tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30907674884708677452024-03-13T08:45:33.912+05:30Journey is the RewardMohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.comBlogger522125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-67748541111473517862019-02-10T11:24:00.000+05:302019-02-10T11:24:35.438+05:30Turing's Cathedral<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The computer that von Neumann built at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) was not the first computer, but it was probably the most influential. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Turing's Cathedral</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is its story and of much else.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b id="docs-internal-guid-a17957da-7fff-7064-4263-e1bbd8e08f68" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To get a feel for computing circa 1945, let's start by relating the well known fact that 'computer' at this time meant a person (usually a woman) performing calculations with the aid of mechanical desk calculators. The proposal for ENIAC (a well known predecessor) coined the term 'computor' to refer to a machine (which seems not to have caught on though). The architecture of ENIAC with its 20 accumulators was in fact a replication of the setup where 20 human computers were performing their part of a calculation and passing results back and forth; effectively a distributed algorithm migrated from human nodes to electronic ones (Incidentally, with humans storage was cheap but multiplication expensive. With ENIAC the situation was reversed, and all the algorithms had to be revised.) The architecture that has become familiar since, with a CPU, hierarchical memory etc, was what the IAS computer pioneered. Moving to hardware, consider the memory unit. The IAS computer had 1024 forty bit words of memory, a fortune at the time. The basis for implementation was an oscilloscope tube, which was on its way to evolve as CRT display. Wide surface of the tube was divided in a 32 by 32 grid, each referring to a binary digit, accessible via appropriate deflections of the electron beam for both reading and writing, with a 24us access time. Forty such tubes operating in parallel, and with corresponding locations in each together forming a single (40 bit) word was how the memory functioned. The machine was built out of vacuum tubes, since the transistor was not yet invented and binary digits were referred to as bd's, as the word ‘bit’ was not yet invented either. It had an instruction set (unlike the ENIAC where (at least initially) the instruction set was implemented as plugboard settings), and each word would contain an opcode, as well as an address (the famous von Neumann architecture). On the software side, in its ~5KB memory, the machine was used to run climate simulation models, simulations of gene-like replicators, and of course lots of secret weapons calculations. von Neumann was quick to see the possibilities of a universal machine (once Turing had laid the groundwork) and went about building his machine as a scientific instrument, away from both industry and government. He actively put all the information in public domain, allowing a number of replicas to emerge and the ideas to be improved upon.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The book is ‘intensely human’ (as one reviewer put it) at its core and introduces a remarkable cast of characters. There is von Neumann of course, who made significant contributions to mathematics, physics, economics, computing, and much else. Less well known is his wife, Klara, one of the original programmers of the machine. Julian Bigelow was the main engineer, the person most responsible for making the machine a reality. Stanislaw Ulam was von Neumann's friend, and maker of a number of original contributions to mathematics and physics, among them the Monte Carlo method. Leibniz and Gödel, Turing and Teller, all make an appearance, taking their place in the ever widening stream of ideas and events.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For a long time, I wanted to read a biography of von Neumann, and while this book is not strictly one, it fits the bill nicely. It can be classified as a history of a particular computer, but that would be </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">very</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> limiting. This energetic romp through the thicket of philosophical, mathematical and physical ideas that came together in the form of the computer was a source of genuine exhilaration. It may be so for you too.</span></span></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-56365760584867344392018-05-04T20:39:00.000+05:302018-05-04T20:39:50.151+05:30कोसला<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
कोसलाबद्दल थोडक्यात काही लिहिणं अवघड आहे. पु लं नी म्हटल्याप्रमाणे 'कोसलावर कोसलाइतकंच लिहिता येईल', किंवा मग काही लिहूच नये. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
आत्ता नुकतंच वाचून संपवलं; ही तिसरी-चौथी तरी खेप असेल. अधुन मधून डोकावणं तर चालू असतंच. तिचतिच पुस्तकं पुनः पुन्हा वाचणं हे तसं चांगलं. खूप पुस्तकं एकेकदा वाचणं हे फेसबूकवर खूप मित्र असल्यासारखं आहे. ऐनवेळी ते काही कामाला येत नाही. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
खोल, शांत, अंधाऱ्या रात्री मी कोसला वाचत बसलोय असं अनेकदा आठवतं. जेव्हा दिवसाची पुटं गळत जातात, आणि नवे साक्षात्कार होतात. अर्थात हे झोप न येणाऱ्यासाठी (उदाहरणार्थ आता रात्रीचे दीड वाजलेत). झोप येणाऱ्यानी झोप घ्यावी, आणि दिवसांची पुस्तकं वाचावीत.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
कोसलाचा पहिला परिचय मी अकरावी-बारावीला असताना झाला. माझं इलेक्ट्रॉनिक्स होतं, पण रूममेटचं मराठी. आणि पुस्तकांचा इतका दुष्काळ होता की त्याचं पाठ्यपुस्तक मीच आधी वाचून काढलं. त्यात सांगवीकर अजिंठ्याला जातो तो भाग एका धडयात होता. अर्थात काही भाग गाळून.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
आणि सांगवीकर. हा शहराला पण वैतागतो आणि गावाला पण. काॅलेज वर पण उखडतो आणि नोकरी वर पण. हा एक जुळणारा धागा म्हणता येईल. पण एवढंच नाही. आणि जे आहे त्यात खोटेपणाचा अंशही नाही.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-50244036293150384352018-03-23T19:33:00.000+05:302018-03-23T19:33:30.592+05:30Seven brief lessons<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The book is called <i>Seven brief lessons on Physics</i>, but if you read it, you will appreciate that they are also Seven brief lessons in <i>elegance</i>. Let me say something about the Physics first and then come back to the harder part.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The book is a translation of articles physicist Carlo Rovelli (a leader in Loop quantum gravity) wrote for an Italian newspaper. Now there are tonnes of popular physics books, including brief ones, so one might ask, why read this one? I cannot think of the right word here, so let's use 'right focus'. When writing for a non technical audience, it is important to not miss the forest for the trees. Consider the Standard model, the best currently available theory of elementary particles. It is spectacularly well confirmed by experiments, but it is a piecemeal assembly not flowing from a single conceptual framework like relativity, and attempts to find an alternative have been made but failed. The book makes these points, but does not then get into quark generations, baryon conservation, symmetry breaking and other stuff that is advanced and undoubtedly important, but serves to obscure the essence in many a cases. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
OK, now let's move on to the harder stuff. Some of it is of course due to the 'right focus' I alluded to above, but it also goes beyond that. One important contributor is the level headed perspective, avoiding the extremity of Theory of everything on the one side, and that of life as insignificant chemical scum on the other. And then there are the sparkling prose, both technical and non technical.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This book would be a worthy read even if you don't care much about science. At just 79 pages, you need not fear for your time. And if you do love science, well, this is a classic. In either case, once you have read it, you will feel like returning to it every once in a while. Like I did.</div>
<br /></div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-18459541990277674762018-02-19T23:11:00.000+05:302018-02-19T23:13:37.096+05:30It's only a B, but still..<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I recently took (and surprise, surprise, completed) a course on edX. Things like that will be old news to many by now, but this is the first time I used a MOOC, so I thought I should record my impressions.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The course in question: 'Quantum Information Science I, Part I', given by Prof. Peter Shor and Prof. Isaac Chuang, giants of the field from MIT. Prof Shor is the discoverer of one of the best known <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor%27s_algorithm">quantum algorithms</a> and Prof Chuang is, among other things, coauthor of the <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/physics/quantum-physics-quantum-information-and-quantum-computation/quantum-computation-and-quantum-information-10th-anniversary-edition?format=HB&isbn=9781107002173#6Uvfos7g0JUDxcLs.97">definitive textbook</a> of the field. There was one long talk by Charles Bennett too, another giant and a pioneer of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB84">quantum cryptography</a>, and which was certainly one of the best ones from the whole course.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The course was divided in three subunits (you can see the syllabus <a href="https://courses.edx.org/courses/course-v1:MITx+8.370.1x+1T2018/syllabus/">here</a>), each with a set of lecture clips, concept questions and problems. While I had not studied this area before, I was not totally ignorant of it either and my chief concern was the amount of mathematics that would be needed. My math skills are what a normal (in a statistical sense, not on a scale of sanity) education would give, but thankfully most of the course was approachable. More linear algebra would certainly have helped though. Also not to say all the lectures were easily understandable, some certainly went over my head. The problems require work, though they are doable (or at least most are. As I said, it's only a B). </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So here is the overall impression, I learned a great deal, had a lot of fun working it out, and it was a wonderful experience (and for me, the best part) to watch these distinguished scholars so visibly in love with their subject. And lest anyone be inclined to question the claim about <i>fun</i> above, I offer this picture</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQtd7iMpB4epG22QCkMV6pjVfC4TJzL7ltXoVi0AIeJKs5IlloIm_DdOngv_HX1A09_nuJLJduxu6VwvUixcV2btw8F2H1YefJ5OHAlxcD84cfh0Shx4Hk4UbmDrquH2s1-k5Tq4jxRs/s1600/IMG-20180219-WA0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="609" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzQtd7iMpB4epG22QCkMV6pjVfC4TJzL7ltXoVi0AIeJKs5IlloIm_DdOngv_HX1A09_nuJLJduxu6VwvUixcV2btw8F2H1YefJ5OHAlxcD84cfh0Shx4Hk4UbmDrquH2s1-k5Tq4jxRs/s640/IMG-20180219-WA0002.jpg" width="304" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">[Yours truly trying to figure out the rotation axis </span>on the Bloch sphere <span style="font-family: inherit;">corresponding to Hadamard gate using an orange]</span></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-68969660573460665162018-02-11T09:26:00.000+05:302018-02-11T09:26:52.592+05:30आपलं माणूस<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
ट्रेलरवरून वाटतो त्यापेक्षा हा पिक्चर बराच वेगळा आहे आणि अनेक अनपेक्षीत वळणे घेत सुरूवातीपासून शेवटपर्यंत खिळवून ठेवतो. सुमित राघवन आणि इरावती हर्षे यांची कामं अगदी टॉप आहेत, आणि नाना विषयी काही बोलायची गरजच नाही (जशी कधीच नसते). अजय देवगणला फक्त एकच डायलॉग असल्याने त्याचं मराठी तपासता आलं नाही, पण बऱ्याच दिवसांनी अस्सल (सीरीयल्समधली नकली नव्हे) गावरान मराठी ऐकायला मिळाली.</div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-69182056454556626892018-02-09T23:19:00.001+05:302018-02-09T23:19:49.293+05:30A mind at play<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Turing's was a shadowy figure until <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Alan-Turing-Enigma-Inspired-Imitation/dp/069116472X">Alan Turing The Enigma</a> appeared. <a href="https://www.amazon.in/Mind-Play-Shannon-Invented-Information/dp/1476766681">A mind at play</a> will likely do the same for Shannon.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shannon of course is the father of Information Theory, his insights forming the bedrock of digital communication. As the authors put it, 'information existed before Shannon, just as inertia existed before Newton'. It was Shannon who created the conceptual foundations needed to deal with information in a precise, quantitative manner. First of all, he clarified what information <i>is</i>. Information is what reduces uncertainty, one bit of it exists when we are choosing from two equally likely outcomes. Then he showed that all communication is expressible in terms of bits. Next, each communication channel has an upper limit on how many bits it can carry per second (dependent on the bandwidth and the signal-to-noise ratio). Within this limit, noise can always be defeated; a message can always be sent with an arbitrarily small amount of error. And lastly, all of the above stays true irrespective of whether the message has meaning or not.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The importance of his work was immediately recognized, propelling Shannon to scientific celebrity at 32, but Shannon chose not to pursue it. Information theory quickly became a buzzword in fields ranging from psychology to economics, but it was Shannon who cautioned against blindly jumping on the bandwagon. He returned to his work and spent the rest of his days inventing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A mechanical mouse that could solve a maze and remember the solution (A concrete demonstration of AI when all the field had was theory). A juggling robot (Shannon was an accomplished juggler, and wrote one of the first papers on mathematics of juggling). A wearable computer to time roulette wheels and a system to place bets to maximize winning (I make my money on the Stock market, not by proving theorems, Shannon once said). A chess playing computer (and a paper establishing the foundations of the field). All sorts of customized unicycles. And the ultimate machine: when switched on, a mechanical arm came out of the box and turned itself off.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Shannon's was a fascinating life, and the book does a good job of bringing it out of the shadows. At a few places it feels a bit sketchy, but that does not take from it's readbility. The authors are clearly in awe of Shannon, and after reading it, you will be too.</div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-21352837817183478262018-02-04T18:11:00.000+05:302018-02-04T18:13:07.062+05:30What I am watching update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A quick note on some good stuff I watched recently. Apart from the obvious purpose of sharing this with friends, it is also hoped that should an unpaid troll (paid ones are just doing their job) were to ever wander on this page, it will have found <i>one more way</i> to spend its time constructively (and spare the rest of us). Enjoy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Two seasons of Crown</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Netflix has been a net positive addition to the quality of my life, but quite a bit of it deals with dark and/or supernatural themes, and no matter how well made, that gets tiresome after a while. Crown was a welcome break, with great performances and deeply engaging characters. Monarchy is not a subject that I would have explored on my own, so I learned a thing or two too, that I otherwise would not have.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Darkest hour</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While it is hard to totally like Churchill, there is no denying his qualities either, and the movie brings them forth with force and intensity. I did not recognize at all that it was Gary Oldman in the lead role.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
YZ</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
खदखदून हसलो असा पिक्चर खुप दिवसांनी पाहिला. 'बत्तीस' चे डायलॉग तर अप्रतिम. यात भरपूर फंडे आहेत, आणि ते काही सगळे हसन्यावारी घालवन्यासारखे आहेत अस नाही.</div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-74662332775606663202018-01-22T19:58:00.000+05:302018-01-22T19:58:16.755+05:30A stitch in time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>A stitch in time, saves nine,</i> they say. To <i>really</i> appreciate its meaning, one needs to have a root canal performed though.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Take good care of your teeth.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-73977284699185383472018-01-21T10:21:00.000+05:302018-01-21T10:26:45.994+05:30Facts and Meaning of Logicomix<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Facts:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A. It is a graphic novel about the 'foundational quest' in mathematics, an endeavour to put mathematics on a secure footing in the first half of the twentieth century. The story is told via Russell's life and in Russell's voice, a central character in that story.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
B. It counts noted computer scientist and author Christos Papadimitriou as a coauthour.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
C. It was on my reading list for a long time.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Meaning:</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I (in fact) made a number of beginnnings under this section, but found none of them satisfactory. The essence always seems to escape, much more so than for most other books. Read the book and make the meaning for yourself.</div>
<br /></div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-67174764363512297822018-01-15T19:58:00.000+05:302018-01-15T20:13:33.244+05:30Notes from a math lecture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Public lectures have a distinguished history going at least as far back as Faraday, but I hardly have any history of attending them. Call it new year fervor that has not subsided yet (or whatever), something did prompt me out of my laziness when I came to know of a public lecture to be given by Prof. Schmid from Harvard last week. My thinking was, more or less, it's a public lecture, <i>How hard can it be</i>?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The topic of the lecture was 'Riemann's continuous, nowhere differentiable function'. As it happens, before Riemann it was thought that a function that is continuous everywhere but differentiable almost nowhere could not exist. Weierstrass was the first to publish such a function, though Riemann (second hand reports claim) gave an example of such a function earlier, but without giving proof. Working that out took a while. G. H. Hardy showed in 1916 that the function is not differentiable at irrational points, while Gerver and Smith showed in 1970s that it is not differentiable at rational points either, except those of the form p/q with p and q relatively prime. Prof. Schmid worked on this function himself, which is intimately related to fractals, a topic which came to prominence much later. The area is important and broad enough to have its own <a href="http://www.springer.com/in/book/9783319126692">book</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
That is the summary, and I am afraid I cannot go in more detail. The lecture was obviously intended for students who are learning related stuff and was full of details and formalism, though the key ideas (like the ones mentioned above) were clearly brought out. I remember reading John Derbyshire's <i>Prime obsession</i> with great interest, and those who have read it (or are otherwise familiar with the history of Riemann hypothesis) would not fail to notice a parallel here. One minor quibble on the personal front is that I was interested in getting a view on, of the six remaining millennium problems (which include both Riemann hypothesis and P vs NP), which one we are closest to solving, but ended up squandering the opportunity to ask. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Overall it was a good learning experience, and sitting in a hall surrounded by an overwhelmingly young crowd brought back memories of my own college days, turning it into a refreshing one as well.</div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-30843873034679521542018-01-13T09:43:00.001+05:302018-01-13T09:43:40.677+05:30Wild ride<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.in/Wild-Ride-Inside-Ubers-Domination/dp/0735211396">Wild ride</a> is the story of Uber. Now to anyone who reads news, at least parts of that story would appear familiar; the strength of <i>Wild ride</i> is it gives a highly readable, balanced and insightful account in a remarkably small package (just over 200 pages). It is worth mentioning that the author went beyond the usual research tools (interviews etc) while preparing for the book, working as an Uber driver himself for a while. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and to those who are interested in startups, it would make a pleasant <i>and</i> instructive read.</div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-7123068797201993802018-01-09T23:01:00.000+05:302018-01-09T23:31:48.208+05:30First few days with Pixel2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is not a systematic review of Pixel2. Many of those exist, and in any case, interest in such a thing would be low because Pixel2 is not that new anymore. Instead, what follows is a bunch of impressions, in no particular order. Note that my previous phone was the first gen Moto G. While an excellent phone when I bought it, over time it grew many warts, making me spend a lot of energy in cursing (being able to curse in three languages was a boon here). Undoubtedly my impressions are tinged by that experience.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first thing I noticed after opening the box is, it's light. Cross that, it is <i>surprisingly</i> light.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It charges fast, but also seems to discharge fast, especially when data network is in use.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The backside gets a bit warm with extensive use.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This was the first time I really used a voice interface, and I continue to be astounded by the accuracy of Google assistant. I find it quite uncanny too, e.g. the first time I asked it to play a song, it came up with <i>ye jo des hai tera</i> from <i>Swades</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Much has been said about its camera, so I'll just mention that I have replaced an iPhone owner as the chief photographer at office birthdays.<br />
<br />
I don't have a VR headset yet, but did use it once on a relative's Pixel2. The roller-coaster demo gave me a very real dizziness.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I had pretty much stopped trying new apps, and the ones I used formed a close-to-immutable set. Now I am (much more) likely to be found with my head buried in the phone. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I restarted using Twitter, and (as evidenced by this post) am more likely to blog. I check Facebook more often, and the same applies (probably to a larger degree) to Quora, Stackoverflow, HN, LinkedIn, Medium, TechCrunch and more. Which brings me to the next point.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Information overload was already a problem, and it grows worse with a better phone. Same goes for the distraction angle. Thankfully relief (so to speak) is not far away; the play store has a number of Meditation apps too :-) So <i>Headspace</i> joins my trusty <i>Insight timer</i> (but I am yet to try it, being busy writing this post).<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The EMI is pretty high (had to say it)! :-p</div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-52227324646717788752018-01-01T19:44:00.000+05:302018-01-01T19:44:47.122+05:30The fabric of reality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fabric-Reality-Parallel-Universes-Implications/dp/014027541X">The fabric of reality</a> by David Deutsch is certainly one of the most delightful books I have read. Now I would rate a good popular science book along the axes of being informative, readable, comprehensible. Very few would qualify as being <i>delightful</i>, so let me try to say why this one does.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A popular science book is, in general, intended for the person who is curious about some field of science, but lacks the time and/or brainpower to undertake a thorough study. While by design it can't get into the details, the good ones provide an understanding that is not wholly superficial. Generally they talk about a specific area of science. <i>The fabric of reality</i> distinguishes itself, firstly, by not being about any specific area of science as such, but about the worldview that emerges when we take our best theories seriously, and treat them together. The theories in question are, namely, quantum physics, evolution by natural selection, theory of computation and Popper's theory of knowledge.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Is it possible for one person to understand everything that is understood? The book opens with this question and Deutsch answers this in the affirmative. Knowing all the facts is clearly impossible, but understanding comes from explanations. The deeper the theory, the more it explains and you understand more even while having to know less. Science is fundamentally about explanations. This last is an important point, and (at least) I have not seen it made with such force and eloquence before.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Quantum physics has pretty good coverage of its own in the popular science category of course. As far as I can tell though, most of it makes a virtue of the counter intuitiveness of the quantum, which befuddles the nonexpert. The many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics makes the same predictions as the standard Copenhagen interpretation (which is often implicit in the popular accounts), but Deutsch argues powerfully that it embodies a better explanation. Part of the argument comes from quantum computing, especially <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor%27s_algorithm">Shor's algorithm </a>for factoring. Factoring is an intractable task with currently known classical algorithms, but quantum computers can factor in polynomial time using Shor's algorithm. Deutsch asks, where does this factoring take place, if not in the multiverse? I know that the case for choosing one interpretation over another is not settled among the experts, but (as someone whose entire knowledge in this area comes from reading a few popular science books), I can say at least that I find Deutsch's explanation to be much more comprehensible than the alternative. In other words, I now believe in parallel universes :-) [I plan to revisit this bit some time later and see if I still believe in them. I also plan to read more on this topic]. Another related point is whether we should believe in parallel universes though they are not directly perceptible except for interference phenomenon in special situations. To this end, Deutsch develops a criteria for reality, viz, if something behaves in a complex and autonomous way needing independent explanation, it is real. And so are the parallel universes. Another important point, but not addressed elsewhere.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Inductivism is a theory of knowledge, which says that theories come by way of generalizing observations and are justified when their predictions are confirmed (more times the better). Deutsch points out that no amount of confirmation can give sureshot confidence, and theories in general come by way of good explanations and not from generalizing observations. In Popper's scheme, problem solving within the context of existing theories and their perceived deficiencies is of the essence. There is no ultimate source of justification for a theory (in the form of a principle of induction), but we are justified in acting on them because their rivals have been refuted by rational argument and/or experimental failure. This does not mean a better theory would not appear tomorrow. Parts of the book dealing with epistemology were a major source of the delight that I alluded to earlier.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are of course, so many other things worth mentioning. Real quickly; how replicators survive by embodying true knowledge about their niches and how their adaptation means their structures would be identical across the multiverse; how the concept of a flow of time does not make sense, but that of free will does and that too without letting go of determinism; what are the limits of virtual reality and why it is fundamentally important (instead of being just a new form of entertainment); how Turing was mistaken in thinking he 'undetstood paper' (as Feynman once put it); is time travel possible and if so, are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_paradox">paradoxes</a> possible; what is the relation between mathematical existence and mathematical proof; and so on and on. But I see this post is already quite long and my point already quite clear.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There are very few books which made me want to reread them as soon they were finished, this one is one of those few (I ended up ordering Deutsch's Beginning of Infinity in this case). One reviewer has compared Deutsch to Russell as a stylist and I could not agree more. As I said after finishing <a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2010/07/important-book.html">Russell's autobiography</a>, it made everything else seem schoolboyish. This one, to a lower degree of course, certainly did too.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-66147209194945032872017-12-25T17:56:00.001+05:302017-12-25T17:56:52.347+05:30Looking back<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">An approaching new year brings about reminiscences invariably. My blogging has fallen by the wayside for quite a while now, but in the spirit of looking back I did a quick pass through old posts today. Some I remembered, some I had forgotten, quite a few seem embarrassing now, but a minority brought the odd chuckle (which I noted). Here are some of them.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Books</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2016/01/blog-post.html" style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;">नाटकवाल्याचे प्रयोग</a><span style="color: #585858; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2016/09/blog-post.html" style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;">अपूर्वाई</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;"> </span></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2014/05/blog-post.html" style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">दाद </span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2013/03/dark-eden_26.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Dark Eden</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2009/08/strange-beauty.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Strange beauty</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2009/06/something-about-search.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Theories of everything</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Movies</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2017/05/hindi-medium.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Hindi Medium</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2013/01/matru-bijlee-and-mandola.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Matru ki bijli ka mandola </span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2008/07/love-story-2050-survivors-tale.html">Love story 2050</a> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">End of year posts</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2013/12/year-end-wrap-up.html"><span style="font-size: large;">2013</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2012/12/a-year-passes.html"><span style="font-size: large;">2012</span></a></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Attempts at humor</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2013/07/blog-post.html" style="background-color: #fffdf5; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;">अवधाने</a><span style="background-color: #fffdf5; color: #585858; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2011/08/ek-sawaal.html"><span style="font-size: large;">Ek sawaal</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Attempt at thought</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2012/12/the-sliding-window.html">The sliding winodw</a> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-22406434243943335472017-05-27T15:05:00.000+05:302017-05-27T15:05:36.880+05:30Hindi Medium<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Hindi Medium is a five star movie. I highly recommend it. While it has many strengths and not any obvious weaknesses I can think of, my favorite part is the end. Often, movies which are talking about some social problem choose either (a) Everything, everyone changes and the problem goes away, or (b) Nothing changes. This one tries a different tack, (c) One person chooses to be different. 'Improve yourself, that is all you can do do improve the world', like <a href="http://jitr4me.blogspot.in/2011/11/ludwig-wittgenstein.html">Wittgenstein</a> said. That I liked best.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-90907650680214128972017-02-12T23:05:00.000+05:302017-02-12T23:05:10.956+05:30Seveneves<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I came across a short review of Seveneves on <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/About-Bill-Gates/Summer-Books-2016">GatesNotes </a>a few days ago, and picked it up quickly on my next Crossword trip. I had read <i>Quicksilver</i> by Neal Stephenson earlier, and had read about 2/5th of <i>System of the world</i>, but then this third part of the <i>Baroque cycle</i> had proved too baroque for me. Nothing of this sort happened with this one, and I found much that is delightful. First of all, this novel belongs in the best traditions of SF, containing a lot of actual science. There are pages upon pages on Orbital maneuvers for example. Same is true (to a lesser extent) about epigenetics, heterozygosity and robot swarms. The characters feel real (they use Python to program their robots and parse logfiles after all). And the book manages to be consistently readable, through all of its Eight hundred and sixty six pages (OK, parts of Part III are a little flat, but that is really little). I came back to SF after a while, and reading this book felt like a breath of fresh air. I certainly see myself returning to it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
P.S. While searching for the link above, I found a longer (and frankly better) <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Seveneves">review</a> on GatesNotes. Do read it.</div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-28647618479670868192016-12-25T00:08:00.000+05:302016-12-25T00:09:34.910+05:30Dangal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The sheer authenticity and power of performance, role length or actor age notwithstanding, kept me glued from start to end. The wrestlers feel alive and the wrestles real, evoking the same kind of reactions as watching a live game. I loved the songs, esp. the title track sung by Daler Mehandi and <i>Dhakad</i> (they are running in a loop in background as I write this). It is made more 'user-friendly' than necessary in a few places, but that is not important, it is certainly a great movie, all things considered. And to the fitness challenged, it even might give some goals. </div>
<br /></div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-42866623792167460172016-12-11T15:46:00.000+05:302016-12-11T18:00:20.530+05:30Black Hole Blues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
My reading has gotten quite erratic recently, so it felt great to actually finish one book from cover to cover. Book in question, Janna Levin's <a href="http://www.amazon.in/Black-Blues-Other-Songs-Outer/dp/0307958191">Black hole blues and other songs from outer space</a>. It's about the gravitational wave detection that happened at <a href="https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/">LIGO</a> last year, along with the history leading upto it, and what exactly was found and why it matters. It's an easy read, more lyrical than technical, and more of a narrative than systematic exposition. I enjoyed reading it, and as my popular science reading has leaned mostly towards the theoretical, it was good to get a glimpse of the experimental.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-60555665470060387252016-09-05T22:17:00.000+05:302016-09-05T22:17:39.442+05:30अपूर्वाई <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
मी अपूर्वाई वाचलं नव्हतं ही गोष्ट पण बऱ्यापैकी अपूर्व म्हणता येईल. पण शाळेत कधी हे पुस्तक मिळालं नाही, आणि बरेच दिवस दुकानात पण दिसत नसे. तो योग या वीकएंडला आला. पु लं. चा हा पहिला परदेश प्रवास. लंडन, पॅरिस, थोडंसं जर्मनी असा. त्यात मग ऑक्सफर्ड-केम्ब्रिज आहे, पण त्यापेक्षाही स्टेटफोर्ड-एट-एव्हन आहे. शेक्सपिअरच्या समाधीवर गदगदून जाणं आहे. पार्लमेंट मध्ये चर्चिलला पाहणं आहे. मादाम तुसॉच्या प्रदर्शनात कंटाळणं आहे. कार्लाइलचं घर पाहताना केलेलं मूक चिंतन आहे. नेपोलियनच्या 'चिमण्या शिलेदाराच्या' समाधीवर करुण होणं आहे. आणि मी हे फक्त पु लं बद्दल नाही बोलतोय. वाचता वाचता हे सगळं गदगदनं, मूक चिंतन, कंटाळणं, करुण होणं, मी देखील अनुभवलं. आणि हो, आपल्या विसंगतीवर, हळुवारपणे पण नेमकं बोट ठेवणं, आणि हसवता हसवता कुठेतरी विचार करायला लावणं हे आहेच. अर्थात हा अनुभव पु लं च प्रत्येक पुस्तक देतं, तो मात्र अपूर्व नाही. </div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-4793394959010868322016-01-29T20:38:00.000+05:302016-01-29T20:38:07.847+05:30ABC of relativity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Bertrand Russell wrote the 'ABC of relativity' in 1925. Now, about 90 years later, I read it. These are two examples of events in spacetime, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">and events is what relativity deals with. It tells us that the distance and duration between two such events as measured by differently moving </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">observers can be different, and there is no reason to prefer one observer's version over the other. Nevertheless, there exists an entity </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">called </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">'interval' that each can measure and will agree upon. So not everything is relative.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Popular expositions of relativity abound, so what is there to recommend the present one? First, it's Russell. You can expect both clarity and depth. Russell goes beyond matter </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">curving spacetime and clocks running slow for someone who is moving. He tells why Newton's law of gravitation is not compatible with relativity (if different observers measure distance differently, they will also measure the gravitational force between two objects differently). He explains how the very notion of a gravitational force emerged due to </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">influence of Euclidean geometry (if an object is not moving in a Euclidean straight line e.g. earth around the sun, there must be some influence to explain this behavior), while relativity does away with gravitational force as something exerted from afar to explain motions of objects as responses to the local features of spacetime. And how, the </span></span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">very notion of matter as which persists through all of time and is not present at more than one place at a time is dependent on complete separat</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">ion of space and time, and hence needs revision in the era of relativity. And how scientific convention and limitations of our senses can influence our </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">theories (in the Michelson-Morely experiment, do you say the length changes or speed of light varies?). And so on.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">It would be foolish for me claim to have imbibed everything the book has to say. But I can certainly say this. It was a refreshing read despite </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">having met popular accounts of relativity before. It <i>is</i> a popular account, so you will certainly learn something. And then of </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">course, it's Russell.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
</span></div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-44543633954787311432016-01-29T20:37:00.002+05:302016-01-29T20:37:55.557+05:30नाटकवाल्याचे प्रयोग<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">अतुल पेठे हे प्रायोगिक रंगभूमीवरच एक प्रसिद्ध नाव. पण 'नाटकवाल्याचे प्रयोग' हे पुस्तक वाचण्याआधी हे नाव मला फारसं परिचित नव्हतं. प्रायोगिक नाटक करता करता आलेल्या अनुभवांबद्दलचे लेख आणि मुलाखती यांचा हा छोटासा संग्रह. पण जर हे पुस्तक फक्त नाटकासंबंधी असतं तर मला कदाचित ते इतकं आवडलं नसतं. नाटक या माध्यमातून जीवन समजून घेण्याचा प्रयत्न हा खरं तर विषय. आणि हे नाटक मग वेगवेगळी रूपं घेतं. माहिती अधिकार आणि आरोग्य, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">नेमाडे आणि तेंडुलकर, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">फुले आणि </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">सॉक्रेटीस </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">अशा अनेक विषयांना स्पर्श करतं. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">भाषा सरळ आणि मांडणी तर्कशुद्ध, उगीच भावनिक कल्लोळ नाही. आलेल्या अडचणी, फसवणारे लोक याबद्दल लिहिलंय पण कडवटता नाही. भेटलेल्या दिग्गजांबद्दल </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">आदराने</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"> लिहिलंय पण वारेमाप स्तुती नाही. मन विदीर्ण करणाऱ्या आजच्या आर्थिक, सामाजिक वास्तवाबद्दल लिहिलंय पण त्यामध्ये हे असं का आणि त्याबाबतीत मी काय करू शकतो हा विचार प्रधान. आणि त्या विचारांची खोली आणि समग्रता दोन्ही जाणवतात. अतिशय वाचनीय आणि शिकण्यासारखं बरंच काही.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-31054352068964902072015-11-28T19:42:00.003+05:302015-11-28T19:42:45.164+05:30Last three books<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The miracle of mindfulness: Thich Nhat Hanh<br />
<br />
आहे मनोहर तरी: सुनीता देशपांडे<br />
<br />
वंगचित्रे: पु ल देशपांडे </div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-55773931020458695892015-04-25T23:02:00.000+05:302015-04-25T23:02:16.851+05:30झूल वाचल्यावर <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
चांगदेव पाटील तसा आपला जुना दोस्त. पांडुरंग सांगवीकर त्याच्याहून जुना, पण पहिल्यांदा भेटलो तेव्हा तो काय म्हणतोय त्यातलं अर्ध-अधिक कळलंच नाही. परत एकदा, कॉलेजात आल्यावर सांगवीकर थोडाबहुत कळला. चांगदेव त्यामानाने समजायला सोपा. त्याचं जग, लहान गावातलं, शिक्षकी पेश्यातल्या व्यक्तींचं, माझ्या सर्वाधिक परिचयाचं म्हणून देखील हे<br />
कदाचित असेल. किंवा त्याचे विचार, त्याची तडफड जाणवली, भिडली म्हणूनही कदाचित. पहाटेचे चार वाजले होते, मिट्ट काळोख तसा शहरात नसतो कधी, पण सामसूम होती. पुस्तक संपलं आणि गहिवरून आलं. आता जास्त सांगत नाही. <br />
<br /></div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-76872322447070152742015-02-22T22:51:00.001+05:302015-02-22T22:51:08.835+05:302001<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's a rare book that gives as much pleasure on the third reading as the first. <i>2001: A space odyssey</i> is one such book for me. Why that should be so? Here is why: it helps keep my sense of wonder alive; reawakens it from its forced slumber. So I look forward to its fourth reading, in the not too distant future.</div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3090767488470867745.post-16114411412312261732014-09-01T22:34:00.000+05:302014-09-01T22:34:30.183+05:30Small is beautiful<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxj7DAaNDGNjNQAKWadlmK0sNN6IsUkxwhekPx2go2jcS56ujMzCdNhsRKWOUYMajNHHB_dTfKhzZXjyEIA4L5Pzx8bUGlETMAoZn0K4AMyVyzIbj6DjS58SK2kEIWeMKmBs4XQfXWDFM/s1600/IMG-20140901-WA0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxj7DAaNDGNjNQAKWadlmK0sNN6IsUkxwhekPx2go2jcS56ujMzCdNhsRKWOUYMajNHHB_dTfKhzZXjyEIA4L5Pzx8bUGlETMAoZn0K4AMyVyzIbj6DjS58SK2kEIWeMKmBs4XQfXWDFM/s1600/IMG-20140901-WA0003.jpg" height="400" width="223" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Recently read E.F.Schumacher's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Small-Is-Beautiful-Economics-Mattered/dp/0060916303">Small is Beautiful</a>, 'a study of economics as if people mattered'. It is a classic, first published in 1973, and ranked as one of 100 most influential books published since World War II by the Times Literary Supplement. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Organized as a collection of essays, it is a reassessment of economics as it was practised at the time (and which doesn't seem to have changed much in the ensuing 40 years). Schumacher points out that large scale, specialized industries conncentrated in a few large cities, while achieving progress in some abstract econometric sense like GDP growth or increased Capital/Output ratio, are failing to solve the real problems of poverty and economic imbalance. And the damage to the environment caused is unprecedented. As an alternative, he proposes 'Intermediate Technology', low cost, communally owned, easily accessible technology that can aim to spread development to all sectors, while reducing the environmental damage. Schumacher was also an enterpreneur, and tried to put these ideas in practice. But economics is only a part of what the book talks about; it is also a call to rethink the assumptions governing modern life and which ultimately gave rise to the current economic situation; to take just one example, our definition of the standard of life in terms of amount of consumption, more the better. Schumacher asks whether the natural world, which is undeniably finite, will be able to sustain such a model indefinitely. Is it not high time that we start treating natural resources not as income but as capital, focusing on conservation rather than consumption? There are many such examples. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Schumacher advises a return to traditional values that have governed societies for eons. While I found it hard to agree with everything that is in there, the book was certainly a thought provoking and eye opening read.<br /></div>
</div>
Mohsinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08418907978034765645noreply@blogger.com0