An Introduction
To The Book
‘SCIENCE DURING
THE SANGAM AGE’
‘ANDRE SONNA
ARIVIYAL-SANGAKAALAM’
FESTIVAL
FOR ENVIROMANTAL SCIENCE
From
time immemorial the Tamils have been celebrating PŌKI festival. In the chapter 6, the author has
explained the festival as a function which emphasise enviromantal science.
Knowledge
of earth revolving on its axis
In the
16th century, the western scientists discovered the truth that the
earth is revolving. But the Tamil knew this fact in the dim past. The Tamil word for earth is Ulakam – i.e. one
that is revolving. The author has explained it In the chapter 7.
Knowledge of
StepnEy
In the chapter 8, the authour has made a
mention of STEPNEY.
Actually stepney is the name of one of
the streets in Llanelli of Wales. In the year 1904 Walter Davies and Tom,
invented the spare wheel and it is named after the street in which their workspot was situated.
The spare wheel began to be known as Stepney.
2000 years ago The Tamils used the spare
wheel when they were in dire necessity.
Our celebrated Poetess Avvaiyaar has
mentioned about the Spare Wheel as CĒMA ACCU in the poem No 102 in the anthology titled
PUṞANĀṈŪṞU.
BIG
BANG THEORY
In the
early years of the 20th century scientists revealed thd Big bang
theory. The world poet Thiruvalluvar in his book Thirukkural has mentioned that
Āti pakavaṉ mutaṟṟē ulaku. By this phrase he
says the earth came from the sun. In the
chapter No 9 the author has revealed this truth.
SCIENCE
OF RAIN
The Rome people and others believed Rain as god and goddess. But ancient Tamil
people had the knowledge of nature. So they knew the birth of rain and mentoned
it in many poems. In the chapter No 10 the author gives this fact to us.
Science of
clouds
In the chapter No .11, the author has described various types of clouds.
The Western Scientists spoke about the
types of clouds just in the 19th century. Luke
Howard (1772-1864) described different kinds of clouds. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck(1744-1829)
spoke of different kinds of clouds. Any how Sir
(Basil) John Mason correctly explained the types of clouds and named
them in his book titled ‘The Physics of
the Clouds’, which was published in
1957.
In Tamil Nadu, 2000 years back TAMIL Poets described the
types of clouds as shown below.
1. KOṆMŪ (Cirrus) / கொண்மூ
[ Mā malai aṇainta
koṇmū pōlavum - like ‘KOṆMŪ’ clouds hugging the dark mountains Paṭṭiṉappālai:
line 95
and there are 16
references about it in sangam literature ]
2. KAṆAM
(Cirrostratus) / கணம்
[There are more than 25 references. For
example :
Maḻai kaṇam cēkkum mā
malai kiḻavaṉ - lord of the great mountain with
masses of
clouds ‘KAṆAM’
- Puṟanāṉūṟu; poem 131;
line 1]
3. CEL(Cirrocumulus)
/ செல்
[There are more than hundred references in
Sangam literature. For example:
Cel puṉal uḻanta cēy varal kāṉyāṟṟu - moving ‘CEl’ clouds crawl in his fine mountain country
Naṟṟiṇai Poem 197; line 12 ]
4. MAI
(Altostratus) / மை
There are many references. For example:
Maipaṭu māmalai vilaṅkiya curaṉē - wasteland with huge blocking mountains
where ‘MAI’ clouds touch peaks ; Akanāṉūṟu: poem 17; line
22]
5. KĀR (Altrocumulus) / கார்
[There are many references. For example:
Kārp peyal urumiṟ piḷiṟic cīrttaka - made noises like the
rainy KĀR season’s thunder;
Kuṟiñcippāṭṭu: line 162 ]
6. VIṆṬU (Stratocumulus) /விண்டு
[ It is mentioned in 8 poems. For example:
Viṇṭu muṉṉiya koṇṭal mā maḻai - large Rain ‘ clouds from the
east and Viṇṭu surrounding the mountain;
Akanānūru 235: line 5 ]
7. MUTIRAM
(Cumulonimbus) / முதிரம்
The mountain surrounded by ‘MUTIRAM’ clouds
Atirā yāṇar mutirattuk kiḻava - lord of Muthiram
crawling Mountain with unending prosperity,:
Puṟanāṉūṟu:Poem 158, line 25]
8. MAÑCU (Cumulus) / மஞ்சு
[mentioned in 10 poems. For example:
Mañcu āṭu malai muḻakkum - sounds of the mountain where
cloud Mañcu play;
Paripāṭal : Poem 8, line 110 ]
9. VICUMPU
(Stratus) / விசும்பு
[ mentioned in many poems. For example:
Mā vicumpu vaḻaṅkum periyōr pōla – The great men who give
like huge vicumpu;
Maturaik kāñci : line 495 ]
10. EḺILI
(Nimbostratus) / எழிலி
[mentioned in 31 poems
- Paṇai muḻaṅku eḻili - clouds EḺILI roar like panai drums;
- Akanāṉūṟu: poem 84, line
2]
These names are based on cloud science.
For example, EḺILI
means the cloud in the raising level of the surface of the sea and KOṆMŪ
means the cloud around the top of the mountation. Thus the scientific names of
the different clouds prove that the Tamils had profound knowledge of cloud
science even in the dim past.
கருத்துகள் இல்லை:
கருத்துரையிடுக