Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Gelfand:
Fine Russian Mathematician. His books are a delight to read. He looks at simple problems
but for which simple approaches will not work.
Galileo
Discovery that different objects thrown from the same height will reach the ground at the same time.
This observation is highly counter-intuitive. Most poeple would reason that the heavier object falls to
the ground earlier. This observation is incorrect. The heavier object falls with greater force, but
Albert Einstein
Discovery that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light.
Again, most people would equate their everyday experience about jumping off
moving trains and conclude that a light beam emitted from a rocket would travel faster
than one emitted from the ground. But, Einstein observed that light is an
electromagnetic phenomena - a moving electric field causes a moving magnetic field
which in turn causes a moving electric field. This process is self-sustaining and
doesn't need any outside help (like a moving train) to keep it going.
Summary
Humans have the fascinating capacity for their minds to ask questions about their surroundings
whose answers change the course of history. The human mind has the ability to simply think deeply
about natural phenomena and to affect the trajectory of life than any mechanical, or nowadays,
digital, innovations. Some are obvious but by no means easy:
1. Is the earth the center of the universe. Scientists like Kepler, Galileo suffered dearly for
thinking otherwise even though they presented irrefutable evidence.
2. Why does a rock sink but a ship holding 100s of people float. Archimedes explanation is a
tribute to the analytical way to approach such problems.
Its always difficult to imagine the explanation for natural phenomena. The literature is sparse and
rarely can help. Thus, its all the more remarkable when someone presents a cogent, well thought
out and complete explanation for a phenomena that mankind never bothered to question before.
The greatest changes in the course of history of mankind has, ironically, not come from the wielding
of powerful weapons. Rather, the deepest and long lasting changes have come from ordinary people
having the courage to think deeply about what they observe around them and explaining it based on
the knowledge they had at the time.
Its always difficult to imagine the explanation for natural phenomena. The literature is sparse and
rarely can help. Thus, its all the more remarkable when someone presents a cogent, well thought
out and complete explanation for a phenomena that mankind never bothered to question before.
However, these phenomenon were part of everyday experience. So, in a sense, the problems were
in plain sight. But, there are several others that were invisible. These are some of them: