E-Paper
Stress laid on inter-disciplinary studies
AN EMINENT mathematician and Head of the Mathematics Department at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Dr JC Mishra said that stress should be laid on inter-disciplinary studies of various branches of knowledge to obtain fruitful research results.
AN EMINENT mathematician and Head of the Mathematics Department at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, Dr JC Mishra said that stress should be laid on inter-disciplinary studies of various branches of knowledge to obtain fruitful research results.
Mishra, known for his pioneering research contributions in “Mathematical modelling of biological systems” and is the recipient of Raja Ram Mohan Roy Award, was speaking on “Co-relation of mathematics, physiology and medicines” at DAV Degree College.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, he said, “50 years ago, people were of the opinion that each branch of science should be dealt in, studied and researched separately. But now, desired results cannot be attained unless all branches of science are studied and researched together.”
He said there was a time when physical scientists were scared of mathematics and did not like to inter-relate mathematical studies with life sciences like physiology and medicinal science. But now, the concept has changed and it has been established that application of mathematics and statistics to life sciences was unavoidable.
Dr Mishra said as of today, cardiac treatment, nervous and cerebral systems, fractures, re-modelling of bones, DNA structures, composition between different species required all the mathematical methods including ordinary, partial and differential equation.
Besides, mathematical operations, research techniques, modelling and simulation were extensively being applied for devising information with regard to the branches of life sciences.
He said that mathematical modelling was not an alternative to experimentation but that mathematical models have the potential to enrich different branches of life sciences to a significant extent.
Application of mathematical principles was needed in a variety of situations where tests could not be conducted for determining cerebral concussion. In such cases, concept of mathematic modelling could play a vital role. It could also be used to corroborate all the information provided by the life sciences to ensure better results, he added.
Dr Mishra said almost all the institutes in the advanced countries of the world were promoting inter-disciplinary study activities. He advised the heads of the institutes in the country that they should also introduce system of inter-disciplinary research studies in the scientific fields.
Besides, science teaching should also be introduced at the higher secondary level of education, he said.
