MINIMUM SCIENCE FOR EVERYBODY

By Rakesh Popli and Ashok Sinha (Vikas Bharati, Bishunpur, Bihar) 1989.

This book is based on the Science popularisation work being carried out by Vikas Bharati in Bishunpur (Bihar) and its sister organisations in the Chhota Nagpur District, with support from the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC) of the Government of India. It attempts to provide an answer to the following query sent out by the NCSTC to various voluntary organisations in Oct. 1986 "...’ is there not, or should there not be, a bare minimum of ‘science’ and a bare minimum of ‘technology’ that every man, woman and child (over a certain age) should know and understand, irrespective of who they are, what they do and where and how they live?... There is an immediate need to conceptualise and work out the details of this minimum/core package (that contain) the very minimum that everyone ought to know and which will be of practical use in daily life’. After outlining the conceptual framework assumed and the methodologies employed, the book does provide a list of what the authors believe to be a minimum package of sciences and technologies that should be popularised throughout the country.

Common Man’ Science Vs Scientist’ Science

In arriving at such a package, the authors make extensive use of their definition of "common man’ science" as against "scientist’ science". The authors clarify that by "common man" they “do not mean the stereotyped image of a dhoti-clad, semi-starved man with many children”. They are firmly against the view (widespread amongst many involved in People’ Science Movements), that - "common man’ science" is nothing but "the first few chapters of the scientist’ science". It may be instructive here to quote their understanding of "Common man’ Science" at some length:

It deals with the objects and phenomena in the lives of the people and addresses their concerns.

It is largely phenomenological in nature and consists of limited, pragmatic generalisations.

It should be seen as a continuation of traditional folk sciences and common sense, enriched by traditional as well as modern canonical sciences.

There is no dichotomy between it and religion; both are parts of dharma in its widest sense.

The methods of common man’s science include integrated perception and collective observation over a long period of time, besides other methods mentioned usually.

By the term "Scientist’ Science", the authors imply Modern Science being practiced in Universities, research laboratories etc. While a distinction is made between traditional Indian sciences and modern science, this is done more at the ‘practical’ than in the ‘theoretical’ plane. "The traditional sciences are inherently people-oriented. By contrast, modern science is big-industry-oriented”. It appears that the authors perceive a much larger role for traditional sciences in the lives of our common people as compared to modern science. "...Age-old technologies still dominate the life of a majority of the people........There is no realistic scenario of the near future envisaging any drastic change in this respect. To that extent a phenomenological understanding as provided by traditional sciences remains most important". Similarly, the role that modern science can play in the lives of common people is to equip them with "a certain method and precision in the use of industrial products" that are being increasingly used by them. The authors however do not see any fundamental incompatibility between the two systems. They clarify: “Our purpose is not to glorify the traditional sciences at the cost of modern science, nor to prove any basic incompatibility between them, but to point out that there already exist various useful sciences among our people which must not be rejected due to a misplaced enthusiasm for ‘one science’. This reminder is necessary because of the common assumption, made even by science popularisers at the grass-roots level, that modern scientists and their laboratories are the only legitimate sources of ‘science and technology’’’.

While discussing the manner in which science is presently being taught in the early years of schooling, the authors make an interesting comparison between a set of objectives as laid down by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) experts in 1986, and a set as found in the Zakir Hussain Committee constituted by Mahatma Gandhi in 1937. The former is shown to be totally ‘academic’ and unrelated to anything in our context, as against the latter being eminently practical and related to the common man’s concerns. Strongly upholding Gandhiji’s idea that the best way to teach science is through the teaching of a practical craft, the authors argue that "....a workshop is a must for every school, even if it does not have a laboratory or a science kit.....". 

Minimum Science and Technology Package 

The minimum Science and Technology package is outlined under two separate heads: Minimum Science and Minimum Technology. To the former belongs the human body and its care (health, hygiene nutrition, sanitation, family planning, child care etc), environmental awareness (Air, water, soil, forest, clothing, housing, etc.), mensuration and quantification (measurements, calenders, radio and other equipments etc.). Under the Minimum Technology package are included awareness concerning agriculture and animal husbandry, electricity, appliances, manufactured consumer goods etc. Topics are listed under all these heads, with emphasis placed repeatedly on their tentative nature and how they will have to be judiciously selected depending on the specific context (urban-rural, etc.) involved.

The authors do not consider their minimum package as appropriate only for the ‘non-formal’ educational purposes carried out by voluntary organisations; they state : "Science education in elementary schools must be untied from the bandwagon of the “Scientist’ Science" and tied up unambiguously with "Minimum Science and Technology”. Given the context of the rather apologetic, unsure and stereo-typed stands taken by many Peoples’ Science and Science Popularisation movements in the country (‘superstition - busting’, ‘scientific - tempering’, etc. etc.), it is refreshing to come across many bold and unambiguous positions taken by the authors on many issues. For example, "Science popularisers therefore, must question ‘science’ closely before coming forward to popularise it", or “it is clear that if the slogan ‘science for all’ is to mean anything, action must be taken to set up first-rate institutions of common man’ science (but quite different from the prevailing idea of district science centres....) rather than continuing to expand third-rate facilities for the scientist’ science”.

Having said the above, it should be added that this book does gloss over many issues that do eventually become important in implementing such a program. For example, it is not clear at all as to what roles the authors think are going to be played respectively by the Modern Sciences and the Indigenous Sciences in their future scenario. What exactly do they imply when they call for the setting up of “first-rate institutions of Common man’ science"? In what sense is it stated that there is no "basic incompatibility" between modern science and traditional sciences of India? If it is implied that these two can support and strengthen each other, then what are the mechanisms of realising it in our context? What would be the implications of it in building institutions and structures of Science and Technology in India? It appears that the success in adopting and implementing the proposed package might ultimately depend on whether there exists some clarity and agreement on questions such as the above. One is also a little puzzled to suddenly encounter passages like: "An important aspect of Common man’ science is the scientific outlook. This outlook should pervade his whole life”. Whatever might be one’s definition of "scientific outlook", can it be (should it be) required to be the all - pervading aspect of one’s life? Does it ever happen that way anywhere? Or, are such statements thrown in to gain acceptance and respectability?

There could possibly be differences on whether it is useful or even advisable to formulate such minimum packages of Science and Technology. There would certainly be differences on the contents of such a package. All that apart, it is undeniable that a discussion on this topic has helped in focussing sharply on some of the central issues involved in science-popularisation and people’ science movements in our country. The book under review makes a distinct contribution in taking these debates to a plane where they relate in a much better way to our context and requirements.

Dr.C.N.Krishnan

PPST Foundation

Madras

IMPERIAL MEDICINE AND INDIGENOUS SOCIETIES

Edited by David Arnold (Oxford University Press, 1989).

In a National Convention on Mother and Child Care held a few years ago in New Delhi, a young doctor startled the audience, (which included some distinguished Obstetricians and Gynecologists), when he stated that the maternal mortality rate was nearly nil in a tribal area of Karnataka where he had been working for the past several years. Surprise turned to skeptical disbelief, when he went on to add that far from being the result of any “intervention” by himself or his voluntary agency, what he described was infact the situation that prevailed naturally in that area. In the discussion that followed the doctor stated that he had gone into the tribal area inspired by the work of Albert Schwitzer - he felt that he would be performing a very noble task by rescuing the tribals from disease, insanitation and ignorance. "I was soon to learn that they were quite capable of taking care of their health needs very well provided they were not totally deprived of the resources to sustain their way of life".

What the young doctor said conveyed a point that is increasingly obvious now. While initially it was only the Government that was the major dispenser of “aggressive development", increasingly the various voluntary agencies and movements for social change have also joined in the dissemination of this kind of development. The volume under review gives us some glimpses into the origin of this type of thinking and its roots in our colonial past.

Medicine as a Civilising Agent

For many nineteenth and early twentieth century European administrators, reformers and physicians the hazards and depredations of disease were an established part of a hostile and as yet “untamed” tropical environment. Africa, Asia, the America, were all seen to have their fatal and incapacitating diseases and only through the superior knowledge and skill of European medicine was it thought possible to bring them under effective control. In this view, European medical intervention represented progress towards a more ‘civilized’ social and environmental order (P.3)*. Florence Nightingale who was an important personality in the history of Britain's colonial medical policies, felt that the creation of a public health department for India was part of a mission to - "bring a higher civilization into India". She believed that introducing health care to the subcontinent, was not only “a noble task”: but was nothing less than “creating India anew". Similarly the missionary explorer David Livingstone felt that - "medicine offered a way to rescue Africa from its suffering state, ‘civilize’ it, and prepare it for the "blessings" of Christianity” (P.3).

Medicine and Imperialism

The volume under review contains a set of nine papers compiled by David Arnold. This is a part of the series - "Studies in Imperialism" which are meant to explore the ideology of Imperialism and its varied expressions. Three of these papers pertain to India - namely papers on the treatment of the European insane in British India in the early nineteenth Century, Small Pox and colonial medicine and the Plague Epidemics between 1896 and 1918. The other essays pertain to various other colonies such as New Zealand, Congo, Philippines, Rhodesia, etc. The colonial encounter (especially with reference to India) can be broadly divided into two phases - before and after the end of the 18th century. The Europeans who were there in India earlier came with an attitude of a people that had set out to observe and learn from a different civilisation which was famed for its riches and achievement and could possibly have much to teach in various areas including medicine. During this phase they had observed, studied and incorporated whatever they could of Indian Science and Technology (including medicine) into European practice and had also freely made use of individual medical practitioners to take care of medical requirements of the Europeans in India. Thus it is said that - "The Spanish in the Americas, despite their general disregard for the indigenous cultures, adopted a number of local medicines, including the use of cinchona ('Peruvian bark’) as a febrifuge; and, until the Inquisition intervened, the Portuguese in Western India used Brahmin 'pandits’, practitioners of Hindu Ayurvedic medicine, as their physicians. The English East India company encouraged its servants to rely on local rather than expensively imported medicines, arguing in 1622 that "the Indies hath drugs in far greater plenty and perfection than here" (i.e. England) (P.11).

This view was to change radically at a later date particularly after the beginning of the nineteenth century, A part of the reason for this seems to be that with the progression of the nineteenth century, ill health among the indigenous people fostered a growing European sense of innate racial and physical superiority in the Darwinian age. This led to the belief that what was biologically fittest was superior. In fact, while the disastrous health consequences of European presence are now well recognised it was often argued that medicine was a prime example of the constructive and beneficial effect of European rule. This was especially so by the close of the nineteenth century, when Europeans began to pride themselves on their scientific understanding of disease causation and mocked what they saw as the fatalism, superstition and barbarity of indigenous responses to disease (P.7).

What seemed to have been conveniently overlooked was the role that colonization had itself played in the declining health of the colonized. Even where some contact had existed before 1800 in Africa and Asia, nineteenth-century European commercial and political penetration and the creation of colonial infrastructures - roads, railways, systems of labour migration, military recruitment and civilian administration - broke through the coastal barriers and destroyed the quarantining  effects that distance and slow land transportation had formerly had on the dissemination of imported diseases. The way in which the 1918-19 influenza pandemic spread along these interior lines of contact and communication in Africa - through soldiers and mine workers, through markets and railways stations - was a striking demonstration of the degree of European commercial and administrative penetration by the end of the First World War. Some diseases were transmitted directly by Europeans themselves. The spread of syphilis - known to sixteenth and seventeenth-century India as firangi roga, (i.e. the "European disease”) - was closely associated with European sexual contact (P.5-6).

There are several pointers in this volume to understand and lay bare the motivations for the organisation of colonial medical systems. This is particularly striking in the case of what has been discussed and outlined with respect to the treatment of the insane Europeans in British India. What was important was not so much the treatment of the disease or paying attention to the patient, but ensuring that the Europeans who fell physically or mentally sick were quickly institutionalised or sent back to Europe before the image of white superiority could become tarnished. Ill health among the colonized fostered the growing Happens  sense of innate racial and physical superiority.

The Europeans in India were not a homogeneous community but were rather divided along lines of social class and national or regional origin, presided over by what has been labelled a “middle class aristocracy". This European elite, though mainly middle-class in origin, assumed in India an air of aristocratic exclusiveness, maintaining an ostentatious life-style and upper-class manners. The majority of Europeans, however, belonged to the lower classes. Their manners were often regarded as obnoxious by the European elite. It was argued that not only would their "low and licentious" behaviour tend to "vex, harass and perplex the weak natives", but that it would also be detrimental to the maintenance of British rule in India. A ‘spectacle’ such as "needy and reckless Europeans wandering about" the country was seen to be “humiliating to the British character" and it was consequently urged that the government make arrangements by which "fellow country men however degenerate, may cease by this public and humiliatory exhibition of these vices to dishonour here the country from which they spring”. The oft-asserted “superiority of the European character" and the proclaimed enlightened spirit of British civilization were considered vital to the legitimacy of colonial rule. The colonial ideology of European superiority undoubtedly contributed not only to the consolidation of British rule over Indians but also to the policing of Europeans within India (P-30).

Vaccination against Smallpox

However, it is the chapter on Smallpox and efforts to control it by the colonial authorities which gives an interesting insight into the encounter between the long held traditional beliefs and practices and the alien order that was imposed upon India. What is of great interest is that this encounter shows various characteristic features which makes it the fore-runner of a series of such later date encounters. In fact, it appears as if, it is this same encounter which is being repeated right down to this day in the area of Public Health and some of the official reports and documents regarding the reaction of the general public, its "inertia", “resistance to (Government sponsored) change” etc. read very much like current day reports!

To many nineteenth-century British medical officers, smallpox was "the scourge of India”. Reputedly “one of the most violent and severe diseases to which the human race is liable”, smallpox was held responsible for "more victims than all other diseases combined", outstripping even cholera and plague in its "tenacity and malignity". Several million deaths in the late the nineteenth century alone were attributed to its destructive powers. Fatal in a third of all cases, smallpox also resulted in the permanent scarring and disfigurement of many of its survivors : one estimate blamed the disease for three-quarters of the blindness in India (P.45). A major cause of Indian mortality, smallpox was greatly feared among the Europeans in India. Before 1800 British residents had observed the Indian practice of inoculation against smallpox using the technique of variolation. This has been described in great detail by British observers such as J.Z. Holwell in Bengal in 1767.* It was under these conditions that the British started introducing the vaccine developed by Jenner into India around 1807. In a situation where smallpox was almost universal, variolation was practised on a scale the British were unable to match until late in the nineteenth century. In 1871, there may have been twenty times as many variolators as vaccinators in northern Bengal. In 1873, it was reckoned that in one district of Orissa alone a hundred tikadaras (i.e. traditional inoculators) were at work, carrying out 25,000 inoculations in a single season. A "vaccine census” conducted by the Government of Bengal in 1872-3 revealed that out of 113,015 people examined, 57 percent had been inoculated, 15.23 percent had survived an attack of  smallpox and so had acquired natural immunity and 10.42 percent remained unprotected while but only 17.23 percent had been vaccinated. Other estimates place the proportion inoculated even higher at 70 percent or more of the population of mid-century Bengal. Variolation was certainly not so widespread elsewhere in India, but the figures give some indication of the size of the task that colonial medicine faced in trying to oust an indigenous rival (P.50-51).

The description of the detailed and careful procedures followed by tikadars suggested that they were fully aware of the contagious nature of the disease. He, (i.e. Holwell) said that they used various matter collected the previous year - "they never inoculated with fresh matter, nor with matter from the disease caught in the natural way, however distinct and mild the species" (P.51). This implied that they deliberately propagated an attenuated form of the virus in order to induce a moderate reaction. After 1802 however, with the introduction of vaccinating into India, European physicians started taking a far more critical view of the Indian practice.

Most Europeans in nineteenth - century India held a "secular" view of smallpox and in the later decades, took readily to the germ theory of disease causation. For the majority of Indians however, smallpox bore a strong religious significance. But to nineteenth century British doctors, missionaries and administrators such beliefs were rank superstition, evidence only of Indian apathy and ignorance. From a position of such hostility and contempt, the British were ill-placed to understand the tenacity with which Indians clung to their faith in sitala. The European community confidently anticipated that Indians would take up with gratitude, the discovery which Europe had already found to confer "such inestimable benefits”.

Vaccination was soon to offer a welcome opportunity to win good will from the people and give “fresh proof of Britain’s humane and benevolent intentions". Such expectations soon evaporated as Indians from the outset proved reluctant to submit to vaccination or to take up the practice themselves. In some places, as in the villages of Madras people gathered to drive away vaccinators sent to “diffuse the benefits of vaccination among them". Such a negative response confirmed in many Europeans an unfavourable view of Indian. Shoolbred in Bengal in 1804 called Hindus "naturally averse to all innovation" and denounced the labouring classes as “stupid and insensible" for failing to recognise vaccination’s "inestimable value’. Duncan Stewart, Superintendent-General of Vaccination for the province in the early 1840s, likewise blamed Hindu gratitude and ignorance, especially “the trammels of a degrading religion, by which their thoughts are chained, their reasoning faculties hoodwinked and their mutual affections thwarted". Even “the most simple, obvious and unquestionable temporal advantage" was, he claimed, unacceptable to Hindus if it entailed "the slightest deviation from ancient usage”. Such sentiments persisted well into the second half of the century. In 1878, for instance, the North-Western Provinces" Sanitary Commissioner attributed the limited impact of vaccination to the “natural apathy of the people, their disinclination to accept a new thing, and their unreasonable religious beliefs or caste prejudices" (P. 53).

To this reviewer what is remarkable about the above narration is not any insight that it may provide into the working of British India but rather that all this has a very "familiar" ring about it! These statements bear a remarkable resemblance to analyses about various current day efforts in Health Care. Well over a century later we find the same old - "Apathy, disinclination to accept a new thing, unreasonable religious belief" etc. being listed as reasons for our lack of progress and failure to "catch up with the West".*

Many of the "problems" of today seem to have been encountered in the last century - even the responses have been worked out earlier or so it seems. Today, it is quite common place to observe that much of what is imposed on our people is a totally alien product that has no roots or connection whatsoever to what goes on in the community. This was also said of vaccination. One of the greatest objections to vaccination was its secularity. There was no dietary or ritual preparation as in variolation; no invocation of Sitala; no priestly ministrations to provide reassurance during and after the operation. Such an “irreligious" act was thought to be offensive to the Goddess and was certainly out of keeping with the religious conceptualisation of disease and medicine among Hindus and Muslims alike. There was, however, some room for com-promise. Despite the disapproval of their superintendents, some Indian vaccinators (especially those who had formerly been tikadars) diluted the raw secularity of their work with a few Sitala prayers and rituals (P.56)! Such desperate efforts to cloth the modern medical system in the idioms of the Indian are still to be seen in several ways. For example, a young doctor known to this author from a prestigious medical institution said that he and his colleagues have taken to feeling the Nadi (the pulse of the patient in the method of a traditional Vaidya) particularly with patients from rural backgrounds in order to inspire trust and confidence.

Also very similar is the tendency to blindly increase the intensity of efforts (setting up of “targets") with no conception or understanding of reasons for the failure. The “intensive The vaccination programme” of the Bombay Presidency was one such example. A much more ambitious programme was devised in Bombay, which was meant to carry vaccination to the doors of the people who were said to be "too lazy, too poor, or too ignorant to see it" (P.57). But the Bombay system had its limitations. There were frequent reports of vaccinators submitting false returns, exaggerating the number of vaccinations actually performed, or being too illiterate to fill in the forms correctly (P.57-58).

The other familiar ploy is to use whatever is left in the traditional sector which still commands respect and credibility to carry the “modern" message. Thus in Bengal, where the challenge from variolation was strongest, the government adopted a series of expedients to try to supplant the rival practice. Soon after vaccination was first introduced into the province, attempts were made to recruit some of the leading tikadars as government vaccinators and persuade Brahmin pandits to issue public declarations that there was nothing in the Hindu sastras or sacred texts that prohibited vaccination or made variation a religious duty. This has a very familiar tone - it seems to be exactly on the same lines as the use of the dai (traditional birth attendant) to impart various "messages'' such as family planning etc*. This ploy had little effect however, and in Calcutta, the principal seat of British power in India, the number of variolators appears actually to have increased during the early nineteenth century! (P.57-58).

The Nature of Colonial Medicine 

The book does offer some valuable pointers to understand the nature of colonial medicine. To begin with sometimes what happened in medicine itself was just incidental. Medical institutions and knowledge were just tools of an imperial policy one of the proclaimed purposes of which was to “educate the natives in European ways”. In this process, medicine was just a means. As one of his first acts the Governor of New Zealand Sir George Grey in 1846 set up hospitals in New Zealand that were opened to both European and Maori patients. In the admission book it is recorded with evident pride that an early patient refused "to go out in the blankets in which he was admitted and has bought a new suit". The Governor said that hospitals would encourage “civilisation” (P.77-78). Similarly, the missionaries hoped that their hospitals would inculcate Christianity. As Bishop Smythies of the Universities Mission to Central Africa testified in 1893: "there are some mission fields in which only doctors seem to be able to gain any great influence. There is a fantastic hatred to (sic) Christianity, which can only be broken down by sympathy shown for the sufferings of the body.... together with the power to alleviate them. It seems as if it is only through medical work... that an opening to the hearts of these people can be found" (P.17).

Over and above any specific technical or scientific input, modern medicine seems to have had a deep impact at the very approach that the colonized societies have adopted to understand and treat disease. In the closing years of the nineteenth century, medicine became a demonstration of the superior political, technical and military power of the West, and hence a celebration of imperialism itself. It gave expression to Europe’s faith in its own innate superiority, its mastery over man as well as nature. Medicine registered the imperial determination to reorder the environment and to refashion indigenous societies and economies in the light of its own precepts and priorities. Medical intervention impinged directly upon the lives of the people, assuming an unprecedented right (in the name of medical science) over the health and over the bodies of its subjects. Whereas In the pre-colonial past, health and medical care were matters for individual initiative or at most communal effort, under imperial rule they become part of a wider process of state regulation and centralized control.

The Indianisation of medical personnel probably facilitated the eventual acceptance and as- simulation of what had once been exclusively the white man’s medicine (P.20). The position of western medicine during the Afro-Asian struggles for independence was often ambiguous. On the one hand, some nationalists looked to a revival of indigenous medicine as part of a rediscovery of their own cultural roots and rejected the West's alien therapeutics. On the other hand, indigenous practitioners of Western medicine were often influential members of the nationalist middle class and colonialism was condemned for its stringiness in bestowing the benefits of Western medicine (P.21). This ambivalence has been "resolved" in a peculiar way today with indigenous medical systems enjoying ostensible political support which amounts to very little substantial support, while the modern medical system corners most of the state support and patronage. This perhaps had a large effect in terms of alienting entire communities from government approaches that seem to have very little to do with indigenous ways of seeing and doing things.

The author has made it clear that his effort is part of a rigorous academic exercise of performing -"Studies in Imperialism". After outlining in graphic detail the disastrous health consequences of the European presence in the colonies, the author hastens to add. "It may be that the spate of epidemics which afflicted many societies following the white man’s arrival have assumed significance simply because Europeans were on hand to record them. Many earlier epidemiological and ecological catastrophes may have preceded them without finding their way into any surviving historical account’’(P.5). He thus reassures his readers (and perhaps himself), of his “academic objectivity".

Whatever may be the goals of the author, for us the value of book lies mainly in that, it traces the roots of much of the current day attitudes to public health and policy making to the colonial period with which it seems to be in essential continuity. It lays bare the basic designs and intentions that motivate the modern medical systems relatively free from the bright "glare" of its comparative more recent and much publicised technical achievements and therein lies its great value. 

A.V. Balasubramanian

PPST Foundation

Madras

BOOK REVIEW | JAPANESE ELECTRONICS: A WORM’S EYE-VIEW OF ITS EVOLUTION

By Makato Kikuchi (translated in English by Simul International),

(The Simul Press, Inc., Tokyo, Japan) 1983. 

"...You Japanese aren’t fair, Kikuchi! You take information from other

 countries whenever it suits you, but once your own work gets up there

 you refuse to let out any of your own work". 

 (Dr.C.N.Berglund, Bell Northern Research of Canada to

 Dr.M. Kikuchi in 1977, p.145). 

 "The Japanese and Germans are doing extremely well these days in

 electronics. Do you know what these two countries have in common?

 Number one, they never, never participate in great human challenges

 - like the space program, for instance. They invest nothing in such   

 endeavours. And number two, neither of them think of spending  

 money on defense ….”. 

(Dr.J.H.Hollomon, Director of Centre for Policy Alternatives at MIT

at a International Electron Device Meeting in Washington, p.148).

The Ascent of Japan

In the mid seventies and early eighties, the world saw Japan asserting its superiority in modern technology vis-a-vis USA and Europe. The Americans were bitter. The champions of free market had started using trade-barriers to protect themselves from Japanese technological invasion. It is in this environment that Dr.Makato Kikuchi, Director of Sony Research Centre since 1974 and a well-known solid-state scientist since mid 50’s, wrote this book. The book is about Japan, about USA and a bit about the evolution of Electronics. In a story told as a series  of encounters and incidents in which he participated, the author tries to explain the native  strengths of Japan, the qualities of the American society which were appreciated by Japanese scientists and in his own way tries to explain why Japanese industry has reached the top. 

This is a period when the morale of the sociologists and scientists in USA and Europe is low. Dr.E.Loefner, Hewlett-Packard Co. put it in simple terms in 1979 in a conversation with the  author, "The age of American leadership in technology is over. Next it’s Japan’s turn..." (p.10). The Americans were floundering. The Vice-president of Zenith Radio Corp., a big American  television manufacturer asked in 1974, "Kikuchi, is it really necessary for a company making television like we do to have a research department? Be honest with me," (p.132). The tables were turned around. Dr.J.G.Linvill, head of Stanford University, Electrical Engineering Department, USA, in a visit to Dr.Kikuchi’s Laboratory in Japan in 1980 asked, "If you could, would you tell me as much as you are able about the research you are doing at this lab now? "I thought there might be something we could try, too. I thought at least we could see if it looked possible  or not". To this the author said to himself, "What! Have you started doing what we Japanese were doing twenty years ago?" (p.13). 

I. Beginnings

Things were not always like this. Sometime back America was the confident and condescending teacher of Japan. The Americans “made a point of praising me (a Japanese scientist) .... as they still considered the Japanese to be those people who ‘did very well, all things considered’, which is to say, it could hardly be helped if they were not quite up to American standards ..." (p.75). They were generous to "the little children from a country with a different culture, defeated in war, had studied hard and made good grades...” (p.76). When presented with new findings by Japanese, they exhibited easy confidence "We haven't experimented in this area, yet"... or "You have fine data, haven't you?" (p.76). They sometimes flaunted their superiority. "You remember old X- at Y company? He went over to Japan on military service and got himself a Japanese wife … And get this, no sooner does he bring the new missus back with him than that the Japanese gal starts learning golf". And a dozen or so Americans laughed boisterously (p.78).

They were earlier willing to invite Japanese researchers on exchange and help them. But not any longer Dr.J.Morton, Vice-president of the Bell Labs remarked, that this would be the last time an exchange student will be accepted at Bell Labs because, “Well, this exchange student will be walking around the labs. He is certain to see our latest research. We can't watch over him all the time and tell him not to go into such and such a place. With Japan the way it is today, I am sure you could start something with any new information he got. What scares us is your speed once you have set a target for yourselves. …….You don't try to find your own targets. Instead you get information from us and in the end get results faster than we can ourselves" (p.89).

II. Starting from Scratch

After the war, the author joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry’s Electrotechnical Laboratory. He states, "It is important that I put down some of my.memories of this time. In 1948 our buildings, our experimental equipment, indeed everything we had was small and rundown. …... how hard Japan had to work to pick up itself up from the chaos at the end of the war” (p.21). “Living conditions in 1948 hardly let us immerse ourselves in our research … Yet, even so, our lab was full of bright hopes and youthful vigor. I have no way of expressing it today except to say that the war was over, and we were all in on the beginning of another great movement in history, the dawning of a new age for Japan" (p.22).

Kikuchi and others in Japan took upon themselves to learn from the research findings of the USA. They would visit and work under U:S: researchers. They were ready to toil, "I would check the (US) publication out of the library, roll seven or eight sheets of carbon paper into my ancient typewriter, and bang out my own copies... I would distribute them to my superiors and friends, and we would all study them together" (p.26). "We still had no scientific literature on hand. We had no materials. There were literally nothing to work with. But we set about our research with pounding hearts …. But even so we were burning inside".

The Japanese industry started with imitations. They would initially make cheap products which were a copy of the imported ones. In 1950s, "Made in Japan" was a synonym for a cheap product, i.e. a product of very limited life and use. The Japanese were disgusted with themselves for making such cheap products. But  they realised that “imitation might be a first crucial step in the human learning process.” And after all their imitations were not limited to ‘simple products.

They soon began imitating electronics - transistors which require material with purity of 99.99999999 percent. This requires mastering "the preparation and use of containers and gas purification methods that can handle such tolerances, and obtain equal precision from machinery. It is absolutely essential that temperatures be kept within.0.2 degrees of target, and this at temperatures of upto 1000 °C. In short, the ability to imitate transistors is a comprehensive test of the capabilities needed to run a modern electronic industry’’. (p.182)

The Road from Imitation 

What made them climb up from simple imitation to the sophisticated imitation? In the course of the book Kikuchi points to several Japanese characteristics which he thinks may have played an important role.

The first such factor was the willingness or keenness of Japan to external stimuli. “We are easily touched off by outside factors. ... People eyed the new machines with avid curiosity, and were greatly impressed by them” (p.191). So much so that in 50's, "Imported" became the benchmark for a new set of values (p.99). But there was a difference. The author states, “For many years, Japan has incorporated foreign cultures in many forms. Yet it has never absorbed these imports unchanged, always altering them to suit the Japanese mentality and the special characteristics of Japanese society. It has in short, polished and refined foreign ideas before assimilating them” (p VII). This is true of religion, of food and of technology, “The point is that any developmental process in Japan, even the scientific or technological, is governed by distinctive Japanese characteristics based on the nation’s culture and climate.”

The next important factor is a strong will, enthusiasm and vitality of the Japanese society coupled with a strong sense of patriotism. According to the author, "The driving force behind the growth of Japanese industry has been human motivation and the eagerness of industry itself. Whether or not a country can pull together and wield its collective strength, depends more upon the initiative and fire of the people themselves than on the government.” (p.6). They seem to possess “bottomless reservoir of vitality” and pent-up energy. This "driving force may sometime appear in unsettled, even rambunctious forms". They may be thought as “restless fidgeters". Dr.D.Turnbull of Harvard University once summed up the strongest impression of Japanese as follows - "At airport terminals there is a boarding ramp for getting on the airliner from the waiting room. If you see someone trying to squeeze past people in that boarding ramp to be first on the plane, you can pretty much assume he is Japanese" (p.169).

According to the author “What I want to say is that Japanese revitalisation after the war was not something that happened because it was ordained and guided from on high. It was something that came about naturally as a result of most Japanese being filled with a will to achieve it and of their working tirelessly to that end. It was this human drive and energy that was the true source of Japan’s recovery" (p.170).

Combined with the will is a patriotic dream. The mayor of Tokyo after the destruction of the city in 1923 earthquake said to the people of the city," We are not going to rebuild the past. We are going to build the future" (p.29). It is this dream that finds expression time and again. Dr.Kikuchi recounts his conversation with the American scientist Dr.Schokley, the father of transistor, in Boston in 1960, "Right now I feel a uniquely American kind of freshness in the scientific research going on in United States. Someday after I return to Japan, I would like to create this same kind of atmosphere in my own research group. That is my dream" (p.51). To this Dr.Schokley said with a searching expression, "I wonder when you will wake up?". This dream and confidence soon became a shared dream of Japanese scientists, "What it gave me was the gut feeling that, put simply, we could do pretty well for ourselves. It was a feeling that gradually came to be the shared property of all Japanese scientists who had followed along in the shadow of the United States". (p.54).

A third characteristics of Japan brought out by the author is the collective spirit of its people, "I think that the most distinctive thing about U.S. and European society is the strength of the individual. Within society, the strong awareness of self-identity. In Japan there is a powerful orientation toward working together on the same job, but in the West people try to be different from each other”. (p.12). "Individual members of Japanese society have a powerful influence on one another. People are in close proximity, not only physically, but also psychologically. Thus, a disturbance in one corner of the society immediately sets off sympathetic vibrations. .... This was how I chose to express the characteristics of a homogeneous society readily open to consensus formation." (emphasis ours. p.154).

Dr.Kikuchi mentions several other factors which could have helped Japan stand up. He talks about the sense of security that Japan has due to it being surrounded on all sides by water. He talks about the flexibility of Japanese society, perhaps best expressed in Dr.Schokley's words- "Throughout your history you have always gotten around society’s norms, skillfully gotten around them, as society itself has progressed and changed. Change the norms to fit the conditions. This is a magnificent achievement. Take even something like birth control. You can make it a crime in one era, acquiesce to it in another and finally, for all practical purposes, make it completely acceptable. Your wisdom for living we cannot copy" (p.199).

Dr.Kikuchi gives an example of the Japanese worker's identification with his/her work - "In American factories, the minute quitting time rolled around the workers. would switch off the electricity and head for home. The temperature in the furnace plunged and: the sapphires, of course, fractured. Things are different in Japan. The workers figure that since they have this batch in the furnace, they might as well finish it right. However, “doing it right” in U.S.A. is considered to be the management's responsibility”.

But perhaps more than this, Dr.Kikuchi "places the source of Japan’s strength in the broad canvas of education from the Meiji period on. ... an education not forced by the government, but rather education actively sought out by people themselves." (p.102). Not that this education does not have problems. "The fundamental pattern, not only in elementary and middle school, but even in higher grades, is for pupils to troop into the classroom and frantically copy down the lecture in their notebooks. Students in Japanese society do not have time to make knowledge of their own. If they try, they will invariably get left behind ....” (p.205). "But even then there may be no other society in which so many people have such a strong and homogenous educational background.” (p.102).

Government and Industry

One of the often repeated illusions in the West about Japanese success is that in Japan the government directs and plays the crucial role in the development of technology. As Dr.J.Wasserman, Vice-president of Arthur D.Little of USA put it with heavy sarcasm in 1974, "In Japan, government and business are practically partners. Here in America, they are enemies" (p.142).

Dr.Kiktichi ackowledges the co-operation between the government and industry in Japan. For instance he writes, "It was the Ministry of International Trade and Industry that encouraged the hunters and lent them a helping hand. The state helped prop up the concentrated drive to develop VLSI technology. It encouraged companies band together, and gave out tens of millions of yen worth of output ... (p.141). But he goes on to say, "I think you are being a little high-handed in deciding how Japan works. The Ministry of International Trade and Industry, at least as far as my experience with it goes, has never promoted its goals by tying a leash around the neck of Japanese industry and dragging it along behind. An example - A child tries to walk by herself. You walk along beside her, giving advice and encouragement where needed. MITI has done that, but it has never made all kinds of plans in advance and pushed everyone along whether they liked it or not.” (p.6).

Achieving Consensus

"The leadership elite of the United States and Europe confidently believe that by laying out guiding philosophies and goals backed up by solid numbers they can generate tremendous momentum towards achieving a given objective. In Japan, however, it was a different approach…. In Japan you plop down a mikoshi festival float and shout, “Hey everybody, it is a party!” Let us carry this thing! You shout that, and before you know it the mikoshi is up and away. (p.144).

More so, it is the consensus of the people that plays an integral part in government policy deliberations. As Dr. Kikuchi remarks, "we don’t behave in line with some fixed philosophy as you suggest, far from it. We do exactly the opposite. We respond quickly to changing situations and when things don’t work out well, we give up immediately …. Japanese government  officials incorporate the view of important opinion leaders in drawing up their plan and always take pains to implement policy in keeping with changing conditions” (p.151).

This is not to suggest that bureaucracy in Japan is very different. Time and again in the book, Dr. Kikuchi gives the glimpses of Japanese bureaucracy, which in some sense appears no different from the Indian one. When he was working as a scientist in.the government lab MITI, he relates an incident where he requested the purchase department to purchase a saw and gave the specification sheet. The sheet examiner pointed out, ''This.will  never do, Look here, you have not put down how many teeth the saw should have," (p.33). Dr. Kikuchi cites another example, when recognising that Bell Labs stood head and shoulders above U.S. universities in its vigorous research work, an attempt was made to send a staff member to Bell Labs. "The Ministry of International Trade and Industry refused its permission. The ministry said Japanese government employees should not study at corporate research facilities." (p.88).

III. Learning from the United States

Dr.Kikuchi spent quite some time in his early years in the United States. Not only does he acknowledges that he learned immensely from United States, but also some aspects of American life attracted him (and presumably other Japanese scientists). He relates incidents indicating the sense of punctuality that the Americans had. Even Nobel prize winners like Dr.Van Hippel and Dr.J.C.Slater would always be present in the seminar hall at MIT, a little before the seminar was supposed to start. He contrasts this to the early Japanese attitude when seniors always come late. Today, Japanese are more punctual than probably anyone else. Dr.Kikuchi was impressed when he came to know how important were the matters that secretaries handled in the United States. In Japan they were little more than “errand girls". Today the situation has changed. The secretaries in Japan today handle the most complex tasks. Dr.Kikuchi was impressed with the American society where "in the contractual world of work there was strictest separation between superior and inferior, but as returning to their private selves people quickly asserted their fundamental equality” (p.47). 

Similarly he was quite taken aback when on looking for an old acquaintance at RCA lab in Princeston, he was told, "He left. He was not quite up to the work we do here. Here at RCA we think somebody is not up to par, we talk it over with him man-to-man. We think of some other thing he might be able to handle and reassign him. Sometime we try to persuade him to leave RCA and switch to some completely different field." (p.63). Dr.Kikuchi states that "in Japan there is nothing more disgraceful than for a researcher not to be able to continue his studies”. (p.62). In Japan there is a feeling that once a person becomes famous everyone must respect him and give him the seat of honour. I found very little of that in the United States. (p.65).

Dr. Kikuchi is impressed with the care taken in United States to make everyone functional. He recalls having a small red booklet given to every scientist at MIT, which was "a source of helpful information rather than a book of rules. It was presented, it stated, in the spirit that characterised the founding of the Research Laboratory of Electronics - as much freedom as possible from administrative restrictions." (p.66). Dr.Kikuchi found the book very helpful as it was a list of straight forward, practical tips for research workers. He again contrasts it with the situation then prevailing in Japan.

Another notable feature that Dr.Kikuchi notices is the role technicians play in American and Japanese society. "Technicians are people whose job is to provide technical support to researchers. In Japanese laboratories, all technicians dream of becoming full-fledged researchers in their own right. They work increasingly to that end, even if it means going to night school after working hours. An ironical result is that the profession of technician has never quite gained respectability. Few people are willing to keep it for long. At MIT and GE labs, however, I found any number of fairly elderly and often very expert technicians. When evening came they would quickly shed their lab jackets and dash for home.” (p.63). They did not want to do any high-faulting research. They just helped with their trained fingers. And yet it is in the United States that technicians were able to take patents on processes.

IV

A significant portion of the book is about the nature of "Modern Technology" and “Research and Development". The author is not very sure if what is happening is all good. But he regards many of these questions as idle thinking. He says, most of the interest was focused on the philosophical question of whether computers would turn people into slaves of machines. When there is no real industry to work with, thinkers lose themselves in these kind of abstractions" (p.7). Dr.Kikuchi brings out that early pioneers of a technology (in this case electronics) have to pay some kind of a tax. They have to invest a lot of money and effort without being sure of the result. But in the initial period there are plenty of breakthroughs and excitement. As technology matures, new topics begins to disappear. All the research become merely an extension of work that was already underway. The work may be fine but the concepts are not new.

The Japanese ‘Model’

But with this maturity comes stability. The technology comes to distinguish its composition and the basic perceptions about it. It is not possible to leap on to something new. “When a technology is immature; it can take off in any direction and evolve into any form imaginable." (p.127). The author cites the case of amorphous semiconductor which was announced in 1968 as material with which switches, computer memories and even optical memories could be made. The discovery seemed a significant field for further research and development. But all this not-withstanding, those working in semiconductor gave amorphous silicon a frigid reception. This was simply because silicon crystals had reached such a high level of maturity. The technology had hardened into present forms. However, there is another side of the coin. "The main benefit of mature technology is its impact on every corner of daily lives.” (p.126).

There are many other aspects of technology that Dr.Kikuchi describes. He describes the problem of a nation growing up and becoming stronger. Today the situation is such that almost anything Japan does may look as a model to the outside World. But the nation has struggled to stand up. There are many many aspects of early Japanese society with which people in India and third world countries can identify. We may feel that if Japan, starting from such a situation, could change so much, there is hope for all of us. Probably the book intends to convey this feeling but not without a warning. After one of his talks in Brazil about Japan‘s early days a person from the audience came to talk to the author, "I felt reassured today", he said “If Japan could do that sort of thing and still become a splendid industrial nation, then someday Brazil should be able to reach Japan’s level, too". Kikuchi retorted, "No good, no good. You cannot get any real answers from that kind of simple extrapolation. Things would not happen just like that. It requires national will and urge to achieve". 

Dr.Ashok Jhunjhunwala

Madras

BOOK REVIEW | THE JAPANESE EXPERIENCE IN TECHNOLOGY: FROM TRANSFER TO SELF-RELIANCE

By Takeshi Hayashi (United Nations University Press) 1990.

The book under review analyzes the Japanese experience of development in technology which saw Japan transformed in the space of one century from an Agrarian, traditional society importing technology to a leading exporter of advanced technology. The author draws on the reports of more than 120 Japanese experts in various fields of industrial technology. This study is distinguished from most other recent Japanese studies because it looks at Japan as a developing nation and searches for elements of the Japanese experience which could be useful for currently developing nations as they plan their development strategies. Most recent Japanese scholarship has compared the Japanese experience with that of the West.

 In reality the Japanese experience lies in between that of the West and those of the currently developing countries. Although much is made of the miracle of Japanese industrial and technological growth in the last forty years, the author stresses that Japan’s development experience began with the Meiji Restoration in 1868, and to some extent even under the Tokugawas. Thus, the problems encountered, assistance available, and level of technology involved were all different from those of today. There are also many unique elements in Japan’s history for example, its status as a relatively small island nation with a well integrated population, its defeat in the Second World War which led to occupation and the implementation of thorough Agrarian reform by the occupying authorities, as well as a structuring of industrial restoration to suit the occupying power, and the advent of the Korean War which provided a sudden boost to the economy. The author is cognizant of all these factors and repeatedly stresses that each country must find its own way to development. Nevertheless, in his study of the Japanese experience he hopes to identify the key elements to its successful development which can then guide currently developing nations in determining how best they should proceed.

Another refreshing aspect of the book is the author's acknowledgement of the costs of development especially in the disruption of traditional Japanese society and in the burgeoning of pollution and occupational diseases. The Japanese experience is not presented as a golden example to be blindly copied, but as one previous experience with great success in some aspects but great costs in others. The author hopes that planners in other nations can benefit from knowledge of Japan's failures and still unresolved problems as much as from knowledge of its successes.

The book is divided into three parts. The first part gives an overview of Japan’s technological development since the Meiji Restoration and presents the author's theoretical framework. The second part contains case studies of the development of various sectors of Japanese industry and society. The author briefly surveys the development of urban society and agriculture and then reviews the development of the iron and steel, mining, transport, textile and small scale industries. Finally, he reviews the development of education, management, finance, general trading companies, industrial and economic policies, science and technology policy, female labour and pollution. The third part contains the author's conclusions.

 The second part of the book suffers from trying to cover too much material in too little space. Each chapter, typically 5-10 pages long, is a terse summary of facts and figures in one sector with little attempt to relate the chapters to one another or to the theoretical framework developed in the first part. It would have been more useful to readers in developing countries to have an in-depth analysis of one or two related sectors, such as iron and steel and transport and their relation to the evolving educational and financial systems. As it is, the first and third parts of the book are likely to be of more interest to readers.

 In looking at the possibilities for currently developing nations to draw upon the Japanese experience, the author repeatedly stresses the importance of each nation following its own path. Modern technologies are transferred but may not be easily integrated. Each nation must serve its current technological status and draw on the strengths of its traditional technologies and the skills and knowledge already present among its artisans and workers. He also stresses that technology in itself is not political, nor does a particular technology has value. It gains value only through its use. Thus, a more advanced design may be of less value to a society than a simpler one if the advanced design cannot be used or repaired in the given setting. For instance, a simple light-weight plastic pump may be of more value to a village than a heavier, stronger and more complex metal pump if the women who are the main users of the pump cannot manage the heavier pump or if repairs are difficult and delayed.

In looking at the Japanese experience, the author sees the emergence of a national consensus to abandon being an Agrarian society and pursue technological development in the 1860's largely in response to a perceived threat from the West. He believes that such a consensus is of prime importance for successful technological development. Development, causes and requires many changes in traditional values and society. Only a strong national consensus on the goal of development can guide the nation through the many conflicts caused by these changes. Japan already had a high degree of social integration by the beginning of the 1860's which greatly facilitated the formation of such a national consensus. But Japan is a relatively small and isolated nation and consensus is fairly and easily achieved. Perhaps as a result, consensus is highly valued in Japanese culture. It is a question for those from larger and more diverse nations whether such a consensus is necessary, possible, or desirable in their context. If consensus is deemed necessary, then developing nations today have in the electronic media a tool for forming consensus over a large area. But possibly in more diverse societies, consensus is not the key.

The author appears to be particularly fond of the number five. He has identified five periods in the post-war development of Japan, five components of technology and five stages toward technological self-reliance. In the case of the five components of technology the author concedes that two others: money and information are necessary but presumably they disrupt the symmetry of the paper and so are relegated to a later mention!

The five Ms of technology are:

1.    Raw materials and resources including energy

2.    Machines and equipment

3.    Manpower including engineers and skilled workers

4.    Management

5.    Markets

All of the five Ms are essential for successful technological development. For instance, the most advanced machinery will not increase output if the raw materials are not supplied in time or if skilled workers are not available, to run and maintain the machine. In the field of manpower.the Japanese system is distinguished by the broad knowledge and active participation required of engineers. Engineers are actively involved in shop-floor management. Thus they are immediately available to sort out problems, improve daily operations, and instruct workers. In Japanese firms, engineers have a long tour of active involvement in all aspects of production, before they are assigned to design. Their status is not exalted, and they work closely with the workers. Further up the line, techno-scientists too, work closely with industry to apply their knowledge to concrete developments and are actively involved in training their successors and skilled workers.

Five stages can be identified on the road to technological self-reliance:

1.    Acquisition of operational techniques

2.    Maintenance of new machines and equipment

3.    Repairs and minor modifications of foreign technologies and equipment

4.    Designing and planning  of complete systems

5.    Domestic manufacture

The author states that complete self-reliance may be achieved only by following all these stages (though not necessarily always in the above order). He cites historians of technology and others to support the claim that there is no such thing as a leap of technology. However, a newcomer can carefully evaluate and choose sectors in which it has an advantage in order to economise on the time, money and  effort  spent at each stage.

Throughout the book, examples of these stages of development are cited. For instance, in 1910, Japan ordered locomotives of advanced specifications from Germany, USA and UK. On arrival, these locomotives were disassembled, each part measured and tested and then re-assembled. In short order, Japanese engineers were able to make a "dead-copy" of each locomotive. Next, the designs were adjusted to suit local manufacturing limitations and natural conditions in Japan. By 1923, Japan had commenced manufacture of completely new types of locomotives with a “reputation for outstanding design".

It is noted that technology transfer for developing countries today is more difficult than for Japan 50-100 years ago for two reasons. First, the technological gap between Japan and the West was much less than between developing and developed countries today. Second, modern machinery tends to be more "black-box" in nature, using a much greater range of materials such as exotic ceramics, plastics and alloys. The prevalence of electronics with Custom Integrated Circuits (ICs) and microprocessors exacerbates the problem. Thus, making a "dead-copy" in the first stage may require a substantial amount of supporting technology and expertise. These factors underline the necessity for judicious choice in technology transfer. The developing country needs to identify "enabling" technologies which are based on its traditional strengths and will give it a competitive advantage. These should be related to local needs, resources and capabilities. Linkages must be established with related industries and service sectors. Standardisation is crucial in any modern sector. However, blind adoption of often irrelevant international standards is to be avoided. Finally, the educational system must be geared to produce specific skills in the short-term, and to attain high standards at all levels in the long-term. Unfortunately, the choice of foreign technologies is often made by the political and administrative elite who favour the latest technology with little consideration of need or the capacity for technology absorption. This ensures that the country is permanently dependent on foreign technology.

In Japan, the government was involved mainly in heavy industry until World War II, leaving light industry exclusively to the private sector. Since the War, the government has concentrated primarily on setting policy. The author clearly favours private enterprises, citing examples of poor initial progress under State control with later rapid modernisation by private enterprises. This overlooks the many poor decisions, from the point of view of society at large, that have been made by private enterprises around the world, India included.

Lessons for India

While there are many lessons for India from the Japanese experience, the Japanese model cannot be transplanted lock, stock and barrel to India. The Japanese success was based on a number of pre-conditions and had severe social costs. Japan is a homogeneous society which has for long had a strong national consensus for development. India is a heterogeneous society with national consensus on almost no question. Much of Japan’s success can be attributed to a skilled workforce coupled with the willingness of management to listen to workers. Emulating this would require a substantial change in the Indian educational system. Education must be made more universal and directed towards skills needed for development. At the same time, the Japanese notion that status is based on accomplishments rather than merely on education is worthy of emulation by the label-conscious Indian student. (How many Indian engineers would be willing, as their Japanese counterparts, to start work with the same status and salary as a high school graduate?)

Successful technology transfer leading to self-reliance depends on the choice of technology that is in tune with indigenous capabilities. The use or neglect of such capabilities, especially in rural areas, will determine whether development benefits the entire population or merely the advanced countries and a local elite at the expense of the majority. Japan suffered from the disintegration of many villages as a result of urban-centred development. Japan, as other industrialised countries, has taken the route of initial development without regard to pollution and then faced the dual costs of clean-up and conversion of processes to less polluting ones. India has the opportunity to go directly to environmentally sound techniques.

Dr.P.T. Gonsalves

Dr.T.A.Gonsalves

Madras

INDIAN HERITAGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP

REPORT ON THE WORKSHOP ON INDIAN HERITAGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MAY 27th-JUNE 2nd, 1991, MADRAS

A week long workshop for children in the age group 14-16 on ‘The Indian Heritage of Science and Technology’ was held from May 27th to June 2nd 1991. The workshop was held by the PPST Foundation in collaboration with the Academy of Development Science, a voluntary organisation from Maharashtra. The venue of the workshop was The Hindu Senior Secondary School, Indira Nagar, Madras. It was attended by 22 students (classes VIII to XI) from various parts of Madras. The workshop was inaugurated on Monday the 27th of May 1991 by Sri T.K.V. Desikachar, Managing Trustee of Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. Sri Desikachar recalled how his father and Guru, the late Sri Krishnamacharya represented the practical aspects of Indian tradition and was an example to this generation. He stressed the importance of knowing one’s own tradition and lauded the efforts of PPST Foundation in making people aware of the Indian tradition through its bulletin and other activities. Indian tradition provides means for Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha and it is upto us to choose what we want. Science is a part of this tradition. He concluded by emphasising the need for holding workshops of this nature for adults also since even they know very little about our tradition.

The sessions began with an introduction to the theme of the workshop by Sri.A.V.Balasubramanian. The achievements of ancient India in various fields and the contemporary relevance of these were highlighted. Traditional methods and products he said, are getting marginalised and treated as some fashionable entities in ’high’ society. It is time to rejuvenate our traditions so that a majority of our people can lead a more meaningful life. The broad areas covered during the course of the workshop were Yoga, Agriculture, Indian Medicine, Food and Nutrition, Environmental Heritage, Astronomy, Mathematics, Architecture, Town Planning, Metallurgy, Martial Arts, Vedic Chanting, Classical Dance, Kalamkari Painting, Astavadanam and Indian Theatre.

Yoga

The children had regular yoga practice for one hour everyday. Mr.S.Suchindran of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram was the instructor. Besides Asana practice they had demonstrations of difficult asanas by Mr.Kausthub and Mr.Suchindran. A test was conducted and the children were given two courses for regular follow up practice. Sri E.R.Gopalakrishnan gave a talk on "Yoga as a Science".

In a lecture demonstration on Vedic chanting, Kum.Sujaya pointed out that there are definite rules for the chanting in Taittiriya Upanishad. She mentioned the prerequisites for chanting. In Vedic chants there are only three notes and two kinds of letters. She gave a demonstration of the chants in which the audience were also invited to participate.

Agriculture

In this area there were two sessions. The first was on our traditional methods of Irrigation by Mr.T.M.Mukundan. Mr.Mukundan spoke mainly on tank (ery) irrigation in India. The necessity of constructing and maintaining erys particularly in areas with scant rainfall was realised by our ancestors. According to an estimate, there would be 1,00,000 erys in South India with 39,000 of them in Tamil Nadu alone. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and some other parts of India also would be having erys and the figure may be around 2,00,000 for the whole of India. In South India especially, the vast network of erys connected to each other had multiple uses, namely - irrigation, supply of drinking water, flood control and so on. Details on the impressive ery system in Arcot and Chengalpattu districts were provided. Recent researches into the functioning of the polity in the Chengalpattu region in Pre-British India have provided some very useful information about the ery system. Every village provided roughly 4-5% of the total produce of the village for the maintenance of erys. This was besides various other provisions like pay for the persons maintaining the ery. A democratic system prevailed in the maintenance, management and utilisation of the erys. Unfortunately, many of the erys are in a very bad condition at present, as the local people are not in a position to maintain them and the Government is indifferent and also incapable of maintaining them. Even in their neglected state, the erys are serving their purpose in some villages to a limited extent. The talk was followed by a slide show on erys.

The second session by Dr.K.Vijayalakshmi was on Vrksayurveda or the Indian Plant Science. She pointed out the broad areas covered by Vrksayurveda and explained in detail the classification system of Vrksayurveda which is very useful for students of Ayurveda. She listed out nutritional recipes and botanical marvels known to our ancestors. Pest and disease management techniques which have great relevance in the present day context were dealt with in detail. An exercise on the taste of plants depending on the dominance of panchamahabhootas was given.

Indian Medicine

Vd.M.Radhika spoke on the science and art of keeping oneself healthy - a feature that is in vogue ever since man started life on this earth as a social being. As in all other areas Indian civilization has been in the forefront in medicine also. The speaker pointed out that unfortunately over the past few centuries, the wealth of Indian medical science has not received much encouragement for development. Nevertheless a major section of the society is only served by Traditional Medicine in one form or another. She pointed out the interesting feature that Traditional systems of medicine exist in India not only in the form of the organised sector - that is Vaidyar, Siddha Vaidyar, Hakims etc. who are trained in the colleges of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha systems of medicine, but also in the form of widespread Lok Swasthya Paramparas - that is the local health traditions. She highlighted that there are other families which specialise in treating single diseases and certain practitioners who are adept in highly specialised areas such as bone setting, treatment of poison etc. Besides these there is also a wide range of practices in the form of do's and don’ts in the daily and seasonal regimen which are a part and parcel of our daily life helping in maintaining good health. The speaker expounded on the principle that the speciality and uniqueness of the Indian system of medicine is that the stress is more on the maintenance of health rather than cure of disease. The Panchamahabootha Siddhanta and the Tridosha Siddhanta were briefly described.

Dealing with the area of Food and Nutrition, Vd.Radhika pointed out that it is in the area of food and nutrition perhaps that quite often one comes across dramatically differing perceptions between the viewpoints of Indigenous systems of Medicines and the Western system. She classified food on the basis of different tastes, their effects on our body and the quality and the concept of Agni in Ayurveda. The variations to be followed by way of prescriptions and proscriptions during the various seasons of the year based on one’s prakruthi were also explained. She described a very important aspect of the Indian Science of food and nutrition which is the concept of Pathya.

Environmental Heritage

Mr.V.J.Rajan spoke on the forest wealth of the country and its relentless denudation in recent times. He presented a large number of slides to explain his points. He described the lack of environmental consciousness in both the government and the general public. Population explosion was also pointed out to be one of the causes of environmental degradation and deforestation. He exhorted the young to be conscious of the state of our environment and plant trees. He gave several useful tips on preparation for trips to forests and jungles.

Indian Astronomy

Dr.M.S.Sriram gave two lectures on this subject. Elementary concepts in Astronomy were first introduced through illustrations and the use of a model. The three fundamental natural units of time - i.e. a day, a lunar month and a solar year were described, The interrelation among these units and the evolution of the Indian calendar through the ages was sketched. The Vedanga Jyotisha calendar dating back to the Vedic period was discussed. Detailed mathematical treatments of celestial objects in Indian Astronomy based on simple models are found to be in the Siddhanta texts like Aryabhatiya, Surya Siddhanta, Siddhanta Shiromani etc. Aryabhatiya composed in 499 A.D. was the first text in this genre. The essential features of Siddhanta texts were briefly described. The meanings of various terms occurring in the traditional Indian Panchanga like tithi, nakshatra, rashi, adhikamaasa, lagna etc. were introduced and the Indian calendar was explained at some length, with numerical examples. The observational aspects of Indian Astronomy were taken up next and the ingenious methods available for fixing the directions, measurement of latitude of a place, sun’s declination and measurement of time by measuring the shadow of a ‘Shanku' (gnomon) were described. Finally the continuity in Indian Astronomical tradition from Vedic period to Modern times was pointed out.

Indian Mathematics

In his lectures on Indian Mathematics Dr. M.D.Srinivas first traced the development of mathematics in India from the Sulbasutras (Vedic period) down to the Kerala School of Mathematics of recent times. He felt that Aryabhatiya contains material on mathematics which ought to be taught to school children. The mathematical tradition was developed by Bhaskara - I, Brahmagupta, Sridhara, Mahaveera, Jayadeva etc. and consolidated by Bhaskara - II in his works Leelavathi, Beejaganitha and Siddha Shiromani. All major results in Indian Mathematics till the 12th century are contained in these works of Bhaskara - II, The next major period was the Kerala School of Mathematics (roughly 16th to 19th century A.D.). Glimpses of Indian tradition can be discerned in Srinivasa Ramanujan’s works. The place value system and the use of zero were unique to India and unsurpassed by any other method (of representing a number) in other civilizations. Various short cut methods in computations were devised by Indians and widely used by ordinary people like vegetable vendors, carpenters etc. The simplification of various arithmetical operations in a recent book in the Indian tradition, ‘Vedic mathematics’ by Jagadguru Bharatikrishna Theertha were explained. There was a detailed exposition of the ‘Kuttaka method’ occurring in Aryabhatiya and its relevance to various problems including astronomical ones.

Dr.S.Antony Raj gave a talk on Srinivasa Ramanujan. He felt that Ramanujan worked in the Indian tradition of mathematics and wrote many astonishing mathematical relations without proof. He highlighted some contributions of Ramanujan within the group of high school students including the work on primes, nested square roots, magic squares, partitions of a number and the value of pi to a million decimal places.

Architecture and Town Planning

There was a presentation of the video film "The Shilpi Speaks" by Ms. Sasikala Ananth in which the well known expert Sri Ganapathi Sthapathi explains the conceptual framework and methodology of Indian architecture and sculpture. This was followed by a more detailed discussion on the same topic. Indians have their own concept of God, Space, Time and Man and this is reflected in their architecture and sculpture. The aesthetics and the science behind the construction of temples, houses and other buildings in the Indian tradition was elucidated with the aid of drawings and sketches.

Sri Anup Dave who spoke on town planning in India observed that the layout of towns in ancient India reflected the understanding of cosmos in our civilization. Cities were a very important creation of our ancestors and really attempts to bring order into disorders in the landscape. They thought of a city as a model of cosmos. Mount Meru is a mythical mountain at the centre of the world and is the abode of Gods. That is why, in many South Indian towns, the temple is at the centre of the town and is the place where the man meets the divine. The streets go around the temple. On some days the Gods themselves are taken around the temple, that is, the Gods and the people meet on these occasions. The King’s palace in a city is secondary to the temple and does not occupy the central place. According to our tradition a circle represents dynamism and a square represents stability. That is why towns are in the shape of squares and divided into many parts, each part presided over by different God. Sri Dave explained how various activities were located in the city to suit the convenience of the people.

Indian Metallurgy

Mr.S.Suresh spoke on Metallurgy of the Science of making and shaping metals and alloys and discussed its origins in India. He stated evidences to show that metals were in use since the Vedic age followed by the Epic age. Then he explained that the famous Damascus swords used in the Middle East in olden days were made from a raw material called "Wootz" also known as Indian Steel. These Wootz pieces were exported from India to other countries in the form of cakes. He stated that the process does not exist anymore and that there are no records on the exact process of Wootz making. However, from literature sources of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we find that Salem and Hyderabad were the main producers of the traditional Wootz Steel. Indians excelled not only in iron and steel making but also in other metallurgical crafts like bronze and brass making. The speaker pointed out that today scientists and metallurgists of the West have started showing tremendous interest in the study of Damascus blades, its properties and its chemical composition and also in the process of Wootz making. Right now even in India people have started to realise the value behind this forgotten art and efforts are being made to reconstruct these various processes in Indian Metallurgy using furnaces with traditional design and traditional methods of operation. The lecture was followed by a slide show.

Martial Arts

Mr.V.Pandiyan gave a very useful lecture demonstration on martial arts. He spoke about the common features and defence strategy in the various forms of the art of self-defence. His talk was made up of three aspects:

(a) The art of defense by blocking the opponent's blow - based on common sense.

(b) The art of defense by not just blocking but by arresting the movements of the opponent based on various techniques and fancy footwork.

(c) Inflicting punishment of various degrees on the opponent. This he mentioned only briefly in passing given the fact that the audience was largely high school students.

A young student from the audience was used to demonstrate the various tactics in defence. He also stressed how discipline and calmness are very important for a learner.

Indian Dance

This was a lecture demonstration by Mrs.Savithri Jagannath Rao with her student Ms.Priya Ramdass showing the various Mudras and Abhinayas of Bharata Natyam. Mrs.Jagannatha Rao gave an introduction to the origin of Bharathanatyam, the concept of dancers using Bharathanatyam as a form of worship of the deities in the temple and the kind of accompaniments used. Then she explained the various elements in a performance - Namaskaram, Mudras, the Alarippu which is a warm-up, the Jathiswaram which is where the foot-work becomes prominent, the Varnam that sets the mood, the Padam for the Bhavas to be exhibited and the Thillana for the rapid eye-catching movements. All of these were explained by suitable demonstrations.

Indian Theatre

Mr.Na.Muthuswamy of the Kootupattarai theatre group gave an inspiring speech on what Indian theatre is about. He explained how they were involved in making each artist into a complete personality. This was followed by practical training in voice culture, balancing etc.

Kalamkari Painting

Sri Subramaniam, a traditional Kalamkari from Kalahasti artist explained how a kalamkari painting is executed starting from the sketch of the required painting to. the finished product through various stages. The participants enjoyed the informal exchange with the artist.

Trip to Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre

The participants were taken on a trip to the A.M.M.Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre at Taramani in Madras. In his introductory remarks Prof.C.V.Sheshadri, the Director of the Institute underlined the importance of gaining knowledge through hands instead of mechanically following the books. The students were taken around the research centre and were introduced to various technologies and techniques developed at the Institute. Prominent among them were: design and fabrication of long-lasting small boats (Kattumaram) using plastics, bio-gas plants of various types, low-cost housing, solar distillers, windmills, and algae culturing as a potential food source.

The Valedictory function for the Workshop was held on 2nd June 1991, and all the participants were given certificates of participation. The Valedictory address was delivered by Dr.Lalitha Kameswaran, Vice-Chancellor of M.G.R.Medical University.

Dr. M.S. Sriram

Madras