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The central nervous system and particularly the brain was designed to control the life cycle of a living being. With increasing size and sophistication, in mammals, the brain became capable of exercising significant control over life. In Homo sapiens the brain became significantly powerful and capable of comprehension beyond survival needs with visualization, formal thought and longterm memory. Here, we trace the rise of the power of the brains of the Homo sapiens and its capability to comprehend the three spatial dimensions as well as time. By tracing the evolution of technology over the last millennium and particularly the late arrival of astronomy, evolution of the formal thinking process in humans will be discussed in a follow up paper. We will trace the extensive use of this new faculty by humans to comprehend the working of the universe.

Keywords

Astronomy and Comprehension, Evolution of Mind, Evolution of Thought, Human Intelligence, Primate and Human Brain.

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Evolution of Science II:Insights into Working of Nature

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Authors

Mayank N. Vahia ¹

Affiliations
1 Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400 005, IN

Source

Current Science, Vol 111, No 9 (2016), Pagination: 1465-1472

Abstract

We attempt to provide a comprehensive model for evolution of science across millennia, taking into account the contribution of intellectual traditions, cultural value systems and increasing sophistication of humans in their study of nature. We also briefly discuss the role of technology and its interplay in the evolution of science. We identify five primary approaches to the study of nature, namely, ad hoc formulations, religious approach, pragmatic approach, axiomatic approach and the logicbased approach. Each of these approaches has had its prime periods and has contributed significantly to human understanding of nature and has also overlapped within a society, playing a central role over human evolution at some stage. We surmise that the currently dominant axiomatic method will reach its limit due to its complexity and may never be fully formalized. We suggest that future progress of science will be more logic-based, where we will use experimentation and simulations, rather than axiomatic firmness, to test our understanding of nature.

Keywords

Evolution of Science, Science and Society, Understanding Science.

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Radiocarbon Dating of Charcoal Samples from Rakhigarhi, Haryana, India Using Accelerator Mass Spectrometer

Abstract Views :302 | PDF Views:76

Authors

Mayank N. Vahia ¹, Pankaj Kumar ², Abhijeet Bhogale ³, D. C. Kothari ⁴, Sundeep Chopra ², Vasant Shinde ⁵, Nilesh Jadhav ⁵, Ranvir Shastri ⁶

Affiliations
1 Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400 005, IN
2 Inter University Accelerator Centre, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, Near Vasant Kunj, New Delhi 110 067, IN
3 National Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Mumbai, Vidyanagari, Mumbai 400 098, IN
4 Department of Physics, National Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, University of Mumbai, Vidyanagari, Mumbai 400 098
5 Deccan College, Yerawada, Pune 411 006, IN
6 Haryana Department of Archaeology and Museums, Sector 12A, Panchkula 160 016, IN

Source

Current Science, Vol 111, No 1 (2016), Pagination: 27-28

Abstract

Carbon dating is one of the most accurate methods to determine the age of any archaeological site. Here we present an analysis of seven samples from Rakhigarhi site, Haryana taken at different depths. We have used the recently acquired accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) system at the Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi.

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