Future of science and the Indian scene
What is “Pure Science” ? :
In 1883, through the columns of the second-ever issue of the journal Science, H.A. Rowland made a passionate plea on behalf of his field. He did not specifically identify his “field” as physics, chemistry, or biology. Instead, he called it “pure science” - the first-ever use of this term. Rowland describes it as a form of science done purely for the sake of learning about the world in which we live. A practice that is not directed necessarily towards any outcome beyond adding to human knowledge. Yet, this is an ideal that is rarely achieved in today’s world, where the practice of science does not end with the goal of simply “adding to human knowledge”. Most science, for example, requires funding which is obtained by making proposals to agencies, who look for potentially favorable outcomes and the commercial & academic interests vested within them before granting the necessary funds.
Sheldon Cooper vs. Howard Wolowitz (An engineer’s perspective) :
On the other hand, the scientists from applied fields, engineers, and those revolutionizing the world through their latest technologies can raise the question, after all, “What is so pure about this science?” “Is there anything impure in our work?” From their perspective, although engineering without science could be haphazard, without engineering, scientific discovery would be merely an academic pursuit. They can go on to highlight the fact that engineers do not spend their days doing math and science isolated in cubicles, but rather work in teams of diverse professionals creating exciting new technologies that improve healthcare, enable alternative energy, make us safer, improve communication, enhance our social infrastructures, and much more. Nevertheless, this debate between Sheldon Cooper and Howard Wolowitz (characters from the TV sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” in which Sheldon is a theoretical physicist and Howard, an engineer and ex-astronaut) can go on to no end. But the question raised by the next generation is, “Is there a single winner, or shall both of them eventually lose unless they join hands together for the future?”
Amalgamation of Science and Technology :
An example from the 20th century, which witnessed one of the most important inventions of all time, proves to be a solid case for the power that can be harnessed when science and technology come together. Put your hands together for “The Transistor”.
For nearly a decade before the first transistor was developed, William Shockley, a physicist at Bell Labs, worked on the theory of such a device but couldn’t build a working model. So, he asked two of his colleagues at Bell Labs, John Bardeen, and Walter Brattain, to step in. Bardeen eventually developed a new branch of quantum mechanics known as surface physics to account for the "odd" behavior they saw, and Bardeen and Walter Brattain eventually succeeded in building a working device. In 1956, the three scientists were honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery. The small size and low power consumption of transistors are what led to a wave of miniaturization, making the sleek mobile phones in our pockets a reality today. The takeaway from this is that development, in theory, led to the discovery of a new invention. The attempt to make new inventions led to the need for further development in theory.
A change of beliefs :
Speaking of Bell Labs, the story of its rise and fall teaches us a lot about the shift in mentality regarding science, research and industry. Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. was created in 1925 to explore fundamental areas of science and use the resulting discoveries to fuel enhancements to AT&T’s telephone system. They recruited not only engineers and manufacturers to produce but also many scientists. They had a long-term vision for the company and created an environment which enabled scientists to undertake high impact research without worrying about the timescale. Despite the high risk factor associated with this model - considering the generous funding required for research, Bell Labs was highly successful with numerous burgeoning discoveries coming from these efforts including radio astronomy (1932), the transistor (1947), information theory (1948), solar cells (1954) and the laser (1957). With a new patent coming out every 17 hours, they had complete monopoly over the market. But, with the rise of new competitors in the market during the 70’s and 80’s, as well as being forced by the U.S. Department of Justice to license all of their patents royalty-free, Bell Labs no longer had the resources to match sales figures nor the profits to fund research. Instead, companies such as Hewlett Packard, Western Digital, and Synoptics released products that reaped the benefits of AT&T’s innovation.
The Reagan years[1] in the 1980’s marked a renewed push for capitalism and business, as well as national efforts to de-regulate industries such as telecommunications and aviation. With the emergence of more capitalistic ideologies and a “Wall Street mentality”, companies were looking for short term innovations to maximize their gains and increase sales. Industries refrained from investing in long term research, thus limiting the funding from corporations for discoveries that have a large scale and translational impact on human society.
Having seen some of the reasons for the sinking relationship between industry and academia in the past, as well as the wonders that can be achieved when both fraternities come together, let us now look at the changes needed to bring about a brighter future for science and technology.
Looking into the future :
What is called for in the future is a rethink on the nature and structure of the research ecosystem by all the stakeholders involved. A more holistic viewpoint must be adopted, bringing the scientific disciplines closer with the goal for collaboration as well as an appreciation for each other. Raising new questions as well as questioning already existing answers are as important as providing solutions, and more diversity in groups promotes such ideas. Nancy Lee, an agenda contributor in the World Economic Forum writes “It’s only by crossing cultures and collaborating beyond disciplines that we’ll be able to solve the great challenges of our time.”
Such collaborations must not be restricted to Academia alone, the Industry needs to step in too. Large scale contributions are required from them, not just in terms of funding, but also active participation in facilitating the exchange of ideas, providing guidance, and widening each other's horizons. Overall, industry and academia must work hand-in-hand in bringing innovation and positive change, with a common meta-goal of producing translational work that impacts human society.
Fun fact section : (please highlight in separate coloured box)
Undertaking such mammoth missions requires visionary leaders who know both sides of the coin very well. One such example is Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX - two companies that are trying to do what many think is impossible: Make money selling electric cars and get people to Mars. Here’s a fun fact: In the summer of 2017, engineers at Tesla found a quality problem with a cast aluminum auto part that was taking hours to diagnose and fix. They were stumped, so they called in the rocket scientists -- literally. They reached out to their counterparts at SpaceX, who then suggested they use ultrasound sensors to tackle the issue. This solution not only worked but also saved Tesla about 8 hours of work per car, boosting their assembly line aiming to ramp up mass-market volumes. Musk reacted saying "That's cross-fertilization of knowledge from the rocket and space industry to auto back and forth, and I think it's really been quite valuable”
Focusing on the Indian scene :
Now that we have a fair idea of the challenges we face globally with respect to the growth of science and technology, let us focus our attention on the Indian scene.
Speaking of Industrialists, leaders and visionaries, there is no dearth of them in our country. Yet, those who recognize the importance of academic and scientific research, as well as actively contribute in helping them are only few and far between. The Tata Family has always set a great example in this regard, with founder Jamshedji Tata contributing significantly in setting up the Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru(IISc) during the early 20th century. Following his footsteps, it was with the dynamic support of then chairman, Mr. J.R.D. Tata, that the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR) came into being in June 1945. Finally, for the last several decades, Ratan Tata has contributed heavily through his philanthropic work providing many grants and scholarships to Indian and American universities.
Did you know? :
J.R.D. Tata or “Jeh” as called endearingly by his family, friends and associates, was not a practicing scientist; yet he understood this philosophy and the importance of basic science in a more fundamental and conceptual sense than any of his contemporaries in business and industry. At the time when TIFR was founded, Jeh wrote a letter to his friend who was a wealthy industrialist, to get his support for this venture. It read, “I sincerely believe that this Institute can make a great contribution to the scientific knowledge of mankind…. You may perhaps feel that advanced physics, mathematics, astrophysics are particularly abstract subjects, research in which is unlikely to produce material or practical results within a reasonable period of time. I should, however, like to point out that most of the great practical advances in science, and, therefore, in industry, have had their origins in fundamental research, without which they would have been impossible or would have been long delayed.” (End of section)
Only with such conviction and visionary leadership, can we shape the future of science and technology in India. On the contrary, nowadays we see many wealthy businessmen setting up their own private universities that charge humongous amounts of fees. Education is no longer a place for them to contribute to the development of society, instead it is simply looked at as a business opportunity. This needs to change, and a good place to start could be provision of better incentives by the government to take up collaborations with academia. Industries must directly partner with universities to help financially and contribute to the training of the students, because the journey of every budding scientist largely takes shape at this stage.
The Curious case of Indian Universities :
Universities in India themselves have a large role to play in shaping the future of science, because after all here is where the minds of our future scientists are shaped. Yet, a large proportion of universities seem to fall short when it comes to even fulfilling their basic responsibilities. The system and structure of our institutions need closer evaluation, as the cries for change are deafening. In research institutes, especially those which are supported by the Government, the sheer amount of time spent in administrative and bureaucratic work heavily cuts down on the productive time of our scientists. This completely defeats the purpose, as there are some of our brightest and motivated minds, who must be enabled to devote maximum time into practicing scientific research “of their choice”.
10 out of 20 CEOs of the world’s top companies are Indians. Yet, the harsh reality is most people of that calibre move abroad to pursue their higher education, as they see better opportunities there. India is among the countries that spend the least on research, which is less than 0.7% of our GDP. Insufficient stipends, grants and scholarships makes it no easier for our country to retain its top minds. Even in the cases of those lucky few who win the funding, delays in actually receiving the money have become the norm in Indian science. How can we expect a PhD or a PostDoc student to produce groundbreaking research, when they don’t even have enough money to fulfill theirs and their family’s daily needs? In India, a lot of these students at this age need to become breadwinners of their family for survival.
For a large proportion of people, their dreams and journeys end even before getting a chance to enter these institutions. They face plenty of barriers on their way, be it of language, geography, financial support or their ranks in entrance exams. The system puts up barricades in front of them at the first instance of failure itself. There is a need for a shift in mentality, as the system needs to become more forgiving in failure and provide motivation to explore.
After all, groundbreaking discoveries and successful research only takes place, when one exhibits the courage to fail!
For a lot of these changes to take place, research institutes and universities across the country must come out of their shells. They need to step up, and step out with a clear aim at an institute level to directly impact the community positively, rather than always looking for ways to boost up their rankings. Institutes must take up more outreach activities, such as workshops and seminars with their scientists, helping the local lower tier colleges become better in terms of infrastructure, human resource etc. and providing opportunities to budding researchers who face a lack of accessibility. Finally, there needs to be a change in the scale of measuring an institute’s success. They must be evaluated based on how aligned they are with their goals and commitments, rather than seeing how much credit and applause they can take for the successful research work done by individuals and groups working at the institute.
Conclusion :
Circling back to our debate involving Sheldon and Howard, we can hope that the future of science and technology shall shine much brighter when both come together and work hand-in-hand. Industry and Academia need to partner up and provide the fuel to bring about this movement. So, let us all embark on the Technoscientific revolution by sowing seeds of collaboration, appreciation and a bit of a larger heart towards humanity!
“The science of today is the technology of tomorrow”
- Edward Teller
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Footnotes :
[1] The Reagan Years: Presidency tenure of Ronald Reagan
References :
Pure Science: An Old Name with Some New Ways of Thinking | The Morningside Review
Pure Science and Applied Science
Dec. 23, 1947: Transistor Opens Door to Digital Future | WIRED
Why Are Transistors So Important?
Nothing Gold Can Stay the Rise and Fall of Bell Labs | Software Engineering a Better Life
The simple secret to groundbreaking science: work together | World Economic Forum
Elon Musk empire: A tale of collaboration between Space Tech & autonomous cars - The Economic Times
The norm of funding delays in Indian science | The life of a scientist
