From Physics to Engineering Physics
I was born in 1933 in Chahal Kalan—a small village near Gujranwala in Pakistan. I used to walk about 4 km to my high school and read in the light of an oil lamp. My favorite sports were kabadi, wrestling, and playing free-for—hockey on a dirt road. I lear
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I was born in 1933 in Chahal Kalan—a small village near Gujranwala in Pakistan. I used to walk about 4 km to my high school and read in the light of an oil lamp. My favorite sports were kabadi, wrestling, and playing free-for—hockey on a dirt road. I learned to swim in the village pond. Our science teacher taught us general science in the 9th grade. He was very particular in demonstrating some simple science experiments to us as a part of our practical class after the school hours. I was the topper in the class and I missed one such session. The teacher was furious and told me that experiments are the soul of science and that I will not become a scientist unless I learn to do experiments. This harsh advice has impacted my future career as an experimental physicist so much so that I believe what I see or I can verify experimentally. After being promoted to the 10th class, the tragedy of partition of India took place and our family, like millions of others, had to hide and save our lives from fanatic mobs by moving on foot with little belongings to nearby military-supervised camps. After months of moving from one refugee camp to another, our family reached Delhi where I got admission in DAV school in tents for refugees near the Golemarket. I topped the 10th grade examination. With a few career options open even to a topper in those days, Physics was the most preferred choice which is what I did to graduate with B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. (1954) in Physics from Delhi University. We were taught a lot of Physics in Delhi University by some of the best-known professors of Physics at that time in the country. But, there was little excitement or inspiration since there was no attempt to relate the Physics taught to us to anything around us which we could appreciate. For example, we were taught in great details the theory of dynamics of a spinning top but were never told its connection to a practical application of a gyroscope. Photons have no mass but have energy and momentum. When I asked how momentum arises and how we know it, I was told to find it out myself in the library. I found out that a very simple experiment of observing the rotation of a very light vane in vacuum on absorption of light on its blackened side demonstrated nicely the transfer of momentum by the photons. We K.L. Chopra (&) M-70, Kirti Nagar, New Delhi 110 015, India e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 P. Ghosh and B. Raj (eds.), The Mind of an Engineer, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0119-2_40
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were taught crystal structures of materials but we were not told as to why we need to have this information. Or, why Si and Ge having a diamond structure are important electronic semiconductors. Even more dull were the laboratory experiments which we were expected to perform but which had little to do with what Physics was being taught to us. Experiments, such as measuring the viscosity of water, or the observation of Newton’s Rings did not stir any imagination or excitement.
Inspirational Experience After r
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