Pratidhvani - Humanizing Science

Bhaskaran is an Electrical Engineer & a Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay: https://cnqt-group.org/?page_id=25 He is a quantum transport theorist, musician and long-distance runner. We explore his intellectual, musical and running journey. Also, don’t miss a segment on Bhaskaran playing the piano. References: 1.     “Bhaskaran Muralidharan [Department of Electrical Engineer...

Aninda Sinha is a theoretical physicist and a professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru: https://chep.iisc.ac.in/Personnel/asinha.html   He works at the interface of quantum field theory, superstrings and mathematical physics. In this episode, we explore his intellectual journey and discuss his recent work that led to a new series on pi generalizing Madava’s series.   References: 1.     ...

Chaitra is a political scientist, Associate Professor & Chair of Humanities at IISER Pune - https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/humanities-and-social-sciences/people/faculty/regular-faculty/chaitra-redkar/326 She explores modern Indian political thought through the lens of philosophy and history. In this episode, we discuss her intellectual journey in capturing an interesting trini...

References: Pavan Kumar, G. V. “Gerhard Herzberg (1904–1999): A Pioneer in Molecular Spectroscopy.” Resonance 29 (2024): 1339. https://www.ias.ac.in/describe/article/reso/029/10/1339-1345. Stoicheff, Boris. Gerhard Herzberg: An Illustrious Life in Science. Ottawa : Montréal ; Ithaca N.Y.: Canadian Forest Service,Canada, 2002. Stoicheff, Boris P. “Gerhard Herzberg PC CC. 25 December 1904 – 3 March...

Gautam is a theoretical physicist who is driven by curiosity. His explorations include superconductivity, biophysics, active matter, public health, art, music etc. He is a Professor & Dean at Ashoka University In this episode, we discuss his intellectual journey until now. References: 1.       Ashoka University. “Gautam Menon.” Accessed October 28, 2024. https://www.ashoka.edu.in/profile/gauta...

Chinmay is an author, historian and associate professor at IIM Ahmedabad: https://sites.google.com/site/chinmaytumbe/home . We explored his intellectual landscape of becoming a writer and a historian. We discuss his writing process and his experience of researching and teaching business history in a scientific & engaging way. Many related strands… Listen as we humanize science with history… Re...

Ganesh is a multifaceted researcher who brings together food and computation via Computational Gastronomy. He is a Professor at IIIT Delhi and is interested in various facets of food science and technology: https://www.iiitd.ac.in/bagler What is his intellectual journey from Solapur to Delhi? Listen as we humanize science…with plenty of ‘food for thought.’ References: 1.       Making Food Computab...

He is an experimental condensed matter physicist and a Professor at NISER Bhubaneswar who is deeply committed to combining cutting-edge physics with outreach in his mother tongue – Odia https://sbedanta.wixsite.com/niser What is his intellectual journey across Odisha, Germany, USA and back to his homeland and what motivates him to do what he does? Listen as we humanize science. References: 1.     ...

He is a physical chemist and a senior professor at IIT Bombay. https://www.adufd.com/people/current-group He and his research group have made significant contributions to the understanding of the fluorescence dynamics of molecules and nanomaterials. In this episode, we discuss ·         his journey from his early education at institutions like Presidency College and the IACS, lecture at Raidighi,...

Anindita is an Ecologist and an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education & Research in Kolkata: https://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~abhadra/Anindita.html . She and her research group study the ecology of dogs in an urban environment. She is also an actress who uses theatre to express intellectual thought. Added to that she has been an excellent diplomat of science, making a cas...

Urbasi Sinha is a Professor at Raman Research Institute, India and Canada Excellence Research Chair, iPhotonic Quantum Science and Technologies in the University of Calgary, Canada: https://sites.google.com/site/urbasisinha/ She and her research group are working at the cutting edge of quantum science and technology. In this episode, we discuss her intellectual journey across three continents and...

Sunil Nair is a condensed matter experimentalist and a Professor of Physics at IISER Pune https://www.iiserpune.ac.in/research/department/physics/people/faculty/regular-faculty/sunil-nair/307 He and his research group explore various topics, including Multiferroics | Transition metal oxides | Unconventional superconductors | Low temperature instrumentation | Non-linear magnetic susceptibility | Sp...

Hari is an organic chemist and a professor of chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune. His work focuses on the design and synthesis of organic compounds that can produce reactive species, which are crucial for biochemical and cell-biological studies. Apart from scientific research, Hari has a deep interest in science education and has played a significant r...

Joyee is an experimental optical physicist who explores Quantum Photonics She is an associate professor of physics at IIT Delhi https://web.iitd.ac.in/~joyee/. How did she get interested in optics? What is her intellectual journey? We discuss many interesting aspects of her explorations in this episode. Listen as we humanize science. References: 1. “Joyee’s Webpage.” Accessed August 22, 2024. http...

Joy Mitra is an experimentalist who tinkers with interfaces at nanoscale. He is a professor of physics at IISER Tvm https://www.iisertvm.ac.in/faculty/j.mitra/personal_information What motivated him to become an experimental physicist? What motivates him to explore nano-junction and plasmonics? These and many other aspects are part of the conversation. Listen, as we humanize science. References: 1...

Pramod is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at IISER Pune - https://www.pramodpillai.com/members Pramod explores various aspects of chemistry from physical and material chemistry to photochemistry and photophysics and prepares and studies a variety of nanomaterials from light-matter interaction and catalysis viewpoints. How did he develop chemical intuition, and what has been his intellectual jo...

Sivarama Krishnan is an Associate Professor at the Physics Department of IIT Madras: https://physics.iitm.ac.in/srkrishnan Siva is an experimental physicist who explores the world of ultrasmall objects using ultrafast lasers. What motivates him to explore this fascinating topic? How did he get trained to study this research area? We address these questions and more… Listen as we humanize science....

Jeevan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in IIT Kharagpur.  http://www.facweb.iitkgp.ac.in/~jeevanjyoti/ He is an excellent teacher and mentor. He runs a very popular YouTube channel (>106k subscribers) that combines his pedagogy, mentorship and engineering: https://www.youtube.com/@Prof_JC   In this episode, we discussed about his motivation, teaching, resea...

Link to video: https://youtu.be/frVEzDKkC4k How Raman connected his experiments to quantum physics of the 1920s. #history of #quantum #quantumphysicist #quantumphysics #quantummechanics Reference: https://ia803102.us.archive.org/6/items/cvramanpictorial00bang/cvramanpictorial00bang.pdf

#history of #science #optics #geometry References : Sabra, A. I. (1989). The Optics of Ibn alHaytham: Books IIII: On Direct Vision. London: The Warburg Institute. Sabra, A. I. (2002). The Optics of Ibn alHaytham: Edition of the Arabic Text of Books IVVII. Kuwait: National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters. Sabra, A. I. (2023). The Optics of Ibn alHaytham Books IV–V: On Reflection and Images Se...

Sadi Carnot’s book : https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/2559_Therm_Stat_Mech/docs/Carnot%20Reflections%201897%20facsimile.pdf   Other references: 1.      Thomson, William. 1849. “XXXVI.—An Account of Carnot’s Theory of the Motive Power of Heat; with Numerical Results Deduced from Regnault’s Experiments on Steam.,” January. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0080456800022481 . 2.      Klein, Martin J....

Sreejith G J is a condensed matter theorist and an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. http://sites.iiserpune.ac.in/~sreejith/index.html He is interested in strongly correlated quantum physics, including fractional quantum Hall effects and some spin systems. Interestingly, he started as a mechanical engineer and then moved to study the general theor...

Neeraja is an organic chemist who is deeply interested in education. She has been researching and exploring ways to make chemical education appealing and thought-provoking. How & Why does she do this? Listen to this conversation under the ‘emergence’ series as we humanize science. References: 1.      “Dr. Neeraja Dashaputre / People - IISER Pune.” n.d. Accessed June 23, 2024. https://www.iiser...

Pushkar Sohoni is an architect, architectural and cultural historian, and associate professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pushkar_Sohoni&oldid=1217982761 .  He has been involved in various conservation projects and has written extensively on the history of architecture, numismatics, and material culture....

Guru is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay : https://sites.google.com/view/guru-group/group-members?authuser=0 Guru and his team are dedicated to optimizing material utilization, designing materials that are more functional and easier to recycle and reuse. They explore the fascinating world of soft matter, which surrounds us in everyday life, from plastic...