ESP Biography

Molecular motors are among the smallest machines in the universe, and have evolved to play a central role in the story of life on Earth. They are macromolecules that convert chemical energy available from high energy molecules such as ATP into mechanical work. These machines are involved in critical diverse cellular processes such as transport of cargo, generation of forces and replication of DNA. This course will give you a glimpse of the fascinating world of molecular motors: how they evolved, how they function, and perhaps the most interesting aspect of it all - how we discovered them and study them.

Founded in 450 CE by Kumaragupta, king of northern India, Nalanda University was an ancient seat of learning and one of the first universities in the modern sense of the word. It was a residential university, and at its peak, accommodated about 10,000 students from as far as China, Japan, Indonesia and Turkey. This course will be a brief overview of what we know about the curriculum and life at Nalanda, through the detailed records of the Tang Dynasty Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang. He was followed by other Chinese scholars, such as I Ching, who have all left behind invaluable records that offer us a fascinating glimpse into the academic and religious lives of students and teachers at one of the world's oldest modern universities. Today, Nalanda stands in ruins, but a recent effort between India, Singapore, China and Japan has been aimed at reviving the university as a modern institution.

We are going to have fun writing verses and reading out each others verses! I shall give a short introductory lecture on the different types of meters, rhythms and styles, but we shall get down to the fun part of actually composing verses as soon as possible.

I will try to compress into 1 hour, the story of India: a saga that began with the birth of an ancient civilization, and then for 4000 years was rocked by waves of war and peace and more war and more peace. I will discuss the varied influences - ancient and recent - that have shaped the diverse culture of India.

This course will attempt to pin down in detail exactly what the laws of thermodynamics predict about the physical world. I shall also discuss the aspects of thermodynamics that made it survive the revolution of quantum mechanics and relativity.

A brief introduction to Biological nano machines that perform critical functions, while converting chemical energy to mechanical work.