My visit to Stanford University

A study in Stanford is a dream of many students. Founded in 1885, Stanford (Palo Alto, California) is to-day one of the biggest private research Universities. Stanford is known for its academic excellence. Students from its alumina have founded companies like HP, Sun Microsystems, Nvidia, Yahoo, Cisco systems, Google etc. The president of Wipro Azim Premji is an alumnus of Stanford. Mukesh Ambani is also an alumnus of Stanford.

Located in 8,180 acres of land, Stanford stands to serves the world wide students. An estimated 16000 students are studying. Because of its excellent education, admission is very competitive based on merit, being a private University (no govt funding) it’s a very expensive University, beyond the reach of middle class. In simple terms, to enter into Stanford one should not only be intellectual but also have rich parents or obtain scholarship. 

Stanford had produced 16 Nobel laureates, 4 Pulitzer winners, 23 MecAthur Fellows, 8 wolf foundation prize winners etc.  Stanford also hosts a Medical School. Medical graduates of Stanford command a great respect. It’s very expensive to complete med school from Stanford.

When we enter the campus which is about 10 times that of Lalbag (Bangalore), we can see students biking from one building to another with a back pack of books. Some students move around using skate boards (a flat four wheeled wooden board). More than 30 cafeterias of different taste are in the campus with indoor and out door courtyard tables. One cafeteria is run on "no profit, no loss" basis, which is cheap and best.

There is a fiction story about the founders of Stanford. One day one man and woman went to a Harvard university to meet the Principal and asked him to Institute a scholarship in their son's name that had died of typhoid at the age of 16. Seeing the ordinary dress of them, it seems they were insulted by the principal. Finally the man asked, "What am I to do to institute a scholarship in my son's name?” Principal sarcastically said”It is not that much easy, you should have your own University ". The man and woman who were rich in ordinary dress came out and planned to start a University in their deceased son Leland Stanford’s name. Some say this is not a true story.

In US, even though I had visited many Universities, Stanford is something which remains "Unfolded in my heart ". I feel at least one child from our family or friends should go and study there". Every student in the Stanford campus appeared like a future "NOBEL PRIZE WINNER".

University of California - Berkeley

BART (Tube Train)

We went to Berkeley University (University of California - Berkeley) in Bart Train (Bay Area Rapid Transport). The train goes under the sea in a tube for about 10 miles (a rare experience). All the stations are automated, we did not see any personnel selling tickets or operating gates. Tickets were obtained from vending machines. To enter into the station, ticket had to be inserted through a slot in a gate, the machine punched the ticket and the gate opened. On our way out, the same ticket was inserted into another gate; this time the machine punched the ticket and adjusted the balance on the ticket while the gate opened. We got down at Berkeley station.

University of California- Berkeley

Founded in 1868, hosts about 35,000 students, 62 Nobel Laureates are affiliated as faulty. University is known for encouraging intellectual vitality and innovative thinking among the students. On the day we went, it happened to be a “Cal Day”. It was like a grand festival, many students from different California Universities had gathered in large numbers. The entire campus was filled with "youth spirit ", there was joy every where. Students from Universities like Santa Bara, San Diego, Los Angels, San Francisco, San Jose etc were gathered to take part in the festivities. There was plenty of food counters and eating joints, being summer BBQ was very popular.

The students of Berkeley University are known for their rebellious thinking. Free Speech Movement of 1964 encouraged the students to revolt against Vietnam War. When I visited Berkeley University in 2006, there were posters condemning President Bush, some I recollect like "Butcher Bush”, “Bush the Terrorist”.

Sather Tower

The Sather Tower is 307 feet high and is the symbol of Berkeley University. It was constructed in 1917 resembling the tower of Venice. It is recognizable land mark of Berkeley. From its entrance, one could see the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco which is about 10 miles away. 

Library

The biggest seen by me. It is like a big luxurious museum, every where luxurious carpets, sofa sets; antique furniture makes the library memorable. It holds nine million books. The statue of famous writer Mark Twain reading a book attracts visitors. We also visited the Statue of Albert Einstein, the man whom I consider as Genius.   

INTRODUCTION TO MY BOOKS

I am a Mathematics and Physics graduate of early nineteen sixties. One of the subjects in Mathematics main was “Astronomy”. Right from my college days, I had a keen interest in Albert Einstein’s “Theory of Relativity”.

A few years ago, I wrote a book on “The Theory of Relativity” in conventional book format, but later on adopted a simple “Question and Answer” format to make the reading interesting and easier.

I have been staying in the US for the past one year; I made use of this time to write three books. The library facilities here in the US were very helpful, at any time I could bring up to hundred books home. The superfast internet facilities helped me to refer a lot of online resources.

Here are the three books:

1. Theory of Relativity, Explained in 100 Easy Questions and Answers.

2. Big Bang Cosmology

3. Calendar Reformation.

I would like to acknowledge the encouragement and constructive suggestions that I received from Dr. Krishna Seshan and Dr. Manzur Gill. My sincere thanks to them.

M.S. Vincent. Milpitas, California - USA

For more details on the book, read the following posts

http://titbitsfromvincent.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-1-theory-of-relativity-explained.html

http://titbitsfromvincent.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-2-cosmology.html

http://titbitsfromvincent.blogspot.com/2009/05/book-3-calendar-reformation.html

THEORY OF RELATIVITY: Explained in 100 Easy Question and Answers

The Theory of

The following topics are explained in simple words in this book

1) Relativity in common life.

2) Theory of Relativity introduction.

3) Special Theory of Relativity

4) Velocity of light.

5) Mass of a moving body.

6) Time Dilation.

7) Length Contraction.

8) E=mc²

9) Nuclear Fission

10) Nuclear Fusion

11) Atomic Bomb and Einstein.

12) Relativity of Simultaneity.

13) General Theory of Relativity.

14) Gravitational Lensing

15) Einstein’s Cross

16) Global Positioning System (GPS)

17) Big Bang Theory

18) Dark energy and Cosmological constant.

19) Relativity Theory and Modern Cosmology.

20) Frame- dragging.

21) Space-time.

22) Space-time Curvature.

23) Beginning of the Universe.

24) Twin Paradox.

25) Einstein’s personal life.

26) Summary of Relativity theory.

27) Four examples to show that the “Time is also Relative"

A few Sample Questions From the BOOK.

17) What is the relevance of Theory of Relativity?

Once Space and time were considered to be absolute, the Theory of Relativity made it relative. Once the speed of light was considered to be relative, the Theory of Relativity made it absolute. Previously Space and Time were considered two separate entities. Theory of Relativity combined them into a single fold and made “space –time continuum”.

22) Can an object travel faster than light?

No signal on the Earth can travel faster than light. If a constant force is given to an object and accelerate to go faster than light, it would never be done. If the velocity of the object is increased, the object’s mass is increased and the velocity would become slower and slower and it would never go more than the velocity of light.

The velocity of light which is 299,792.458 Km/sec or 1,86,282.397 Miles/sec is the Universal limiting velocity, nothing can travel faster than light. Einstein has proved it.

63) Which theory is difficult to understand? Special or General Theory?

Richard P Brennan in his book, “Heisenberg probably slept here” says, “the general theory is considered by historians of science to be much greater intellectual achievement than the special theory”. Also he says, “For many years the General theory of relativity was regarded as too opaque and difficult even for the most of the scientists to understand”. Today many books have been published on General theory of relativity.

89) Can you give a humorous incident in Einstein’s life?

One day Einstein’s car driver, who had attended all his lectures, told him that he could give lectures instead of him. In next lecture Einstein sat at the back in driver’s uniform and driver delivered lecture in Einstein’s dress. At the end, one person from the audience asked a difficult question, to which the driver said, “it is very simple question, my driver sitting at the back will very well answer it”.

Reference Books:

• The Big Bang theory by Karen C Fox
• Einstein by Walter Issacson
• Albert Einstein by Folsing
• Einstein on Politics by David E Rows
• Einstein- A hundred years of relativity by Andrew Robinson
• Heisenberg Probably Slept Here by Hichard P brennan
• Einstein in Love by Dennis Overbye
• The big Idea, Einsteins Relativity.
• Chief Engineer of the Universe Albert Einstein by Jugen Renn.
• Einstein for Dummies by Carlo I.Calle
• ABC of Relativity by Betrand Russell
• The Meaning of Relativity by albert Einstein
• In Search of big bang by John Gribbin.
• Stephen Hawking universe by Jon Boslough
• The Great Ideas In Physics by Alen Lightman
• What is Theory of Relativity by Zdornykh
• The Fabric of relativity by David Deutsch
• Einstein’s Brain Child Relativity by Barry Parker
• A stubborn Persistent Illusion by Edt Jennifer Kalus.
• E=mc² by David Bodanis

If you like to read the entire book, please go to my wibsite.

In google search  please type msvincentkgf on The theory of relativity and click

or try this link.

https://sites.google.com/site/msvkgf/my-books/on-science/theory-of-relativity

ON COSMOLOGY

  Cosmology

The following lists the contents of the book on Cosmology

1) Cosmology

2) Edwin Hubble

3) Stephen Hawking

4) Big Bang Theory

5) Albert Einstein

6) Dark Matter and Dark Energy

7) Red and blue shifts

8) Doppler’s Effect

9) Big Crunch

10) Friedmann Models

11) The Sun and the Stars

12) Supernova

13) Black Hole

14) Schwardschild radius

15) Chandrasekhar’s limit

16) Space-time

17) Planets orbiting the stars

18) Universe is finite yet boundless

19) Wormholes

20) Multiverse

21) Point of Singularity

22) Evidences Supporting Big Bang Theory

23) Development of Big Bang Theory

24) Astronomy- Astrophysics – Astrology – Cosmology

25) String Theory

Some Sample Questions Found in this book :

Q 1) What is Cosmology?

It is the study of origin and evolution of Universe as a whole; it includes its history and destiny. In short, it is the study of Universe from beginning to the end. It does not take into consideration the Religious theories of the origin of the Universe. Cosmology is based on models formulated by the cosmologists using natural laws not supernatural causes.

Q 3) What is Big Bang Explosion?

Big Bang is the explosion of creation. In the beginning there was “point of singularity", which exploded to form the present Universe. The “point of singularity” was a pointless point, with no dimension, in which the entire energy of today’s Universe was found. Hawking had developed theories to show that it was with the point of singularity the Universe began. In simple terms, the Universe was born from the point which was boundless, endless and dimensionless but with infinite density.

Q 15) What was there before Big Bang explosion?

There was no yesterday to Big Bang. When this question was asked to Sir Roger Penrose, He said, “Asking this question is like asking, what is north of North Pole”. Standing on the North Pole and asking to show the north direction is totally meaningless Space, Time and everything was born from the very moment of the Big Bang explosion. The question of probing what existed before Big bang is not within the jurisdiction of science. The Universe is not beginningless, it had a beginning nearly 13.75 billion years ago. Modern cosmology gives evidence to it. Universe is also not endless, it will have an end.

Q 85) Is there any proof for the Big Bang explosion?

The entire Universe is filled with “Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation”. In simple terms, the Universe has a constant temperature of 2.7 º Kelvin, Scientists Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson of US had accidentedly found it in 1965. This Cosmic Waves are the remaining cosmic energy from Big bang explosion.

Explorers COBE (1998), BOOMERGANG (1998), WMAP (2001) had proved the existence of “Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation”. In 2006, Physicists John Mather and George Smoot were given Nobel Prize for their discovery, which made many people to accept Big Bang theory.

If you want to read the entire book, Please go to my website.

https://sites.google.com/site/msvkgf/my-books/on-science/cosmology

BOOK-3: CALENDAR REFORMATION

Gregorian Calendar Reformation.

The following lists the content and topics covered in the book

1)        Calendar

2)        Leap Year

3)        Julian Calendar

4)         Gregorian Calendar

5)         Jesuit Fr, Christopher Clavius

6)         First Point of Aries

7)         Pope Gregory’s Solution

8)         Gregorian Calendar in other Countries

9)         UK accepted Gregorian Calendar in 1752 AD

10)       Gregorian Calendar  in  Swedan , Japan  and Turkey

11)       USSR accepted Gregorian Calendar in 1918

12)        Gregorian Calendar after 4000 years     

13)         Ancient Calendars

14)         Christmas date

15)         Easter date

16)         Good Friday

17)         Ash Wednesday

18)         List of Ash Wednesday  and Good Friday  till 2030

19)         Fat Tuesday

20)         Maundy Thursday

21)         Days and Week

22)         Leap Second

23)         Ancient Roman Calendar

24)         King Numa Popillus

25)         Julius  Caesar

26)         Augustus Caesar

27)        BC and AD   or  BCE  and  CE

28)        Zero year

29)        Full Moon and New Moon Calculations

30)        Lunar and Solar Eclipses Calculations

31)        roposed future calendars

          International Fixed Calendar & World Calendar     

Few sample Questions from the Book

Q 6)   How to identify a leap year?

Any year exactly divisible by 4 is a leap year. For example 2008 is exactly divisible by 4, hence it is a leap year. Years 2012, 2016, 2020 are all exactly divisible by 4, they are all leap years.

Q 30) Will the year 2100 be a leap year?

 It is exactly divisible by 4, 2100/4= 525 (no reminder), however it is not a leap year. For a century year, to become a leap year it should be exactly divisible by 400 (not by 4) 2100/400= 5.25, it is not exactly divisible by 400, hence it is not a leap year. To be named a leap year, any year ending with 00, should be exactly divisible by 400 not by 4.

Q 37 ) Can you explain Gregorian Calendar in a nut shell?

Today’s universal calendar is Gregorian calendar; it is based on following adjustments.

Once every 4 years, one day is added in the month of February to make it 29 days.

Once every 400 years, three days are removed.

Once every 4000 years, one more day is removed(even though this was not suggested by PopeGregory, this adjustment is required).

Q 65 ) Can you give an easy method to calculate Easter date?

Take a calendar, mark 21^st of March, and then mark the first Full Moon after 21^st. The Sunday following the Full Moon is Easter Sunday. There can not be Easter Sunday before or on 21^st of March. Easter will range any day from 22^nd March to 25^th April.

Q 78 ) Can you explain about a “Leap Second”? 

The rotation of the Earth slows down over a period of time, one second in one year or more than one year. It is measured by very sensitive Atomic clocks (Cesium Clocks). The atomic time and Earth’s rotation time should be synchronized. This  is done by inserting one second whenever required, this extra one second inserted in the Universal time is called the “Leap Second”.

The leap second is inserted on the 31^st of Dec night, just before the New Year begins. It is not done every year, its done whenever required. Inserting a leap year is determined by the International Earth Rotation System Service (IERS), this observatory is functioning from Paris since Jan-1, 1988. It is also responsible for maintaining Global time UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).  This has replaced GMT(Greenwich Mean Time).

Reference Books:

• Dance of Time by Michael Judge
• Ancient Maya world by Lynn V. Foster
• The History of Time  by Leofranc Holford Stevens
• Cassell’s Chronology of world History
• Religious Holidays and Calendarsby Karen Bellennir
• Atronomy by Dinah L Moche
• The History of calendars  by Frank Parise
• Astronomy by Prof Ramachandran
• The History  of the Calendar by Barbara A Somervill
•  Catholic Encyclaepedia.
•  The Encyclopaedia of Religions.
•  The New Encyclopaedia Britannica.

If you want to read the entire book , please go to my website. Click

https://sites.google.com/site/msvkgf/my-books/on-science/calendar