Sunday, June 25, 2017




INDIA'S    INDIRA



********************************************************



                                    Inline image 1

" India’s   Indira “ ;   Edited by  Anand  Sharma ; Published by  Academic Foundation ; Pages 300
​;​
 Price Rs.3500/-


********************************************************
The book under review is a  Coffee Table book released on the occasion of the birth centenary of Indira Gandhi. It was released by the Vice-President Hamid Ansari and the first copy was handed over to  President Pranab Mukherjee .Both the President and the  Vice President contribute chapters to the book. The volume is edited by Anand Sharma who  is Deputy Leader of Congress Parliamentary Party in Rajya Sabha .

According to  Pranab Mukherjee  Indira Gandhi remains the “most acceptable Prime Minister to the people of India till today” and  he recalled her decisiveness in effectively reorganising the Congress party after the electoral debacle in 1977. Referring to ‘Operation Blue Star’, a military action to flush out militants hiding in the Golden Temple at Amritsar in 1984, Mukherjee recalled, “As a student of history, I was mortally afraid to do anything with Golden Temple. And as a member of the cabinet, I could not avoid my responsibility of co-sharing the decision. But in meeting itself I said we are perhaps taking the most dangerous decision.”

 Sonia Gandhi  in her “Foreword “ writes the “brand of patriotism  I saw in Indira Gandhi was a noble one that she imbibed from freedom struggle”.

 This publication, with a rich collection of articles, archival documents and photographs, attempts to encapsulate the inspirational journey of Indira Gandhi’s multifaceted persona, her life, her struggles, abiding commitment to the people of India, her world view and her legacy.

 Section One of the book “Indira-- An Endearing Legacy” by Anand Sharma is a graphic recapitulation of  the life and achievements of Indira .Indira was born on November 19, 1917 and was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru. She married Feroze Gandhi, a lawyer who died in 1960.She became President of the Congress Party in 1959. After Nehru’s death she became Minister of Information and Broadcasting and succeeded Lal Bahadur Shastri as Prime Minister in 1966. After India’s decisive victory over Pakistan in 1971, she won  overwhelmingly in the elections. She was accused of violating election laws—a charge upheld by the Allahabad High Court. Her position being threatened plus growing domestic unrest led her to declare a state of Emergency in 1975. She postponed elections, suspended civil liberties and arrested thousands of political leaders. In the March 1977 election she suffered a massive defeat. She lost her own seat. In 1978 she returned to Parliament. She won a massive  victory in 1980. In her attempt to crush the secessionist movement of Sikh militants, led by  Bindranwale, she ordered an assault upon the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar,  the Golden Temple’  "Operation Bluestar"  in June 1984 earned for her the undying hatred of Sikhs who bitterly resented the desecration of their sacred temple. In November of the same year, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated, at her residence, by two of her own Sikh bodyguards, who claimed to be avenging the insult heaped upon the Sikh nation.


Section Two contains twelve well-chosen speeches in several venues. It includes her swan-song in Bhubaneshwar on October 30, 1984 where she made a prophetic statement “ I do not care whether I live or die. I have lived a long life and I am proud that I spent the whole of my life in the service of my people. I am only proud of this and nothing else. I shall continue to serve until my last breath and when   I die, I can say that every drop of my blood will invigorate India and strengthen it”

Section Three contains “ A Homage to a Global Leader” and includes articles by distinguished persons. President Pranab Mukherjee wrote “ Indiraji's entire life was infused with a tremendous passion for India and its people, and a deep-rooted commitment to our core values. She was filled with an intense desire to see India rise above poverty and deprivation as well as occupy a rightful place on the high table of the international comity…. Fearlessness in action and boldness in decision making was the unique hallmark of her character, Indira waged throughout her life a relentless war against communal and sectarian violence. Her short period in political wilderness revealed her true strength. The President said Indiraji was India's second longest serving Prime Minister having served continuously for 11 years and two months from 1966 to 1977 and then again for four years and eight months from 1980 to 1984. ''It was in Indiraji's time that India became the third largest reservoir of skilled scientific and technical manpower, the fifth military power, the sixth member of the nuclear club, the seventh in the race for space and the tenth industrial power.''

Vice-President Hamid  Ansari praises Indira’s pragmatism and flexibility in the conduct of foreign policy. Most observers of the Indian scene consider her handling of the Bangladesh crisis masterly. He remembered Indira as someone who “succeeded in good measure, faltered in places and left her imprint in history...was loved, revered and even disliked.”

 There are four  tributes to Indira by  leaders of nations recalling her munificent support of their nations’ efforts to be recognised and survive. These are Sam Nujoma  , the first President of Namibia, Sheikh Hasina  Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Chandrika   Kumaratunga, fifth President of Sri Lanka and  Jigme  Wangchuck, King  of Bhutan.

 K. Shankar Bajpai, a veteran diplomat from the  Indian Foreign Service recalls Indira’s role in the accession of Sikkim to India. In a delightful nostalgic piece, Shyam Benegal,  writes of how the Censor Board did not clear his film “ NIshan” which  dealt with the uprising in Telengana. He arranged for a special screening of the film for the P.M  who saw it and declared, “Denying a Censor Certificate for the film would make the Government seem insensitive and petty.”. The film was cleared. 

 Aditya Mukherjee, Professor of  Indian History in Jawaharlal Nehru University writes of Indira’s role in shaping our economy. Wajahat Habibullah, an  administrator of the Indian Administrative Service writes passionately of the last day of Indira Gandhi and the events of the day she was assassinated..

 There are some rare photographs of India’s Iron Lady in the book . Sharma spent several  months scanning some 30,000 pictures to select the photos. The collection includes rare photographs of  "Indira Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore " and  of the two " Iron Ladies Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher"

This is an outstanding Centennial tribute to Indira Gandhi  with excellent contributions  and with many   lavish photographs in black and white.  It is indeed a labour of love and regard for the departed great leader. It is magnificently produced and is a feather in the cap of Academic Foundation.

P.P.Ramachandran.
25 / 06 / 2017

Tit-bits.
Nehru was taken ill in Bhubaneshwar in May 1964.
​​He died on 27 May 1964.
Indira addressed a rally in Bhubaneshwar on October 30,1984.She was assassinated the next day.
Rajiv Gandhi campaigned in Orissa on  May 21, 1991. Eight hours later he was dead (P 247)


PPR

Monday, June 19, 2017


BOOK    ON   "  I S R O "






                                     Inline image 4 

From Fishing Hamlet to Red Planet ; Edited by P.V.Manoranjan Rao; Published by Harper Collins ; Pages 689  ; Price Rs.999/-

                                       *************************
The Chief Editor of the book P.V.Manoranjan Rao retired from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre as Group Director. He is the author of the book “A Brief History of Rocketry in ISRO” which bagged for him an Award from the International Academy of Astronautics. The Co-Editor B.N.Suresh is a Director of VSSC and a Padma Bhushan recipient for his seminal contributions to the development of launch vehicles in ISRO. The other Co-Editor V.P.Balagangadharan is also from VSSC and he expanded the  outreach activities of ISRO.

The first Act in India’s Space Drama was enacted in a fishing village in Thumba  near Thiruvananthapuram. The first rocket was launched on 21st November 1963 and the rocket, the payload, the radar, the computer, the helicopter—all items required for the launch were obtained from outside the country.

When ISRO  launched its Mars Orbiter Mission ( MOM)—Fifty years later from Sriharikota—all the components were indigenously manufactured.

Ten months after MOM took off on 24th November 2014, India became the first country in the world to put a satellite around the Red Planet and that too on the first attempt.

The book under review is a magnificent recounting of “ India’s Space Odyssey ” from its modest beginning to its rendezvous with the stars. With the help of articles, interviews and reminiscences representing three generations of ISRO professionals. The first generation of visionaries and pioneers laid the foundation of the technological giant called “ ISRO”. The second generation that designed and developed operational satellites and launch vehicles and the third generation that is presently engaged in reaching for the stars. 

There are in all fifty contributors to this book. To  highlight a few of the distinguished contributors to this volume  on our Space-Saga --they include Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan, Yash Pal, M.G.K.Menon, Abdul Kalam. U.R.Rao and K.Kasturirangan.

The introductory chapter “Overview” provides the background required to appreciate how  ISRO mastered the various technologies to make India a “Space Faring Nation”. It throws a flood of light on how ISRO harnessed these technologies for the country’s development.

In the early days Trivandrum itself was like an outgrown village.   In the land acquired for TERLS the only decent building available was a church----the St.Mary Magdalene Church. India’s space programme was born in this church. "The church was our workshop and the Bishop’s house was our Office”, wrote one of the early recruits of Vikram Sarabhai. Development of many of the technologies for rocketry was initiated in this church.

Vikram Sarabhai answers the question, “ Why Thumba was chosen to launch India’s Space programme ?” . Two reasons. One scientific and the other humanitarian. Thumba is located on the Earth’s Geo-Magnetic Equator. The other was how many people would  be displaced by the project. The smallest number was in Thumba. Also, if any of the rockets collapsed the debris would fall in the adjoining sea.

The untimely demise of Vikram Sarabhai led to the problem of a worthy successor. Indira Gandhi chose Satish Dhawan, according to M.G.K.Menon. The first decade of ISRO  is explained by E.V.Chitnis. He was the first to locate Sriharikota island, where now ISRO’s premier launching range is located. Prof.Yash Pal writes eloquently of “ The Romance of the Indian Space Programme”. R.Aravamudhan contributes a personal account of the evolution of ISRO.

Part Two of the book deals with Rockets. Abdul Kalam who was Project Director of SLV-3—India’s Space Launching Vehicle—gives a detailed and fascinating account of the launch vehicle which transformed India into a space-faring nation. There is an excellent account of PSLV by N.Narayana Murthy who was the Project Director of PSLV  during 2002—07. The PSLV  is the pride of ISRO—It was the rocket used to lift up Chandrayan—1 and recovery missions. It also launched the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) known as “Mangalyan”

“Satellites” is the subject matter of Part  Three. Dr.U.R.Rao is the ultimate authority on Satellites in ISRO and he gives a graphic account in “ Origins of Satellite Technology in ISRO”—the story of Aryabhata. Rao was the Founder Director of Isro Satellite Centre and Chairman of ISRO. We have articles on India’s indigenous communication satellite APPLE. “ Remote Sensing Applications” are covered in a number of articles.  Dr.M.S.Swaminathan writes on the use of Remote Sensing in the field of agriculture.

ISRO’s “SITE” was described by Sir Arthur Clarke “as the greatest communications experimented in history”.

There are four articles on Chandrayan I. This moon mission was conceived when Kasturirangan was Chairman of ISRO, We have a comprehensive account of the maiden moon mission of ISRO. The Project Director of MO, Dr .S.Arunan writes on the  “ Mars Orbiter Mission”.

 ISRO  has been fortunate to have good leaders like Dr.Kasturirangan, Dr.Madhavan Nair and Dr.Radhakrishnan.

The book has contributions from all the Chairmen of ISRO  from the first Vikram Sarabhai to the latest Kiran Kumar  and is an outstanding contribution to literature on Space.

Tit Bits—All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy !

Dr,K,Radhakrishnan was Chairman of ISRO  when MOM  was successfully accomplished. ”During my tenure as Chairman I continued to be a student of Carnatic music and found five to six hours a week on average for music practice.” He has sung in the Chembai Sangeth Mahotsavam.

Remember Albert Einstein played the violin and Thomas  Edison the piano !

Inline image 1  Inline image 2 Inline image 3
Vikram Sarabhai       Satish Dhawan            Abdul  Kalam

P.P.Ramachandran
18 / 06 / 2017



Sunday, June 11, 2017


A   POET'S    PARABLES 



                                                  Inline image 1

********************************************************************************************************

A  Poet’s Parables by Kailash Vajpeyi ; Published by Academic Foundation ; Pages 209  ; Price Rs.995/-

                                  ********************************

The book under review is a tribute by Roopa Vajpeyi to her husband Kailash Vajpeyi who passed away in 2015. He is recognised as an outstanding figure of his generation in the world of Hindi letters, Roopa herself taught English and American Literature in a Delhi University College. She also edited a journal for “ Consumer VOICE “. The couple was married for half a century.

Kailash Vajpeyi was born at Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh in 1936. He had completed his PhD in Hindi at the age of 24. He began his career as a journalist and later taught at Delhi University. In his entire career, 28 books were published including 14 volumes of poetry. Some of his notable works includes  Sankrant, Dehant Se Hatkar, Teesra Andhera and Sufinama..

Poets across the spectrum agree that Vajpeyi had a “distinct” style of writing that has gone with him. Gulzar said “Kailashji was a very unusual poet with a style of his own. His usage of metaphors was unlike others and I always heard him with rapt attention… His poetry had a Sufi colour to it- an abstract element.”

Kaiash is a name to be reckoned with on Radio and Television reigning for forty years. His subjects were Arts, Ideas, Philosophy, Religion and Books. He produced over twenty  documentaries. He bagged several literary awards, culminating with the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award for his “ Hawa Mein Hastakshar “ in the year 2009.

He was a dynamic personality, with a mesmerising voice and his interests were at once extensive and intensive—ranging from Literature, Music, Religion, Philosophy and recondite subjects like Tantra and Quantum Physics. The book under review which Roopa calls “ Parables “ carry the message loud and clear that Mankind is One sharing sorrow and joy. Despite differences we are essentially One, The Parables have a universal value.

In an affectionate “Foreword” Roopa recalls how the couple had a “Fairy-tale life, living inside a bubble that we have created”. Kailash had a range of knowledge that was truly astounding. He had a mellifluous voice that he used for songs and for his own  lyrics and musical compositions. He served in AIR  and BBC(Hindi) and Television. For two decades he made short films for T V  on saints, poets, intellectuals and thinkers. He was untiring in his pursuit of what could be done in one life-time. He maintained a unique rapport with a variety of individuals which made them feel valued.

The parables in the book are a reflection of Kailash and his attainments. They throw light on the human dilemma faced by anyone, anywhere crossing geographical constraints. According to him there is always a solution, often a simple one , which is happenstance  and waiting to be lighted upon.

We give a few examples of the parables for the reader to gauge the Poet’s thoughts.

Ibrahim, the King of Balkh, was a devout man.One night as he lay sleeping, the rooftop began to shake. Startled, he asked, ”Who is that?”. A voice answered,” Don’t worry. I am not an enemy. I lost my camel. I’m trying to find him.” Ibrahim said that searching for the camel on the rooftop was rather strange. The voice replied, ”Fool, You are searching for God sitting on a Golden throne wearing expensive clothes. Isn’t that stranger than searching for a camel on the palace rooftop?”

                                  ******************************
During the last journey of the Pandavas to Himalayas, Yudhishtira’s four brothers and their wife Draupadi slipped on ice and died. Yudhishtira then saw a flying chariot standing before him and a messenger of the Gods beseeching him to go to Heaven in his physical body. His dog, Sarameya was with Yudhishtira.”Can I sit with this dog on the chariot?”,he asked. The messenger said, ”Animals are not capable of entering Heaven. You have to leave the dog here.”. On hearing this,Yudhishtira replied, “Then I don’t want  to go.” The moment Yudhishtira spoke the words, the dog vanished and Dharmaraj himself stood before Yudhishtira,” Son, You are great. Even in the face of death, you have not left the path of Dharma. You have passed the ultimate test successfully.”

                             ******************************
It was the time of the festival of Baisakhi. Guru Gobind Singh was giving his discourse when Mughal soldiers attacked the Sikhs who faced it boldly. Some were killed, some were injured and some ran away. The next day when the Guru was continuing with his discourse somebody came and complained—Kanhaiya is giving water not only to injured Sikhs but to the Mughal soldiers as well.” Guruji called Kanhaiya and asked him, ”Is it true?”. Kanhaiya said,  ” I am working according to your teaching.I see your face in every face.” Guruji said “Only Kanhaiya has understood my teachings—To help the needy is the real religion”.

                             **********************************
                                                                                  
 The great advantage of this book is that the Parables are available in both Hindi and English. Each parable is embellished by a Sanskrit sloka. There are in all 92 parables and these relate to diverse religions—Hindu, Sikh, Islamic, Sufi, Christian, Buddhist etc. This is an immensely  satisfying book that nourishes our intellect. Highly commendable work by Roopa of selecting, editing and  translating her husband Kailash  Vajpeyi’s outstanding work.


      Inline image 2     Inline image 3
       Kailash Vajpeyi                    Roopa Vajpeyi

P.P.Ramachandran.
11 / 06 / 2017

Thursday, June 8, 2017




 X I I-GRISHNESHWAR  JYOTIR LINGA

                                Inline image 1

Grishneshwar temple or Dhushmeshwar temple, is one of the 12j\Jyotirlingas,  GrIshneshwar means "Lord of Compassion", The temple is an important pilgrimage site located  less than a kilometer from Ellora Caves – a Unesco World Heritage site. It is about 30 kilometres (19 miles) north-west of the city of Aurangabad

This temple was destroyed by the Delhi Sultanate during the Hindu-Muslim wars of 13th and 14th-century. The temple went through several rounds of rebuilding followed by destruction during the Mughal-Maratha conflict. 

The Grishneswar temple is an illustration of south Indian temple architectural style and structure. The temple, built of red rocks, is composed of a five tier shikara. The temple was re-constructed by Maloji Bhosale grandfather of Shivaji in the 16th century and later again by Ahilyabai Holkar in the 18th century.

This 240 ft x 185 ft temple is the smallest Jyotirlinga temple in India. Halfway up the temple, Dasavataras of Vishnu are carved in red stone. A court hall is built on 24 pillars. On these pillars there are carvings depicting various legends and mythologies of Shiva. The Garbhagriha measures 17 ft x 17 ft. The Lingamurty faces eastward. There is a Nandi bull in the court hall.


 This was originally a settlement of the Naga tribes. The place of the Nagas is Bambi, which is known as “Varul” in Marathi--- “Varul” gradually changed into “Verul” and is known by this name only. River Yelaganga flows here. The name “Verul” is derived from Yelaganga, on whose banks the village is located. There was a King by the name “Yela” here. The capital of his kingdom was Yelapar, or Yelur or Verul.


The very devout Shiva devotee, Bhosale once found a treasure hidden in the snake pit (ant hill) by the grace of Lord Grishneshwar. He spent that money to renovate the temple and built a lake in Shikharshinganapur.

Legends—two versions

Grishneshwar Temple, also known as Ghushmeshwar, has a very interesting legend attached to it. It is said that there was once a very religious woman, known as Kusuma, who used to worship Lord Shiva every day. She used to immerse the  Shivalingam in a tank, as  part of her everyday prayer. Her husband had a second wife, who got jealous of the devotion of Kusuma and her resultant respect in the society. In a fit of rage and resentment, she murdered Kusuma's son.

Kusuma became extremely depressed when she came to know that her son had been killed. However, she continued worshipping the Lord. It is said that when she immersed the lingam into the tank, after  the death of her son, he miraculously came back to life again. The legend further states  that  Lord Shiva appeared before Kusuma as well as the villagers. On Kusuma's request, Lord Shiva manifested Himself at the very site, in the form of the Jyotirlinga Ghusmeshwar. The temple is highly revered by people and attracts devotees from far and wide.


According to Shivapuran, in the southern direction, on a mountain named Devagiri lived a Brahmin called Brahmavetta Sudharm along with his wife Sudeha. The couple did not have a child because of which Sudeha was sad. Sudeha prayed and tried all possible remedies but in vain. Frustrated of being childless, Sudeha got her sister Ghushma married to her husband. On the advice of her sister, Ghushma used to make 101 lingas, worship them and discharge them in the near by lake.


Soon Ghushma was blessed with a son. The happiness of the couple made her sister Sudeha jealous and in a fit of envy, she killed the young child and threw the baby in the same lake where Ghushma used to release the holy lingams. When Ghushma came to know of the incident next day morning, she remained calm and unshaken and remained engrossed in worship of the Lord. She firmly believed that Lord Shiva who had blessed her would protect her child too. Her unshakable faith bore fruits and soon she saw her son coming to her from the lake, hale and hearty.

When the Lord appeared before her, she asked forgiveness for her sister and asked Him to remain at the place eternally for the benefit of others in the form of a Jyotirlinga. The wish was granted and soon Lord Shiva assumed the Jyotirlinga form and took the name of Ghushmeshwara. The lake is called the Shivalaya after the incident.

The temple is an excellent example of traditions followed by Hindus in the pre-historic times .The temple is rich with beautiful carvings and is a fine example of medieval architecture.The temple is made of spotted red stone. Decorative friez and sculpturd depoct the pantheon of HINDU Gods, including Brahma, Vishnu, Ganesh, the marriafe of Shiva and Parvati, celestial beings and even Maratha heroes. Close to the temple is a pond called Shivalaya and other temples.

                                                    Inline image 3

Wednesday, June 7, 2017



The  Unknown  Universe

                                                  
                                                     Inline image 5                                                                
The Unknown Universe by Stuart Clark ; Published by Head Zeus ; Pages 303 ; Price U.K.Pound 16/99.
                                                    ************************
The author of this book Stuart Clark is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society who  celebrates and challenges the current state of modern astrophysics with a wide-ranging and accessible look at the field’s most cutting edge research. This is a fascinating voyage of discovery for the layman and scientist alike. Stuart explores the arguments, the rivalries, and the triumphs of astrophysics with lively writing and an enviable knack for converting the most complex topics into clear, easy-to-absorb ideas. 

The European Space Agency published a groundbreaking  image three years ago of the Universe as it was 13.7 billion years ago. This was welcomed by astronomers. Then doubts arose. The map of cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang shows a universe that consists of nothing but a “gigantic cloud of atoms.” Observations on the rotation of galaxies and the speed of the Universe’s expansion  led scientists to theorise  the existence of dark matter that can’t be seen and dark energy that can’t be found, and raised fundamental questions of  the current understanding of gravity itself. Stuart explains all these to the layman both clearly and crisply.

The map released by the European Space Agency of the afterglow of the Big Bang took us  into  440 sextillion kilometres of space and 13.8 billion years of time. This was at once the acme of science as also the demolisher of almost everything we hold cosmologically sacrosanct.

The  book under review  is the first one to address an epoch-defining scientific paradigm shift. It also raises a whole host of questions. Do we have to rewrite   Newton's famous laws of gravity ; Are  dark matter and dark energy  just celestial phantoms? Can we ever know what happened before the Big Bang? What’s at the bottom of a black hole? Are there Universes beyond our own? Does time exist? Are the once immutable laws of physics changing?


This is the best popular science book you can lay hands upon. Stuart Clark  knows how to talk about the holes that are in science but doesn't tear apart the science that allows us to see the holes in the first place.

Black holes mean that there are holes in the universe and also that there are holes in our understanding of the universe. Observers of the universe want to know the why (the theory), and they also want to know the how (the model). Eddington and Kepler both built models. Newton and Einstein built a theory. Time to Newton is absolute and  to Einstein it is an illusion (relative). There is nothing more exciting than the Planck map of the universe, and this book will teach you something you did not  know.

The author presents  a fine history of cosmology, and  makes it clear that our knowledge and ignorance seem to be expanding co-terminously. The Planck  data showed  “cosmology is not finished.’ ”

 Clark begins his history in the 17th century with Kepler, Halley, and Newton, ending in the unsettling 21st, where the Universe explained so brilliantly by Einstein, has revealed features that he didn’t explain. Educated readers know that the term “unknown” as applied to the universe is literally true because 95 percent is invisible, detectable only because its energy and gravity influence movements of the 5 percent we see as stars and galaxies.

 There are many  cosmic mysteries that Clark explains for the layman.  We get a glimpse of the genius of Newton as well as examples of the irrational views commonplace during his time. The history and evolution of theories about the Solar System are touched upon. The only equation that manages to appear in the book is Einstein’s E = mc2.

A lot of ideas including Arthur Eddington’s bold conjecture that stars are nuclear reactors that use nuclear fusion to generate their energy are outlined. Most of us credit Edwin Hubble with the discovery of the expansion of the Universe. But Clark  writes:

“In 1929, Hubble published results that ignited science in the way Lemaitre’s paper of two years earlier should have done. Hubble showed that the further a galaxy was, the greater was its redshift. It was definitive proof that the Universe was expanding, exactly as Lemaitre had predicted, yet Hubble did not include a single reference to him or his work.”

We live in astounding times. The bulk of the exoplanet discoveries are being made in the data gathered by and downloaded from the Kepler Space Telescope. The story of the discovery of Eris and how that led to the demotion of Pluto’s status is outlined.

The book provides some details of the famous rivalry between Harlow Shapley and Edwin Hubble in the early decades of the 20th century in which Hubble ultimately prevailed. Even though Hubble won that rivalry with Shapley, it’s Shapley’s chosen naming of ‘galaxy’ that is commonplace today rather than the phrase Hubble favoured ‘extragalactic nebulae.’

  Quantum mechanics with its uncertainties and probabilities hard-wired into the Universe became accepted even though titans like Einstein didn’t like God playing dice with the Universe.

Some  Interesting Titbits-


1.Planck Photo—The Planck photo was taken by a ESA Spacecraft stationed at 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth called Planck after the great German physicist, Max Planck The probe had spent two and a half years painstakingly building up the picture, pixel by pixel.
                       Inline image 2  Inline image 1
 Max  Planck                  Planck Spacecraft

2.Edmond Halley—after whom the Halley’s Comet is named never lived to see the return of the Comet—after 75 years-- as predicted by him. On 14,January 1742, after a 22 year stint as the second Astronomer Royale, the eighty-five years old Halley asked for a glass of red wine. He drank it, placed the glass on the table next to his chair and expired peacefully.

                                                    Inline image 3
         Halley and his Comet

3.Albert Einstein---All of you have seen this unique photo of Einstein—“ Wild hair, bushy moustache, careworn lines around deep dark eyes, tongue sticking out !.The famous tongue photo was taken on his 72nd birthday in 1953 .A copy signed by Einstein was auctioned in 2009 for $ 74,324/- making it the most expensive photo of the scientist ever sold.

                                                          Inline image 4
Albert   Einstein  


P.P.Ramachandran.
04 / 06 / 2017