One day, while walking through the streets of Varanasi (Benares), Adi Shankaracharya, India’s celebrated Vedic scholar, philosopher and teacher of the 8th century, encountered a chandala (an untouchable) carrying a load of…
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Immanuel Kant: The philosopher sage of Königsberg
Here is a famous anecdote about the German philosopher Immanuel Kant: Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) was known for his rigorous routine and punctuality. Every day, at exactly 3:30 PM, he would take a…
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The Greek philosophical trinity
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are commonly referred to as the Big Three of ancient Greek philosophy. They are also sometimes referred to as the Socratic trio (since Plato was a student of…
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Hippocrates: Father of modern medicine
Way back in the year 430 BC, a plague struck the ancient city of Athens. Arriving via the port, the deadly epidemic quickly spread through the crowded city, without sparing any segment of the…
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Measures of success
There are two key indices to measure a country’s success, the wealth index and the happiness index. The wealth index is often a measure of a country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per…
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Schrödinger’s cat
The Schrödinger’s cat is a thought experiment designed by Austrian physicist, Erwin Schrödinger, in 1935 to illustrate the paradoxical nature of quantum mechanics, which deals with particles of the minutest size (Please…
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The good tides
Ocean tides metaphorically symbolise the cyclical nature of human experiences and emotions, highlighting both the beauty and tumultuousness of life. But what are ocean tides, how are they formed, and what is their…
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Srinivasa Ramanujan: A self-taught genius in maths
Srinivasa Ramanujan, a self-taught Indian mathematician, is renowned for his extraordinary contributions to number theory. Here’s a fascinating account of his journey: Ramanujan was born in 1887 in Erode, India. Growing up,…
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Kekulé’s dream
August Kekulé, a German organic chemist, is famous for his work on the structure of benzene. Here’s how he arrived at it: Kekulé was struggling to understand the structure of benzene, a…
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The story of Dhruva
Dhruva is a devotee of Vishnu, a Hindu god, in the Bhagavata Purana and Vishnu Purana. Dhruva’s story is often told to Hindu children as an example of perseverance, devotion, and fearlessness. Manu, the…