The Hindu Business Line : `Teachers must stimulate young minds with science'

Recollecting his childhood days when his chemistry teacher Mr William Hock taught him how to go about probing things scientifically, Prof Osheroff said it was the responsibility of science teachers to encourage children's interest.

"Mr Hock spent quite a bit of time telling us what physical research was all about, as opposed to my experimentation. And that effort made a deep impression on my young mind," he recollected.

Prof Osheroff, who shared the Nobel in 1996 with Prof David M. Lee and Prof Robert C. Richardson for their research in super fluidity in helium-3, was here to deliver the B.M. Birla Memorial Lecture on `The nature of discovery in physics'.

The occasion marked the 20th anniversary of the Birla Science Centre.

Interacting with the media, Prof Osheroff said it was very important to encourage children to take to science. "Only science could answer the series of challenges like global warming that the mankind faces. We must encourage children to consider careers in science," he said.

"A lot of them were joining biological and computer sciences. But we need them in chemistry and physics," he said.

In his presentation, Prof Osheroff reminisced his experiences on how his physician father helped him in his scientific probes. "As a young child, I had a natural curiosity about how things worked, and my parents never discouraged this curiosity. I tore my first electric train engine apart at age six to play with the electric motor," he said. My father never scolded me but encouraged me to learn things the way I liked.

Prof Osheroff said there was nothing like practical experimentation. "Hands-on science is better than computer-based science," he said.

He, however, had a word of praise for `Google' (the Web search engine). "It is amazing. The first ten references give you the right answers," he said.

Calling for focus on basic research, Prof Osheroff said the absence of access to resources was the main hurdle for scientists in India. He cited the efforts of Taiwan and Singapore in the regard. "It (basic research) is not a cheap business. Resources are very important. They don't have resources here," he said.

Prof Osheroff also presented the B.M. Birla Science Prizes for the years 2001, 2002 and 2003. Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, presented the Nobel laureate the Lifetime Achievement in Science Award.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page