From Edison’s diary

Thomas Alva Edison was one of the greatest inventors we know about. Sometime ago, I stumbled upon a book titled THE DIARY AND OBSERVATIONS OF THOMAS ALVA EDISON, and was an interesting read. In there we obtain an insight to Edison’s view on many different subjects including education, work, religion etc. Edison was a person with strong views. His working methods were unconventional. Here are a few interesting facts I learnt from this book:

1) Edison had to recruit many executives to his labs; he always emphasized on a memory test and gave them a questionnaire to answer. He insisted that memory is very important for decision making, and he usually employed those people who had very good memory. Edison wrote “…Certainly the brain should have the facts. If a brain possesses an enormous number of facts, those facts, through action of the subconscious mind, will automatically keep themselves available when needed and will automatically keep themselves out of the way, not interfering when not required.”

2) Edison’s view on education was interesting and bold for his times, and he believed that learning through movies would be vital for future education. As early as 1890s, he said that best way to teach geography is either by taking the student on a tour or to show them a movie. Edison wrote “…motion pictures can be applied to a scientific, systematic course of memory training in the schools, taking the children at an early age when the mind is plastic enough to adapt itself most readily to new habit of thought.

Most of our text books fail on two big counts. They are not sufficiently human, and their application is not sufficiently practical”

3) In the following lines Edison gives an insight to how he worked: “When I want to discover something, I begin by reading up everything that has been done along that line in the past-that’s what all these books in the library are for. I see what has been accomplished at great labor and expense in the past. I gather the data of many thousads of experiments as a starting point, and then I make thousads more.”

“ …..The motive that I have for inventing is, I guess, like the motive of the billiard player, who always wants to do a little better-to add to his record. Under present conditions I use the reasonable profit which I derive from one invention to make experiments looking towards another invention…..”

4) Edison rates phonograph as his greatest discovery. He writes “Which do I consider my greatest invention ? Well, my reply to that would be that I like the phonograph best. Doubtless this is because I love music. And then it has brought so much joy into millions of homes all over this country, and , indeed, all over the world.”

5) The following quotation by Joshua Reynolds was hung in every room of Edison’s laboratory “ There is no expedient to which a man will not resort to avoid the real labor of thinking”

There are many more fascinating thoughts of Edison, many agreeable and a few disagreeable ones, in the above mentioned book, and if you happen to find it, read it through…it’s a classic autobiography.

Escape from a 'Black hole'

also posted on ABHILEKH

In 1903, Pune was in danger of getting submerged in water. Kadakvasla was the closest water reservoir, but had a major problem: It was too small, and lacked the capability of storing water for a long time. To wipe the vale of flooding f(t)ears in Pune entered Sir M. Visweshwarayya, who designed and constructed a system of 8 feet high, automatic gates that opened when the water levels were too high, and closed when the floods receded. This technology was indigenous, and became one of the milestones in the history of Indian engineering. From this example, it is plain as pikestaff that an engineer can really make difference to our living. If industries are the backbones of a country, then engineers are the collagen of these backbones.

Unfortunately, in the present scenario, when a euphoric India seems to be growing (if not, shining) economically, there is still a dearth of high quality engineering. We still lack manufacturing capabilities (even the small lasers I use are from China!), high quality control and management, and most importantly - people interested in design and engineering, in its truest sense. Added to this, not many are interested in research on engineering either (atleast, I am fortunate enough to have engineer friends who do not belong to this category). What is the reason behind this?

Out of the many, one obvious reason would be 'black holes' like software companies, BPOs, and call centers; which have their 'Schwarzschild radii' spread over a million minds. These cannibals, gobble up most of the engineering brains at their prime, and polarize them to perform specific tasks, which will push their companies closer to the holy grail of 'Fortune 500'. I agree that humanity has been benefited by the emergence of these companies, but it doesn’t mean that all the engineering work force should be confined to it. There are umpteen challenges in various aspects of engineering, like constructing canals, building machines, understanding weather, and many more which cannot be solved by software companies, and demands for specialized skill and trained personnel.

It will be illogical if 'the pot calls the kettle black', as part of the blame has to be taken by the society; for we are the people who get attracted towards these black holes. The parental and the peer pressure on a student to earn a bigger living (in terms of economy) is more than to lead a life that is intellectually appealing to him. This has led to false goals and unnecessary competition, which changes the attitude and aptitude of an intellect from the sublime to the ridiculous. We need to realize that the money making primrose paths would lead to catastrophic results.

India is now termed as 'transforming' nation, and is no more categorized as 'developing' nation (in fact, USA has reduced grants towards India due to this!). For this transformation to be effective, engineers have to play a fundamental role. 

I hope, the next Thomas Alva Edison will emerge from India.