K S S Seshan
Vivisection of knowledge based on the nature and scope of the subjects is necessary to provide opportunity to high specialisation in each field so as to delve deep into the intricacies of the subject.But in the process of laying emphasis on specialisation, the major casualty has been the understanding of the linkages and the interdisciplinary nature of each of these subjects in their peripheral and frontier areas. The imperative need to relate each of these subjects to the applicability of the related ones has been sadly overlooked.
While there is no denying the fact that study of science and technology has made rapid strides with the coming up of numerous national laboratories and technological universities and institutions with the liberal support of the government in recent decades, the emphasis for furthering humanities and social sciences on the same lines, is obviously lacking.
This may be partially because of the general feeling that the study of science is directly related to the immediate growth of the material welfare of the state while social sciences and humanities are only for the pleasure of pursuing and that such studies in no way help rise the standards of the living of the people.
There will not be a more erroneous view than thinking that study of humanities and social sciences in no way help achieve material progress like the sciences. Subjects like history, economics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and psychology etc, deal with human behaviour and are the quintessence of human experiences over a long period of time.
These subjects carry the sum total of the experiences of the past societies and thus are time tested. While science and scientific experiments could be repeated several times with the same results, the human sciences differ with each time for, no two human beings react to the given situations in the same manner.
Therefore, the study of human scien-ces enriches the understanding of fellow human beings and the society we live in. They foster the values of life, help develop interpersonal relationships and provide the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. They also teach us to become responsible and participative citizens.
The pursuit of science is not an end by itself. Unless its fruits are not made applicable to society, all the advancement of science will only be a futile exercise. The fruits of scientific inventions and discoveries are meant for the society to reap them and get benefited. Hence, a closer understanding of science on one side and the needs and aspirations of the people on the other, is essential.
Applied sciences, for example, get credibility only when they are made applicable to achieve the common good of the larger sections in society. The parameters of such societal needs are value based and human centric.
Knowledge of basic things in the day to day life like the human rights, constitution, history, culture, religion, wages, markets, sensex, elections – to cite a few, are very essential for everyone in society. Those who pursue pure sciences also confront these aspects as they relate to ones day to day life.
If they only have some exposure to subjects that deal with human sciences at a formative level, it is sure to enrich their understanding of such issues in later day life. With an increased understanding of the functioning of the society, a student of physics, for example, is sure to become a better physicist. We will be able to see committed doctors, committed engineers and technocrats.
It may be recalled that Sir C V Raman, one of India’s top scientists, pleaded with then prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to work for the return of Kohinoor diamond by the British, on India attaining independence in 1947.
“Indian independence is not full and complete without Kohinoor,” he passionately declared. His strong feelings for the Indian heritage relic only speaks of the strong a political and nationalistic perception this doyen of Indian scientists and a noble laureate, had at heart.
It is said that A. P. J Abdul Kalam’s enthusiasm for rocket sciences was fuelled after he had a chance look of a portrait of Tipu Sultan’s “war rockets” hung to a wall at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) which Kalam happened to visit during his formative professional life.
Tipu’s war rockets made of bamboo, as we know, were the prototype of the military rockets the British developed later. It was Col Congreve who after the fall of Tipu Sultan in the fourth Mysore war, collected and shipped away nearly 700 such rockets under preparation, which later were subjected to reverse engineering so as to unravel their making process.