Indiscrete Thoughts: by Gian-Carlo Rota

The conventional approach to teaching abstract ideas and natural sciences are sometimes phrased as, "I do not know how true the story is, I will tell you as it was told to me" [1].

There has been several attempts to break the conventional method of passing the lecture notes from one generation to another so that the classroom environment and learning could be implemented in more effective ways [2]. In the context of discussing the philosophical aspects of what effective teaching and learning environment means to student-teacher relationship, and more importantly to learning, I would like to briefly review the book by Gian-Carlo Rota [3].  Rota was one of the most respected and popular teachers at MIT. He taught difficult but very popular courses in probability, and Applications of Calculus [4].

Rota, as described by others, has always been portrayed as a successful teacher [6]. The book successfully grabs a very rare story told from the perspective of a mathematician and a philosopher.  Reading through the book gives a rare glimpse of what it takes to be a successful teacher. The deep philosophy behind every classroom activities and professional life has been elaborated in beautiful ways.  The learning theme such as "You learn what you don't know you are learning";  "By and large, 'knowing how' matters more than 'knowing what' " [5] forms the basis of  the same philosophy  when it comes to teaching. "Ten Lessons I wish I had been taught" and "Ten Lessons for the survival of a Mathematics Department", not only applies to mathematics professionals and students but equally to any academicians. Moreover, it is equally delightful to read his other chapters which involves portrayal of many famous scientists as human beings. The book is absolutely spellbinding.



References:

[1] Sir Walter Scott: "I tell the tale as it was told to me." http://www.readprint.com/work-5618/My-Aunt-Margaret-s-Mirror-Sir-Walter-Scott.


[2] http://uni600.pbworks.com/Annotated+Bibliography

[3] Gian-Carlo Rota. Ed: Palombi, Fabrizio. Indiscrete Thoughts. Boston: Birkhäuser, 2008.

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gian-Carlo_Rota

[5] http://www.math.tamu.edu/~cyan/Rota.html


[6] Wesley T. Chan (December 5, 1997). "To Teach or Not To Teach: Professors Might Try a New Approach to Classes -- Caring about Teaching". The Tech 117 (63). http://tech.mit.edu/V117/N63/chan.63c.html.

Congratulations to Recent Physics Ph. D. s (TU Physics Almuni)

It is quite amazing that this month we witnessed a burst of Physics PhD holders. (Recent Nepali PhD Physicists or Tribhuvan University almuni.)

Dr. Bed Nidhi Pantha from Kansas State University. (Announced Nov. 20, 2009)
Dr. Pantha: working as Post Doc. fellow in: Texas Tech University.
URL: http://www.phys.ksu.edu/personal/bpantha/

Dr. Rajendra Dahal from Kansas State University. (Announced Nov. 20, 2009)
Dr. Dahal: working as Post Doc. fellow in: Texas Tech University.
URL: http://www.phys.ksu.edu/people/graduate/dahal_r.html

Dr. Himal Khatri from University of Toledo, OH. (Announced Nov. 20, 2009)
Dr. Khatri working as Post Doc. fellow in: University of Toledo.
URL: http://www.utoledo.edu/as/physast/facstaff/_People/_Gradpages/gsHimalKhatri.html

Dr. Laxman Mainali from State University of NewYork @ Albany. (Announced Nov. 20, 2009)
Dr. Mainali working as Post Doc. fellow in: Medical College of Wisconsin.
URL: http://www.albany.edu/~lm923395/

Dr. Indra Dev Sahu from State University of NewYork, Albany, USA.(Announced Nov. 2, 2009)
Dr. Sahu: working as Post Doc. fellow in Ohio Advanced EPR Lab at Miami University, Oxford, OH
URL: http://www.albany.edu/~is195712/

I would like to congratulate the recent Nepali Physics Drs and wish all the success in their academic endeavors.

Source(s):
http://groups.google.com/group/nps_nepal

Acknowledgements:
Rudra dai and Bhoj R. Gautam.

PS: There are a lot of list collectors out there. I would appreciate if the list collectors acknowledge the source.

Subscribe to Active Nepali Blogs by Email: Hamro-Circle

Hamro-Circle provides an easy access for updated blogs from active Nepali Bloggers around the Globe. I am thankful to so many adorable people for the positive response and acceptance of Hamro-Circle and the associated Google Widget.

It gives me a great pleasure to announce that now we can subscribe to the feed in hamro-circle by Email. Since the feedburner is designed to gather only some words from the first paragraph of posts, I hope no one will be upset about his/her blog is being sindicated to Email.
To me it is really nice feature that I will get updated blog titles/post summaries to Email everyday through Feed burner.

Please subscribe to Hamro-Circle Feed by Email.
Subscribe to Hamro Circle: Active Nepali Blogs by Email

http://hamrocircle.blogspot.com/

The defect at the moment is the fact that Email feed delivery is set at mid-night EST. Which makes me get it after the delay of a day. Sometimes it feels bad to be in the last of the discussions. However, I still try to convince myself that is OK as I am not completely missing the juice. I mean the post is fresh and alive after a day. :)

Please subscribe and post your experience in comment.
Thank You!

Moon Pictures from Observatory @Earth Science Department

For long time I was not aware of the 16inch telescope located at the roof top of the Earth Science Department @ SUNY Albany.

This year I am doing Teaching assistant ship job for Prof. Knuth's Star Systems class. (http://knuthlab.rit.albany.edu/courses/F09/StarSystems/)
Today provided very nice opportunity to invite students for stargazing through twitter and Phil's Black Board page. It was dark enough by 7 PM. The night sky was very very clear. We did some observations including Moon and Jupiter.
Here are some pics taken by my Mobile.

Please note that I could get only some portion in the field of view. Let me tell you:
It was amazing

Got a blurred version captured. You can see three of the Jupiter's Moons.




http://www.atmos.albany.edu/mars/telescope-2.html

Physics Frontline: Official Blog by Americal Physical Society

The scientific publications by Americal Physical Society has been viewed as very prestigious materials by/among the scholars. Physics Frontline is the latest effort to bring out discussions on general topics aimed to public and members.

Let me quote:

Physics Frontline covers the latest scientific news, analysis and commentary on the intersection of physics with science policy  issues, including innovation, education, energy, climate change, and nuclear policy.

I had also written about the "Physics", the online publication of APS, spotlight kind of site for Physics with interesting materials here... http://www.nabinkm.com/2008/11/subscribe-to-physics-new-venture-of.html.
The aim of "Physics.aps.org" was to highlight some interesting viewpoints, trends and promote the discussions with synopses.

I suppose the aim of Frontline is going to be more oriented towards general public. Looking at few postings in there, I can see that it is more towards the policy or the concurrent view of physics.

Let me quote once more:

To serve the needs of its membership and the general public, APS concerns itself with a number of issues that affect both the physics community and the nation as a whole.  They are:
Competitiveness & Innovation
Defense
Education
Energy & Environment
Research Funding
Visas

The American Physical Society is the leading professional organization of physicists, representing over 47,000 physicists in academia and industry in the United States and internationally.

Link:

http://physicsfrontline.aps.org/