The determinants of the scientific revolution

This article gives an indepth insight into the path leading to the Scientific Revolution which includes ancient theories of science and modern science and technology. This article is reproduced from the bookScience in the West and India: Some Historical Aspects, Editors B V Subbarayappa and N Mukunda, Published by Himalaya Publishing House, ’Ramdoot’, Dr Bhalerao Marg, Kelewadi, Girgaon, Mumbai 400 004, India.     

Reflections around the Ramanujan centenary

This article is based on the tape of an extemporaneous talk to a general audience at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, India, given after the conclusion of the Centenary Conference held there (January 1988). Reproduced fromAtle Selberg, Collected Papers. Vol 1”, pages 695–701, Springer Verlag, 1989.     

Techniques in X-ray astronomy

The excellent X-ray images produced by X-ray telescopes require the use of detectors with imaging capability at the focal plane of the telescopes. In this concluding part of the article on experimental techniques in X-ray astronomy, I describe many X-ray detectors that have been used over the years. These can broadly be classified into two physical types: non-dispersive and dispersive. Traditionally the simple non-dispersive types have been used extensively in X-ray astronomy. The advancement of solid state technologies, cryogenics, and the quality of X-ray imaging has led to many new detectors of both types. Both the traditional and the new types of detectors are described briefly here with emphasis on principles and some technical details. Kulinder Pal Singh is in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. His primary fields of research are X-ray studies of hot plasmas in stars, supernova remnants, galaxies, intergalactic medium in clusters of galaxies, active galactic nuclei, cataclysmic variables and X-ray binaries. He is leading the development of a soft X-ray imaging telescope for the ASTROSAT mission to be launched by India in 2007–2008. Part 1. Imaging Telescopes,Resonance, Vol. 10, No. 5, pp. 15–23, 2005.     

Odd behaviour of the even integer 2

It is always of interest when one finds a property that is true only of some given object, or some given class of objects. For example, if n > 1 is an integer, then (n − 1)! + 1 is divisible by n just when n is a prime number. In this article we look at some properties that are true only for the integer 2. Shailesh Shirali has been at Rishi Valley School, Andhra Pradesh (Krishnamurti Foundation India) since the 1980’s. He has a deep interest in teaching and writing about mathematics at the high school/post school levels, with particular emphasis on problem solving and on historical aspects of the subject. He has been involved in the Mathematics Olympiad movement at the national and international level for the past two decades. He is the author of several expository books and articles aimed at interested high school students.     

On Being College Prep: Examining the Implementation of a “College for All” Mission in an Urban Charter School

This article reports findings from a four-year case study of an urban college preparatory charter high school. Through analyses of teacher and staff interviews, the author highlights how the school approached the idea of “college for all” under the archetypal influence of “college preparatory.” The interview data show how the charter school staff engaged in important educational questions about what defines college preparation even though those questions became more complex as the school matured. These findings are presented in three themes: (1) building a school, which reflects staff members’ views on the school’s start-up period of building renovation and growth, (2) building a curriculum, which reflects staff members’ views on teachers’ instructional practices, and (3) building a college culture, which reflects staff members’ efforts to provide students with supplemental academic and social supports for college planning and preparation.     

Trends in Female Authorships, Editorial Board Memberships, and Editorships in Educational Psychology Journals from 2003 to 2008

Robinson, McKay, Katayama, and Fan (Contemporary Educational Psychology, 23, 331–343, 1998) reported that women were underrepresented in terms of authorships, editorial board memberships, and editorships in the field of educational psychology based on membership trends. More recently, Evans, Hsieh, and Robinson (Educational Psychology Review, 17, 263–271, 2005) reported that women had made gains as editors but had not kept pace with organizational membership in terms of authorships and editorial board memberships. Our goal in this paper was to further examine women’s participation in educational psychology journals by extending the datasets of Robinson et al. and Evans et al. The number of female authors per article, particularly those from non-US institutions, has continued to increase. However, consistent with Evans et al., although females are continuing to make numerical gains in both authorships—both primary and secondary—and editorial board memberships, their involvement has not kept pace in relation to membership trends.     

Understanding creative cultural divergence: a Bakhtinian reflection from a culture-crossing scholar

I respond to Baron and Chen’s article on creative cultural divergence, which they describe as the novel pedagogy of diverging from culturally generated educational expectations. Their article provides an analysis on how an experienced Taiwanese teacher drew on different forms of creative cultural divergence to facilitate students’ critical thinking and science inquiry. To better understand the phenomenon of creative cultural divergence, I draw on Bakhtin’s concepts of outsideness, novelization, and internally persuasive discourse to analyze how these divergences are produced. These concepts not only help us to understand the phenomenon of creative cultural divergence, they also help me to reflect on my own culture-crossing experience. The implications of these concepts for culture and education are further discussed.     

Reading from the Feet Up: The Local Work of Literacy

Children learn to read at approximately the same stage in life as they start to master their physical environment. This article argues that some of the same mapping and schema-building strategies inform each activity, and draws on examples from a broad range of children’s books to support the idea that reading fiction and mapping one’s local surroundings work in tandem among many young children. Fictional examples include Ramona the Brave, The Moffats, and The House at Pooh Corner. As children grow, and their understanding of their own world increases, their relationship with fiction may become more complex; this proposal is discussed in relation to the works of Carolyn Keene and Enid Blyton.     

Theorema Aureum — 1

Are there perfect squares which on division by 7 leave remainder 3? Are there perfect squares which on division by 3 leave remainder 7? (A “remainder of 7” on division by 3 is the same as a remainder of 1.) The answers: ‘NO’ and ‘YES’, respectively. These facts are stated by number theorists as follows: 3 is a quadratic non-residue modulo 7; 7 is a quadratic residue modulo 3. The notion of quadratic residue is far reaching, and the key theorem here is the Law of Quadratic Reciprocity, first stated by Euler in 1783, but without proof, and first proved by Gauss, in 1796. The theorem is easy to state but is mysterious, as it reveals a connection between two questions that appear unconnected. Let p, q be distinct odd primes; then the questions are: “Is p a quadratic residue modulo q?” and “Is q a quadratic residue modulo p?” Gauss had a high regard for this result and called it Theorema Aureum, the Golden Theorem. Though it has been proved in many different ways, it retains its mystery. In this two part article we give three proofs of the theorem. The first one, described in this part, is based on group theory.     

The second promise ofbrown

This article describes the cultural consequences of the local school closing in a predominantly black community (Centerville) as a result of desegregation policies. Based on oral accounts of community members, the author unearths the diverse functions the former all-black school used to have in the community. Furthermore, the possible reasons for the nostalgia with which the community remembers its “own” school are analyzed. It is shown why the predominantly white schools to which today's students are bused cannot possibly “pass the test” of comparison with the former community school. And finally, the article reminds us of two promises ofBrown, only one of which has been fulfilled in the case of Centerville. While racial segregation of schooling was indeed abolished in Centerville, the second promise ofBrown—providing equal educational opportunities for all children irrespective of race—remains elusive at best. And the very institution that would be central to fulfilling the second promise ofBrown—a school for which the town feels a sense of ownership—was closed for the sake of desegregation. Parts of this article have been the basis for an oral presentation at the South Atlantic Philosophy of Education Society meeting, Richmond, VA, October 1993, and are published in the SAPES Proceedings, 1993, pp. 109–114.     

How can conceptual schemes change teaching?

Lundqvist, Almqvist and ?stman describe a teacher’s manner of teaching and the possible consequences it may have for students’ meaning making. In doing this the article examines a teacher’s classroom practice by systematizing the teacher’s transactions with the students in terms of certain conceptual schemes, namely the epistemological moves, educational philosophies and the selective traditions of this practice. In connection to their study one may ask how conceptual schemes could change teaching. This article examines how the relationship of the conceptual schemes produced by educational researchers to educational praxis has developed from the middle of the last century to today. The relationship is described as having been transformed in three steps: (1) teacher deficit and social engineering, where conceptual schemes are little acknowledged, (2) reflecting practitioners, where conceptual schemes are mangled through teacher practice to aid the choices of already knowledgeable teachers, and (3) the mangling of the conceptual schemes by researchers through practice with the purpose of revising theory.     

Assessing teacher effectiveness in India: overview and critical appraisal

Conclusion Assessing teacher effectiveness is a complex issue with social and historical dimensions. Assessment of teacher effectiveness was an alien concept in ancient and medieval India. The teacher's moral authority, scholarship, wisdom and role in shaping the lives of the youth and the society was unquestionable. The place of the teacher ('the Guru’) was always considered much higher than that of the parents. Original language: English J. S. Rajput (India) Has contributed in the areas of science education, elementary education and teacher education. Has guided research in the field of concept formation in science, education of minorities and tribal groups, and non-formal education. In addition to numerous research papers and articles, recent publications includeExperiences and expectations in elementary education andUniversalisation of elementary education—role of the teacher education. Appointed first Chairperson of National Council for Teacher Education. K. Walia (India) Doctorate in teacher education from the Central University of Jamia Millia Islamia (1992). Interest in elementary-stage teacher education and in the development of a competency-based teacher-education curriculum at elementary stage. Has conducted a major study on the profiles of teacher educators in India. Is co-ordinating the development of a curriculum framework for teacher education in India, a task undertaken by the National Council for Teacher Education where she is presently working as a research officer. The authors gratefully acknowledge the help rendered by Prof. O.S. Dewal in the preparation of this paper. Several ideas and suggestions offered by R.H. Dave, S.C. Behar and R. Govinda are also acknowledged. John A. Smyth of UNESCO provided the opportunity and motivation for developing this paper.     

Resisting English: Excavating English Ideologies of Young Boys through Chutkule at an Indian Orphanage

The prevailing scholarship on Indians’ beliefs about English has, with few exceptions, largely failed to capture ideological resistance. Given the supremacy of English within the hierarchically ordered and unequal linguistic landscape in India, this study intervenes within this limited area of research. This investigation excavates ideologies of resistance to English through chutkule, a humorous folk genre, narrated by young boys at an anathashram (orphanage) in suburban New Delhi. The theoretical lens of language ideology is employed to unpack latent issues of resistance and erasure within the chutkule, and emergent ideological tensions are interpreted in the context of educational equity. In addition to locating beliefs about language in a previously unresearched genre, this study adds to the limited scholarship on Indians’ ideological resistance to English. Further, because these notions are mined through the boys’ chutkule at the anathashram, this investigation illuminates previously neglected discourses from India’s socioeconomic margins.     

Early childhood education in India: History,trends, issues,and achievements

The changes in the social and economic structure of India have intensified the need for universal early childhood education. The formidable challenges before the Indian Government are: to provide high quality early childhood education programs; to preserve indigenous practices such as multilinguality, family/community involvement, participation of older children as caretakers of their younger siblings; and to provide early childhood education to all children despite serious financial constraints. This article presents a brief overview of the traditional childrearing practices in India, chronicles government initiatives in early childhood education, describes the range of programs available in India, and identifies goals that will shape the future of early childhood programs in India. Portions of this article will appear in Isenberg, J.P., & Jalongo, M.R. (Eds.). (1997, in press).Trends and issues in early childhood: Challenges, controversies, and insights. New York: Teachers College Press.     

The invisible obstacle to educational equality: gender bias in textbooks

Gender bias in textbooks (GBIT) is a low-profile education issue, given the 72,000,000 children who still have no access to schooling, but this article argues that GBIT is: (1) an important, (2) near-universal, (3) remarkably uniform, (4) quite persistent but (5) virtually invisible obstacle on the road to gender equality in education—an obstacle camouflaged by taken-for-granted stereotypes about gender roles. Specifically, GBIT: (1) is important because (a) textbooks occupy ~80% of classroom time, and (b) it may contribute to lowering girls’ achievements, especially in weak schools in poor countries; (2) has been found worldwide to varying degrees (except, perhaps, Sweden in recent years); (3) involves nearly identical patterns of under-representation of females, plus stereotypes of both genders’ occupational and household roles that overwhelmingly underplay women’s rising worldly importance; (4) is decreasing very slowly, according to “second generation” re-studies; and (5) remains obscured by the “hidden-in-plain-sight” system of gender stratification and roles. Case studies from Syria, India, Romania, China and the US document these points. Other case studies from Sweden and Latin America describe government initiatives to reduce GBIT, with differing levels of success. Totally revising textbooks (and curricula) to eliminate this bias is quite unlikely, partly because it is very costly. The article concludes by presenting inexpensive alternate methods that can combat GBIT.     

Variation theory and the different ways of experiencing educational policy

Differences and contradictions in understanding education policies such as ‘Teach Less, learn More’ may cause confusion between the intended meaning and actual implementation. Approaches to understanding public policy, such as discourse analysis, are useful for highlighting such differences, but do not explain how these differences may be explained in relation to each other. Phenomenography and variation theory offer an alternative, by examining the variation within, rather than the differences between, experiences of an educational policy. In the past decade, there have been significant developments in the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of phenomenography which were initially labeled as ‘new phenomenography’, but gradually came to accepted as variation theory. In this article, I trace the development of phenomenography to variation theory and explain the critical differences between classical phenomenography and variation theory. I argue that variation theory is useful for describing educational policy from the perspective of how it is experienced, and that these different ways of experiencing a policy may in turn be understood and utilised in theoretical, analytical and pedagogical ways.     

Teaching unawareness: the curriculum of desire and love in the risk society

We are living in a world risk society where different forms of risk have become a part of daily life, such as energy crisis, financial crisis, global terrorism, and ecological crisis. Beck (World risk society, Polity Press, Cambridge, 1999) argues that knowing about ‘unawareness’ might provide another way for us to reconsider the problems of the risk society. This paper focuses on the discussions of the unawareness of the social practices of desire, because it may be the key point of the neoliberal world that has the strongest influence in this world. There are three main parts in this article. The first discusses the interlinked relationship between the risk society and desire, and the unawareness of the social practices of desire. Unawareness is identified according to three aspects: dualism, individualism, and rationalism. The second part focuses on the discussion of the possible ways to solve the three aspects of unawareness, for example, co-presence, holistic epistemology, and compassion. Finally, three suggestions are proposed for the future curriculum: reconstructing the subject-centered knowledge, the curriculum of desire, and the curriculum of love.     

Return of the Hacker as Hero: Fictions and Realities of Teenage Technological Experts

When critics consider young people’s practices within cyberspace, the focus is often on negative aspects, namely cyber-bullying, obsessive behaviour, and the lack of a balanced life. Such analyses, however, may miss the agency and empowerment young people experience not only to make decisions but to have some degree of control over their lives through their engagement with and use of technology, which often includes sharing it with others in cyberspace. This was a finding of research conducted by Nicola Johnson, which also informs the two novels considered in this article, Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and Brian Falkner’s Brainjack. The article draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of acts of resistance (Acts of Resistance: Against the New Myths of our Time, 1998) to demonstrate how these fictional representations of hacker heroes make a direct address to their readers to use their technological expertise to achieve social justice. Rather than hacking primarily to “see if they can do it,” the protagonists of these novels acknowledge the moral ambiguity of hacking and encourage its responsible use.     

Effect of processing parameters on the electromagnetic radiation emission during plastic deformation and crack propagation in copper-zinc alloys

INTRODUCTION The physics of plastic deformation and crack propagation at atomic level is complex but is essential for the development of new materials. This requires an understanding of the atomic level phenomena associated with the plastic deformation. In this con- text, emission of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) during plastic deformation and crack propagation in metals and alloys, and generation of transient mag- netic fields during crack initiation in ferromagnetic materials are rep…     

Techniques in X-ray astronomy

X-ray astronomy has benefited enormously with the deployment of imaging X-ray telescopes in space, leading to a veritable revolution. Such telescopes require distortion free focusing of X-rays and the use of position sensitive X-ray detectors. In this article I shall describe the importance of X-ray imaging, the optical principles behind the creation of images and the instruments based on these principles. The various techniques used to fabricate such X-ray telescopes are described briefly. The many types of detectors used in X-ray astronomy will be described in the second part of this article in a subsequent issue ofResonance. Kulinder Pal Singh is in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. His primary fields of research are X-ray studies of hot plasmas in stars, supernova remnants, galaxies, intergalactic medium in clusters of galaxies, active galactic nuclei, cataclysmic variables and X-ray binaries. He is leading the development of a soft X-ray imaging telescope for the ASTROSAT mission to be launched by India in 2007–2008.