My Science School

J.BS Haldane, British scientist known for his work in physiology, genetics, evolutionary biology and mathematics. J.B.S. Haldane, in full John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, (born Nov. 5, 1892, Oxford, Oxfordshire, Eng.—died Dec. 1, 1964, Bhubaneswar, India), British geneticist, biometrician, physiologist, and popularizer of science who opened new paths of research in population genetics and evolution.

Son of the noted physiologist John Scott Haldane, he began studying science as assistant to his father at the age of eight and later received formal education in the classics at Eton College and at New College, Oxford (M.A., 1914). After World War I he served as a fellow of New College and then taught at the University of Cambridge (1922–32), the University of California, Berkeley (1932), and the University of London (1933–57). Haldane’s major works include Daedalus (1924), Animal Biology (with British evolutionist Julian Huxley, 1927), The Inequality of Man (1932), The Causes of Evolution (1932), The Marxist Philosophy and the Sciences (1938), Science Advances (1947), and The Biochemistry of Genetics (1954). Selected Genetic Papers of J.B.S. Haldane, ed. by Krishna R. Dronamraju, was published in 1990.

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Ludwig Boltzmann, in full Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann, (born February 20, 1844, Vienna, Austria—died September 5, 1906, Duino, Italy), physicist whose greatest achievement was in the development of statistical mechanics, which explains and predicts how the properties of atoms (such as mass, charge, and structure) determine. Boltzmann's general law asserts that a system will approach a state of thermodynamic equilibrium because that is the most probable state. He introduced the 'Boltzmann equation' (1877) relating the kinetic energy of a gas atom or molecule to temperature.

In the 1870s Boltzmann published a series of papers in which he showed that the second law of thermodynamics, which concerns energy exchange, could be explained by applying the laws of mechanics and the theory of probability to the motions of the atoms. In so doing, he made clear that the second law is essentially statistical and that a system approaches a state of thermodynamic equilibrium (uniform energy distribution throughout) because equilibrium is overwhelmingly the most probable state of a material system. During these investigations Boltzmann worked out the general law for the distribution of energy among the various parts of a system at a specific temperature and derived the theorem of equipartition of energy (Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution law). This law states that the average amount of energy involved in each different direction of motion of an atom is the same. He derived an equation for the change of the distribution of energy among atoms due to atomic collisions and laid the foundations of statistical mechanics.

Boltzmann was also one of the first continental scientists to recognize the importance of the electromagnetic theory proposed by James Clerk Maxwell of England. Though his work on statistical mechanics was strongly attacked and long-misunderstood, his conclusions were finally supported by the discoveries in atomic physics that began shortly before 1900 and by recognition that fluctuation phenomena, such as Brownian motion (random movement of microscopic particles suspended in a fluid), could be explained only by statistical mechanics.

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Prof. Deepak Dhar is the first Indian to receive this top honour in the field of statistical physics. Deepak Dhar, physicist, from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune, has been selected for the Boltzmann medal, awarded by the Commission on Statistical Physics (C3) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. He becomes the first Indian to win this award, which was initiated in 1975, with Nobel laureate (1982) K.G. Wilson being the first recipient. Prof. Deepak Dhar Born on 30 October 1951 at Pratapgarh, in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to Murli Dhar-Rama Gupta couple, Deepak Dhar graduated in science from the University of Allahabad in 1970 before earning a master's degree in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1972. He shares the platform with American scientist John J. Hopfield who is known for his invention of an associative neural network, now named after him. The award consists of the gilded Boltzmann medal with the inscription of Ludwig Boltzmann, and the chosen two scientists will be presented the medals at the StatPhys28 conference to be held in Tokyo, 7-11 August, 2023. Dhar was elected as a fellow by the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1990 where he is a sitting council member.  He became an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy on 1995 and the National Academy of Sciences, India elected him as a fellow in 1999. Dhar received the elected fellowship of the World Academy of Sciences in 2006 and was selected for the J. C. Bose National fellowship of the Science and Engineering Research Board in 2007, with the tenure running until 2017.

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The Menlo Park area of Edison in Middlesex County, New Jersey proudly hosts the Thomas Edison Centre, which is also known as the Menlo Park Museum or the Edison Memorial Tower. The centre consists of the Art Deco Edison Memorial Tower and a small museum and education centre. The tower was dedicated on February 11, 1938, the day of Edison’s 91st birth anniversary. It stands right at the place where the Menlo Park laboratory had once stood. This place is included in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange is another monument kept to maintain Edison’s memory. It includes the West Orange Laboratory and Glenmont, the house where Edison lived.

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Like most persons of a legendary stature, Edison had his critics, too. There are some who say that his greatest invention was his own fame, which he built at the cost of his associates as well as rivals. Edison’s supporters defend him, however, saying that his brilliance really deserved whatever fame he earned.

It has to be remembered, anyway, that Edison’s idea of inventing something was not always to create something out of nothing. For instance, many other people had made incandescent lights before Edison, but none of them were practically successful. What Edison did was to find a perfect, practical version of the idea. In any case, nobody can deny the fact that it was he who set the stage for a modern electric world.

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As Edison crossed eighty, his health started to decline with a series of ailments. He fell into a coma on October 14, 1931 and died four days later. He was then 84.

Henry Ford had made a strange, yet touching request to Edison’s son Charles to seal a test tube of air in the great inventor’s room soon after his death. This test tube is put on display at the Henry Ford Museum near Detroit. Also made were plaster casts of Edison’s face and hands.

The whole of America mourned the passing of this legend. Electric lights in streets and buildings across the country were switched off or dimmed. Yes, it was as if the world had turned dark, as it was before Edison switched on the first ever light-switch.

Edison’s wife Mina passed away in 1947.

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The achievements of Edison were legendary. Starting as a tramp telegraphist, he had grown into a great inventor and businessman. This rags-to-riches success story has always caught the world’s imagination, and no wonder America looks at him as a folk hero.

It is not that all his inventions made a lot of money. Yet he built a huge business empire and employed thousands of assistants, engineers, machinists and researchers. He was not always an easy-going boss to his employees, and was ruthless to his rivals.

At the time of his death, his inventions were reported to have contributed about fifteen billion dollars to the national economy. He was a pioneer in the technological revolution of the modern a world.

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The 50th anniversary of Edison’s electric light was celebrated in 1929, and its highlight was a new museum at Greenfield Village, Michigan. It was a reconstruction of Edison’s invention factory! This was done by none other than Henry Ford, a great admirer and close friend of Edison.

No doubt, Edison was flattered to see a model of his workplace, and joked that the real place used to be much dirtier!

The electric light’s golden jubilee was celebrated in a grand manner, co-hosted by Ford and General Electric. It was attended by great persons like Marie Curie, Orville Wright, George Eastman, President Herbert Hoover and John Rockefeller Jr.

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