Einstein Was Not A Bad Student

It’s become the most common justification for every Tom, Dick and Harry who does bad at school. “My son/daughter is actually very gifted, his gifts just aren’t recognized. He/She’s a regular Einstein” etc. etc. Of course the modern education does have some serious flaws (I won’t discuss them in this post but a detailed analysis of every single one of them can be obtained by spending half-an-hour with my grandpa). As Einstein himself said:

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.

However, I still feel compelled to crush the myth of Einstein being a bad student and a failure at school. Einstein was not a bad student. He was a prodigious student. What evidence do I have? Well, let’s see…

Proof #1

A while after Albert Einstein started going to school at the age of six, in 1885, his mom sent a letter to her sister in which she wrote:

Yesterday, Albert received his grades, he was again number one, and his report card was brilliant.

Proof #2

Einstein was once showed a headline about himself titled, “Greatest living mathematician failed in mathematics.”. He laughed and said “I never failed in mathematics; Before I was fifteen I had mastered differential and integral calculus.”

Proof #3

The last and most conclusive proof is… his report card. No seriously, his actual report card. Einstein took the Swiss version of the A Levels, called “Matur”. In the Swiss Matur, a score of 6 is equivalent to something like an A* / A+. While a 1 is the lowest score. Here’s an image of Einstein’s school certificate:

Here’s an English translation:

Translating these to GCE A Level grades, he got something like 5 A*s, 4 As, 3 Bs and a C. Now on what planet are those grades considered bad? That’s a really awesome score.

We Are Negligible

No seriously, only about 6 to 7 billion of us live on a small speck of dust, which is just one of the eight other specks of dust that oscillate around a hot ball of gas which is just one of the other sagans of hot balls of gases that are aligned in logarithmic spirals around an extremely massive and dense black hole which is at the center of our galaxy which is just one of the billions and billions of other galaxies. Just look at this animated image to (partially) comprehend how small and insignificant our tiny planet really is:

Surprisingly, even the humbling realization of our own insignificance hasn’t stopped us from brutally murdering each other for money, religion, land, power or just sheer blind hatred. Neither has it stopped us from ruining the environment of the only planet we’ve got (for now).

Anyway, as much as I like to despise my species, I must resist the temptation since the problems of humanity are beyond the scope of this post. In this post I would like to emphasize on how microscopic we are compared to the universe. There is an old 1977 short-film made by Charles and Ray Eames which addresses this very concept:

Also look at this interactive website which is based on this film.

Considering all of this, one has to admit the fact that we aren’t really as important as we though… yet. When our ancestors began to migrate out of Africa about 60,000 years ago, they were just a bunch of savage hunters and foragers. They probably looked up at the moon and wondered what that shiny circular object was doing in the sky. Some were confused by it, some were fascinated by it, some even believed it was divine, but I doubt any of them could have imagined that one day their descendants would be walking on it.

Therefore, seeing the unimaginable progress we’ve made in our brief tenure as the masters of the Earth, it is a bit unfair to underestimate the human race. Who knows the fetes our future generations may accomplish!  Although it is true that for now our effect and influence on our home galaxy is practically nil, we may in the distant future, if we don’t destroy ourselves (and our planet isn’t demolished unexpectedly by Vogons to make way for a hyperspatial express route), conquer the solar system, nigh, the galaxy, in the same way we conquered the earth. As Carl Sagan said:

The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars.

There is also a very inspiring video on youtube, (part of the Sagan series, a tribute to Carl Sagan) that discusses our origins and future ambitions:

Attack of the Androids

These are dark times, lad. Dark times…

At first,  I didn’t take it seriously. I mean, it was just a cell phone operating system. What possible threat could it pose against me and my cheap Nokia phone? I welcomed its arrival with a smile. Not the kind of smile a trained gladiator displays when challenged by a worthy foe, but the kind of smile a man makes when getting acquainted with someone new. I thought Android and I were going to be good friends. But then everything changed…

I saw the first signs of Android’s betrayal when I noticed it spending more time with my brother and my mom that it did with me. But I took it lightly. I mean, just because it was ignoring me didn’t mean it disliked me. I decided to ignore it in return. After all, my cheap Nokia phone was good enough for me. I didn’t need any fancy androids anyway. Some time later I began to suspect that the Android wasn’t just ignoring me; It deliberately hanged and processed things slowly while I was using it. I did feel a little wounded but I decided to take this lightly too. Perhaps the poor guy was just shy, and anyway, it was all just a hunch, I had no proof whatsoever.

I soon realized the true gravity of the situation, however, when I saw that blasted Android bullying and picking on my poor little Nokia when no one was looking. I was enraged. Nobody hurts and insults me Nokia phone (except me). This meant war. I tried to sabotage its plans by destroying its reputation and influence over the household but the blasted gadget was one step ahead of me. Before I could even initiate my counter-attack,  it brought an ally into the battlefield which further infiltrated the household by establishing diplomatic relations with my sister and brother. For some time the ally even succeeded in fooling me! But I was too smart for it. I soon figured out its hidden agenda. They were both in it together. The androids were out to get me!

The battle still continues. My one and only faithful comrade being the poor old battered Nokia phone. I may be fighting a losing war, but I refuse to give up till my dying breath.

Science Wars – Part 1

_{Warning: This is not an unbiased comparison. The writer hates Biology to the point of distorting information and statistical data in order to destroy the reputation of the field.}

Mirror, mirror, on the wall; Which is the best natural science field of us all?

Let’s look at some of the potential candidates…

_{Note: descriptions taken from Wikipedia. Also, I intentionally left out Astronomy, Earth Science, Materials Science etc.}

Physics:  The study of the fundamental constituents of the universe, the forces and interactions they exert on one another, and the results produced by these interactions. In general, physics is regarded as the fundamental science, because all other natural sciences use and obey the principles and laws set down by the field. Physics relies heavily on mathematics as the logical framework for formulation and quantification of principles.

Mathematics*: The abstract study of topics encompassing quantity, structure, space, change, and other properties; it has no generally accepted definition.

Chemistry:  The scientific study of matter at the atomic and molecular scale. Chemistry deals primarily with collections of atoms, such as gases, molecules, crystals, and metals. The composition, statistical properties, transformations and reactions of these materials are studied. Chemistry also involves understanding the properties and interactions of individual atoms for use in larger-scale applications.

Biology: This field encompasses a set of disciplines that examines phenomena related to living organisms. Biology is concerned with the characteristics, classification and behaviors of organisms, as well as how species were formed and their interactions with each other and the environment.

_{* Whether Mathematics is a science or not is debatable. But let’s include it anyway, for fun.}

Note that my comparison isn’t particularly objective since I have an something like an unaccountable loathing for Biology, while I love Maths and Physics. So, before we start let’s consider some potential problems. How can these fields be compared? I don’t think it will be quite fair to compare them based on the amount of research papers published etc. But still, I think there are some fair factors we can use to compare them.

1- Purity

I found a nice comic strip on xkcd highlighting this issue:

As you can see, Biology loses big-time here. Although the situation is a bit exaggerated, Biology can in most cases be considered an application of Chemistry. You don’t believe me? Let’s look at some of the subdivisions of Biology. Molecular Biology? Applied Organic Chemistry. Ecology? Applied Useless Nonsense. Mathematics is perhaps the purest field of the lot here so I’ll give it a 10/10. Physics gets a 7/1o. Chemistry gets a 4. Biology gets a big fat zero (because I hate it, muhahaha!).

2- Arrogance

Chemists and Mathematicians may be a little snobbish, but Physicists take it to a whole new level. They literally define hubris. But I’ve never seen an arrogant Biologist. Perhaps a realization of the uselessness of their field has a humbling effect on them. Here’s another relatable comic strip I picked up from xkcd:

All in all, I give Physicists a 10/10. Maths and Chemistry both receive a 6. Biology gets a zero again (boo!).

To be continued…

Skyscrapers and Calculators

Graphing Calculators

Recently, I’ve become quite a fan of graphing calculators. Sure, scientific calculators, especially good ones like the Casio fx-991MS (or ES) are good enough for normal high-school mathematics, but when you get to the Calculus and Differentials, you begin to appreciate the value of graphing calculators. In fact, the College-board has made graphing calculators a de-facto requirement for the SAT II Subject Test in Maths Level 2. They are also very useful in trigonometry and geometry, not to mention a hundred times more fun and cool as compared to boring old scientific calculators.

On top of all this, there are some things (in fact, a lot of things) that you can do on a graphing calculator but are pretty much impossible on scientific calculators. A redundantly obvious example is (you guessed it!) drawing graphs. You can also use a graphing calculator to find the maximum and minimum points on a curve which makes differentiation a gazillion times easier.

Now, the problem with graphing calculators is that they’re pretty damn expensive. You can get some of the latest, most advanced scientific calculators such as the Casio fx-115 ES or the Texas Instruments TI-30XS for about 6 Rials ($ 16.5). In comparison, some of the more advanced graphing calculators such as the Casio Prizm or the Texas Instruments TI-NSpire have a prize range of 60-70 Rials ($145 -170). That’s more expensive than my cell-phone. I’m planning to buy something comparatively cheap yet dependable such as the Texas Instruments TI-83 or the Casio fx-9750.

The Tallest Building in The World to be Built in Karachi … Wait, What?

I still find myself in a state of incredulity, even after the news has been repeatedly broadcasted on several news channels, printed in several newspapers and mentioned in a lot of online articles (see here, here and here). It’s too good to be true. I mean, it’s one thing for a country like the United Arab Emirates, ninth richest in the world, with a thriving economy, a small population, tremendous resources and excellent international relations, to initiate such a large scale project, but Pakistan… seriously?

I’m also a bit worried about the security problems the building may cause. A huge skyscraper like this isn’t a good idea in a country infested with several terrorist and militant groups. It’s like literally inviting the Taliban to do a second 9/11. Anyway, the project was initiated by the (in)famous Pakistani business tycoon, Malik Riaz. The building is to be called Bahria Tower (the name is still uncertain, though) and it is planned to be built in or near Karachi, Let’s hope all goes well and this building helps recover Pakistan’s doomed economy (and it doesn’t get hit by hijacked planes).

The Education Revolution

My grandfather often tells me stories of his early days. In those times, believe it or not, Pakistan was actually considered a tolerant and peaceful place. Foreigners weren’t murdered, kidnapped or robbed the moment they landed in the country. Therefore, my grandpa had quite a few foreign professors, most of them Americans. My grandpa was part of something like the very first Bachelor in Education (B Ed.) batch in the Punjab. Anyway, he sometimes narrates the difficulties he faced in studying the newly-imported subject.

Considering how the field was only recently introduced in the country, there weren’t a lot of books and resources available in those times. Luckily, one of the American professors had brought two text-books with him. These served as the only written resource the entire batch had for the entire program. So, making the best of it, the batch made an hourly schedule for the books. My grandpa was only allowed a total of two hours daily to read the two books, which were then passed on to the next scholar, who passed it on to the next guy after his allotted time ended, and so on.

Hence, the only thing that stopped my grandpa and the other students in his batch from achieving their full potential was a lack of resources, a lack of opportunities, a lack of facilities. Truly, a tragedy. However, an even bigger tragedy is the fact that the story of my grandpa’s B Ed. batch is neither rare nor exceptional. Millions of students in developing countries, from schools and universities alike, struggle to break away from the chains of mediocrity and elevate themselves. Sadly, most of them fail and are forced to resign themselves and simply cram the inaccurate notes concocted by their teachers, without comprehending even the simplest of concepts.

In recent years, a small ray of hope has gradually started penetrating the darkness caused by ignorance and incompetence.  These guys…

They offer free, high-quality education to everyone. It’s a bit amazing when you think about it. Now everyone with a decent internet connection (and a proxy because of the Pakistani government’s smart decision to block youtube) can get educated for free. Perhaps the best among them is the third guy from the left, Salman Khan. As I’ve mentioned before, Sal has set up an organization called the Khan Academy which is committed to standardizing education, and making it free and easily accessible for everyone. Here is a kind of mixed sample of some interesting videos:

High-School Physics And A Fourth Dimension

Haven’t written new stuff for quite some time, have I? I usually make it a rule to write at least one post every week. But this time my schedule was disrupted by the SAT reasoning test, a mild cold and general laziness. As usual, I have no idea what I should write about. So, I guess I’ll just pen my thoughts and see how things get along.

Why Do Schools Hate Teaching Modern Physics?

Most high-schools tend to avoid teaching post-19th century physics. In fact, even some universities religiously follow this limitation and are actually proud of it. I read recently that when the renowned Pakistani Nobel Laureate, Dr. Abdus Salam, joined the Government College University in Lahore after completing his Masters from Cambridge, he was discouraged and even condemned by some of his colleagues for teaching students modern particle and quantum physics instead of the age-old classical ideas.

Of course, to be precise, some examination systems such as the Cambridge International A Levels™ and the SAT™ Subject Tests do include some comparatively modern ideas, but even they only give you a sort of an introduction, barely touching the most fundamental concepts and not discussing the various derivations and postulations at all.

Living in a Four Dimensional World

Can humans even begin to imagine a world with more than three dimensions? Of course it is easy to imagine a world with less than three-dimensions, because we have seen a lot of objects that seem to be two-dimensional because of their negligible thickness. In fact, we make two-dimensional drawings and graphs everyday. The blog-post you are reading right now is more-or-less two-dimensional. It’s a bit more difficult to imagine a one-dimensional world but it is still possible.

But if one tries to imagine more than three dimensions, it gets a little difficult. How can one visualize something neither seen nor experienced by him before? It’s like telling a blind person to play eye-spy. I was watching Carl Sagan’s television show from the 1980s, called Cosmos. In one of the episodes, he discusses how we might be able to imagine a four-dimensional world by looking at it’s three-dimensional imprint. Similar to how the two-dimensional imprint of a cube can be drawn on paper.