9

SCIENCE PROMOTION ORIENT

TEST INFORMATION BOOKLET
For use by Students and Teachers, during the
Examination and Real-time Investigative Project
Work

9
Preliminary Assessment 2018
JUNIOR

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Dear Learner,
SPOT Assessment is purely on the basis of the science
aptitude of the learner. The textual portion the learner is
studying in the respective class need to be reaffirmed. You
can do careful reading of any materials in science which
can improve your knowledge horizons. This booklet will
help you to identify the other topics that are broadly
covered for this year’s test.
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INDEX

Sl.No Contents Page.No

1. Index 2

2. BRANCHES OF SCIENCE 4

3. SCIENCE IN ANCIENT INDIA 11

4. GREAT INDIAN SCIENTISTS 15

5. INDIA IN SPACE 26

6. SOME AMAZING FACTS ABOUT SCIENCE 35

7. FACTS ABOUT ROCKETS 38

8. WORLD SPACE WEEK 40

9. OZONE LAYER 43

10. QUIZ 46

11. SAMPLE QUESTION PAPERS(6,7,8) 51

 BRANCHES OF SCIENCE
Science is the concerted Human effort to understand , or to
understand better , the history of the natural world works, with
observable physical evidence as the basis of that understanding. It
is done through observation of natural phenomena, and or through
experimentation that tries to stimulate natural processes under
controlled conditions.
The Major Branches of Science
Science is a systematic study of the nature and manners of an
object and the natural universe that is established around
measurement, experiment, observation and formulation of laws.
There are four major branches of science; each branch is
categorized in different type of subjects that covers different areas
of studies such us chemistry, physics, math, astronomy etc.
The four major branches of science are Mathematics and logic,
biological science , physical science and social science.
Physical Science or Natural Science
Classified into three:
Physics - A natural science that involves the study of matter,
motion, energy, force, objects, etc. related to universe and its
function
Chemistry – The study and analysis of various elements,
composition, structure, chemical process, etc.
Astronomy – The study of objects in and beyond the
atmosphere of the earth
Earth Science is a branch of Physical science
Classified into five:
Ecology - The study of environment, relation of living
organisms in the environment and ecosystem
Oceanology – Called Marine Science, it broadly covers all
topics related to the Ocean
Meteorology – The study about climate, rainfall, wind, speed,
density, etc. related to the Atmosphere
Geology – The study about various aspects of earth, an
interesting branch that deals with digging the past
Paleontology – Similar to Geology, which deals with studying
various objects that existed in the prehistoric period

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Life Science or Biological science
Biology – Natural science and in-depth study of living organisms,
from evolution to destruction.
Botany – A known branch of science, studying about plant
kingdom
Zoology – The twin branch of botany, study of animal kingdom
Human Biology– The study about human beings, nutrition,
diseases, medicine, etc.
Genetic Science – The study about genes, genetic facts,
diseases of genes, etc.
Medicine – The study, diagnosis, research, etc. of various
diseases and treatments
Social Science
A branch of science that studies the society and human behavior in
it, including anthropology, communication studies, criminology,
economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, social
studies, and sociology.
Applications of some important branches of science and the scope
of learning
PHYSICS
Physics is used heavily in engineering. For example, statics, a
subfield of mechanics, is used in the building of bridges and other
static structures. The understanding and use of acoustics results in
sound control and better concert halls; similarly, the use of optics
creates better optical devices. An understanding of physics makes
for more realistic flight simulators, video games, and movies, and is
often critical in forensic investigations. With the standard consensus
that the laws of physics are universal and do not change with time,
physics can be used to study things that would ordinarily be mired
in uncertainty. For example, in the study of the origin of the earth,
one can reasonably model earth’s mass, temperature, and rate of
rotation, as a function of time allowing one to extrapolate forward or
backward in time and so predict future or prior events. It also allows
for simulations in engineering which drastically speed up the
development of a new technology.
BOTANY
The study of plants is vital because they underpin almost all animal
life on Earth by generating a large proportion of the oxygen and
food that provide humans and other organisms with aerobic

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respiration with the chemical energy they need to exist. Plants,
algae and cyano bacteria are the major groups of organisms that
carry out photosynthesis, a process that uses the energy of sunlight
to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars that can be used
both as a source of chemical energy and of organic molecules that
are used in the structural components of cells. As a by-product of
photosynthesis, plants release oxygen into the atmosphere, a gas
that is required by nearly all living things to carry out cellular
respiration. In addition, they are influential in the global carbon and
water cycles and plant roots bind and stabilize soils, preventing soil
erosion. Plants are crucial to the future of human society as they
provide food, oxygen, medicine, and products for people, as well as
creating and preserving soil.
ZOOLOGY
Study of Zoology is great importance to man. It has helped man to
recognize the living things and to adapt himself according to the
environment. The students of Zoology can learn about animals and
Zoological principles which may help them for proper maintenance
of life.Zoologist acquires the power to evaluate the nature which is
not possible by the other means.The scope applied Zoology is
innumerable. It provides the knowledge of medicine, dentistry,
Veterinary medicine, medical technology, nursing, Museum Work,
Zoological teaching, zoological research, agriculture, environmental
science and conservation.Genetics is the branch of zoology. Its
knowledge has brought revolution in plant and animal breeding.
There is every possibility that our nonrenewable natural resources
willl be exhausted in near future. The conservation of these natural
resources may be possible through Zoological knowledge.
ASTRONOMY
Astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can still play
an active role, especially in the discovery and observation of
transient phenomena. Amateur astronomers have made and
contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, such as
finding new comets.
ECOLOGY
The scope of ecology contains a wide array of interacting levels of
organization spanning micro-level (e.g., cells) to a planetary scale (e.g.,
biosphere) phenomena. Ecosystems, for example, contain abiotic
resources and interacting life forms (i.e., individual organisms that
aggregate into populations which aggregate into distinct ecological
communities). Ecosystems are dynamic, they do not

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always follow a linear successional path, but they are always
changing, sometimes rapidly and sometimes so slowly that it can
take thousands of years for ecological processes to bring about
certain successional stages of a forest. An ecosystem’s area can
vary greatly, from tiny to vast. A single tree is of little consequence
to the classification of a forest ecosystem, but critically relevant to
organisms living in and on it.
GEOLOGY
Geology (in Greek, Geo means Earth, Logos means Science) is a
branch of science dealing with the study of the Earth. It is also
known as earth science. Geology provides a systematic knowledge
of construction materials, their structure and properties. The
knowledge of Erosion, Transportation and Deposition (ETD) by
surface water helps in soil conservation, river control, coastal and
harbor works.
CHEMISTRY
Chemistry is more specialized, being concerned by the composition,
behavior (or reaction), structure, and properties of matter, as well as
the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions. It is a physical
science which studies various substances, atoms, molecules, and
matter ; biochemistry, the study of substances found in biological
organisms; physical chemistry, the study of chemical processes using
physical concepts such as thermodynamics and quantum mechanics;
and analytical chemistry, the analysis of material samples to gain an
understanding of their chemical composition and structure. Many more
specialized disciplines have emerged in recent years, e.g.
neurochemistry the chemical study of the nervous system
Life science
Life science comprises the branches of science that involve the
scientific study of living organisms, like plants, animals, and human
beings. However, the study of behavior of organisms, such as
practiced in ethology and psychology, is only included in as much
as it involves a clearly biological aspect. While biology remains the
centerpiece of life science, technological advances in molecular
biology and biotechnology have led to a burgeoning of
specializations and new, often interdisciplinary, fields.
Human biology
Human biology is an interdisciplinary academic field of biology,
biological anthropology, nutrition and medicine which focuses on
humans; it is closely related to primate biology, and a number of

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other fields. Some branches of biology include: microbiology,
anatomy, neurology and neuroscience, immunology, genetics,
physiology, pathology, biophysics, and ophthalmology.
BRANCHES OF SCIENCE AND ITS DEFINITION
Aerodynamics : the study of the motion of gas on objects
and the forces created
Anatomy : the study of the structure and organization
of living things
Anthropology : the study of human cultures both past and
present
Archaeology : the study of the material remains of
cultures
Astronomy : the study of celestial objects in the
universe
Astrophysics : the study of the physics of the universe
Bacteriology : the study of bacteria in relation to disease
Biochemistry : the study of the organic chemistry of
compounds and processes occurring in
organisms
Biophysics : the application of theories and methods
of the physical sciences to questions of
biology
Biology : the science that studies living organisms
Botany : the scientific study of plant life
Chemical Engineering : the application of science, mathematics,
and economics to the process of converting
raw materials or chemicals into more
useful or valuable forms
Chemistry : the science of matter and its interactions
with energy and itself
Climatology : the study of climates and investigations
of its phenomena and causes
Ecology : the study of how organisms interact with
each other and their environment
Electronics : science and technology of electronic
phenomena
Entomology : the study of insects
Environmental Science : the science of the interactions between the
physical, chemical, and biological
components of the environment
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Genetics : the science of genes, heredity, and the
variation of organisms
Geology : the science of the Earth, its structure, and history
Marine Biology : the study of animal and plant life within
saltwater ecosystems
Medicine : the science concerned with maintaining
health and restoring it by treating disease
Meteorology : study of the atmosphere that focuses on
weather processes and forecasting
Microbiology : the study of microorganisms, including
viruses, prokaryotes and simple eukaryotes
Mineralogy : the study of the chemistry, crystal struct
ure, and physical (including optical)
properties of minerals
Molecular Biology : the study of biology at a molecular level
Nuclear Physics : the branch of physics concerned with the
nucleus of the atom
Neurology : the branch of medicine dealing with the
nervous system and its disorders
Oceanography : study of the earth’s oceans and their
interlinked ecosystems and chemical and
physical processes
Ornithology : the study of birds
Paleontology : the study of life-forms existing in former
geological time periods
Physics : the study of the behavior and properties
of matter
Physiology : the study of the mechanical, physical, and
biochemical functions of living organisms
Radiology : the branch of medicine dealing with the
applications of radiant energy, including
x-rays and radioisotopes
Seismology : the study of earthquakes and the
movement of waves through the Earth
Taxonomy : the science of classification of animals and
plants
Thermodynamics : the physics of energy, heat, work, entropy
and the spontaneity of processes
Zoology : the study of animals

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 SCIENCE IN ANCIENT INDIA
Ancient India has contributed many eminent learnings to the field
Mathematics and Science, including Medical Science, Ayurveda,
Yoga, Astronomy, Astrology, etc.
Aryabhatta - Mathematician and Astronomer
Aryabhatta was a fifth century mathematician, astronomer,
astrologer and physicist. He was a pioneer in the field of
mathematics. At the age of 23, he wrote Aryabhattiya, which is a
summary of mathematics of his time. Aryabhatta showed that zero
was not a numeral only but also a symbol and a concept. Discovery
of zero enabled Aryabhatta to find out the exact distance between
the earth and the moon.
MEDICAL SCIENCE IN ANCIENT INDIA (AYURVEDA & YOGA)
Ayurveda is the indigenous system of medicine that was developed
in Ancient India. The word Ayurveda literally means the science of
good health and longevity of life. This ancient Indian system of
medicine not only helps in treatment of diseases but also in finding
the causes and symptoms of diseases. Charak is called the father
of ayurvedic medicine and Susruta the father of surgery
Scientist of Modern India
The development of scientific thought in modern India is due to the
contributions made by many scientists Sir C.V. Raman brought
about an unprecedented change in Indian scientific thought, Dr.
Homi J. Bhabha, known as the father of our Nuclear Physics,
predicted the future of Indian science.
Dr. J.C. Bose, in the field of plant physiology, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai,
in the field of atomic energy and industrialization and Dr. Abdul
Kalam, in the field of defence technology, brought about
revolutionary changes to reawaken the glory of Modern India.
SRINIVAS RAMANUJAN (1887-1920)
Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan, one of India’s greatest mathematical
genius, was born at Erode in Tamil Nadu on 22 December, 1887.
His love of mathematics was unusual. Numbers seemed to draw
him by a strange magnetism. In school itself at the age of thirteen,
he came across a book called Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure

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Mathemetic by G. S. Carr which introduced him to the world of
mathematics. He started working and developing his own ideas and
be came world famous for his findings.
CHANDRASEKHARA V. RAMAN (1888-1970)
Chandrasekhara V. Raman, popularly known as C.V. Raman, was
a great scientist won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930.He was
the first Asian to receive this award. C.V. Raman was born on 7
November 1888 in Tiruchirapalli, in Tamil Nadu. His father was a
professor of Physics and Mathematics. Even in his childhood, he
was popular as a child genius.
On his journey to England, he was greatly attracted by the blue
colour of the sea. He was curious to know why it remained blue
even when big waves rolled up. Then he got the intuitive flash that it
was due to the breaking up of sun’s light by water molecules and
called it Raman Effect.
JAGDISH CHANDRA BOSE (1858-1937)
J.C. Bose another great scientist of modem India brought glory and
respect for the country. He was born on 30 November, 1858 at
Mymensingh, now in Bangladesh. He made an apparatus to study
the properties of electric waves. Dr. Bose is famous all over the
world as the inventor of Crescograph that can record even the
millionth part of a millimeter of plant growth and movement. Dr.
Bose proved through graphs taken by the Crescograph that plants
have a circulatory system too. He was the first to invent a wireless
coherer (radio signal detector) and an instrument for indicating the
refraction of electric waves.
HOMI JEHANGIR BHABHA (1909-1966)
Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha was a great scientist. He led India into
atomic age. He is called the father of Indian Nuclear Science. He
was born on 30 October, 1909 in a famous Parsi family.
In 1939, Dr. Bhabha joined the Indian Institute of Sciences at
Bangalore as a Reader at the request of Dr. C.V. Raman. Soon he
became a Professor of Physics. It was here that he got the idea of
building a research institute for some of the new areas of Physics.
He took a very bold decision and wrote a letter to Sir Dorab Ji Tata
suggesting that an institution should be established which would lay
the foundation of India as a world nuclear power. This institute
would produce its own experts and the country would not have to

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depend on outside sources. As a result, Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research (TIFR) was started in 1945, at Dr. Bhabha’s
ancestral home. India’s first atomic research centre now called
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) was established at
Trombay. India’s First atomic reactor, Apsara was also established
under his expert guidance. Bhabha became the first chairman of the
Atomic Energy Commission set up in 1948. His studies in the field
of atomic energy are considered of great importance in international
circles. He served as the chairman of international conference on
peaceful uses of atomic energy, supported by the United Nations.
The Government of India honoured him with Padma Bhushan.
DR. VIKRAM AMBALAL SARABHAI (1919-1970)
Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai is the great genius of modern India.
He is known as the Father of Indias Space Programmes . He was
the main personality behind the launching of India’s first satellite
Aryabhatta. He received his primary education at a school run by
his parents. He studied cosmic rays under the guidance of Dr. C.V.
Raman and received his Ph.D. degree from Cambridge University.
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai established many institutes which are of
international repute. Most notable among them are Indian Institutes
of Management (IIMS) which are considered world class for their
management studies.
He was the Chairman of the Indian National Commission for
Space Research (INCOSPAR) and of the Atomic Energy Commission.
He directed the setting up of Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching
Station (TERLS). He also made plans to take education to the villages
through Satellite communication. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan
in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan after his death.
DR. A.P.J. ABDUL KALAM (1931 - 2015)
Dr. A.P.J .Abdul Kalam, the eleventh President of India was born on
15 October, 1931, in the island town of Rameshwaram, in Tamil
Nadu. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian
honour in 1997 for his contributions in the field of science and
engineering.
Dr. APJ Kalam served in Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO) from 1963 to 1982. At Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, he
developed the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV 3), which put the satellite
Rohini into orbit. In 1982, as Director, Defence Research Development

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Organisation (DRDO), he was given the responsibility of Integrated
Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He developed five
projects for defence services - Prithvi, Trishul, Akash,Nag and Agni. He
led India into an era of self-dependence. Agni, which is a surface to
surface missile, is a unique achievement. Its successful launch made
India a member of the club of highly developed countries.
NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS OF INDIA
The Nobel prize is one of the most important award in the world .
Nobel prizes are given each year in six subject areas. The areas
are physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace, and economics.
The prizes honor people anywhere in the world who have done
outstanding work in one of these areas.
The Nobel prizes are named after Sir Alfred Nobel, a Swedish
scientist. He invented the explosive called dynamite. The invention
made him rich. He decided to use the money to honor people who
helped humankind in some way.
The first Nobel prizes were handed out on December 10, 1901,
exactly five years after Alfred Nobel’s death. At first there were only
five prizes. The prize for economics was added to the list in 1969.

Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden and Peace Price

is awarded in Oslo , Norway.

Year Laureates Subject Origin

1913 Rabindranath Tagore Literature Citizen of India
1930 C.V. RamanPhysics Citizen of India
1998 Amartya Sen Economic Sciences Citizen of India
1979 Mother Teresa Peace Foreign born citizen
of India
1983 Subrahmanyan Indian-born American
Chandrasekhar Physics citizen
1968 Har Gobind Khorana Medicine Foreign citizen of
Indian origin
2001 V. S. Naipaul Literature Indian descendant
UK citizen
2009 Venkatraman Indian born American
Ramakrishnan Chemistry Citizen
2014 Kailash Satyarthy Peace Citizen of India

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 GREAT INDIAN SCIENTISTS
GALILEO
Glileo Galilei was a groundbreaking Italian
astronomer ,physicist, mathematician
,philosopher and inventor. He opened the
eyes of the world to new way of thinking
about how the solar system work.
For many years ,scientists had belived that
the solar system revolved around the Earth,
and that the earth was the centre of the
Universe. Galileo was the first scientist to
prove that this wasn’t correct. He stated that
in fact, the solar system revolved around the Sun. He also invented
and improved telescope and so that he could gaze far into space.
He was the first to see jupiter’s moons, and the first to realise that
our Moon was covered with craters. Besides Scopes, he also
invented the compass and the thermometer .Galileo has played a
major role in the scientific revolution of the 17th century.
KEPLER
Johannes Kepler was a leading astronomer
of the scientific Revolution .The Scientific
Revolution is the term used to describe the
emergence of modern science that took place
throughout the 16th and 17th centuries.
Before the scientific Revolution, astronomy was
closely tied to astrology, which is the belief that
the movement of the stars and planets can be
interpreted to predict the future.
As the scientific Revolution progressed ,astrology increasingly
came to be replaced by astronomy as a modern, legitimate science.
Johannes Kepler is
best known for his discovery that the orbits in which the Earth and
the other planets of the solar system travel around the Sun are
elliptical or oval, in shape.
He was also the first to explain correctly how human beings see
and demonstrated what happens to light when it enters a telescope.
In addition ,he designed an instrument that serves as the basis of
the modern refractive telescope.
Since he was such a prominent figure in the filed of astronomy, a lot
of spots on distant planets have been named after him such
as”Kepler’s Crater on Mars” and ‘The Kepler Crater’ on the Moon.

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SIR ISSAC NEWTON
Sir Issac Newton ,an Englishman who lived in
the 17 th century ,is a scientific legend. He
came up with numerous theories and
contributed ideas to many different fields
including physics , mathematics, and
philosophy.
In 1687 ,Newton published his book
philosophiae naturalis principia mathematics.
In it ,he describe s universal gravitation ,and
the three laws of motion .It is widely regarded
to be one of the most important books in the history of science .It is
well known that his work on formulating a theory of gravitation was
inspired by watching an apple fall from a tree.
During his lifelime, newton developed a new type of mathematics
called calsulus, and made breakthroughs in the area of optics such
as the reflecting telescope .He also discovered that white light is
made up of wide range of different colors.
Newton was a deep think er with an insatiable curiosity to know
everything about everything he saw.His contribution s are so
numerous ,that he changed forever the way in which we look at the
world.
EDMOND HALLEY
Edmond Halley was an English Scientist who
became very interested in a comet that he saw
in 1682 .After being told that smile comet had
appeared in 1531 and 1607 he suspected that it
was the same comet that he had seen.
By using the laws of gravity discovered by his
friend Sir Issac Newton ,Hlley realized that he
could predict when it would return. Halley
worked out that the comet would appear in
our skies every 75 to 76 years.
He was correct in his prediction ,but sadly when the comet did
reappear ,he was nop more and he could not witness the
confirmation he had waited for so eagerly .In his honors , the comet
was named after him.
Through he is remembered foremost as an astronomer ,Halley also
made significant discoveries in the fields of geography ,mathematics,
meteorology, and Physics. Halley was very close to Newton.
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JEAN LAMARCK
Jean Lamarck was one of the pioneers in the
filed of biology. In fact ,the very name
‘Biology’ was coined by this French naturalist.
He is best remembered for his theory of
evolution. According to this theory, he
characteristics an organism develops during
its lifetime in response to its environment are
inherited by, or passed on to its offspring.
Lamarck was the first to use the term invertebrate to describe
animals without backbones. He began collecting fossils and
studying all sorts of simple species.
AS a result of these studies ,he was able to revise the classification
of lower animals that had been unfinished by the Swedish biologist
Linnaeus.
Lamarck’s study of invertebrates also led to the publication of his
major work’The Natural History of Invertebrate Animals’ in 1815-22.

MICHAEL FARADAY
Michael faraday was a 19th century British
chemist and Physicist. He is often called the
father of electricity with good reason.
His work on electrochemistry and electro
magnetism laid the foundation for many area of
science. It was 1831 that Faraday discovered
electro magnetic indication ,the principle
behind the electric transformer and generator. This discovery was
crucial in allowing electricity to be transformed from a curiosity, into
a powerful new technology. He was partly responsible for coining
many familiar words including ‘electrode’, ‘cathode’ and ‘ion’.
Faraday laid the basis of the electromagnetic Field concept in
physics ,discovered the laws of electrolysis, and invented
electromagnetic rotary device that were vital in the creation of
electric motors. Faraday has thus played a key role in the
development of electricity for use in modern technology.

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CHARLES DARWIN
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist who is
best known for his ideas on evolution. In 1831,
Darwin sail on the HMS Beagle ,a naval survey
ship. Darwin’s job was to collect plant and
animal specimens from the countries the ship
visited .The voyage took five years.

For Charles Darwin ,the most important part

of the journey was the time to spent in the
Galapagos island s whichg are the home to
plants and animals that can’t be found anywhere else e in the world.

On his return to England ,Darwin started to piece together his theory of

natural selection which explained how populations evolve. In
1859,Charles Darwin published his book ‘On The Orgin Of Spices’.

According to this theory All species of life have evolved over time
from common ancestors. Charles Darwin changed the way humans
viewed themselves.
THOMAS EDISON
Thomas Edison’s story is truly an inspiring
one. He struggled at school, but loved
reading and conducting experiments.
The American inventor began sending and
receiving messages via Morse code-
electronically conveyed alphabet using
different clicks for each letter at the age of
15. Later, he invented a version of the
telegraph that could send four messages at
once. In 1877, Edison invented the photograph. The photograph
was a machine that recorded and played back sounds. He perfected
the photograph by recording ‘May has a Little lamb’ on a peace of
foil In 1878 Edison invented the light bulb, as well as the power grid
system, which could generate electricity, and deliver it to homes
through a network of wires.
Edison registered 1093 patents in the US as he continues to invent
products. He made significant contributions to storage batteries and
motion pictures. His inventions changed the world forever, and
Edison remains a colossus in the field of science to day.

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ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
Alexander Graham Bell was an influential
scientist, engineer, and inventor who is
considered to be the inventor of the first
practical telephone. Bell’s mother and wife
were both deaf, and this motivated his
research on hearing and speech.
Bell experimented with sound, working with
devices such as ‘harmonic telegraph’, that is
used to send multiple messages over a single
wire. While trying to discover the secret to transmitting multiple
messages on a single wire. Bell heard the sound of plucked string
along some of the electrical wire. This was caused because one of
Bell’s assistants. Thomas A Watson, was trying to reactivate a
transmitter. It made Bell believe he could send the sound of a
human voice over the wire.

After receiving a patent on March 7th , 1876, for transmitting sound

along a single wire, he successfully transmitted human speech on
March 10.
Bells’ first words with the working telephone were spoken to his
assistant Watson. They were “Mr. Watson come here I want to see
you”.
Bell also had a strong interest in other scientific fields, conducting
medical research, searching for alternative fuel sources, developing
hydrofoil watercraft and much more.
MARIE CURIE
Marie Curie, a Polish born French chemist
and physicist, is a legend for many reasons.
She was the first woman to win it twice.
Marie’s research was the field of radioactivity.
With the help of her husband Pierre Curie,
she made numerous scientific discoveries;
including one showing that radiation did
indeed come from the atom itself.
In 1903 the Nobel Prize in Physics was
awarded to marie and Pierre as well as Henri Becquerel for their work
in radiation. In 1911, Marie Curie was awarded another Nobel Prize,

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this time in Chemistry, for her discovery of radium and polonium,
and subsequent research.
Marie curie became internationally famous and scientists came
from around the world to study radioactivity with her. The Curie
institute in Paris founded by Marie in 1921 is still a major cancer
research facility to this day.
BLAISE PASCAL

Blaise pascal was a 17th century French

philosopher and scientist who made
important contributions to maths, science,
and philosophy. While he was still a teenager,
Pascal became one of only two people who
had developed and constructed a working
mechanical calculator.
As a mathematician ,Pascal developed two
separate fields of maths-projective geometry ,and
probability theory. This Probability theory
was born out of Pascal’s study of gambiling problems, and had an
important impact on the development of the modern day economics.

In projective geometry, he developed that became known as

Pascal’s triangles,in which the sums of successive numbers built on
themselves to form the numbers built on themselves to form the
numerical row beneath.
Pascal ‘s scientific theories were important to understanding the
properties and volume of solids using cycloids. pascal was also an
expert in various languages,and a well – versed religious philosopher.

JOHN DALTON
John Dalton, a British Scientist ,is probably
best known for his groundbreaking research
and contribution to two completely different
fields-automatic theory in chemistry. The
Research had a great impact on automatic
theory. He created a listing of atomic weights
for six different elements – hydrogen, oxygen,
nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, and phosphorous.
Dalton’s interpretation of atomic theory maintained that atoms are
companied in chemical reactions, but also that they can be

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separated and rearranged. Without doubt, it was John Dalton’s
atomic theory that laid the foundations of modern chemistry.
ANDREW MARIE AMPERE
Andrew Marie Ampere was a French
Physicist and mathematician, who made the
revolutionary discovery that wire carrying
electric current can attract or repel another
wire next to it ,that’s also carrying electric
current. The attraction is a magnets are
necessary for the effect to be seen.
Ampere went on to formulate Ampere’s Law of electromagnetism
and produced the best definition of electric current of his time. He
also proposed the
existence of a particle we now reorganize as the electron
,discovered the chemical element fluorine, and grouped elements
by their properties.
In recognition of Ampere’s contribution to modern electrical science,
the ‘ampere’ was established as a standard unit of electrical
measurement. In 1881,forty-five years after his death.
JAMES PRESCOTT JOULE FRS
James Prescott Joule FRS (24 December 1818
– 11 October 1889) was an English physicist
and brewer, born in Salford, Lancashire. Joule
studied the nature of heat, and discovered its
relationship to mechanical work (see energy).
This led to the law of conservation of energy,
which led to the development of the first law of
thermodynamics. The SI derived unit of energy,
the joule, is named after James Joule. He
worked with Lord Kelvin to develop the
absolute scale of temperature the Kelvin. Joule also made
observations of magnetostriction, and he found the relationship
between the current through a resistor and the heat dissipated,
which is now called Joule’s first law.
In hs early years ,joule proved that heat produced in a small
electromagnet built by him was from electrical energy ,which was in
turn, generated by mechanical energy which powered the dynamo.
The principle of conservation of energy became the first law of
thermodynamics, a field of physics that joule is referred to as the
chief founder of.
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Joule was the first person to calculate the speed of a molecule of
gas, about 457 meters a second for oxygen at average
temperatures. This would lay the foundations for the kinetic theory
of gases in the future. Joule Recognized the need for standard units
of electricity.In fact ,the units of energy is named the ‘Joule in
recognition of his contribution.’
GREGOR JOHANN MENDEL
Gregor Johann Mendel was a German-speaking
Moravian-Silesian scientist and Augustinian friar
and abbot of St. Thomas’ Abbey in Brno who
gained posthumous fame as the founder of the
modern science of genetics. Though farmers
had known for centuries that crossbreeding of
animals and plants could favor certain desirable
traits, Mendel’s pea plant experiments
conducted between 1856 and 1863 established
many of the rules of
heredity, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance.
Mendel worked with seven characteristics of pea plants: plant
height, pod shape and color, seed shape and color, and flower
position and color. With seed color, he showed that when a yellow
pea and a green pea were bred together their offspring plant was
always yellow. However, in the next generation of plants, the green
peas reappeared at a ratio of 1:3. To explain this phenomenon,
Mendel coined the terms “recessive” and “dominant” in reference to
certain traits. (In the preceding example, green peas are recessive
and yellow peas are dominant.) He published his work in 1866,
demonstrating the actions of invisible “factors”—now called genes—
in providing for visible traits in predictable ways.
The profound significance of Mendel’s work was not recognized
until the turn of the 20th century (more than three decades later)
with the independent rediscovery of these laws. [5] Erich von
Tschermak, Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns, and William Jasper
Spillman independently verified several of Mendel’s experimental
findings, ushering in the modern age of genetics

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J J THOMSON
J J Thomson, an English physicist, took science
to new heights with his 1897 discovery of the
electron the subatomic particle.
When Thomson began his research career, it
was thought that atoms were the smallest
particles. Nobody had a clear picture of how
atoms might look. It was already known that
atoms were associated in some way with
electric charges.
In 1897 aged 40, Thomson carried out a now famous experiment
with a cathode ray tube. His experiment proved the existence of a
new fundamental particle that was much smaller than the atom. It
was named the electron.
In discovering the electron, Thomson also moved towards the
invention of an immensely important tool for chemical analysis the
mass spectrometer.
Then in 1912 Thomson discovered that stable elements could
exists as isotopes are different forms of the same element that exist
with different atomic masses.
J J Thomson was awarded the Nobel prize for Physics in 1906.

ALBERT EINSTEIN
Albert Einstein was an intellectual giant
whose scientific achievements influenced the
philosophy of science forever.
Born in Germany, he made some contributions
to the field of theoretical physics, and 1921, won
a Nobel Prize for his work in this field.
In 1905 he began publishing the components
of his Special Theory of Relativity, in which
he demonstrated that time was relative to the
speed at which the observer was travelling.
The essence of Einstein’s Special Theory of relativity was that if
matter is converted into energy, then energy released can be
shown in the simple formula E= MC2 where C represents the
velocity of light, E the energy and M the mass.
In 1915 Einstein rocked the world with his General Theory of
Relativity. It explained a lot of how time and distance may change
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due to the ‘relative’ or different speed of the objects and the
observer. Einstein became famous overnight, and all of a sudden,
he was showered with honours from all over the world!
Einstein’s vision and his theories of relativity and quantum physics
are with our doubt, the hallmarks of a scientific genius.

ALEXANDER FLEMING
Alexander Fleming, a Scottish biologist,
pharma cologist and botanist, made history
with the discovery of penicillin, the world’s
first antibiotic substance in 1928.
Fleming was studying deadly bacteria when
he made his awesome discovery, quite by
accident. He had unintentionally left open the
cover of bacteria culture plate with which he
was working when he went away on a
holiday. When he returned, he noticed that a
mould had formed on the exposed culture. What interested him was
the fact that in the area surrounding the mould, the bacteria had
disappeared. He kept a strain of the mould alive, and began testing
it on laboratory animals. With further experimentation, Fleming
established that this mould, that he named penicillin. Could destroy
many types of bacteria, such as the ones responsible for scarlet
fever, meningitis, and diphtheria.
Fleming published his research on penicillin, and two other
scientists. However Florey and Ernst Boris Chain, discovered how
to isolate the penicillin and increase its potential. These findings
were used to mass-produce penicillin in order to treat wounded
soldiers during World War II, thus saving millions of lives.
EDWIN HUBBLE
Edwin Hubble, an American Astronomer, made
a huge impact on astronomy, and science in
general, by demonstrating that other galaxies,
besides our own Milky Way existed. Less than a
century ago, many scientists believed there was
just one galaxy the Milky Way.
On December 30th, 1924 Edwin Hubble
announced he had evidence that the Milky
Way galaxy was just one of the galaxies in
the universe.

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Discovering that our galaxy wasn’t alone just the beginning for
Hubble. He continued measuring distances and velocities in deep
space.
His findings published in 1929, led to the widely accepted notion
that the Universe is expanding. The well known Hubble Space
Telescope is named after Edwin Hubble.
The Hubble Space Telescope has provided valuable research data
and images since it was carried into orbit in 1990, leading to many
breakthroughs in the field of astrophysics.
Despite his accomplishments, Hubble never won the Nobel Prize in
physics, since at that time astronomers were not eligible for the
award.
However Edwin hubble has received other accolades, however,
both an asteroid and a Moon crater bear his name.

STEPHEN HAWKING
Stephen Hawking, theoretical physicist and
cosmologist, is remarkable in many ways.
Despite challenging physical impairments, he
has contributed hugely to the world of science.
Hawking suffers from a type of motor neuron
disease that has left him almost completely
paralyzed. This did not stop him from working
on the subject of black holes and providing
theories for their behavior, including the idea
that they emit radiation.
Hawking believed black holes to be celestial death traps that
swallowed up all energy. However, he determined there was room
for this phenomenon, through the merging of quantum theory,
general relatively and thermodynamics, distilling it all into one path
in 1974.
Hawking wanted to write a book about the mysteries of the universe
that would connect with the public. This task seemed impossible
after he the abilities to write and speak. But Hawking did not give
up, and his vision was finally realized when his ‘A Brief History of
Time’ became a best seller.

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 INDIA IN SPACE
The dream and realisation of spaceflight - For thousands of years,
humans have curiously gazed at the night sky and dreamt of
travelling to space and explore the distant heavenly bodies there.
But, that long cherished dream became a reality only after they
developed large rockets capable of carrying satellites and humans
to space. After reaching space, those rockets were powerful
enough to make satellites, robotic spacecraft or spacecraft carrying
humans to either to circle the earth or proceed towards other worlds
of our solar system.
The uniqueness of the Indian space programme - India is one of the
few countries that have taken up the challenge of exploring space
and utilising space for the benefits of common man. For this, the
country has developed various technologies which few other
countries have done.
India’s achievements in space today are the result of the
foresightedness of Dr Vikram Sarabhai, one of the greatest sons of
India. Sarabhai was a great dreamer and showed the path to realise
those dreams. He had firm belief in the power of space technology
to bring about rapid and overall development of India.
Prof Satish Dhawan, who succeeded Dr Sarabhai as the head of
the Indian space programme, made immense contributions to
Indian space programme by assigning great importance to
developing and mastering space technologies through indigenous
efforts. He also laid emphasis on the involvement of the Indian
industry to meet the needs of the country’s space programme. Prof
U R Rao, Dr K Kasturirangan, Mr G Madhavan Nair and Dr K
Radhakrishnan, who succeeded Prof Dhawan, have made their
own unique contributions to the Indian space programme.
The beginning - Though India today is considered as one of the
prominent countries conducting many space activities, the Indian space
programme began in a modest way with the formation of the Indian
National Committee on Space Research by the Government of India in
1962. The programme formally began on November 21, 1963 with the
launch of a 28 feet long American ‘Nike-Apache’ Sounding Rocket from
Thumba, near Thiruvananthapuram. It carried a small French payload
(scientific instrument) to study the winds in the upper atmosphere.
Sounding rockets are small research rockets that carry instruments to
study upper atmosphere and space. They

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cannot launch satellites.
India’s space capabilities - Indian space research organisation,
which is widely known as ‘ISRO’, is the agency which implements
the country’s space programme on behalf of the India’s Department
of Space. ISRO came into existence in 1969, the same year
humans set foot on the moon for the first time.
Various centres of ISRO are now spread all over India. They
include Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), situated in
Thiruvananthapuram, which designs huge rockets capable of
launching large satellites. In the same city is the Liquid Propulsion
Systems Centre (LPSC) that develops liquid rocket engines and the
more efficient and highly complex cryogenic rocket engines.
Bangalore can be called as the space city of India. It has got many
space related facilities including the ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC),
which builds Indian satellites Satellites are launched into space with
a firm purpose like relaying the telephone calls, telecasting TV
programmes, taking weather pictures of the Earth or observing
distant heavenly bodies. Instruments in a satellite which perform
these useful tasks are called payloads. ISRO’s Space Applications
Centre at Ahmedabad develops such payloads for satellites.
National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) is another important
centre of ISRO. It is situated in Hyderabad and performs the
important task of receiving the pictures sent by India’s remote
sensing satellites in the form of radio waves.
NRSC also processes those pictures to make them accurate and
show details clearly. The centre also systematically stores those
pictures and distributes them in India.
The island of Sriharikota in the Bay of Bengal has ISRO’s Satish
Dhawan Space Centre and it is the spaceport of India. Sriharikota
lies about 80 km to the North of Chennai and lies in the Nellore
district of Andhra Pradesh state. This is the place from where 38
Indian built rockets have lifted off (as on April 2013) and have
travelled towards space. Some of them have launched not one but
many satellites during a single launch. Sriharikota has vast facilities
to manufacture large solid propellant (fuel-oxidisercombination)
rockets as well as to test them. It also has facilities to assemble
huge satellite launch vehicles as well as to launch and track them.
Into the satellite era - In the 1970s, India took a giant leap into
space with the launch of its first satellite Aryabhata. Named after

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the famous ancient Indian astronomer, the satellite weighed 360 kg
at the time of its launch.
Before learning more about Aryabhata satellite, let us learn about
the speciality of space, the place where Aryabhata revolved round
the earth and thousands of artificial satellites still do.
In the late 1970s and early 80s, ISRO scientists also built Rohini
series of satellites and gained additional experience in building
satellites. Rohini satellites were launched by India’s first indigenous
launch vehicle SLV-3.
Satellite as a catalyst of development - In the early 1980s, the
power of the artificial earth satellites to bring a about phenomenal
growth in India’s television broadcasting and telecommunication
sectors was glaringly demonstrated by a satellite called Indian
National Satellite -1B (INSAT-1B).
It was the second satellite in the INSAT-1 series. Because of the
failure of its predecessor INSAT-1A, Indian space scientists were
very much concerned, but INSAT-1B brought in a major revolution
in India’s telecommunications, television broadcasting and weather
forecasting sectors in a very short and unthinkable time.
Eyes in the sky - So, what are these remote sensing satellites?
What do they do? How are they useful to the society? Satellites
carrying very sensitive cameras or radars and circling the earth in
space hundreds of kilometres high are known as remote sensing
satellites.
Quenching the thirst for knowledge - Communication satellites,
weather satellites and remote sensing satellites. These are the
satellites that make our life easy, interesting and safe. In addition to
this, ISRO scientists have built scientific satellites that quench the
human thirst for knowledge, especially to understand our universe.

Giant leap to Moon - Chandrayaan-1 was launched on October 22,

2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR in Sriharikota by
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C11). On that day at
6:22 am in the morning, the 15 story high PSLV majestically rose
into the sky on a bright pillar of flame and quickly disappeared into
the cloudy sky.
With this success, India became only the fifth individual country to put a
spacecraft into an orbit around the moon after the United States, Soviet
Russia, Japan and China. Having succeeded in making Chandrayaan-
1 an artificial satellite of the moon, ISRO scientists

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changed its orbit many times. Ultimately, Chandrayaan-1 started
orbiting the moon over its polar regions at a height of about 100 km
from the lunar surface.
Coming back to India’s first indigenously built satellite launch
vehicle SLV-3, it had four stages assembled on top of one another.
All those four stages were solid rockets. The man who led the team
of scientists and engineers that built SLV-3 was A P J Abdul Kalam,
who became the president of India and has inspired millions of
students of our country. SLV-3’s first launch took place on August
10, 1979, but it was not a success.
But, instead of getting disheartened, ISRO scientists worked hard,
found out the problem responsible for that, solved it and readied
that launch vehicle within a year. On July 18, 1980, SLV-3 rose
from Sriharikota island and sped towards the sky with a roar. About
11 minutes later, it placed the Rohini RS-1 satellite into an orbit
around the earth. As that satellite started circling the earth, India
became the seventh country to launch its own satellite after Soviet
Union, United States, France, Japan, China and Britain. After this,
SLV-3 put two more Rohini satellites into orbit.
In the 1980s, ISRO built a more capable launch vehicle known as
Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV). But, ASLV was
successful for the first time only during its third flight in 1992 and
launched SROSS-C satellite into an orbit around the earth. Another
SROSS satellite was launched by ASLV in 1994.
Into the future - Today, the main purpose of building launch vehicles
is to carry satellites, unmanned spacecraft and humans to space.
ISRO is now building heavier and more complex communication,
weather and remote sensing satellites capable of offering more
services. Besides, it is developing an independent navigation
satellite system called Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System.
It will be capable of providing highly accurate position, speed,
direction, and time information to vehicles travelling on land, sea
and in the air. Such information can make their journey safer and
more fuel efficient.
ISRO is also active in developing Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft that will
orbit the moon and send small a rover (robotic car) to the lunar surface
in a lander that will smoothly land there. Also, to study the distant
heavenly bodies in detail, ISRO is developing a satellite called
ASTROSAT and to study the Sun, it is building Aditya satellite. Along
with these, ISRO has conducted studies on sending humans to space.

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These are the scientific movements across the globe to develop self
sustainability in the economies through advancement through
science .
1. White Revolution: Refers to the improving the production of
Milk and Diary products
2. Blue Revolution: Refers to the improving the production of
Fishing and marine products
3. Yellow revolution: Refers to the improving the production of Oil
seeds/edible oil especially mustard, sunflower etc.
4. Pink Revolution: Refers to the improving production of Prawns,
onion
5. Rainbow Revolution: Refers to the improving the production of
Fruits/breeding of ornamental fish
6. Brown Revolution: Refers to the improving the self sufficiency
of Cocoa/Leather
7. Black Revolution: Refers to the improving the self sufficiency of
Petroleum
8. Grey Revolution: Refers to the improving the self sufficiency of
Fertilizer
9. Red Revolution: Refers to the improving the self sufficiency of
Meat, tomato
10. Round Revolution: Refers to the improving the self sufficiency
of Potato
11. Golden Revolution: Refers to the improving the self sufficiency
of Honey, Horticulture
12. Golden fibre: Refers to the improving the self sufficiency of Jute

13. Silver: Refers to the improving the self sufficiency Eggs (Poultry)
14. Green Revolution: Refers to improve the production of crops
INDIAN NOBEL LAURATES - The Nobel Prize is a set of annual
international awards bestowed in a number of categories by
Swedish and Norwegian committees in recognition of cultural
and/or scientific advances. The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred
Nobel established the prizes in 1895.
The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine Literature,
and Peace were first awarded in 1901. The related Nobel Memorial
Prize in Economic Sciences was created in 1968 . The Peace Prize is
awarded in Oslo, Norway, while the other prizes are awarded in

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Stockholm, Sweden. The Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the
most prestigious award available in the fields of literature, medicine,
physics, chemistry, peace, and economics.
The various prizes are awarded yearly. Each recipient, or laureate,
receives a gold medal, a diploma and a sum of money, which is
decided by the Nobel Foundation. A prize may not be shared
among more than three people

Year Laureates Subject Origin

1902 Ronald Ross Medicine for his work Foreign citizen
in Malaria born in India
1907 Rudyard Kipling Literature Foreign citizen
born in India
1913 Rabindranath Literature for his song Citizen of India
Tagore Offerings called
Gitanjali
1930 C.V. Raman Physics for Raman
Effect For Physiology Citizen of India
- Medicine
1968 Har Gobind “interpretation of the Foreign citizen of
Khorana genetic code and its Indian origin
function in protein
synthesis”’
1979 Mother Teresa Peace for her work in Foreign born
helping the suffering – citizen of India
The missionaries of
Charity
1979 Abdus Salam Physics Indian-born
Pakistani citizen
1983 Subrahmanyan Physics, for his theoretical Indian-born
Chandrasekhar studies of the physical American citizen
processes of importance
to the structure and
evolution of the stars.”
1998 Amartya Sen Economic Sciences , “for Citizen of India
his contributions to Indian descendant
welfare economics.
2001 V. S. Naipaul Literature UK citizen
Indian-born

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 2006 Muhammad Yunus Peace Bangladeshi citizen
2009 Venkatraman Chemistry, for studies of Indian born
Ramakrishnan the structure and function American Citizen
of the ribosome”
2014 Kailash For Peace – For his Citizen of India
Sathyarthy contribution towards child
welfare and education

Space Exploration -Abbreviations, Acronyms and Definitions

NACA National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
ABBREVIATIONS
AIIMS All India Institute of Medical Sciences
AEC Atomic Energy Commission
ARIES Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences
BARC Bhabha Atomic Research Centre
CDRI Central Drug Research Institute
CMRI Central Mining Research Institute
CNG Compressed Natural Gas
CSIR Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
DAE Department of Atomic Energy
DCM Digital Cartographic Model
DIT Department of Information Technology
DRDO Defence Research & Development Organisation
DSIR Department of Scientific and Industrial Research
DSM Defence Series Maps
ESA European Space Agency
IARI Indian Agricultural Research Institute
IAS Indian Academy of Sciences
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IISC Indian Institute of Science
ISRO Indian Space Research Organisation
LPG Liquified Petroleum Gas
NGRI National Geophysical Research Institute
NIC National Informatics Centre
NIO National Institute of Oceanography
NIT National Institute of Technology
NMR Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
NACA National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
ONGC Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
RRI Raman Research Institute
SAIL Steel Authority of India
TIFR Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural
ORGANISATION
VSSC Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre

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Space Scientists
Kalpana Chawla (March 17, 1962 –
February 1, 2003) was born in Karnal,
India. She was the first Indian-American
astronaut and first Indian woman in
space. Kalpana Chawla completed her
earlier schooling at Tagore Baal Niketan
Sr. Sec. School, Karnal.
As a small child, when teachers asked
pupils to draw a picture, Kalpana would
draw stars and spaceships while other
children drew flowers or trees. Kalpana,
as a student of Tagore Baal Niketan, was
interested in flying. She was fascinated
by airplanes and preferred to make them in the crafts-class.
Kalpana’s favorite topic in drawing class was airplanes. Once she
prepared a project on environment in which she made huge,
colorful charts and models depicting the sky and stars. Signs of her
interest in space were present in this project as well as in others.
After completing her higher education she joined the NASA and first
flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and
primary robotic arm operator.
Chawla was the first Indian-born woman and the second Indian
person to fly in space. Chawla died in the Space Shuttle Columbia
disaster which occurred on February 1, 2003, Kalpana Chawla lived
her dream, she will always be remembered for inspiring millions of
youth across the globe .
Sunita Williams is an Indian American
Astronaut, After her formal education
Sunita Williams joined NASA . She
holds the records for longest single
space flight by a woman (195 days),
total spacewalks by a woman (seven),
and most spacewalk time for a woman
(50 hours, 40 minutes).

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 Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, The
AC, Hero of the Soviet Union, (born 13
January 1949) is a former Indian Air Force
test pilot who flew aboard Soyuz T-11 as
part of the Intercosmos program. Sharma
was the first Indian to travel in space.
Sharma joined the Indian Air Force in 1970
as a pilot officer after joining the NDA as an
IAF cadet in 1966. He spent eight days in
space on board the Salyut 7 space station.
He joined 2 other Soviet cosmonauts
aboard the Soyuz T-11 spacecraft which
blasted off on 2 April 1984.
In 1984 he became the first citizen of India to go into space when
he flew aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11. He was conferred
with the honour of Hero of Soviet Union upon his return from space.
The Government of India conferred its highest gallantry award
(during peace time), the Ashoka Chakra on him and the other two
Soviet members of his mission.
He retired with the rank of Wing Commander. He joined the
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited in 1987 and served as Chief Test
Pilot in the HAL Nashik Division until 1992, before moving on to
Bangalore to work as the Chief Test Pilot of HAL. He retired from
test flying in 2013.

SOME AMAZING FACTS ABOUT SCIENCE

Science - Experiments are carried out for providing the ideas
formed through observations. So, Science helps in forming ideas
about the world. Observations, does not mean, that you only see
the objects, it is done by using all your senses. Science has made
our life very easy and comfortable.
Science has given us automatic machines, that have reduced our
work load. There are different branches of science such as Biology,
Astronomy, Medicine, Geology and Chemistry. The person who
studies any branch of science in detail, and specializes in any field
of science, is called a Scientist.
Materials and Structure - We see different things in our daily life.
These things are made from different materials. A chair made up of

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wood, and a plastic bucket, have their own shape and structure.
Different materials have different physical appearance. All metals
have their own properties. Some metals are strong and some are
soft. Some metals can stand up to heat. Often metals are hard,
shiny materials. Things are strong or soft according to the way they
are put together. This is called structure.

Solid, Liquid - All materials are found in three states- liquid, solid
and gas. A liquid does not have its own shape. It takes the shape of
container that holds it. A solid can be either hard or soft. A solid
keeps its shape. A liquid material runs, if it is poured down. A
gaseous material escapes easily even if in a container, and spreads
out all over the room. Some materials can change their shape from
one form to another. Water is liquid when taken from tap. When you
boil the steam cool, steam again and again , like wax. Then we heat
wax, it melts. When we cool it, it turns solid. But when we bake
some material to prepare cake, we cannot convert cake back to its
liquid solution. Change of one material from its one state to another
depends on its temperature and pressure.

Light –Colour - Sun is the major source of energy. All the energy
we need, comes from the Sun. Sun produces heat and energy.
There are many other sources of light such as light bulbs. Sunlight
seems to be colourless or white. But in reality, there are many
colours mixed together in it. There are not visible directly, but these
colours can be seen in a rainbow. When sunlight passes through
raindrops, it splits up into Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo
and Violet colours. All things absorb some of the colours, and let
the other colours bounce off. This makes them different in colour.

Shadow- Reflection - A shadow is made where the light does not

reach. On a sunny day, you can observe your shadow at midday
and late in the afternoon. The length of the shadow depends on the
angle at which the light is hitting you. Light waves travel in straight
lines. They cannot bend around things. If something gets in the way
of a light wave, it blocks the light and casts a shadow. The Earth
spins as it goes around the sun.

This makes outdoor shadows pint in different directions and change

length at different times of the day. Your shadow is always longer in
the early morning and late afternoon. At midday, or noon, the Sun is
high in the sky, and your shadow is very short. There are many
shiny surfaces that reflect light. You can see your reflection in any
empty saucepan.
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Sound - Sound is another form of energy. All sounds happen
because something is vibrating or moving backwards and forwards
very quickly. Sound travels in waves. We hear a humming sound
because the pattern of molecules moving through the air hits our
eardrum and makes it vibrate too.

These vibrations produce tiny vibrations of electricity that travel

along nerves to the brain. Now the brain understands these pulses
as sound. Sound waves travel much faster through solids and
liquids than it does through air. Sound waves need to have
something to move through. Sound travels through air at a speed of
about 1224 kilometers an hours. Sound waves cannot be seen, but
we can see their effects.

Electricity - Television, radio, hi-fi music systems, computers, video

games and electric light, have become a major part of our life.
Without electricity, all these things would not have worked. There
are two types of electricity. Static electricity can be sometimes seen
in darkness, as tiny flashes of electricity, that comes when nylon
rubs against another material.

There are two unlike charges of static electricity- Positive and

Negative. Storm clouds are charged with static electricity. These
electric charges can also flow through your body. If you sit on a
chair, rub your rubber soled shoes on the carpet, and then touch
something metal, you may feel a tiny electric shock. This is because
of the electric charges flowing through your body.
Current electricity is generated or made at a power station. This
electricity can travel form a battery or a power station, to where it is
needed. Cables that are used to carry current electricity, are either
carried overhead on pylons, or buried under the ground.

Magnet – A magnet attracts, or pulls, some materials towards it.

This is called magnetism and the materials are magnetic. Only the
metals iron, nickel, and cobalt can be magnetized on their own. So,
everything cannot be magnetic. Materials like paper pin, hair pin,
iron clutch, an iron key etc., are attracted towards a magnet, when it
is put near them.

Backward -Forward - When we push or pull something, the thing

moves. Pushing and pulling are forces. It is because of these
forces, that a thing can be made to start to move, speed up, slow
down, change direction or stop moving. Every force has another
force that pushes in the opposite direction.
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Gravity and Weight - Gravity is a force of the Earth, that pulls
everything towards its centre. It is the reason why things always fall
down and not up. The moon circles around the Earth, keeping the
same distance from it, and travelling at the same speed. As there is
no friction in the space, once a thing is going at a certain speed, it
will continue moving at the same speed, forever. It is the strong
gravitational pull of the Earth that keeps it at the same distance
from the Earth. Weight is a measure of the pull of gravity on you,
and is measured in Newtons, because it is a force. To convert your
mass into your weight, you multiply it by the pull of the Earth and
give your answer in Newtons. If your mass is 50kg, then your
weight is about 500 Newtons.

Energy - Energy takes various forms such as light, heat, electricity

and sound. The major source of energy is the Sun. This energy
provides heat and light for plants to grow, to keep you warm, and let
you see. All living things get their energy from the Sun. Plants use
the sun’s energy to grow. Grass uses sunlight to make food. Cows
use energy from the grass to make milk. We drink milk that gives us
energy.

FACTS ABOUT ROCKETS

What is a Rocket ?
Rocket are tall, thin, round vehicle with engines which is used to
transport, satellites and things to space. They think of a rocket that
launches into space. “Rocket” can mean a type of engine.
How Does a Rocket Engine Work?
Like most engines, rockets burn fuel. Most rocket engines turn the
fuel into hot gas. The engine pushes the gas out its back. The gas
makes the rocket move forward.
Our Rockets are also Fairly Big
India has designed and flown Geosynchronous Satellite Launch
Vehicle (GSLV).GSLV has put our communication satellite INSAT-
4CR into orbit.
India’s star Performing Rocket
The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV for short, is the star
performer in ISRO rocket family. PSLV is capable of launching 1600

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kg satellites in 620 km sun-synchronous polar orbit and 1050 kg
satellite in geo-synchronous transfer orbit.
The Launch Pads
Launch pad is from where a rocket takes off. In India the first launch
pad was a very small one built in Thumba in 1963 to launch the first
rocket from India. This is a historic monument of Indian Space
Programme. Indias Launch Pad is at Sriharikota, in Andhra Pradesh
in the banks of Bay of Bengal.
Satellites
In astronomy, satellite is a body that orbits a planet. There are
natural satellites such as the moons and artificial (man-made)
satellites such as communication satellites and space stations.
There are approximately3000 satellites currently in earth’s orbits.
Some of them are very small; some are dead, some are discarded.
The largest one now is the International Space Station.
Space Stations
Space Stations are large floating laboratories in orbit. A space
station contains accommodation for the crew, laboratory space for
doing work and a place for visiting spacecraft to dock when they
receive astronauts or supplies. World’s first space station is Salyut
– 1, which was launched by the USSR in 1971. The largest of
space stations is the international Space Station, ISS, where men
and women astronauts carry out research in various disciplines.
Major Space Exploring Agencies

NASA (National Aeronautics

and Space Administration) –
USA

Russian Federal Space Agency

– Russia

European Space Agency

(ESA)

ISRO
(Indian Space Research Organization)

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The various scientific Movements across the globe that has resulted
in the self sufficiency of nations and life of the individuals
GREEN REVOLUTION:
The term Green Revolution refers to the renovation of agricultural
practices beginning in Mexico in the 1940s M.S. Swaminathan is known
as the “Father of the Green Revolution in India”. The methods adopted
included the use of high yielding varieties (HYV) of seeds.
WHITE REVOLUTION:
‘Operation flood’ a program started by National Dairy Development
Board (NDDB) in 1970 made India the largest producer of the milk
in the world. Popularly known as ‘The White Revolution’. The main
architect of this successful project was Dr. Verghese Kurien,
BLUE REVOLUTION:
Blue Revolution primarily refers to the management of water
resources that can steer humanity to achieve drinking water and
crop irrigation security. The aim of Blue Revolution is to rapidly
increase fish production in small ponds and water bodies
YELLOW REVOLUTION:
Refers to Self-sufficiency in oilseeds would have a great impact on
agriculture and the economy.

WORLD SPACE WEEK (WSW)

The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World
Space Week (WSW) will be held each year from October 4-10.
World Space Week is an international celebration of science and
technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human
condition. The dates were in recognition of the October 4, 1957
launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, thus
opening the way for space exploration and the October 10, 1967
signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States
in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the
Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.
World Space Week is an international celebration of science and
technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human
condition. World Space Week aims to:

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  Provide unique leverage in space outreach and education.

 Educate people around the world about the benefits that
they receive from space.

 Encourage greater use of space for sustainable economic
development.

 Demonstrate public support for space programs.

 Excite young people about science, technology,
engineering, and math.

 Foster international cooperation in space outreach and
education.
WHERE AND HOW IS WORLD SPACE WEEK CELEBRATED?
During World Space Week space education and outreach events
are organised by space agencies, aerospace companies, schools,
planetaria, museums, and astronomy clubs around the world.
WORLD SPACE WEEK 2016
This year, the World Space Week Association have selected
“Remote Sensing: Enabling our Future” as a theme for WSW.
These dates commemorate two events:
 October 4, 1957: Launch of the first human- made Earth
satellite, Sputnik 1, thus opening the way for space exploration

 October 10, 1967 : The signing of the Treaty on Principles
Governing the Activites of States in the Exploration and
Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other
Celestial Bodies.
Sputnik 1 :The first artificial satellite
The Sputnik 1 spacecraft was the first artificial satellite successfully
placed in orbit around the Earth and was launched from Baikonur
Cosmodrome at Tyuratam(370 km southwest of the small town of
Baikonur) in Kazakhstan, then part of the former Soviet Union. The
Russian word ”Sputnik” means ”companion” (“satellite” in the
astronomical sense).
In 1885 Konstantin Tsiolkovsky first described in his book, Dreams
of Earth and Sky, h ow such a satellite could be launched into a low
altitude orbit. It was the first a series of four satellites as part of the
Sputnik program of the former Soviet Union and was planned

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as a contribution to the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958).
Three of these satellites (Sputnik 1, 2, and 3) reached Earth orbit.
The Sputnik 1 satellite was a 58.0 cm-diameter aluminum sphere
that carried four whip-like antennas that were 2.4-2.9 m long. The
antennas looked like long “whiskers” pointing to one side. The
spacecraft obtained data pertaining to the density of the upper
layers of the atmosphere and the propagation of radio signals in the
ionosphere. The instruments and electric power sources were
housed in a sealed capsule and included transmitters operated at
20.005 and 40.002 MHz (about 15 and 7.5 m in wavelength), the
emissions taking place in alternating groups of 0.3 s in duration.
The down link telemetry included data on temperatures inside and
on the surface of the sphere. Since the sphere was filled with
nitrogen under pressure, Sputnik 1 provided thefirst opportunity for
meteoroid detection (no such events were reported), since losses in
internal pressure due to meteoroid penetration of the outer surface
would have been evident in the temperature data. The satellite
transmitters operated for three weeks, until the on-board chemical
batteries failed.
What is satellite remote sensing?
In satellite remote sensing of the earth, the sensors are looking
through a layer of atmosphere separating the sensors from the
Earth’s surface being observed.
Hence, it is essential to understand the effects of atmosphere on
the electro magnetic radiation travelling from the Earth to the sensor
through the atmosphere.
We perceive the surrounding world through our five senses. Some
senses (touch and taste) require contact of our sensing organs with
the objects. However, we acquire much inform ation about our
surrounding through the senses of sight and hearing which do not
require close contact between the sensing organs and the external
objects. In another word, we are performing Remote Sensing all the
time.
Uses of Remote Sensing
 Determining soil moisture content using active and passive
sensors from space.

 Mapping with laser precision using Light Detection and
Ranging technology.

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 Spinning the globe with mapping services like Google Earth,
Bing Maps and OpenStreetMaps.

 Snapping aerial photos for military surveillance using
messenger pigeons in World War II.

 Doing the detective work for fraudulent crop insurance claims.

 Searching for aircrafts and saving lives after fatal crashes.

 Detecting oil spills for marine life and environmental preserva-
tion.

 Identifying forest stands and tallying their area to estimate
forest supplies.

 Navigating ships safely with the most optimal route.

 Measuring wind speed and direction for wind farms, weather
forecasting and surfers.

 Spying on enemies with reconnaissance satellites.

 Delineating and assessing the health of riparian zones to
conserve lakes and rivers.

 Estimating surface elevation with the Shuttle Radar
Topography Mission.

 Extracting mineral deposits with hyperspectral remote sensing.

 Watching algae grow as an indicator of environmental health.

 Forecasting weather to warn about natural disasters.

 Detecting land cover/use types for decision making.

 Mapping soil types for agriculture planning.

 Preventing the spread of forest disease types.

OZONE LAYER
The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth’s stratosphere
that absorbs most of the Sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It contains
high concentrations of ozone (O3) in relation to other parts of the
atmosphere, although still small in relation to other gases in the
stratosphere.
All about Ozone

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Like other environmental problems, Ozone Depletion is one that is
very troubling, and rightly so, considered as a major environmental
issue by all nations on the earth.
What is Ozone?
Ozone is a natural gas composed of three atoms of oxygen. Its
chemical symbol is O3. It is blue in color and has a strong odor.
Normal oxygen (O2), which we breathe, has two oxygen atoms and
is colorless and odorless. Environmental scientists have classified
O3 into two: Good Ozone and Bad Ozone.
Good Ozone
Good ozone (also called Stratospheric Ozone) occurs naturally in the
upper Stratosphere. The stratosphere is the layer of space 6 to 30
miles above the earth’s surface.
The good Ozone come from
The air is full of gases reacting with each other, even though our
eyes do not see. When UV light strikes (Oxygen) O2 molecules,
they are split into two individual O atoms — O and O. When one of
the O atoms combine with O2 molecule, ozone (O3) is created.
Bad Ozone
Bad Ozone is also known as Tropospheric Ozone, or ground level
ozone. This gas is found in the troposphere, the layer that forms the
immediate atmosphere. Bad Ozone does not exist naturally. Human
actions cause chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
and volatile organic compounds (VOC).
The bad ozone come from?
Each time there is a reaction of chemicals such as those found in
cars, power plants and factory emissions, in the presence of
sunlight (UV light), Bad Ozone is created. Bad ozone contaminates
(dirties) the air and contributes to what we typically experience as
“smog” or haze.

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Ozone Depletion
Ozone layer depletion, is simply the wearing out (reduction) of the
amount of ozone in the stratosphere. Unlike pollution, which has
many types and causes, Ozone depletion has been pinned down to
one major human activity.
Industries that manufacture things like insulating foams, solvents,
soaps, cooling things like Air Conditioners, Refrigerators and ‘Take-
Away’ containers use something called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
These substances are heavier than air, but over time, (2-5years)
they are carried high into the stratosphere by wind action.
How Ozone Depletion Affects UV Levels?
Depletion of the ozone layer has consequences on humans, animals and
plants. This typically results from higher UV levels reaching us on earth.
Humans
Research confirms that high levels of UV Rays cause non-
melanoma skin cancer. Additionally, it plays a major role in
malignant melanoma development. UV is also linked to cataracts (a
disease of the eye which clouds the eye’s lens).
Plants
The damage that extreme UV levels has on plants is one that our
eyes do not see much, but humans can feel the impact. Plant
growth, as well as its physiological and developmental processes
are all affected negatively. These include the way plants form,
timing of development and growth, distribution of plant nutrients and
metabolism, etc. These changes can have important implications
for plant competitive balance, animals that feed on these plants,
plant diseases, and biogeochemical cycles.
Marine (or water) Ecosystems
Phytoplankton form the foundation of aquatic food webs. These
usually grow closer to the surface of water, where there is enough
sunlight. Changes in UV levels is known to affect the development
and growth of phytoplankton, and naturally, the fish that feed on
them. UV radiation is also known to have affect the development
stages of fish, shrimp, crab, amphibians and other animals. When
this happens, animals in the upper food chain that feed on these
tiny fishes are all affected.
Effects on Biogeochemical Cycles
The power of higher UL levels affect the natural balance of gasses (and
greenhouse gases) in the biosphere e.g., carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon
monoxide (CO), carbonyl sulfide (COS) and ozone. Changes
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in UV levels can cause biosphere-atmosphere feedback resulting
from the atmospheric buildup of these gases.
How to conserve Ozone Layer?
Ozone is a natural gas and is naturally replenished over time. This
means if we can do something to balance the natural production
with its depletion, there should not be a problem. Unfortunately, it
does not quiet work like that.
People ask if we cannot produce our own ozone gas to replenish
what is lost in the stratosphere. That’s a good question. The sun
naturally produces ozone with immense energy and over time. To
do the same, we will be looking at using immense energy too, about
twice the energy used in the USA. That is just not practical.
The only way to do that is to remove the excess chlorine and
bromine from the stratosphere. And the only way to do that is to
stop making CFCs and several other chemicals. This is why in the
1990s a meeting of the worlds big nations met and agreed to
reduce the usage of CFCs and also encouraged other nations to do
the same. That was decided in the Montreal Protocol.
This is not enough, but at least it was a good starting point. It is
always best to talk and discuss problems than to do nothing at all.
This is why learning about Ozone depletion, like you are doing, is
the most important step towards a safe environment in future.

QUIZ
Question Paper
1 Which satellite is known as the Artificial Baby Moon?
Sputnik
2 The first manned space mission was on April 12, 1961. What
was the space capsule used?
Vostok 1
3 Apollo 15 astronaut David Randolph Scott rode the first car
on the Moon. What was the name of that car?
Rover-1
4 The duration record for a single spaceflight is 437.7 days.
Who has set this record?
Valeriy Polyakov
5 Which is the first unmanned spaceship to have soft landed,
and lifted off from the moon to return to the earth? Luna-16

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6 Where did NASA’s Mars mission Curiosity
land? Gale crater
7 Which is India’s first indigenous radar satellite?
RISAT 1
8 Who is the first person with a disability to fly on zero gravity
flight?
Stephen Hawkins
9 Which is the smallest planet?
Mercury
10 What are the French satellites launched in ISRO’s 100th
mission?
SPOT-6
11 Which was the launch vehicle used in Chandrayaan-1
mission? PSLV (C11)
12 What is India’s ordinal position among the countries placed
their flag on the Moon?
Fourth
13 Which is the first spacecraft to go beyond the solar system?
Pioneer10
14 Which is the first mission of a linking-up in space by manned
spaceships of U.S.A. and Soviet Union?
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project Mission
15 To which astronaut NASA’s Super computer KC is
dedicated? Kalpana Chawla
16 Is the sun a star or a planet?
A star
17 Which is the Russia’s first spaceship with international crew
on board?
Remek
18 Who was the first person to walk on the moon?
Neil Armstrong
19 What planet is known as the red planet?
Mars
20 Who is the first American astronaut to make two space
flights?
Gordon Cooper

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21 What is the name of the force holding us to the Earth?
Gravity
22 Have human beings ever set foot on
Mars? No
23 Which is the first spaceship in the world to sample moon’s
crust?
Surveyor-3
24 How much astronomical unit is one light year?
63240AU
25 Which is the coldest and the most distant object ever
discovered in solar system?
Sedna
26 Which is the first manned spaceship to perform space flight
round the moon?
Apollo-8
27 Earth is located in which galaxy? The Milky Way Galaxy
28 What is the name of the first satellite sent into space?
Sputnik-1
29 Ganymede is a moon of which planet?
Jupiter
30 Who is the first space tourist in the world?
Dennis Tito
31 What is the name of Saturn’s largest moon?
Titan
32 Name the planet on which the large volcanic mountain
Olympus Mons located?
Mars
33 Who is China’s first man in
space? Yang Liwei
34 Does the sun orbit the Earth?
No
35 Is the planet Neptune bigger than Earth?
Yes
36 Which country was first to launch satellites?
USSR

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37 Which is the first European space probe landing on the
surface of the Saturnian Moon Titan?
Huygens
38 A series of NASA missions put 12 men on the moon through
six space flights during 1961- 1975. What is that mission
called? Apollo Moon Missions
39 Did Malaysian astronaut land on
moon? No
40 Which is the first Japanese spacecraft to get down to an
asteroid and collect samples from there?
Hayabusa
41 Which planet is moving through Keeper Belt?
Pluto
42 Who is the first space woman to stay for the longest ever
Period of time in space?
Sunita Williams
43 Which US President encouraged the US to land on the
moon? John F. Kennedy
44 Which mission showed the world that, we can bring a
damaged spacecraft with the astronauts back? Apollo
13
45 Who is the US software pioneer, became the first person to
travel twice to space as a tourist?
Charles Simonyi
46 What stops astronauts from falling off the moon?
Gravity
47 Which Apollo mission lost the crew and spacecraft in a fire on
the launch pad?
Apollo 1
48 Who said “One small step for man, but one giant leap for
mankind”?
Neil Armstrong
49 Who are the firsts in the world to land on the moon?
Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Adrin Jr.
50 If you could travel in a space-ship at the speed of light away
from the solar system, how long could you see the sun?
30 years

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SAMPLE QUESTION PAPER

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Published By :
VIKRAM SARABHAI SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Sarabhai Science Park, Plot no 10/870, Thengode P.O, Kakkanad,
Kochi. For the purpose of SPOT Assessment
Website : www.vikramsarabhaiscienceinitiative.com

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