Tomichan Matheikal's blog

March 14 is Pi Day.  Those who have some familiarity with basic arithmetic will know that pi is a mathematical constant - a ratio, in fact - whose value is approximated to 3.14.  So 14/3 (or 3/14, as the Americans write it), today, is pi day. Interestingly or coincidentally, it is also the birthday of Albert Einstein, arguably the greatest genius who ever lived.  The New Yorker has published, among many illuminating articles, a very humorous questionnaire on the occasion:  Diagnostic Exam: Do You Have Math Anxiety?   A sample question: What is a hypotenuse?  (a) A very graceful hypot.  (b) An overweight chanteuse.  (c) The  French word for profound boredom. Mathematics is often assumed to be a scary monster.  Actually it can be sheer fun if we learn to exercise our logical faculty properly.  Most people don't want to think - that's the simple truth.  Mathematics calls for some abstract thinking also which is assumed to be boring or even scary.  Hence many give u

Historically the Enlightenment refers to a paradigm shift that took place in the 17 th and 18 th centuries.  It was also called the Age of Reason because it emphasised the power of the human mind to liberate the individual and improve society.  It argued that knowledge can be derived only from experience, experiment and observation.  It encouraged people to use their own critical reasoning to free their minds from prejudice, unexamined authority, and oppression by their religion or the state. The world made tremendous progress in science and technology because of the Enlightenment ideas.  Consequently human life was revolutionised.  Religion and the superstitions it generated took a backseat.  Priests lost most of their political clout.  Secular values spread considerably across the globe.  Science and technology gave us more leisure and luxury than we deserved.  More gadgets than we could handle with responsibility.  More individual liberty.  More selfishness too. Th

In response to Karan Thapar’s article which appeared in The Hindu a few days back, (which also inspired my last blog: From myths toward mathematics ), an ISRO scientist writes in today’s Hindu : “I am a retired scientist/engineer who worked in one of India’s premier scientific organisations, ISRO, for 38 years.  I believe in Ganesha, and that Shiva exists in Kailash, often riding on his bull.  Can anybody accuse me of having two faces?” I can and I do, dear scientist.  The myths to which Ganesha and Shiva belong and the science which you make use of for probing into the outer space far beyond Mount Kailash are not compatible.  One destroys the other.  Science replaces myths with facts, and myths have always killed scientists literally and metaphorically.  Don’t forget the scientists who were subjected to inquisition and incarceration during the medieval period.  Don’t ignore the crusade that continues even today against science in other names such as jihad. But I won’t ta

Introductory Note : According to the Bible, Jesus raised Lazarus from death.  What follows is mere fiction inspired by a friend’s questioning me on love.  Fiction “You’ve taken away my death, you’ve appropriated it,” Lazarus tried hard to suppress his anger. “I gave you life,” said Jesus calmly, “new life.” “You had no right to do it,” Lazarus was almost contemptuous.  “Look at me, Jesus, look into my eyes.  You had no right to bring me back from death.  Do you realise the gravity of what you’ve done?  You’ve destroyed the peace that I had found in death.  I can forgive you for that.  But you’ve upset the whole world of my sisters.  They were getting used to my death.  They were learning to accept it as an inevitable fact of life.  Do you know how absurd it is for anyone to live with someone who has come back from death?  What am I now to them?  A ghost?  They want to ask me what it is like there – beyond death.  They don’t ask because they are sensitive enough.