2020-03-01_Cosmos_Magazine

In south-western India, inside 600-year-old Gaden

monastery, visiting academicsILYA MANDELandLESLIE

ATKINS ELLIOTTsought to enlighten a group of young

monks. The transfer of knowledge wasn’t all one way.

ILYA MANDEL; LESLIE ATKINS ELLIOTT

the right of way); and there are things I give but cannot

have (a kiss, a high five); and there are things I can give

and have (money, food, bricks etc)”. And things like

forces are more like high-fives; energy is more like

bricks (it’s more like bricks thanbricks!). But so much

of this depends on language games. I don’t think the

translation works.

Ilya Mandel:The monks are very clever and have a

tremendous background in logic and debate, but they

don’t have formal math skills. We quickly gave up on

equations when we realised that mathematics was a

challenge. The only place we really did any mathematics

was in discussing distance scales, just to provide a sense

of the size of the microscopic world and the cosmos, and

the many realms of physics.

LAE: We started by thinking about the fact that atoms

exist, which was a new idea for many but wasn’t earth

shattering. But what I think surprised them the most

was Ilya’s pendulum experiment.

Leslie Atkins Elliott: My plan was to organise

instruction around a series of questions – a thought

experiment or a brief observation – hoping for

discussion among the monks (that I may or may not

be able to understand), and then a mini-lecture that

says “So here is how Western science answers that

question...”.

For example, when water disappears (in

evaporation, or into plants), where does it go? Is it

still water? Under what conditions can we say it is still

water? It’s an idea that explores atoms, molecules,

conservation, chemical changes, physical changes.

Some of these questions come from curricula I’ve

taught; most are from conversations I’ve had over the

years as a teacher. I loved these questions already:

What exists? Under what conditions? Will it always?

Why might we believe answers to these questions? –

but as I read about Tibetan Buddhism, I thought they

might be good in this setting, too.

In my classes, I often talk about conservation laws

as “there are things I have but cannot give (a dream,

ILYA MANDEL

Professor, School of

Physics and Astronomy,

Monash University,

Victoria

LESLIE ATKINS ELLIOTT

Professor in Curriculum,

Instruction and

Foundational Studies,

Boise State University,

Idaho, US

TEACHING

PHYSICS

TO MONKS

COSMOS Issue 86 – 67

PHYSICS