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Session 1: Introduction to Science and Technology
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Jyothsna
11:36
Hello and welcome to Session 1 of the colloquium on 'Science, Technology, Policy and Society' featuring Dr Dipankar Banerjee, Professor, Indian Institute of Science and Dr Aparajith Ramnath, Associate Professor, Humanities & Languages division, School of Arts and Sciences, Ahmedabad University. The session is moderated by Sashi Kumar, Chairman of the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.
11:38
Sashi Kumar introduces Dr Dipankar Banerjee, Professor, Indian Institute of Science.
11:41
Dr Banerjee begins by looking into the history of science and notes that there is a link between 'magic', 'science' and 'religion' and how communities shape their lives around these ideas.
11:43
He goes on to talk about how science entails examining a number of competing ideas and developing theories from them, and that there are no absolute truths in scientific matters.
11:45
Dr Banerjee throws light on the evolution of science, from the theories of relativity by Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton's ideas to the field of quantum mechanics that emerged in the 1920s.
11:47
He points out that the organism called 'man' is one part of an infinite universe of organisms, drawing parallels between the similarities between mice and human genes.
11:48
11:49
Noting that the origins of the universe are abstract, he elucidates on the evolution of science and technology and its applications in war.
11:51
He also urges on the need to keep in mind the ethics and morality in the usage of technology, for instance, the creation and usage of nuclear bombs in various wars.
11:52
Dr Banerjee dives into the principles of 'genomics' - which studies the entire DNA content within an organism's cell - and the impact of the field pioneered by Gregor Mendel in 1865.
11:55
Talking about the contemporary predicament with Artificial Intelligence (AI) in science and technology, he throws light on the evolution of communication, computing and AI and its subsequent impact in the decades to come.
11:56
11:57
Dr Banerjee examines the relationships between knowledge systems of science, technology, and engineering as well as the production of goods and services in the market economy.
11:59
Giving a historical instance of spinning and weaving threads, he establishes the global relationship between a nation's GDP and a government's significant investments in research and development infrastructure.
*** Friday, February 17 ***
Jyothsna
12:00
Dr Banerjee refers to the 2011 Bettele Memorial Report that denotes Global R&D Funding Forecast, which shows nations like China and USA spending over 500 billion dollars in research and development infrastructure.
12:02
Throwing light on India's commitment to higher education, he points out that as of 2016, India produces the second-highest number of graduates from the STEM fields, after China.
12:03
But he denotes the risk of rampant unemployment that several graduates from the STEM fields in India are met with.
12:04
Dr Banerjee concludes by stressing on the need for society's understanding of the developments in science and technology, and the need for convergence of public and scientific knowledge systems.
12:05
12:09
Responding to a question about government policies in science and technology, Dr Banerjee stresses the need for optimally funding the right minds working in varied fields of new, cutting-edge technology.
12:11
Further, he highlights the role of media in the interpretations of science and technology and their link with an economy's production of goods and services in order to enhance accessibility for the public.
12:13
12:17
Dr Banerjee also elaborates on the need for social scientists, economists and scientists to collaborate on the trajectories of developing scientific and technological innovations and knowledge systems.
12:22
He adds that newer innovations in science, technology and even language, especially in educational and institutional spaces, would offer India a chance to rid itself of problems surrounding illiteracy and unemployment.
12:25
Dr Banerjee ends by delving into the idea that in order to understand the efficacy of varied fields of healthcare practices across communities in India, there is a need for a wide-ranging data collection on the same.
Sashi Kumar introduces Dr Aparajith Ramnath, Associate Professor, Humanities & Languages division, School of Arts and Sciences, Ahmedabad University.
12:28
Dr Ramnath begins by offering his insights drawn from the historical and philosophical aspects of science, technology and society.
12:30
Relying on a combination of his own research as well as literatures available in areas of anthropology, sociology and science, he dives into the history of the design of the Howrah Bridge in Kolkata, India.
12:31
12:34
He notes that after the shortcomings of the floating bridge of 1874, built by Bradford Leslie, a team of engineers headed by Rajendranath Mukherjee came up with a cantilever design for the bridge.
12:38
Dr Ramnath goes on to point out that the acceptance of any product of engineering, science and technology is deeply influenced by the social and political contexts in which they are developed.
12:42
Dr Ramnath then cites the example of M Visvesvaraya, the Chief Engineer of Mysore in the early 1900s, who internalised the colonial philosophy in the creation of varied social and engineering projects, like the Krishna Raja Sagar dam, to enhance productive irrigation or the block system of irrigation.
12:43
He stresses that these projects, including the invention of the steam engine, were part of a larger initiative that threw light on the convergence of the innovations in science and technology and society.
12:45
Dr Ramnath further delves into the idea of 'technological determinism', which denotes that technology has a logic and momentum of its own and that people solely react to it.
12:48
By forging links between a horse, a bullock cart, a smartphone and cell towers, he says that all of the entities form part of a 'technology' that aids in making human lives easier.
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