I am a born scientist.
I think I inherit this from my previous birth.
I have a few books on Dhamma at Amazon books.
They are meant for my own learning and for the Western Audience, where Dhamma themes have very little penetration.
Read, Dhammapda for global Peace and Security.
Not War, War.
I finish with Dhamma, first.
Dhamma is collosal.
Read three or four Suttas.
1. Kalama Sutta.
2. Brahmajala Sutta.
3. Singalovada Sutta.
I have a brief account on them here and very little account on Abhidhamma, here on this site.
Now I even contest Scientists and Science.
I would come to that later.
My first investigation under 7 years, was why leafs are like they are?
I asked this question from my biology teacher.
He could not answer.
I silently did work on the leafs, roots and plants over the next 60 years.
That itself was a Science Degree.
I have a roof top garden and a book on "Living with Nature".
I am glad I did not do Agriculture in my higher studies. With so many species gone extinct I would have got bogged down on extinct plants.
There were over 250 PhDs in University of Peradeniya, published under Faculty of Agriculture and 99% of them are not at all related to living plants.
I used to ask these guys why did you do such studies which were not relevant to agricultural products of Ceylon.
The simple answer I get is, it is to secure the job and just to survive.
The rest of the career they do mundane stuff.
Ultimately, Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture got two good guys.
Both of them are retired.
From one them, I learned Gene Technology.
He is a Rockefeller Guy and an expert in his field.
The other guy is an expert on Quantity Analysis and Statistics.
When I did my postgraduate research well past fifty, I went to him and had a few session with him, how to proceed.
Now I talk about Qualitative Research.
By the way, I fired my own research supervisor when I realized that he did not have proper credentials.
He was trying to use me to collect data and meta data for his own consumption.
There was another guy (meta data guy), I said fly a kite.
The points raised are relevant.
The University owns the postgraduate degree.
YOU are only a Title Holder, nothing more.
My teachers in the Buddhist school were hopeless. I learned bad Sinhala language, first time in my life in this school and not proper science.
I learned my science in my own pace.
British Council Library was the seat of information.
But to me, American Scientists of yesteryear were the best. In 1960s they used to publish small boollklets as serials.
I used to buy them and read at leisure.
They were not part of the school curriculum. I still have a few copies of them which were excellent research work.
Many of the important books and my own Home Made Book of collection of my own poems and articles in Sinhala were stolen when I was in UK, including my stamp album.
I still have a collection of 2000 books and many of them are related to Linux.
I am glad Ceylonese cannot read, write and communicate in English.
If they did they would have stolen all my English books.
But my worry is these books would be eaten by bookworms or are used to wrap chickpeas when I kick the bucket.
Some of them are on Quality in Management, which I tried to introduce into Private Sector Hospital in Ceylon but never materialized.
Before leaving Ceylon, I donated all the books on Dhamma to a guy versed in Dhamma.
He was a guy who gave up Ayervedic Medical Degree in Borella University to take up a job as an English Teacher.
His Emglish was below par and I bought him a good small Oxford Dictionary and told him learn 1000 words for the next 3 years, if he wants to teach Buddhist monks good English.
He teaches English to Buddhist monks.
I left all my Dictionaries and Thesaurus.
My Only Wish for Christmas is a Good English Dictionary.
There are no Dictionaries in Book stalls in Australia.
He used to listen to Dhamma sermons in Sinhala and translate them into English.
Like me, he is a scientific guy with an analytical brain.
He was my classmate but never had spoken a word with me, for me to remember, while in school but I met him accidentally on the day, I retired from the University. He was going to see his granddaughter, just born.
I asked him to come and see me afterwards which he did and since then we had many a conversations on various topics, once a week at the Peradeniya Railway Station.
He reminded me that I gave all my notes of 'O' Level Science to him. I could not remember that fact.
He failed the examination, first time round.
I brushed my rudimentary Dhamma knowledge.
Then we worked on 36 local medicinal plants and I asked him to write a small book with Botanical terms.
This was because a graduate girl from Peradeniya Agriculture University had published a leaflet and she included 90% of the Ayervedic Pharmacopeia in her booklet as weeds. I vorciferously opposed her and politically attacked her directly.
I have several Sinhala Pharmacopeia including one from General Artygalla of British time.
British were using Sinhala Medicine during colonial time. Some of the Ola leaves or Puss Kola Poths were plundered or destroyed by them.
I think this preamble is good enough for my topic.
I used to ask difficult questions from teachers of the Catholic school.
They were worse.
I was thrown out of the class.
My fellow students joined me subsequently.
Of course, I volunteerly booted myself out of this school.
I am a paediatrician, geriatrician and a down under Pathologist.
I am in full retirement and I am free to make my own observations about Science and Science Degrees.
I am a physicist and a philosopher at heart.
I am good in mathematics and computer coding and that is how I have become self learned Linux Expert.
A new book on Linux is coming soon.
Science Degree
1. Mathematics
For good Science Degree in mathematics is essential.
For practical reasons one should master at least statistics.
For biologists there is a good book called "statistics for biologists".
I have superb collection of books on statistics which I perused when I was doing my thesis.
One should choose either Biology or Physics.
2. Physics
If you choose Physics you become a loner.
Even though, it is my prime interest, I discourage physics.
It is high end mathematics and we haven't come to Quantum Physics, yet.
I talk about dark matter and dark energy.
Current physics is only 5% and the rest is dark matter.
3. Biology
Biology is a good field and it is becoming very difficult, lately.
Basically due to lack of understanding of sensor receptors even in a mosquitoes.
It is going into nano levels in technology.
4. Computer Science
Linux in particular.
My Web site here has enough information.
I have listed over 100 items in Linux here in this blog site.
I already have a book on Linux Fundamentals.
Linux Essentials is coming soon.
I have highlighted over 100 keywords in Linux here (not 100 commands, they are in my books).
Learn one command at a time.
Only 4% of computer users use Linux PC as a daily drive.
99% of Linux is on Server end.
One has to be extremely clever to get into this cutting edge section.
Unfortunately, it is getting automated and taken over by the AI.
Of course one has to have some understanding of Application Studio in Google, Microsoft Windows and C++.
I discourage Apple since it is high end and expensive.
Least expensive is Linux.
Chemistry
I was good in chemistry.
I did not persue a course in chemistry due hazardous nature including liver, kidney disease and cancer.
Organic chemistry is the one necessary for medical science.
Genomic manipulation is an extension of organic chemistry.
Downside of a Basic Degree
There is a downside to a basic degree.
One cannot obtain a job with a basic degree, especially abroad. If it is done in Sinhala or Tamil one is at a total disadvantage.
One need to relearn all the technical terms including how to define the word definition.
The Knowledge imparted by a basic degree is superficial and general.
It is not even good enough to teach that particular subject/s (incorporated within) at kindergarten level.
Kindergarten level teaching needs high level of psychology and children care.
I cannot do that as a paediatric guy.
I am only an adult teacher.
One can obtain these degrees in India with one year, in-course of attendance which is of poor quality and the rest is online.
I give a damn to online courses.
Some are downright bogus ones.
Education is money.
Stupid guys are ready to pay money to get a degree.
I caught a Bangladesh guy who had a basic degree but had forged a Dentistry Degree from India.
He paid for this degree in India.
I did not penalise him but got him, affiliated to a reasonable University in India.
He was rich guy.
Iranian Guy
One note about an rich Iranian guy who was one of my students.
He was very Intellgent.
I told him do not come to my lectures but tutored him privately, free of charge at his level of intelligence.
He got a distinction out of the 8, I gave as my last examination, in the University.
He had the best marks / score.
But these Indian guys have developed their affiliated colleagues in UK and many of them are bogus. There is an active investigation going on in UK to verify and certify them.
Do not get caught to them.
One cannot get a job with these Indian degrees.
Of course, one can become a politician in Ceylon.
But a basic degree is the stepping stone to a higher degree.
Postgraduate Degree
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is word for word copying somebody else's work and presenting it as one's own.
This is very common.
There are so many types.
Proper PhD one has to go through 3 year training with in house supervision.
This degree belongs to the University which awards it.
One has only the Title.
The Title can be used only for particular period, only if he or she is currently and actively working in that field.
If it does not get enough references and if not superceded by another thesis disproving it, it has no current value.
This is the very reason I did my research work well past 50 years.
Of course my MBBS was enough to secure a job in UK and New Zealand.
I did my MPhil to get my salary increament in Ceylon.
The content of the PhD thesis, I kept to myself.
The grant was small not enoght to buy the equipments.
Later Rs.25,000/= was taken out of it.
I spent Rs.500,000/= of my own money for the Higher end of my postgraduate degree which I did not part with.
This money came from my own savings in UK.
I did not have any saving from New Zealand. I spent most of that money for family air tickets.
I published 3 books and one of them is a rare collector item.
I did not donate it to my own University.
What's the heck?
I cannot own it if I give that to the institution that awards it.
I have to pay RS.30,000/= to the University to get a certified copy of part of my own thesis for future reference.
I am still writing books.
I am not bothered about the Royalties which is a pittance.
But they would outlast my biological time on this planet.
One should do the degrees when one is bit mature.
Securing a long term job should be one's priority to begin with.
In the University you are a temporary highed hand.
One should be ready to face the obstacles that may come one's way which is inherent in our 100 year odd life cycle.
Degress and PhDs do not come by day and night cramming.
Please do not take up politics as a career.
There are lot of American scientists who lie.
Some of them are NASA guys.
I have exposed them in my book " Alien Saga".
It is satirical book and they cannot charge me for my satire.
One question I pose to NASA guys is how did they penetrate the "Van Allen Belt" without radiation effects.
I am a pathologist who teach radiation effects and relevant cancers.
This question is open to Elon Musk, too.
