Capítulo 19: Chapter 19
"What solution do you mean?" Teacher Raman who acted as the mediator in the discussion raised a question when Vir expressed his disappointment.
"You could have thought about experiments to prove or disprove the theories you guys proposed or the ones that are in the books that I gave you. That is also a part of scientific thinking. You can't just argue based on theories, you need to prove them through repeatable experiments."
Vir's words made some of the teachers reflect on themselves while some had smug smiles on their faces indicating that they were already applying what Vir was talking about. A lot of the smiles came from the teachers of the mathematics group led by Aftab.
"But how do you even prove the existence of things that don't exist?" the teacher who discussed germ theory with Amira earlier, asked the question.
"That is the solution I wanted the teachers to think about. If the germs are too small for our eyes to see, can't we use other tools to help us see them? Using tools to aid us is a trait that made us humans civilized." Vir reprimanded the teacher lightly.
Now everyone had guessed that the three devices in front of them were tools made to visualize tiny objects. But they continued to think about how it might work.
A female teacher had a eureka moment and exclaimed, "Ah! We can use the distortion of images when seen through transparent surfaces like water or glass. When you look through some glass things look larger. Same with water sometimes."
"Exactly! Teacher Hira found the correct answer. Just the study of how light interacts with different surfaces and how we visualize it can become a massive subject to be studied at advanced levels. I touched upon this lightly under the title of Optics in the physics portion of the books." Vir replied excitedly.
Hira, the female teacher who was praised became embarrassed by the envious gazes from the other teachers. She muttered thank you in a mumbling voice.
Vir didn't pay attention to that and continued, "Using the principles Teacher Hira talked about, we shaped glass into a curved shape to magnify the images on the other side and created this device called the microscope. It is something the Europeans invented a hundred years ago."
Vir began explaining the science behind the microscope while demonstrating a large magnifying lens. He didn't forget to scratch the pride of the young teachers by letting them know that the answer they couldn't come up with was already invented by others centuries ago.
After he heard the discussion about germ theory, Vir found some glass and metal artisans and began work on creating a microscope on the same day. With his shallow knowledge and rudimentary design, it took a few days for the artisans to create a functioning compound microscope. Three copies of the same microscope were thus prepared.
After the explanation and demonstration for the magnifying glass were done, Vir brought out a glass slide and put a drop of water on it. "This is a drop of water from the well in the mansion. Now let's observe it under the microscope. Would teacher Hira like to be the first to take a look?"
Vir put the slide under the microscope and adjusted the magnification while continuing to explain what he was doing and why. When he finally got a somewhat clear image of the microorganisms in the water, he moved back and gestured to Hira to take a look.
Hira was extremely anxious but also excited at being the first to be able to look through the microscope. She walked to the podium and put her eyes on the lens. When she finally saw the image of wriggling microorganisms, she shouted 'Ah!' lightly and fell backward.
Vir chuckled, "No need to be frightened. Observe it calmly, those things were expensive to make and very delicate so you should handle them with care."
While Hira came to her senses and carefully looked through the microscope, Vir prepared the other two microscopes and let the teachers take a look through them for about a minute for each person.
Vir sat silently while everyone lined up to look through the microscope and began discussing various things regarding the microscope, optics, microorganisms, and more.
When everyone was done having a look and were busy discussing, Vir stood up on the podium. The room became quiet and everyone paid attention to Vir. "So, does anyone have any opinions on germ theory?"
Kishor raised his hand and answered, "This is undeniable proof that germs and other microorganisms exist. But how can we be sure that they are really the cause of the diseases? We saw many different types of microorganisms, so there is also the question of whether all of them affect the human body in the same way if they do."
Vir clapped his hands with a wide smile, "That's right. Science should be rigorous. We can't just look at this one thing and make conclusions. We should continue to dig deeper, learn more, and make an informed conclusion based on undeniable evidence. This branch of science to study microorganisms and their environment is microbiology."
One of the teachers from the math club excitedly added, "The experiments and observations could be quantified using the statistical methods. Mathematics never lies."
Vir had once quoted some famous quotes about Maths from his past life like it is the language of the universe and it never lies, since then it had become like a slogan for the mathematics club.
Vir corrected, "As long as the assumptions are right, the math doesn't lie. You can't start with wrong assumptions and theories and validate your argument with maths. Always remember that science is about progress so what you know today might change based on discoveries from tomorrow."
With this discussion session, the teachers became even more proactive in discussions and small-scale experiments and observations. Vir had emphasized safety and a controlled environment for any experiments to be conducted so only simple experiments were done around the mansion.
In the orphanage school that was being built, large laboratories were being built for each department. The orphanage was slowly growing into a university in real time.
…..
After many ups and downs and additional construction projects for buildings like a library, laboratories, printing press, additional boarding, and toilets the orphanage construction was coming to an end. The longest time was taken for the toilet project.
Vir wanted to experiment with a proper drainage system that could be scaled up to be used in all the large cities and villages so it took a while to construct with some sections having to be reconstructed and remade.
The drainage system that Vir planned was not something revolutionary. It worked with the waste from the toilets flowing through underground pipes towards the river. In the middle, near the fields, a large reservoir was built where there was a filtration system made out of sand, gravel, and large rocks.
The solid waste would be separated in the reservoir where bacteria and earthworms would be introduced to compost the solid waste regularly. The filtered water would then go to the river. Vir planned to add a process of adding bleaching powder before the water entered the river. But that would have to wait until a factory to produce bleaching powder is created.
'This is more than enough for sewage treatment in the 18th century. This method was being used even until the time I died so it should work.'
With this method, the river would remain relatively clean while additionally a good fertilizer is also produced during the process. This organic fertilizer was good for agriculture.
After everything was done, at the end of January 1744, the orphanage was formally opened. Although it was called an orphanage, it was basically a boarding school. It was the size of a small village a little upstream from Murshidabad. By land, it was about half a day on a carriage.
The opening ceremony wasn't very grand. The members of the Jagat Seth family, one of the Nawab's representatives, and some of the most prominent businessmen who had donated their money to the orphanage had come to check out the orphanage named after Fateh Chand.
The layout of the complex was well designed with a large two-story building used as the main school building at the center. The library was next to the main school building. Laboratories and other facilities buildings were a little further away.
The buildings for the boarding were four large two-story buildings a little in the distance near the fields. Each of those buildings had a separate area that could be used as a mess hall and kitchen. The toilets were adjacent to the buildings.
All the buildings were made from baked red bricks with even the large walkways between the buildings being paved with bricks and sand. Small fruit trees, flowers, and other decorative trees had been transplanted everywhere around the campus.
"The scale is very grand. As expected from Jagat Seth. It looks like it can house over a thousand orphans?" Omichund, one of the largest businessmen in Bengal, sincerely complimented Fateh Chand. He would have believed it if he had been told that this was a fortress castle made for the Jagat Seth family.
Swarup who was entertaining the guests explained, "It is made to be able to be scaled to house up to 1500-2000 people. But with our budget, only 500-600 orphans can be accommodated for now. The rest of the facilities are for the school. It will be the best school in Bengal."
While subtly hinting at the businessmen to donate more, Swarup promoted the new school.
"Oh? The layout and the atmosphere are definitely grand but what makes this school so different from the rest of the schools?" Omichund asked curiously. He knew that the Jagat Seth family would not promote the school if they were not confident in it.
"The curriculum was developed by mixing the knowledge from the existing schools and Europe. The books were written by experts and the teachers are also specially trained. We are confident that our school is one of the best in the world." Swarup continued to brag about the school.
This campus was to be used to continuously train new teachers as well. The trained teachers would be shipped off to the branch families where they will teach in branch schools. They will also continue training the teachers in the branches. As such a large school network was expected to be created all over the subcontinent within the next 15 years.
"Are you enrolling students other than the orphans?" a businessman asked. He was tempted to send his son to study in this school.
"We have a limited seat of about 400-500 students. It is first come first serve so anyone can join for a fee of 5 rupees per month. However, I have to tell you that there is no special treatment for any student in our school. Even if a prince or princess comes in, they will be treated as a regular student until they are inside the school campus."
The school was not made exclusive to the rich but instead an image of a sacred institute where everyone would be equal no matter their status was created. Vir hoped that these sentiments of inclusivity and anti-discrimination would spread from his schools all over the subcontinent.
A few of the businessmen were impressed by Swarup's descriptions and booked a maximum of three students per person on the spot. The maximum number of students per person was also a policy created to stop the rich from monopolizing all the seats.
Although they were still skeptical, those who booked the seats had the thought of sending children from collateral families to test the waters for the time being.
Amidst the excitement and skepticism, the opening ceremony ended with a hopeful speech from Fateh Chand. The guests enjoyed a modest feast before heading back.
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