ADVANCES IN LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCH is a biannual peer reviewed online journal of Kannur University, publishing original and significant research findings on all areas of biological sciences and is intended as a medium for communication and discussion of important issues that concern various branches of biosciences.
Special Article
Science Communication
Science is the study of Nature, in all its manifestations, living and non-living, plants and animals on the one hand and soil and rocks on the other. What is Nature? The German poet, von Goethe said it best in an essay written in the middle of the 18th century, famously translated into English by Thomas Huxley: :“Nature! We are surrounded and embraced by her: powerless to penetrate beyond her and powerless to separate ourselves from her.” Why is the communication of science, to enhance public understanding, important? It is because we live in a world which enjoys the fruits of two centuries of uninterrupted progress in science and the technologies that it has spawned. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated that two of our favorite subjects, politics and religion have proved ineffective when confronted with a rapidly spreading, microscopic virus. We can ask ourselves a question: “How has a spherical chemical object, with a diameter of 100 nanometers, brought the world to its knees? What are governments the world over looking for? They are hunting for vaccines, diagnostics and, hopefully in the future, therapeutics. All these are possible only by sustained scientific research. The study of science and research in science can only be supported by public funding if there is widespread realization of its utility. Research is usually a slow process and investments in science often do not yield quick dividends. It is therefore important to promote the public understanding of the processes and past successes of science, in a manner that can be easily understood and appreciated.
Science communication can most simply be done by writing in an easy style and by means of popular lectures. Both are difficult. Cultivating an effective writing style and an engaging speaking style require practice, hard work and most importantly wide reading. Very few people are naturally gifted writers and speakers. The most celebrated of science popularisers work exceedingly hard at their craft. In our country the problem of science communication is magnified by the number of diverse and rich languages. Multilingual science communicators are a very rare species. Are there any benefits for the communicators? If they are practicing scientists or teachers, they will soon learn that their own understanding of their chosen subjects constantly improves. Can there be a better reward? How does onebecome a communicator of science? For budding writers,J.B.S. Haldane put it succinctly: “Literary synthesis is like organic chemical synthesis. The method to be adopted depend on product required, the raw materials and apparatus available. As my brain is my apparatus, and different from yours, my methods will also differ from yours. The first thing to remember is your task is not easy, and will be impossible if you despise technique. For literature has its technique, like science, and unless you set yourself a fairly high standard you will get nowhere. So don’t expect to succeed at your first or even second attempt.”
P.Balaram
Prof.(Dr.) Padmanabhan Balaram, former Director of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore currently serves as National Chair Professor at NCBS, Bangalore. Recipient of Padma Bhushan (2014), TWAS prize (1994) and R Bruce Merrifield award (2021).
Modern experimental science is alien to us
Curiosity to know ourselves and our surroundings was part of human activity in every civilization. Indeed, every living organism recognizes the environment. Philosophical traditions in every society arose after men and women organized into settled societies after the discovery of agriculture 10000 years ago. There was a division of functions among the inhabitants. A small percentage of such societies indulged in reflective thinking. The questions and problems they addressed were either real time (i.e. materialistic about Physical Nature/Environment and human behavior) or supernatural dealing with after death problems and the relationship between living and dead beings. Great religions arose out of these philosophical deliberations. It is only during the Renaissance movement; the focus was completely on the materialistic world around us. This inquiry was named Natural Science. It was to be practiced by the use of scientific method. The body of knowledge that resulted and the process of gaining information itself were together come to be known as Modern Science or western science. It was a new kind of philosophy constrained by both the phenomena that were inquired into and the methodology used for such an inquiry. Science in the modern sense had only one aim till the seventeenth century i.e. to understand the structure and functioning of Nature. Rene des Cartes, the French mathematician and the first philosopher of science added one more aim and that was that science should be useful to man in developing creature comforts. From then on fundamental science and application-oriented science (or even technology) became the twin parts of science. Hence, from then on, it was
Science & Technology. Natural Science comprised three branches i.e. Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Each of these had the single aim of knowing the „TRUTH‟ about Nature, like in the case of any other system of Philosophy. For some reason, mathematics was excluded from this.
Mathematics also seeks „Truth‟ like Science and any Religion/Philosophy. In fact, mathematical truth in the form of algebraic expression has stood the test of time unlike other truths including those of Natural Science. Karl Popper goes to the extent of saying that non-falsifiable knowledge is not Science! Read More>>>
Muralidhar K
Muralidhar K, Jawaharlal Nehru Chair Professor, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad Former faculty , South Asian University and Delhi University
Advances in life science research
(An Online Journal of Kannur University)AIMS AND SCOPE
ADVANCES IN LIFE SCIENCE RESEARCH is a biannual peer reviewed online journal of Kannur University, publishing original and significant research findings on all areas of biological sciences and is intended as a medium for communication and discussion of important issues that concern various branches of biosciences.
Special Article
Science Communication
Science is the study of Nature, in all its manifestations, living and non-living, plants and animals on the one hand and soil and rocks on the other. What is Nature? The German poet, von Goethe said it best in an essay written in the middle of the 18th century, famously translated into English by Thomas Huxley: :“Nature! We are surrounded and embraced by her: powerless to penetrate beyond her and powerless to separate ourselves from her.” Why is the communication of science, to enhance public understanding, important? It is because we live in a world which enjoys the fruits of two centuries of uninterrupted progress in science and the technologies that it has spawned. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated that two of our favorite subjects, politics and religion have proved ineffective when confronted with a rapidly spreading, microscopic virus. We can ask ourselves a question: “How has a spherical chemical object, with a diameter of 100 nanometers, brought the world to its knees? What are governments the world over looking for? They are hunting for vaccines, diagnostics and, hopefully in the future, therapeutics. All these are possible only by sustained scientific research. The study of science and research in science can only be supported by public funding if there is widespread realization of its utility. Research is usually a slow process and investments in science often do not yield quick dividends. It is therefore important to promote the public understanding of the processes and past successes of science, in a manner that can be easily understood and appreciated. Science communication can most simply be done by writing in an easy style and by means of popular lectures. Both are difficult. Cultivating an effective writing style and an engaging speaking style require practice, hard work and most importantly wide reading. Very few people are naturally gifted writers and speakers. The most celebrated of science popularisers work exceedingly hard at their craft. In our country the problem of science communication is magnified by the number of diverse and rich languages. Multilingual science communicators are a very rare species. Are there any benefits for the communicators? If they are practicing scientists or teachers, they will soon learn that their own understanding of their chosen subjects constantly improves. Can there be a better reward? How does onebecome a communicator of science? For budding writers,J.B.S. Haldane put it succinctly: “Literary synthesis is like organic chemical synthesis. The method to be adopted depend on product required, the raw materials and apparatus available. As my brain is my apparatus, and different from yours, my methods will also differ from yours. The first thing to remember is your task is not easy, and will be impossible if you despise technique. For literature has its technique, like science, and unless you set yourself a fairly high standard you will get nowhere. So don’t expect to succeed at your first or even second attempt.”
P.Balaram
Prof.(Dr.) Padmanabhan Balaram,
former Director of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
currently serves as National Chair Professor at NCBS, Bangalore.
Recipient of Padma Bhushan (2014),
TWAS prize (1994) and R Bruce Merrifield award (2021).
Special Correspondence
REFLECTIONS ON ETHICS IN SCIENCE-A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Modern experimental science is alien to us
Curiosity to know ourselves and our surroundings was part of human activity in every civilization. Indeed, every living organism recognizes the environment. Philosophical traditions in every society arose after men and women organized into settled societies after the discovery of agriculture 10000 years ago. There was a division of functions among the inhabitants. A small percentage of such societies indulged in reflective thinking. The questions and problems they addressed were either real time (i.e. materialistic about Physical Nature/Environment and human behavior) or supernatural dealing with after death problems and the relationship between living and dead beings. Great religions arose out of these philosophical deliberations. It is only during the Renaissance movement; the focus was completely on the materialistic world around us. This inquiry was named Natural Science. It was to be practiced by the use of scientific method. The body of knowledge that resulted and the process of gaining information itself were together come to be known as Modern Science or western science. It was a new kind of philosophy constrained by both the phenomena that were inquired into and the methodology used for such an inquiry. Science in the modern sense had only one aim till the seventeenth century i.e. to understand the structure and functioning of Nature. Rene des Cartes, the French mathematician and the first philosopher of science added one more aim and that was that science should be useful to man in developing creature comforts. From then on fundamental science and application-oriented science (or even technology) became the twin parts of science. Hence, from then on, it was Science & Technology. Natural Science comprised three branches i.e. Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Each of these had the single aim of knowing the „TRUTH‟ about Nature, like in the case of any other system of Philosophy. For some reason, mathematics was excluded from this. Mathematics also seeks „Truth‟ like Science and any Religion/Philosophy. In fact, mathematical truth in the form of algebraic expression has stood the test of time unlike other truths including those of Natural Science. Karl Popper goes to the extent of saying that non-falsifiable knowledge is not Science! Read More>>>
Muralidhar K
Muralidhar K,
Jawaharlal Nehru Chair Professor,
School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad
Former faculty , South Asian University and Delhi University