At The Hindu Lit for Life 2019, two scientists from two different walks of life “agreed on almost everything” and established that financial investment alone won’t do Science any good unless the knowledge percolates people through education.
Quotable quotes...
“There is a fundamental problem in investing in Science and Technology. It is not a matter of money. You need people to absorb it. It’s education. In India, investment in science as part of GDP has gone down.”
“Sudden decline in relative strengths of China and India in 1700s . Chinese is rapidly ascending. India more modest. Why? Science innovation and industrial revolution made other nations more rich.”
“Only a small percentage of Indians know English. We are only a small slice, living in our echo chambers. Most don’t understand English. They need it in their own language. In other countries, they learn science in Polish, Danish etc. It’s easy to absorb concepts in native language.”
“Since independence, central funding was concentrated on Central Universities and government research labs like CSIR, DROD. All of this constitutes about 5% of student population who have access to these. 95% who go to state unis don’t get access or do research extensively. We need increased investment and engagement in States.”
“I have a deep concern about why we need science. We have forgotten what’s happening to the planet. Today we have challenges — we have to take into account climate change, AI etc.”
“I asked Nobel laureate David Gross what is different between India and China. He said ‘ambition’.”
