Choices n Confusion

Number of words – 241 In the 1970s, there were only two types of Colgate toothpaste. But as competition increased, Colgate’s sales started to slip. The company introduced a new product that included a new feature, the addition of fluoride, perhaps. Then another. Then another. Whitening. Tartar control. Sparkles. Stripes. Each innovation certainly help boost … Read more

Nasik’s Pandu Caves

Number of words – 455 Five miles to the south of Naṣik, on the Naṣik Mumbai Highway, lies the Triraṣmi mountain (Pali: Tiranhų; Sanskrit: Triraṣmi) in which 24 Buddhist caves were excavated between 150 BCE to 600 CE. These caves face northwards and thus enjoy sunlight throughout the day. The caves were not excavated in a numbered sequence … Read more

Galileo and the testing of hypotheses

Number of words – 144 Galileo brought physics into mathematics. Olympiad astronomy, by modelling his way of studying motion and the methods in astronomy. In 1612, he wrote a memorandum on how to investigate nature, stating the procedure in four parts: 1. Start with the phenomenon based on the sense observations we see everyday. 2. … Read more

The first Steam Engine

Number of words – 369 Thomas Newcomen was an iron monger and blacksmith in Devonshire. With a local plumber, John Kelly, Newcomen experimented on a different kind of engine during the first decade of the 18th century. The first successful installation was in Staffordshire in 1712. By 1720, the engine was being widely used, and continuously … Read more

Name origins of acids and alkalis

Number of words – 309 The alchemist called some shiny minerals by the name vitriol, from the Lateen word for glass. There were blue vitriol and green vitriol. In smelting minerals to obtain metals, artisans got copper out of blue vitriol and iron out of green vitriol. Later, alchemists found that if they strongly heated … Read more

Science of the Stonehenge

Number of words – 116 Another stone alignment was the west coast of Scotland is simpler, probably older, and in a way, more striking than Stonehenge. If you stand on a little stone platform and look toward the southwest over the top of a vertical stone, you can see a notch formed by two mountains … Read more