read up what ever was available at the library in the small town of Kaduna in Nigeria, where I was living with my parents. Finally, the day arrived. We were given the required materials which included some wires, bobs of different weights, a stop watch and a clamp stand and so on. A paper clearly describing what we were to do with the material was given in very simple language and it was nice and fun to actually go about setting up the experiment and take the readings carefully with a great deal of accuracy and care. The findings were required to be analyzed in the form of a table and a graph, which was also clearly explained. Based on these, one had to discover the relationships between time periods and length of the pendulums and also find ways in which these could be used in daily life. Unlike many of the “experiments” that one had hitherto done at school, this experience taught me what the joy of observation, joy of discovery and the joy of innovating, which form the “Joy of Science” really meant.
This entire experience had teased my brain, given it a puzzle and some issues to think and question, which one had to come to grapple, slowly figure out and understand. Most importantly, this had to be done in a spirit of the quest of truth, keeping one’s mind open to all possibilities that the experiment could lead, including the “breaking’ of the wire at a point, which actually happened …and momentarily upset me! However, on taking stock of the situation, one immediately realized that the purpose of the experiment was to observe and record the truth as it presented itself without any coloring or cooking!! I got very good results in the exam but that experience gave me something far more important, indeed, for life. The experience of the practical exam was something I tremendously enjoyed and cherish to this day.
As I now look back at that moment of truth in my life, many years later, as I am settled in a vocation as an administrator, the importance of that learning becomes even more evident. All inquiry is to be scientific; such an inquiry is marked by precision in regard to details, microscopic scruple in regards to accuracy, adherence to the search for truth for the sake of truth and arrival at a conclusion only on the basis of evidence, which is then interpreted in terms of Universality, consistency and comprehensiveness. Experience and experimentality are the heart of scientific inquiry, which should be an integral part of us, no matter which profession or journey life takes us on.
There are three Joys of Science: the Joy of Observation, as a result of which one aims at concrete tangibility of the objects of experience. Joy of Discovery is the spirit of Science- discovery of the unknown, discovery of the larger contents and discovery of the law. The third is the Joy of Creation, which results in the application of the discovery and results in creating new devices and innovations.
Let us, therefore, pursue these all the time.

Mrs. Jayanti S. Ravi