The Power of Observation

Taking an excursion through life and experiencing its many twists and turns is, in my view, great education. Agreed, going to the university gives you an opportunity to undergo intensive, formal education and, of course, you end up a qualified individual in a particular field of learning. But observing the numerous events in life and reflecting on them is equally a valuable learning experience.

We know from history that the formal university first appeared in the 11th century. I am sure many people must have wondered who at that time had the credentials to teach at the first university. It must have been people who had themselves graduated from the "University of Life", who had through observation built up specific knowledge in various areas of life and were "qualified" to pass on that knowledge to others.

Of course semi formal delivery of education had been in existence for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, particulary in religious institutions. In the times of Jesus, it was usual for anybody with some special knowledge to gather around himself a team of trainees called "disciples". Such an educator was called a Rabbi. Gamaliel was one prominent Rabbi, who graduated the likes of the Apostle Paul. This form of learning was characterised more by observation than formal teaching/lecturing as the vehicle for learning. There were no formal examinations, either.

In any society, there has been a "build-up" of some knowledge purely by observation. We know, for example, which plants are edible and which are not because of the knowledge that has over the years been gathered by observation and passed on from one generation to another. Similarly, society puts together some knowledge regarding which social systems work and which do not, purely by observation.

Tradition has it that one day Isaac Newton, sitting close to an apple tree, saw one apple getting detatched from the tree and falling perpendicularly to the ground. Observing this event with an inquisitive mind, Newton wondered why the apple did not fall sideways or upwards and noticed that it must have fallen towards the centre of the Earth. From this observation came the theory, and later, the laws of gravitation.

In another tradition, one of the most celebrated Mathematicians in history, Archimedes, was vexed with the problem of calculating the density of a King's crown. The King had asked him to verify whether the craftsman who had fashioned the crown had not cheated by replacing portions of gold with silver. It occured to Archimedes that the answer to this querry lay in the determination of the crown's density with a view to comparing it with the known density of pure gold. His problem was coming up with a methodology for measuring the volume of the crown, an irregular object.

One day, while taking a bath, Archimedes observed that the water level rose as he got into the bath tub. He quickly figured out that the volume of the displaced water must have been equivalent to the volume of the submerged part of his body. Excited, he jumped out of the bath tub and, without bothering to put on any clothes, ran through the streets of Syracuse naked, shouting,"Eureka!" (I have found it!)

These stories may never have happened, or may be true but probably heavily embelished. Whatever the case, what I know is that these men (and many others) employed observation in order to come up with invaluable contributions to science and mathematics.