March 16, 2018 Friday
Bedtime Story
Scientific Research Needs Serious Funding
Yet it is open to debate whether
Saint-Vincent himself saw any connection between the number e and rectangular
hyperbola.
In fact, the first person who truly saw the
connection could well have been the great Dutch physicist and mathematician
Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) who lived at the times of Newton (1642-1726) and
Leibniz (1646-1716), and like both of them he too had never married.
It has become very clear to me after
knowing so many great minds in the course of my writings of bedtime stories
that it is no reflection of intelligence or genius or accomplishments or
creativity in a person having got married or remained a bachelor, whether he or
she reproduced or did not, whether he or she was religious or not and whether
the person was a male or a female ape.
Great brains and hence minds have existed
in all combinations.
The fact that I am an atheist and have
largely remained conjugally single all my life and actively and deliberately
refrained from reproduction does not in any way reflect either my intelligence
or my accomplishments or more aptly, lack of both.
I personally after a great deal of thought
consider myself a truly average ape with a good fortune of having not only a
great education but also having travelled far and wide and possessing an innate
curiosity that compels my brain to seek answers to questions it itself raises
largely by means of reading.
This was a small diversion to set the
records straight.
Huygens for the sake of everybody, but most
of all, for myself is pronounced as Hoiganz and was born at a time when The
Dutch Republic was transforming itself into a powerful world empire in all
spheres, science, economics and of course, a colonial empire.
It was taking over the reins of world power
from Spain; The Spanish Empire was one of the first and one of the largest
modern Empires that probably started when the Spaniards became curious and one
particular Spaniard by the name of Christopher Columbus set his foot upon the
Island in Central America that is now known by the name of Bahamas.
This would be the beginning of the Golden
Spanish Age which would be later followed by the Dutch Golden age.
Most of us may not be aware that in the
three centuries from 1500 to 1800, Dutch Republic transformed itself by
introducing almost all the chief ingredients of modern free market capitalistic
economy which fueled not only its imperialistic ambitions but also scientific
research.
Besides introducing free markets, it
created a free judiciary system that guaranteed property rights, enforcement of
contracts and freedom of movement.
When such an atmosphere exists, human apes
are willing to take credit on interest and risk themselves on ventures that
carry risk but can bring untold profits.
Perhaps the best example of such a risk
taking entrepreneur was none other than Christopher Columbus; his risky venture
of sailing with just 3 ships across an unchartered ocean.
Dutch went even further and introduced what
is now called limited liability joint stock Company where many people could
pool in their limited resources and fund such expeditions.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night mon ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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