The Chief Software Architect (Unit-6)

The Chief Software Architect

Short Answer Questions

1 Who is Paul Allen? How did he contribute to Microsoft?

Paul Allen is a senior to Bill Gates at Lakeside School. He is equally interested in computers like Bill Gates. The two boys used to spend most of their time at school's computer. Paul and Gates went into business in 1970. They developed 'Traf-o-data', a computer program that monitored traffic patterns in Seattle.

In 1975, Gates and Paul Allen formed a partnership and named it Microsoft. Microsoft wrote software in different formats for other computer companies, and at the end of 1978, they moved the company to Seattle and it grossed $ 2.5 million.

2 At what age did Gates start showing interest in Computer Programming? How do you think this helped in his success?

Gates was enrolled into Seattle's Lakeside School at 13. The school has bought a teletype terminal for students to use. Bill Gates became entranced with what a computer could do and spent much of his free time working on the terminal. He wrote a tic-tac-toe program in BASIC computer language that allowed users to play against the computer.

This access to computer and interest in it helped him in his success. If he had no access to it, may be, he wouldn't have been this successful.

3 Write a paragraph about Gate's family.

Gates' was an upper middle class family. His father, William H. Gates, Sr., was a lawyer. His mother, Mary, was a teacher for a brief period of time. Later, she devoted her time to helping raise the children and working on civic affairs and with charities. She also served on several corporate boards. Gates had a very close relationship with his mother.

Their family atmosphere was warm and close, and all three children were encouraged to be competitive and strive for excellence.

4 How did Gate's mother support him?

Gates' mother, Mary, would often take him along on her volunteer work in schools and community organizations. Gates wanted to start his own company at 15, but his parents wanted him to finish his school and then pursue law as his career.

Mary was highly respected and well connected with her membership on several corporate boards including IBM. She helped Gates by meeting him with the CEO of IBM. This is the base for Microsoft's expanded business.

5 What was the achievement Gates used to boast about?

Gates graduated from Lakeside in 1973. He scored 1590 out of 1600 in SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test). It's a feat of intellectual achievement that he used to boast when introducing himself to new people.

6 What was the program which Gates developed along with his friend? How did he market it?

Gates and Allen contacted MITS saying that they were working on a BASIC software program that would run the Altair computer. Roberta asked the boys for a demonstration. Gates and Allen spent next two months writing the software at Harvard's computer lab. The software worked well with the Altair computer. The BASIC software program netted the company a fee and royalties. But Gates found that only 10 percent of the actual users have paid for it. He brought in the license for software. 

7 How did Bill and Allen coin the term 'Microsoft'?

Bill and Allen formed a partnership they called Micro-soft, a blend of 'micro-computer' and 'software'. They dropped the hyphen in less than a year and from then it became 'Microsoft'.

8 What did Gates feel about the free distribution of his software and what did he write in the open letter?

Microsoft's BASIC software became popular with computer hobbyists who obtained pre-market copies and were reproducing and distributing them for free. Only about 10 percent of the people using BASIC in the Altair computer have paid for it. Gates saw the free distribution of the software as stealing, especially when it involved software to be sold. 

In February 1976, Gates wrote an open letter to computer hobbyists saying that continued distribution and use of software without paying for it would 'prevent good software from being written'. He said that it would discourage developers from investing time and money into creating quality software.

9 Why did Bill and Allen sue a case against the new owner of MITS?

Ed Roberts, the owner and President of MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), had sold it to another computer company. Now, Bill and Allen had to sue the new owner of MITS to retain the software rights they had developed for Altair.

10 How did the relationship between Microsoft and IBM begin?

The computer industry began to grow with companies like Apple, Intel and IBM developing hardware components. Bill's mother Mary was highly respected and well connected with her membership on several corporate boards including IBM. It was through Mary, Bill Gates met the CEO of IBM. In 1980, IBM was looking for software that would operate their upcoming PC and approached Microsoft.

11 What were the two views about displacement of Netscape Navigator?

The Netscape's Navigator is a web browser which was widely used earlier. Microsoft has included internet explorer in Windows for free. With that, Netscape became less important.

Another view is that, Windows is an improved browser which has more features than Netscape. So, it easily out shined Netscape.

Long Answer Questions

1 Write about the childhood of Bill Gates.

Bill Gates was born into an upper middle-class family. His father, William H. Gates, Sr., was a lawyer. His mother, Mary, was a teacher for a brief period of time. Later, she devoted her time to helping raise the children and working on civic affairs and with charities. She also served on several corporate boards. Gates had a very close relationship with his mother. He had an elder an a younger sister.

Their family atmosphere was warm and close, and all three children were encouraged to be competitive and strive for excellence. They used to conduct games at their summer house. There was a rule that the winner will be gifted and the losers will have to pay the penalty. This instilled in them a spirit to always win. Gates relished in playing board games and excelled in monopoly.

Bill was a voracious reader as a child. He used to spend several hours on reference books such as the encyclopedia. Around the age of 11, his parents started worrying about him. He used to do well in school but seemed to be bored and withdrawn. His parents worried that he might become a loner and hence enrolled him to Seattle's Lakeside School. There, he blossomed in nearly all subjects. He excelled in math and science. He used to do very well in drama and English.

The school bought a teletype terminal for students to use. Gates was fascinated by this first type of computer. He was amazed at what a computer can do. He met Paul Allen, who is three years senior to him. Both boys used to spend most of their time on this computer.

Gates wrote a tic-tac-toe program in BASIC computer language which allowed users to play against computer. Later, at 15, he along with Paul Allen developed 'Traf-o-data'. It's a computer program that helps traffic police to monitor the traffic. They netted $20,000 for their efforts.

Gates and Allen wanted to start their own company, but Gates parents wanted him to finish his education first. They wanted him to become a lawyer.

Gates wrote the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and scored 1590 out of 1600. He used to boast about it for several years, when he introduced himself to new people.

2 Describe how Gates worked for the development of Microsoft.

Gates was a genius in software development. He is also good at business operations. He led the company as its spokesperson. He personally reviewed every line of code the company shipped, often rewriting code when he saw it necessary.

The computer industry began to grow with companies like Apple, Intel and IBM developing hardware and components. Gates promoted Microsoft well. He met the CEO of IBM with the help of his mother. The IBM approached him for software that would operate their upcoming personal computers. Gates convinced them that he and his company could meet their needs. But Microsoft hadn't developed software that would be compatible with the IBM computers. Gates bought the software form another programmer and sold it to the IBM. When IBM wanted to buy the source code, Gates refused. Instead, he proposed that IBM pay a licensing fee for copies of the software sold with their computers. This allowed Microsoft to license the software they called MS-DOS.

Microsoft also released software called Softcard which allowed Microsoft BASIC to operate on Apple II machines.

Microsoft's growth exploded and staff increased from 25 to 128. Revenue shot up from $4 million to $16 million. Gates and Allen incorporated Microsoft and Gates was appointed President and chairman of the board. Microsoft went global with offices in Great Britain and Japan, and with 30 percent of the world's computers running on its software.

The partnership with IBM ended in 1991 and Microsoft focused its platform on Windows and the NT kernel. Windows became the favoured PC platform. Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser was also a huge hit in later years. Gates has aggressively broadened the company's range of products. Once it has reached the leading position, he defended it.

In 2000, Gates promoted his long term friend and Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and took on the role 'Chief Software Architect'. He devoted much of his time for philanthropy, giving away a huge portion of his earnings through the Bill-Melinda charitable foundation. In 2014, Satya Nadella was made the CEO and Gates continues as the Chief Software Architect

Cultural Shock : Adjustment to New Cultural Environments (Unit-5)

Cultural Shock : Adjustment to New Cultural Environments

Short answer questions

1 How do we usually express the familiar signs and symbols of social interaction?

The familiar signs of social interaction are learnt quite naturally. We come to know how to initiate a talk, how to greet others, when to stop talking, how to deal in difficult situations, how to respond to invitations, when to invite others, how to make purchases, how to shake hands etc. There are cues which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs and norms which are specific to one’s culture. We learn them as a part of our growing up. They become a part of our culture. We do not carry them consciously; they become our life style.

2 How does the author define 'culture shock'? What are the symptoms according to him?

Culture shock is the anxiety that results from loss of familiar signs and symbols which we come across in our everyday life. The symptoms of culture shock are- excessive washing of hands; excessive concern over drinking water and food; fear of physical contact with attendants or servants; absent minded and far away stare; a feeling of helplessness; dependency on others; fits of anger over delays; frustration; refusal to learn new language; excessive fear of being cheated, robbed or injured; great concern over minor pains, cuts and injuries, longing to be back home; being nostalgic; to have a good cup of coffee at home; feeling to visit relatives and talk to people who make sense.

3 Why is the person who has a culture shock like 'a fish out of water'?

Every person gets used to a few familiar signs which become a part of his day to day life. When he misses them all of a sudden, he feels like a fish out water. He doesn't understand how to respond to them. So, he rejects everything and has a feeling of regression. He logs to go back to his home country.

4 Of the four stages described by the author, which one does the person undergoing a culture shock feel difficult and why?

There are four stages in culture shock. In the first stage, he gets fascinated by the host country and everything seems wonderful to him.

The second stage is the most difficult of all. In the process of adjustment, he comes across several problems like language trouble, house trouble, school trouble, transportation trouble, shopping trouble etc. Above all, he has this language problem which makes all these tasks tougher. People of the host country are used to them and hence are indifferent to all these troubles. It seems to the person with culture shock that the people of host country are not willing to help. As a result, he becomes aggressive towards host country and its people. He criticizes them and makes derogatory comments. He takes refuge in the colony of his countrymen and expresses his dissatisfaction for the host country and its people. This stage is like a crisis. If you overcome it, you stay; if not, you leave before you reach the stage of nervous breakdown.

In the third stage, he begins to get around. He still has difficulties, but he develops an attitude to bear them. He develops a sense of humour and cracks jokes on the host country and its people. He is now on the way of recovery and even starts to help people that are in the second stage of culture shock. It gives him confidence to speak and get around.

In the fourth stage, the visitor accepts the customs of host country. He starts learning the new language. He completely accepts everything about the host country like its foods, drinks, habits and customs. He also begins to enjoy them. When he goes back home, he starts missing the host country and its people.

5 Are the difficulties faced by a new comer real? If yes, give your own example to substantiate the statement.

The difficulties faced by a new comer are real. Individuals suffer from indigestion when they move from a temperate area to a tropical one. When people move to a place with high humidity, their skin gets damaged and they feel like taking bath at least 5 times a day. Hair fall is more when people move to a place of extreme climatic conditions. If visitors go to any Muslim country during the month of Ramjan, they have to face a lot of problem as they don’t find anything to eat or drink during the day time. But when the new comer adapts himself to these problems, they no longer trouble him. Change in attitude is the key for all difficulties.

6 How is the attitude of the local people towards a person who is under culture shock?

Local people become indifferent to the problems of visitors because they are used to them. They tend to help the new comers initially. But when the new comer starts depending too much and exhibits aggressive attitude, the local people try to avoid him. Their response moves from a pleasant state to aggressive state and then to avoidance.

7 Why does the author feel that women are more affected by culture shock than their husbands?

The husband has his professional duties to occupy him. His activities may not differ much. But, the wife has to face totally different environment, customs and lifestyle. So, the author feels that women are more affected by culture shock than their husbands.

8 "If you criticise my country you are criticising me. If you criticise me, you are criticising my country." What does the author want to convey through this statement?

This particular attitude is named 'ethnocentricism'. People accept their culture and nation as the best and the only way of doing things. Once you accept your culture, it becomes your way of living. When you totally accept your nation and culture, you don't let others criticise it. If someone criticises your country, you feel like you are being criticised. If someone criticises you, you feel like your country is being criticised. 

9 How does a person become a cultural entity?

An individual is not born with culture. He is born with the capacity to learn it and use it. A child learns how to eat, which language to speak etc from the culture. It is not passed on by their parents. Culture of any people is the product of history and is built up over time. We learn and adapt it to our lives. Once learned, culture becomes a way of life. It becomes our value system. We embrace it and it becomes our existence. That is how a person becomes a cultural entity.

10 Why does the author call a modern nation a complex society? Do you agree with him? Why/ why not?

Any modern nation is a complex society. There are variations in culture. There are different ethnic groups; many classes; various regions; urban and rural settlements, each having distinctive cultural characteristics. But, the common elements like official language, institutions and customs knit a nation together. If we take India as an example, the culture varies in North and South, East and West. We have our own mother tongues for every state. We have differing dressing styles and food habits. But on a larger arena, we have one official language, Hindi. The culture, moral and ethics followed by Indians are more or less the same. The author’s point that a modern nation is a complex society is agreeable.

11 How is an American described in the text with regard to his culture?

Americans tend to become impersonal. It is the organization that matters there. Individuals, though capable, are just the resources. They are like replaceable parts. So, Americans have less interpersonal relationships. They find it strange when people are respected or given importance individually. Personalism which emphasises a special individual, like a political leader or a business leader or a religious leader, as solely responsible for the existence and success of an institution is somewhat strange.

12 What is the role of local language in helping us to recover from the culture shock?

When local language is learnt, it helps us in socializing. We come to know the interests of people, their culture and habits. Then, it becomes easy to get people to talk and to be interested in us. When we have people to talk and share feeling with, it becomes easy for us to recover from culture shock.

Long answer questions

1 Describe how culture shock is caused. What are the feelings of a person who is affected by culture shock?

Every individual learns certain signs and symbols as a part of growing up. He learns how to behave in the society. He learns how to talk, what to talk, when to stop talking, how to respond to others, how to greet, how to shake hands, how to give orders, so on and so forth. There are cues which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, customs, and norms which are specific to one’s culture. He learns them naturally, without being specially taught. They become a part of his day–to-day life. Culture shock is the anxiety that results from loss of these familiar signs and symbols which we come across in our everyday life.

When a person enters a strange culture, he gets affected by culture shock. He feels like a fish out of water. no matter how broad minded he is, he suffers with frustration and anxiety. As a result, he rejects everything. The host country makes him feel uncomfortable, so he dislikes everything about it—its environment, culture, language, habits, customs. He feels like the host country is bad as it makes him feel bad.

He then longs to go back to him home country. It attains great importance now. Everything about his country seems so glorious to him. He forgets all the difficulties and problems back home and only the good things are remembered.

2 Explain with examples how a local person can help a new comer in overcoming culture shock.

Culture shock is the terrible feeling one gets when one is in a host country. It is the anxiety that results from loss of familiar signs and symbols which we come across in our everyday life. When a person is under culture shock, he becomes aggressive, refuses to learn the local language, develops hostile behavior, depends on others and criticises the host country and its people.

A local can help the visitor in learning their language; accompany him to shopping and outings; help him find good school and house; share their culture and habits and let him know about their value system and beliefs.

Visitors tend to depend too much on the locals and long term residents. It might be irritating to locals, but they need to be patient and help them come over culture shock. They need to be sympathetic and understanding. Talking doesn’t remove pain, but sparing one’s time is soothing to the other person. Pain explained lessens the pain. Listening to one’s problems is a great healer and on gains confidence which results in setting things right.

3 Give stage wise description of how one can recover from culture shock.

Culture shock is the terrible feeling one gets when one is in a host country. It is the anxiety that results from loss of familiar signs and symbols which we come across in our everyday life. When a person is under culture shock, he becomes aggressive, refuses to learn the local language, develops hostile behavior, depends on others and criticises the host country and its people. But, recovery is possible.

To recover from culture shock, first the person has to get to know the people of the host country. For this, language is essential. Learning new language is a bit difficult for adults. But it can be learnt by starting friendly conversation with maids, neighbours etc. Going on shopping trips alone gives confidence and the visitor gets a sense of power with this.

There is a need to learn what things people do there and how they do it. Also, one should come to know the interests of people. It makes the conversation interesting and easy. It also gets the attention of people and they show interest in talking to this person.

It is god to join the activities of the people, be it a religious rite or a carnival or some economic activity. It is good to share their responses but it is also important to remain as an outsider. This participation should be like a role playing.

Understanding the ways of people is essential, but it does not mean that one should give up one’s own ways. Visitors in a host country develop two patterns of behaviour. They embrace both cultures, their own and the host country’s.

The Lottery--(Unit-4)

                                                                The Lottery

Summary  'The Lottery' is an American short story written by Shirley Jackson. It has a shocking end which takes us by surprise. The author describes a strange ritual followed by the town.       Main Characters of the story        Mr Summers (who conducts lottery)        Mr Graves ( post master, who helps Summers in conducting lottery)        Old man Warner (elderly person who has been attending the lottery for 77 years)        Mr Adams (who dares to voice out about thinking of stopping the lottery)        Mr Bill Hutchingson ( who receives the lottery among town's people)        Tessie Hutchingson ( the victim, who gets the lottery when family draws)        Jr Bill, Nancy, little Davi ( children of Bill and Tessie)        Watson boy (who lost his father in the last lottery)         Mr Dunbar ( who broke his leg and hence absent from lottery) The story starts with people getting assembled at the town square where the lottery is drawn every year on 27 June. It's a rule that no one should skip it. Mr Summers arrives with a black box with slips in it. He has with him the list of families. He starts reading the names and the family head comes forward to pick up a slip from the box. No one should open theirs until everyone else takes a slip from the box. When everyone is done with taking, Mr Summers asks the gathering to open the slips. Whoever gets the slip with black spot is supposed to win the lottery.  Mr Bill Hutchinson wins it, but his wife Tessie opposes it. She says that her husband is not given enough time to choose. But she is silenced by Bill. The second phase of lottery starts by placing the number of slips that match the members of family along with a slip with black spot on it. Now, the family comes forward to take a slip each. Everyone holds their breath when they open them. People feel happy when the kids get an empty slip and the kids too beam with happiness. Tessie gets the slip with black spot on it which means, she won the lottery. She again objects it but Bill asks her to keep quiet. No one bothers about her chatter. Mr Summers asks everyone to get ready. People go to the pile of stones gathered by the children and start pelting them at Tessie. They stone her to death. Even Tessie's family takes part in this strange action. The author wants to highlight the strange rituals that are carried as a part of tradition. She also suggests that youth should start questioning the illogical rituals. Mr Adams does the same in the story. He tells Old man Warner that people in nearby villages are thinking of quitting the act of lottery. He also tells him that a few villages have by now stopped it. But old man Warner says that the traditions need to be followed. He says, ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon'. People believe that stoning a person to death every year results in good yield of crops. It may sound strange to us, but we have other similar examples like 'jallikattu', considered to be a tradition though it takes away a few lives. Short Answer Questions 1. From the context of the story, who controls the town and how? The tradition and rituals control the town in the form of Lottery. It is mandatory that the entire town attends the lottery which is drawn every year on the same date. People follow the ritual without questioning, whatever may be the consequences. 2. What seems to have been the original purpose of the lottery? What do people believe about it? ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon’ is their line. They believe that crops give more yield if they sacrifice a person and to choose the person, the system of lottery is created. This has been happening in the town for several years. The original purpose of lottery is to take a chosen life for the prosperity of town. 3 Is the structure of the town and the lottery democratic? Give reasons to support your opinion. The structure of the town and the lottery appear to be democratic, but in true sense, it's not at all democratic. People are supposed to attend the lottery as a rule, and they don't have the right to express. They have to follow the illogical customs that are being practiced for more than hundred years, without questioning.  4 Is it important that the original paraphernalia for the lottery had been lost? Why have some of the villages given up this practice? Paraphernalia is the equipment necessary for conducting a particular activity. Here, it is the black box. The original black box was lost long ago. The present box is put to use even before Old man     Warner, the oldest man in the town, was born. 5 How does Shirley Jackson's choice to withhold the ultimate purpose of this tradition until the end of the story prove to be an effective way to communicate with her readers? How did you feel at the end as a result of not knowing? The story starts with a casual opening and runs like a regular stereo-type until we come close to the end. There's a shocking twist in the story. We can't even imagine it. This becomes an effective way to communicate with readers. Readers suddenly stumble down when they come to know what exactly a lottery in that town is. The writing style has long lasting impact on readers. 6 How does Shirley Jackson trivialise the grave practice of the community's traditional stoning, and what message might Jackson be trying to convey to the reader through the treatment of the character's behaviour? Jackson presents the grave practice of community's traditional stoning as meaningless. She wants to give the message that it's so cruel to follow meaningless practices. She conveys how people become heartless because of these traditions. The people of the town are used to it and they are ready to stone a person to death, even if the person is one's own family member. They are simply relieved that it's not him/ her and proceed to stone the other person. In the story, Tessie is beaten by her husband and children along with other people. Stoning also resembles the stone-hearted nature of town's people.  The characters' behaviour drastically changes when the lottery is drawn. The meaningless traditions take away tenderness from people's hearts so much so that they stone a person to death and then go back have to have their lunch, so casually, as if everything happened is quite natural. Long answer questions 1 Is the lottery a collective murder? Is it morally justified? What do you feel regarding this tradition? Lottery is a weird tradition followed by the town's people in the story.  It can definitely be treated as a collective murder. People have superstitious beliefs. They say, ‘Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon'. It means, they will get good yield of crop when they continue the age old customs and traditions. They don't want to make any amendments in it. They are willing to murder a person for their prosperous future. Lottery is drawn every year on 27 June and people draw from the black box, a slip each. The head of the family draws for the family. After everyone draws, they open their slips to see who has won the lottery. Everyone gets tense before opening. Bill Hutchinson gets it and his wife opposes that it's not fair. She says that her husband is not given enough time to pick up the slip. The second round starts soon. There are 5 members in Bill's family and hence 4 empty slips and one slip with a dark spot on it. The one who gets the slip with dark spot is supposed to get the lottery. Every other person in the town, including the person's family, stones him/ her to death. This ritual cannot be morally justified. It is baseless that there will be good yield if a person is stoned to death every year. It is strange that people do follow certain strange rituals. It is a cruel act in which everyone participates quite casually. Such traditions need to be banned. 2 Describe the scene and the speaker of the following quote--"It isn't fair, it isn't right." 'The Lottery' is an American short story written by Shirley Jackson. The story has a strange and shocking end. It gives out a weird tradition followed by the town's people. According to the story,     lottery is drawn on 27 June of every year. Mr Summers, who conducts the lottery, reads the names of families and the head of the family comes forward to draw a slip. When everyone takes a slip, they open them. Whoever gets the slip with a dark spot on it wins the lottery.  Bill Hutchinson gets it and it's Tessie Hutchinson, his wife, who says the above sentence. She protests telling, 'It isn't fair, it isn't right'. She says that her husband isn't given enough time to choose the paper. She objects the lottery and wants it to be conducted again. But Bill silences her and Mr Summers is ready to start the next phase. Now, 5 slips are placed in the black box, as there are 5 members in Bill's family. One of those 5 slips bears the dark spot. This time, Bill, Tessie and their children take the slips. Everyone in the town gets tense when the children open their slips. They sigh a breath of relief when their slips are empty. Finally, it's Tessie who gets it. She again protests saying that it isn't fair. She is not willing to accept it but no one cares a damn for her opinion or talk. They go with their tradition that is being practiced for several years and stone her to death. 3 What is black box? Who made it? When and why is it significant? The black box is symbol of an age old tradition. It is being used from past 77 plus years. The first one was constructed when the people settled down to make a village there. The present box was made with a few pieces of that old box. It became shabbier over years. Mr Summers wanted to change this one as the colour of wood is visible from under the faded paint and the box has become ugly. All the year long, it lies either in the post office or in the coal factory or on an attick, accumulating dust. It becomes important only on the day of lottery and the day before. The day before the lottery, the box is dusted and slips of papers are placed in it by Mr Summers with the help of Mr Graves. They roll in the slips the night before, place them in the box, lock the box and place it in the coal factory. The next day morning, which is on the day of lottery, they carefully bring it to the town's square where people have gathered by then. No one is interested in changing the box as they see it as a change in tradition. They don't want to upset the tradition. Mr Summers was successful in replacing the wooden chips with slips of papers, convincing the people that wooden chips won't fit in the box as population has grown. The box is placed on a three legged stool for the lottery to be drawn. 4 How were women viewed in the village? What roles did they serve? Give examples from the text to support your answer. The story starts with children gathering in the town's square and collecting pebbles. A little later, the men come and talk among themselves on various topics like rain, tractor and taxes. After a while, the women of the town start coming. They are all in their faded regular dresses. They exchange bits of gossip and join their husbands. It's a rule that every family stands together. Man is considered the head of family. If not, a  male teenager is considered as the head. Women are not given equality or importance.  Mr Summers questions Mrs Dunbar on who is going to draw the lottery as Mr Dunbar has broke his leg and hence hasn't attended the lottery. When she says that she herself will be drawing, he asks if her son can do it for her. She replies that her son is under 16 and hence she takes up the responsibility of drawing the lottery. In another incident. Watson boy is considered the head of family as Mr Watson is no more. Mr Summers says to Mrs Watson that it's good that she has a grown up boy to handle the responsibility. Tessie is also silenced by Mr Bill and Mr Summers when she objects about injustice. No doubt, Women are given the second place in the story. They even don't come along with their husbands to the town's square. They join them only after a while. It also denotes that women are not treated parallel with men.

The Great Indian Scientists---Srinivasa Ramanujan (Lesson-6)

Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920)

Srinivasa Ramanujan is a name that needs no introduction. He was one of the foremost Indian mathematicians who made significant contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory and continued fractions. He had no formal training in pure mathematics. He started working in isolation out of his sheer love for the subject. This made his achievements really standout.

Early life

Ramanujan was born on 22 December 1887 in Erode, Chennai. Later, he was brought to his father’s town Kumbakonam. His father was a clerk in a sari shop. Ramanujan passed his primary education in 1897 and showed promising signs by standing first in the whole district. He passed matriculation and then entered Kumbakonam’s Government College. He was awarded scholarship there. By this time, he was obsessed with maths that he lost interest in all other subjects. As a result he couldn’t do well in other subjects and hence failed. He then tried once again in Madras Pachaiyappa’s College, but again failed.

In 1909, he married a 9 year old girl. Ramanujan had to face many hardships. He even didn’t have money to buy food; and he needed 4 reams of paper (1 ream=500 sheets) every month to write his propositions. He had no scholarship; he failed in examinations; he also had failed as a tutor of the subject he was very fond of. He was unable to maintain family until he got a job as a clerk in the Madras Port Trust with the help of Narayana Iyer in 1912. Also, his association with the other mathematicians helped him. He was introduced to the then Nellore Collector Diwan Bahadur R. Ramachandra Rao who was also the secretary of the Indian Mathematical Society. This society was founded by V. Ramaswami Iyer, a government servant. The society’s journal became popular. Ramaswamy Iyer met Ramanujan in 1910. He introduced Ramanujan to others who shared common passion for mathematics.

Obsession with Mathematics

Ramanujan came across a book, A Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics by George Shoobridge Carr. It was a compilation of about 5000 equations in algebra, calculus, trigonometry and analytical geometry. It was in two volumes and Ramanujan had the first one. The book was not a really good one, but it was simple and clear. This book had great influence on Ramanujan. According to Hardy, Carr’s name was kept alive because of Ramanujan. He says, people remember the book only because it had great influence on Ramanujan. It had given an academic direction to Ramanujan. Carr simply gave the formulae and some hints to proceed. Ramanujan found it challenging and exciting. He was so intrigued by the book that he wanted to solve all the problems in it. While doing so, he compiled the results in his notebooks. So between 1903 and 1914, he had compiled 3 notebooks.

Turning point

Ramanujan wrote a letter, with all the discoveries he had made in mathematic,s  to G. H. Hardy, a British mathematician. Ramanujan requested Hardy  for his advice and to help getting his results published. Hardy was a leading light in mathematics and dominated the mathematical landscape of England. He was widely known for his works on and contributions in “Pure Mathematics”. He, along with J. E. Littlewood wrote over 100 papers on mathematical topics. Hardy and Littlewood studied Ramanujan’s propositions and understood that he had an exceptional intelligence in mathematics. However, they also understood that Ramanujan was not aware of formal and basic tools needed to be a seasoned mathematician. Hardy invited Ramanujan to England to study at Cambridge and continue his research. He also arranged for a research scholarship by the Madras University. Gilbert walker, a former fellow and mathematics lecturer at Trinity College, recommended Ramanujan to the University in this process. Ramanujan’s mother didn’t accept for his travel, but later agreed for that. Ramanujan left Madras by S.S.NEVASA, accompanied by E. H. Nivelle in 1914. His coming was awaited with eager anticipation in the mathematical circles.

Achievements

Ramanujan was awarded B.A. degree in March 1916. He had submitted extensive work on ‘Highly composite numbers’ which was published in the journal of the London Mathematical Society. In 1918 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, owing to his work on Elliptic Functions and the Theory of Numbers. He was also elected the Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was the first Indian to achieve this. But, even before the full recognition of powers, he breathed his last. 

He showed the first signs of illness in 1917, slightly recovered in 1918; but returned home in 1919 and unfortunately at a very young age, died the following year.

G.H. Hardy

According to J. R. Newman, Hardy was also to be credited for Ramanujan’s achievement. Hardy himself worked so hard along with Ramanujan in refining the way he arrived at results as Ramanujan had no formal training of that. Hardy had the internal conflict in deciding how to proceed with this brilliant man who could work with ease on complex equations, who had mastery of continued fraction had a very little idea of what a mathematical proof is. Ramanujan’s results were arrived at by a combination of intuition and induction, which he couldn’t reason or argue for. Hardy had recognized his originality and helped him carry out his work.

Hardy in his book entitled Ramanujan: Twelve Lectures on Subjects Suggested by His Life and Work said that he had to form himself to help Ramanujan in his work. he wrote that Ramanujan was a keen philosopher and an enthusiastic politician. He was a strict vegetarian. All religion to him was similar in nature. He said, Ramanujan was a genius in his own right. He was very hard-working. He had a deep sense of form and great capacity of fast amendments of his hypotheses which was often surprising. He has no competitor in his day. Ramanujan’s greatest achievement was his deep and flawless originality of work. It had lasting impact on the research on mathematics.

Contributions and their significance

Ramanujan made significant contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory and continued fractions.

His work in mathematics majorly encompassed Number theory--the most basic form of mathematics. It includes analytic number theory, geometric theory and probabilistic number theory.

His other discovery was the mock-theta functions

He recognized the multiplicative properties of the coefficients of modular forms.

His work has some applications in particle physics as well as in calculation of pi up to a very large number of decimal places.

His research on Reiman’s Zeta Function has been applied to the pyrometry—the investigations of the temperature of furnaces.

His work on the partition numbers resulted in two applications—new fuels and fabrics like nylons.

He did mathematics for the sake of mathematics, for the joy he got in doing it, for the excitement he felt in peeping through the numbers, theorems, problems, and solving them. His achievement was so great, so impactful, so powerful that those who can understand his work will wonder at his achievements in such a short span of time. The Ramanujan museum was founded by P. K. Srinivasan, a mathematics teacher in 1993.

In 2012, Dr Manmohan Singh declared Ramanujan’s birthday, December 22, as National Mathematics day.

‘The man who knew infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan’ is a biography written in 1991 by Robert Kanigel. A film was released with the same title in 2015.

The Great Indian Scientists---Prafulla Chandra Ray (Lesson-5)

Prafulla Chandra Ray (1861-1944)

Prafulla Chandra Ray was an eminent Indian Scientist who is hailed as the “Father of Indian pharmaceuticals”. His most notable work on the nitrites and hypo-nitrites of metals, especially mercury, earned him fame worldwide and respect among his peers globally.

The pioneering chemist founded a chemical manufacturing company, “Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd.”. He lived a simple life and spent most of his life serving the poor and contributing towards scientific advancements in India. He was associated with the “Sadharan Brahmo Samaj” for most of his life. He was a respected and revered figure not only in Bengal but in the whole country. Many institutions were named after him, as a sign of respect.

Birth and education

Prafulla Chandra Ray was born on 2 August 1861 in Raruli-Katipara, a village in Bangladesh. It was located on the banks of river Kapotakshi. His early education started in his village school which was established by his father, a land proprietor, Harish Chandra Ray. He was frequently absent from school and there wasn’t much progress in his education.

Their family later moved to Calcutta for better education. In 1871, he was admitted to the Hare School founded by David Hare. [David Hare was born in Scotland. He was a philanthropist, who had made lot of money in watch making business. He devoted his life to the betterment of the people of Bengal. He was an inspired person, who did extensive work in spreading western education in Bengal.]

Ray couldn’t stay long in this school. He was afflicted with dysentery which bothered him for the rest of life too. He had to leave the school but devoted those two years of break to read English classics and the literary and historical writings in Bengali. He also learnt Latin and Greek during this period. He was a voracious reader. He was never satisfied with just the text books. History and Biology were his favourite genres. The lives of Newton and Galileo interested and impressed him a lot. He considered the great physicist Benjamin Franklin as his role model. Ray admired Benjamin Franklin’s ‘Never say Die’ attitude.

After recovering from his illness, in 1874, Ray joined Albert School which was founded by Keshab Chandra Sen. In 1879; he passed the entrance examination from the Albert School and took admission into the Metropolitan Institution which was established by Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. In those days, Metropolitan Institution had no science classes or laboratories and Ray attended lectures on Physics and Chemistry in the Presidency College as an external student. As an enthusiastic student, Ray set up a mini laboratory with crude apparatus and during one experiment, there was a huge blast in their room.

In 1882, while he was preparing for his B.A examination, he took an all India competitive examination. He was awarded one of the two Gilchrist Prize Scholarships. It paved his way to go to England for studies. There, Ray enrolled in the B.Sc. programme of Edinburgh University where he studied physics, chemistry and biology amongst other subjects. He didn’t restrict his studies to only natural sciences. He read books on history, literature, political economy and finance.

Ray obtained B.Sc. degree in 1885 from Edinburgh University and his doctorate in 1887. His thesis was on “Conjugated sulphates of the copper magnesium group—A study of Isomorphous Mixtures and Molecular Combinations.” He was awarded the Hope Scholarship Prize, which allowed him to work on his research for one year after completion of his doctorate. He was elected the vice-president of the Edinburgh University Chemical Society in 1888.

His career

Ray returned to India in 1888, after 6 fruitful years. He wanted to do further research in chemistry and share his knowledge with others. But there was no scope for it in India and he settled as a chemistry lecturer, a post specially created for him, at the Presidency College in Calcutta. Here he carved a place for himself as a devoted scholar, inspiring teacher and tireless researcher.

He soon became Professor of Chemistry and managed to receive funds for establishing a new chemistry laboratory in 1894. He started working on problems related to food adulteration; especially focusing his research on purity of ghee and mustard oil. He got his research published in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1894.

Early days as a scientist

Ray initiated research to discover some of the elements missing from the then incomplete periodic table. While analyzing certain rare minerals, he discovered mercurous nitrite, a compound that until then had been considered quite unstable. He spent next several years exploring this salt and its many derivatives.

He also developed methods for preparing ammonium nitrite, alkyl ammonium nitrite, and other compounds. On these researches and results, he wrote more than 100 papers on mercury salts and got them published.

Ray conducted systematic chemical analysis of a number of rare Indian minerals with the objective of discovering some of the missing elements in Mendeleev’s Periodic Table. While in this process, he isolated mercurous nitrite in 1896 that brought him international recognition, as it was an unknown compound till then.

Another important contribution made by Ray was the synthesis of ammonium nitrite in pure form. Till then, the chemists had a firm notion that ammonium nitrite (NH4NO2) decomposed very swiftly under the influence of heat giving out nitrogen and water. Ray demonstrated his discoveries in front of several renowned scientists in a meeting at the Chemical Society of London. William Ramsay praised the way Ray had derived the result diligently and patiently following the research. He compared Ray to Berthelot and credited him to be the founder of Chemistry school in India.

Contributions

Ray has a long list of contributions. The most important was that he was able to develop chemistry teaching and research in India like never before. He had a good following of students and many were inspired to take chemistry to take up research.

He worked in Presidency College for 26 years and then joined the University College where he worked for 20 years. He retired from his service at 75 but continued as Emeritus Professor. He was given the informal title Acharya out of love and respect his students had for him.

Ray was a true nationalist and patriot. He was deeply involved in the movement for India’s independence. The credit to bring Mahatma Gandhi to Calcutta for the first time goes to Ray. He became closely associated with Gopala Krishna Gokhale and Mahatma Gandhi. Even though Ray was such an eminent scientist who loved science, he always used to say Science can wait but Swaraj cannot.

Ray published his much celebrated work The History of Hindu Chemistry in 1902. Its second volume was published in 1908. The inspiration behind this was Berthelot.

Ray had set a chemical business in 1892 to compete with English products. He named his company, Bengal Chemical Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. He made drugs from indigenous materials. He also wanted to create jobs for the unemployed youth. Later, he made the leading chemists of the company, its shareholders. The company produced various chemicals and kept on adding new products like perfumes. His philosophy was to enjoy work and hardship.

Ray had deep regards for rural life. He was concerned about them and found pleasure in their company than in the company of city folks. He used to carry sago, arrow-root and sugar candy with him to villages with no grocer’s shops and used to distribute them.

He played an exemplary role in the Bengal famine of 1922. He helped collect money ( Rs. 3 lakh) to buy supplies for the people in the famine hit areas.

He was a great organizer and a teacher in the truest sense.

He was also a prolific writer and wrote extensively on a variety of subjects in both English and Bengali. ‘Life and Experience of a Bengali Chemist’ was his autobiography written in 1932.

In 1893, he wrote a book on zoology titled Simple Zoology. For that, he did extensive research. He read several books, visited zoos and museums and also dissected a few animal dead bodies.

Ray wrote a series of scholarly articles on Shakespeare and contributed articles in many Bengali periodicals like Basumati, Manashi, Bharatbarsha.

Ray was philanthropic and gave away most of his earnings to charity. He spent nine-tenths of his income on charity. He made an endowment of ten thousand for Chemistry as annual prize and ten thousand for research prize in zoology and botany. He supported many poor students in their needs for study and food.

At the time of his retirement, he donated Rs. 1,80,000 to the Calcutta University for the extension and development of the Chemistry Department.

Achievements

Prafulla Chandra Ray was a deserving recipient of the “Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire”. (1911)

He was awarded several honorary doctorates which include one from Durham University and Dhaka University.

He breathed his last on 16 June 1944.