A.M.

Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester

Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

1.Madam Curie

Summary

Marie Curie known as Marya Sklodovski was born in 1867 to Polish parents in
Warsaw. She grows up under Russian regimes that ban her to speak her native Polish
language. Her mother dies of tuberculosis when she is 11 years old. The loss of her
mother and eldest sister devastates her, but her father remains to cultivate an
environment of intellectualism that continues to influence her throughout her life. Marya,
called Manya by her family, receives a gold medal, the highest grade she could achieve in
high school, but her scientific career does not begin until she is 24 years old.

Manya works as a governess until her sister completes medical school, at which
point she moves to Paris to attend the University of France at Sorbonne. There, she
registers as Marie Sklodovski.

Marie works tirelessly to achieve a master's degree in physics and a second

master's degree in mathematics. While working on her doctor's thesis, she meets Pierre
Curie, and the two physicists take to each other.

Marie resists love at first because she had been stung too deeply by a failed
romance in Poland. Eventually, Pierre wins her over with his brilliance and a surprising
wellspring of poetic sensibility. They marry in 1895 and their first daughter Irene is born
in 1897. Early on, the keys to domestic life elude them. They keep little furniture for fear
of housework taking too much time away from their work. Marie and Pierre are happiest
in the laboratory or out traveling through the countryside on their bicycles, and they
hardly leave each other's side.

Pierre stands beside Marie as she changes the world through scientific revelation.
While working on her doctorate in a small glassed-in studio of the University of France,
Marie discovers two new elements -- polonium and radium. Marie and Pierre work past
the point of exhaustion to prove their discovery and to care for their young daughter.
Radium provides the means for X-Rays, photography, and cancer treatment, so soon an
industry springs up around the substance.

The world repays the Curies for their work in acclaim and honors that the couple
does not want. Shortly before celebrating the birth of their second daughter, Marie and
Pierre receive the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work with radium. However, the couple
shuns the fame the prizes bring them, and they refuse to patent radium, preferring a
laboratory in which they could continue their work. That coveted laboratory eventually
becomes the Institute of Radium in Paris, but Pierre does not live to see it. He dies in 1906
in an accident while crossing the street.

Pierre's death leaves Marie devastated. Described as timid and reserved by her
daughter, Marie Curie is not one to weep openly in public. Marie plays the part of the
stoic intellectual, raising her daughters while, at the same time, continuing her work on
radium. According to her daughter, at no point does Marie feel the need to sacrifice her
career in order to have a family. Far from feeling neglected, Marie's daughters revere their

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 A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

mother as much as the public reveres this towering example of female intellectual
brilliance.

During World War I, Marie donated and organizes mobile X-Ray units to assist
wounded soldiers. She creates an Institute of Radium in Warsaw to aid the Polish
scientists who had inspired her. Crowds of adoring fans meet her when she tours
America, and her daughters revere her until the end of her days. At the time of her death,
Marie was a teacher, mother and scientist. Today the world remembers her as the first
woman to receive a Nobel Prize twice.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. Depict the childhood of Marie Curie.

Maria Sklodoska-Curie is also known as Madam Curie was born on November 7, 1867
in Warsaw, Poland. She was the fifth child of Bronsilawa Boguska and Wladyslaw
Sklodowski. Her parents affectionately called her Manya who was born in a country
had not been independent for almost a century and was divided up among
Austria,Prussia and Czarist Russia.

2. Give an account of the education of Marie Curie.

Since Manya was remarkable for her prodigious memory, she was brilliant at studies
and always secured first rank in her class. At the age of 16 Marie Curie won a gold
medal on completion of her secondary education at the Russian Lycee. Later she joined
in a Floating University to escape the watching eye of the Czarist authorities. Curie was
able to continue her studies in Parisian Univerity with the help of her sister Bronia.

3. Write about the oppression of the Polish people by the Czar of Russia.

Poland was the under the control of Czar of Russia for almost a century. Polish people
struggled to even educate themselves. Russia did not allow them to take their education,
and keenly spied upon the language used. If the polish goes against Russia they would
cause them severe damages.

4. What is the Floating University and how did it function?

Floating University was an illegal night school for the Polish people to do their
education. It kept changing its location in order to escape from the watchful eyes of
Russia. Floating University did not offer the curriculum which was offered by other
important European Universities.

5. How did Marie Curie marry Pierre? How did they work?

Pierre Curie was a young scientist introduced to Marie Curie by one of her friends.
Soon they developed their relationship and Curie moved her laboratory into his house,
fell in love and married in 1895. The marriage made a new beginning in their lives. They
worked together in the field of science and experimented in finding out pure radium
and its properties.

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 A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

6. How did Marie Curie lead life after the death of her husband?

Pierre Curie was run over by a carriage and killed in 1906. Marie Curie was very upset
and could not come out of the depression for a long time. She changed her mind and
started spending her time in research which both was doing before the death of Pierre
Curie. She experimented that Radium can be used in medical department for killing the
dead cells in the body. She led her life with teaching to the students and her children.

7. How did Marie Curie overcome the oppression as a Polish woman, by Polish men and
monarchy?

As a Polish woman Marie suffered to educate herself. She could not join in medical
school because she was a woman and ended up in Floating University. Still she
managed to learn the curriculum thoroughly to do her best. Curie overcame the
oppression by educating herself well and by finding innovations.

8. How did the family of Marie Curie win three Nobel Prizes?

The idea of Henry Bequerel made Marie Curie and Pierre Curie to find a new element
called Polonium which was named after Poland. Polonium was later called Radium.
They shared the Nobel prize in 1903 for finding a new element. After the death of her
husband Curie experimented and found the pure radium which led to get the Nobel
Prize once again in 1911. Coming from a educated family Curies’ daughter Irene Curie
also won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935.

9. Consider Marie and Pierre Curie as an ideal couple.

Marie and Pierre Curie dedicated their lives in finding innovations. They led their
family as well as research greatly. Both together spent times to educate their children
making them aware of physics and experiments. Though they made lovely couple and
got married, they stood as an ideal couple when showed all their interest in developing
the educational experiments.

10. Why did the Marie Curie name the new radioactive element Polonium?

When Marie and Pierre together found the new element, they named it Polonium.
Because Marie was from Poland which was under the control of Czar of Russia did not
get recognition any longer. Marie decided to name it Polonium named after Poland to
make recognition to her country. Polonium was later named as Radium.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

2. MOTHER TERESA

SUMMARY

Agnese Bojaxhiu was born in August 1910 in Uksub. She liked the lives of
missionaries and interested in following them. At 18 years old she left her family and
joined Sisters of Loreto as a missionary to teach the school children in India. She took a
vow as a nun and changed her name as Teresa accordingly. After witnessing a famine in
1943 and a Hindu-Muslim riot in 1946, she willingly came forward to help the poor.
Believing in God, she understood it was a “call within the call.”

She became a missionary in 1948, adopted Indian citizenship and represented

herself with a cotton white sari with a blue border. Teresa herself was poor, lonely and
homeless suffered the pain of reality. She has accounted everything in her diary. When
she was suffering poverty, she had accepted it was God’s decision.

In 1950, she got permission from the Vatican to start the Missionaries of Charity to
aim at the hungry, needy and the homeless in Calcutta. In 1952, Mother Teresa opened
home for Dying inn Calcutta. It was a remarkable idea to the people who were in death
bed. They were given treatment and after death they received their last rites from their
religion. She said it would be “a beautiful death” for them. She also opened separate
homes for the lost children and the lepers.

People started showing interest in her idea and had spread the idea throughout
India from Calcutta, later globally. Her Missionaries of Charity branched out into many.
For eg., Missionaries of Charity Brothers, Missionaries of Charity Sisters, Missionaries of
Charity Fathers and so on. Now the missionaries has increased from 13 to 450 brothers
and 5000 nuns. She was not deterred by criticism when she went to help the trapped
children in the hospital, to the communist countries and radiation, earthquake victims
and war victims.

Later in 1983 she suffered a heart attack and would like to decline the position of
head of the missionary. Following that, her health spoiled when she fell down, and when
she suffered from malaria and failure of left heart ventricle. After all she died on
September 5 1997.

Mother Teresa was honoured by many awards for her helping tendency, which
includes Padmashri, Bharat Ratna, Jawaharlal Nehru for International Understanding and
Noble Peace Prize in 1979. Mother Teresa had become well known individual which led
to document her life in Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge.

For all her help, love and kindness she was admired by people, officials and
various Prime Ministers and Presidents. Her death made everybody to suffer. Mother
Teresa was a great woman and a role model for the people who are in her pathway. She
was and even now being inspirational.

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 A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. Write about the childhood and the education of Mother Teresa.

Agnese was born on August 26, 1910, in Uksub. She was the youngest child who had
lost her father at the age of 8. At an early age she was attracted by the lives of
missionaries and left the family to join the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary. She was
educated at Loreto Abbey in Ireland to teach English to the school children. Later she
received honorary degrees from the Universities in both West and India.

2. Why did Mother Teresa leave the Sisters of Loreto for the poor of the city?

While Teresa enjoyed teaching at school in Calcutta, she also noticed how people in
Calcutta suffered after experiencing the famine and Hindu-Muslim violence. Her heart
raged to help the poor. She changed her mind after realising “the call within the call”,
which was her spiritual call from the God to move on to help the sufferers. So, she left
the Sisters of Loreto to help the poor in the city.

3. What are the vows to be taken at the Missionaries of Charity?

Her first vow was a religious vow to become a nun which was taken on May 24, 1931. In
1937, after she had joined Loreto convent school she took her solemn vows as a teacher.
As a missionary she had taken vows to help the poor, needy, lepers and children. She
thought it was her duty to do those and had done everything whole-heartedly.

4. Why did Mother Teresa shift her service from God to the poor and the needy?

Teresa, at her early age entered into the religious life. She trusted God and started
teaching through a school. When she saw the poor people suffered in poverty she
wanted to help them. Very soon she has got “the call within the call” in her. She
believed that it was God’s will to make her help the poor rather teaching the school
children. Hence she shifted her service from God to the poor.

5. How did Mother Teresa expand her service activities?

She started helping the poor after receiving a permission from Vatican to build a
Missionaries of Charity. Simultaneously, she focused on the lost children, the lepers,
the old age, and the dying and had built homes separately treating them with love and
care. Started from Calcutta, Teresa’s ideology had spread all over India and very soon
globally. Finding her service good and useful, many people came forward to recruit,
donate and service. Thus, it made her to expand her service.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

6.What are the honours and awards that Mother Teresa received?

Mothers Teresa received many honorary degrees and awards in her lifetime for her
service mentality. Her first recognition was the Indian award of Padmashri in 1962.
From then on, she got various awards which includes the Bharat Ratna, Jawaharlal
Nehru for International Understanding, Balzan prize, Albert Schweitzer International
prize and most importantly the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. All these awards and honours
were given to her for the struggle she had taken to overcome the poverty and to bring
peace among the society.

3.SUBRAHMANYAN CHANDRASEKHAR

Summary

Biography is an account of person’s life and a branch of history. The origins of

biography are no doubt to be found in the early account of monarchs and heroes; for
example the Old Testament stories in the Greek, Celtic and sags. The form of material is
found especially in diaries, letters, laundry bills, official archives, memoirs of
contemporaries, the memories of living witness, personal knowledge and other books on
the subject, photograph and paintings. There is a vast quantity of historical and political
biography, majority became famous in arts and sciences who also had biographies
written about them.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (October 19, 1910 – August 21, 1995) was an Indian
American Astrophysicist born in Lahore Punjab. He was the nephew of famous Sir C.V.
Raman who discovered Raman Effect and the Nobel Laureate in 1930. His father
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Iyer is the Deputy Auditor General of Audits and
Accounts Department in North Western Railways. His mother was highly intellectual she
translated Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House into Tamil in those days. She was a loyal mother
and highly determined about the future of her children.

Chandrasekhar did not receive any formal education in his childhood days. He
was educated at home by private tuition until the age of twelve. His father was
transferred to madras in 1918 later he joined Hindu High school, Triplicane. In 1925 he
joined in Presidency College obtained his bachelor degree in 1930. In the same years he
got the scholarship to continue his studies in Cambridge University. He worked with
leading astrophysicists Edward Milne and Arthur Eddington. Subrahmanyan
Chandrasekhar become the research scholar under the guidance of professor R. H. Fowler
on advice of his professor P.A.M. Dirac, Chandrasekhar completed his Ph.D and selected
for the fellowship in Trinity College.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was greatly interested in Astro physics and

inspired by Sir Arthur Eddington and Ralph Flowers theory on stellar evolution or cycle
of stars. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar participated in physics competition and won the
copy of Eddington book The Internal Constitution of Stars. His famous books and paper

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

include Introduction to the study of Stellar Structure (1939), Principles of Stellar

Dynamics (1942), Radioactive Transfer (1950), Hydrodynamic and Hydromagnetic
Stability (1961) and The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes (1983). Subrahmanyan
Chandrasekhar analyzed the theory which was developed by Eddington that stars
collapse into dense earth-seized objects after spending their fuel supplies. This
configuration of a star at the end is known as white dwarf.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar applied Quantum physics and relatively to Eddington

calculated and concluded that only stars of modest or low mass could become white
dwarfs but not the massive stars. The calculation showed that stars with masses greater
than 1.44 times mass of our own sun could contract beyond the earth size like white dwarf
to a point of even smaller size this upper limit of 1.44 times the mass of the sun in white
dwarfs is now known as the Chandrasekhar limit.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar formed the complete theory of white dwarf by

1933 and prepared to present two papers at the Royal Astronomical Society. In his paper
he argued that life cycles of high mass stars must be essentially different from those of
the stars below which was called Chandrasekhar limit. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
theory was subjected to severe criticism by one of his own colleagues and he soon left
Trinity and joined Research Associate at University of Chicago in 1936 and he married
Lalitha Doriswamy. In the same year he emigrated to the United States of America and
put forward the theory on black holes.

Despite many indignities that he and his wife suffered because of their dark skin,
his father’s repeated efforts to find a suitable position in India but lack of intellectual
stimulation in India which made his career in astrophysics hold back in America. As a
citizen he never failed to carry out his duties as Astrophysicist he jointly published the
Astrophysical journal and headed for 19 years as editor. He transformed it from a local
publication to a world class publication.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar started guiding over fifty students to their Ph.D

and his students Tsun-Dao-Lee and Chang Ning Yang from China worked with him for
their doctoral thesis. In 1957 these two students won Nobel Prize in physics for their work
in particle physics research. He was disciplined and maintained the standards of integrity
and excellence with his students, he spend his time on pursuit of the physics of the stellar
object in its diverse forms. His theories about the evolution of stars led to the concept of
black holes, the work which led him to get Nobel Prize in physics nearly a half-century
later in 1987.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar long saga of endeavours in Astrophysics came to

an end in the year 1995. The Nobel Laureate died of heart failure on 21 st August in
University of Chicago hospital,he was 84 years old at the time of his death

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. Describe the education of Chandrasekhar briefly.

Chandrasekhar did not receive formal education in his childhood days. He was
educated at home by private tuition until the age of twelve. His father was transferred to
madras in 1918; he joined Hindu High school, Triplicane. In 1925 he joined in Presidency
College obtained his bachelor degree in 1930. In the same year he got the scholarship to
continue his studies in Cambridge University. He worked with leading astrophysicists
Edward Milne and Arthur Eddington. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar become the
research scholar under the guidance of professor R. H. Fowler. Chandrasekhar completed
his Ph.D and was selected for the fellowship in Trinity College.

2. What indignities did Chandrasekhar suffer?

The indignities that he and his wife suffered are because of their dark skin.

3. Why did Chandrasekhar contradict Eddington?

Eddington‘s theory maintained that stars collapse into dense earth – seized objects
after spending their fuel supplies. This configuration of star at the end of its cycle is
known as white dwarf (i.e.) all stars become white dwarfs. But Chandrasekhar applied
quantum physics and relatively to Eddington’s calculations and concluded that only stars
of modest or low mass could become white dwarfs but not the massive stars.

4. How do white dwarfs and black holes form?

White dwarfs: Stars collapse into dense earth-seized objects after spending their
fuel supplies, this configuration is the last stage in the evolution of stars as the sun. When
the nuclear energy source in the centre of a star such as the sun is exhausted it collapses to
form a white dwarf.

Black holes: Chandrasekhar argued that life cycles of high mass stars must be
essentially different. The high mass stars might behave towards the end of their life cycle.
This logic clearly pointed towards the eventual discovery of such phenomenon as neutron
stars and black holes. He propounded the theory on black holes which led him to get the
Nobel Prize.

5. What is Chandrasekhar Limit?

Chandrasekhar applied quantum physics and relatively to Eddington’s calculation

and concluded that only stars of modest or low mass could become white dwarfs but not
the massive stars. The upper limit of 1.44 times the mass of the sun on white dwarfs is
now known as the Chandrasekhar limit.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

4.Dr.Amartya kumar Sen

Summary

Amartya Sen was born on November 3, 1933 to a Bengali family in Manikganj,

Bangladesh, to Ashutosh Sen and Amita Sen. They had a very close relationship with
Rabindranath Tagore, the first Nobel Laureate. Sen began his education at St.Georgory’s
school. While he was studying he was influenced by good teachers. When he was at high
school he tried in subjects like Sanskrit, Mathematics and Physics but he couldn’t achieve
it after which he was influenced by Economics.

Sen was highly influenced by the cultural diversity and it made an impact on his life.
While he was living in Dhaka the incident which happened to a man name Khadar Mia
who was knifed by Hindu People had changed his life entirely He rushed to hospital by
the way he uttered few words to the Sen’s father from there he comes to know the poverty
of a man. Finally it created an impact on poverty and religion. This incident made a big
changes in the life of Sen so He thought only an economic condition can change the life
of the person.

Amartya sen pursued his studies in Presidency College in Calcutta. There he made up his
mind to focus on his studies and it made him to reach greater heights. He studied under
great teachers like Bhabutosha Datta, Tapas Majumdar and Dinesh Bhattacharya during
his graduation. Students were politically active but he was not interested and never
joined .He spent much of his evenings in a nearby village where he practiced to teach
children and felt happy involving in educational efforts.

While he was studying he encountered Bengal Famine of 1943 where three million people
died. It lasted for few months and it only affected the landless laborers. The political
parties tried to influence him but he did not accept their proposal and moved from
Calcutta to Cambridge to study at Trinity College, there he finished Economics in two
years. In addition he started his research in economics under the guidance of
A.K.Dasagupta of Banaras University. Meanwhile he was appointed as professor of
economics in in Jadavpur University at the age of 23. His Ph.D received fellowship prize
in Trinity College.

He went back to Cambridge to continue his education there he got a four year
scholarship. In that money he started to learn the philosophy and he tried to put these
philosophies in real life. It taught him so many things about life. After that he left
Cambridge in 1936 and joined as professor of economics in Delhi.

As a professor he made so many good things to the school and it moulded him
intellectually to deal things properly. Then he moved to London where he was suspected
that he developed cancer but it was only the construction of the Palate and necrosis was
performed to compensate it. After the surgery he started to focus on the problem of the
people and tried write about the poverty and inequality. He published few works in
journals.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

In 1985 he moved to America and involved in analyzing the overall implication of the
perspective on welfare economics and political Philosophy. He had good contact with
Indian Universities. He was awarded Nobel Prize in October 1998. He was very happy for
this achievement though it was awarded lately. Although he was away from the country,
he always intended to help the country. He used his prize money for the Pratichi Trust,
which does social and charity in Bangladesh on literacy, basic health and gender equality.

He published twenty books and also received Indira Gandhi Gold Medal Award from the
Asiatic Society 1994. In India he was called as the Mother Teresa of Economics.

Answer the Following

1. How did Shantiniketan mould the mind of Amartya Sen in his Childhood?

Shantiniketan is the place where Amartya Sen lived in his childhood. The
curriculum of Shantiniketan allowed Sen to know more about the cultural
diversity and scientific heritage of India. Thus, Shantiniketan mould Sen’s mind
to become a teacher.

2. What was the change which Sen Experienced as a Teenager?

In his teenage he was living with different religion people. He encountered

communal and religious riots frequently. He believed that, such riots make the
country into a segregated society. It was a change Sen experienced as a teenager.

3. What were the Competing Political demands that caused a dilemma in sen?

Sen was in dilemma about his political conviction on the constructive role of
opposition and his commitment to tolerance of plurality.

4. Write about Amartya Sen’s attachement towards his motherland?

Though Sen moved to America he never disassociated himself from India. He

always had a close relationship with Indian Universities. He made sure of his visit
to India once in six months atleast. It shows his attachment toward India.

5. GERTRUDE ELION

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

SUMMARY

Gertrude Belle Elion was born in New York City on January 23, 1918. Her parents
had settled in the United States. Her father was a dentist and mother a homemaker.
Gertrude Elion was called ‘Trudy’ by her parents. Trudy studied very well. When she was
12, she was promoted two years in advance by the school. She did her bachelor’s degree
in chemistry in Hunter College. She had no money to continue her studies. So, she joined
as a teacher at school, later joined with a chemist. She completed her master degree at the
New York University.

After World War II she was hired as an analytical chemist. Her position as
biochemist in ‘Burroughs Wellcome’ lasted for 39 years. Trudy herself explained her work
on making compounds and its functions in the chemical field. Her experiments were
focused on finding a drug for killing cancer cells. Following that, she came up with the
synthesis of purine, which helped to cure cancer.

Doing her research and PhD simultaneously, she was unable to finish her doctoral
work. Her focus shifted to her research after listening to Hitching’s advice. After her
retirement in 1983, she assisted many research associates, who were in the later period
came up with the invention of AZT (azidothymidine), a drug mainly being used in the
treatment of HIV. It became a practice that every researcher in his /her final year would
do research under her.

In 1988, Trudy was awarded the Nobel Prize for finding important principles in
drug treatment. She shared the prize with George H. Hitchings and James Black. Her
active participation in research and other organisations paved way for many awards and
prizes. National Medal of Science (Presented by George Bush), the Garvan Medal, the
President’s Medal were the awards that brought her fame at the highest level.

Her responsibilities increased when she was elected as a member in the National
Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. For her relaxation she chose
photography, music, and travel as her favorite hobbies. According to Jon Elion, her
nephew, Trudy was unique and affable.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. Describe the childhood and the education of Gertrude Elion

Gertrude was born in New York in 1918. She was commonly called as Trudy. She
was good at studies. Her public school authorities promoted her two years for her
excellence in studies. She completed her bachelor’s degree in chemistry in Hunter
College. After a long break she managed to finish her masters at New York
University. She was unable to finish her doctoral degree due to her experiments.

2. Write about the hardships faced by Gertrude Elion as a woman in her education
and career.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

Though Trudy studied well, there were financial hindrances stepped in her life.
Her family was unable to support Trudy for her education. So Trudy gave a break
to her education and looked up for a job. Her interest was to become a chemist,
but the society ridiculed her for choosing the job. People blamed her being a
woman it would be a hard career to do. Gertrude overcame all that to attain her
ambition.

3. Why did drug discovery become a passion for Gertrude Elion?

Trudy developed her interest in making compounds and its functions. She
wondered the reactions that the chemicals change. She insisted herself as well as
her students to discover a drug for treating cancer cells. She took interest and
resulted in finding a drug for curing leukemia and a main drug called AZT used in
the treatment of HIV.

4. How did Gertrude Elion carry out her research work?

Being at Burroughs’s Wellcome, she managed to do her experiments. She

discontinued her PhD in order to do her research. Her focus on research work
made her a renowned person in the medicinal field. Her ideologies made her an
advisor in World Health Organization and member in various medical
organizations. Her interest in research motivated the research scholars to innovate
many principles later.

5. What achievement of Gertrude Elion won her the Nobel Prize?

Gertrude Elion spent her entire life in experimenting drugs. She mentored the
research associates in her organization leading to innovations of drugs used in
medical field. The ideas carried out by her made her well known. The discovery of
important principles for drug treatment led her to the award of prestigious Nobel
Prize in the field of physiology or medicine in 1988. Her aim was not to get the
Nobel Prize but to get people well.

6. Vikram Sarabhai

Summary

Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 in Ahmadabad. His father Ambalal

Sarabhai was a rich industrialist and a good man who helped the poor. Sarabhai
was one of the 8 children of Ambalal and Saraladevi. His family was involved in
the freedom struggle and were influenced by the national leaders in the likes of
Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru.

He studied in his hometown after passing the science examination. He moved to England
and joined in St. John’s College, University of Cambridge and passed out in 1940. He was
interested in science. For his master’s degree he joined in Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore where he started his research under the guidance of C.V. Raman a Nobel Prize
laureate. He received his doctorate in 1947.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

Sarabhai married a classical dancer Mrinalini. They had two children Karthikeya and
Mallika. Sarabhai gave all his freedom to their children and Mallika renowned herself as
a classical dancer and has been awarded the Palme d’Or.

Sarabhai was very interested in science and research, to open a research centre he raised
money. He founded the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad on November 11,
1947 and worked there between 1966&1971. Establishing Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO) was one of his greatest achievements. There he spoke about the
importance of the space technology to develop the nation.

Dr.Homi Jehangir Bhabha Father of Indian Nuclear Science program supported Sarabhai
to launch his first rocket launching station in India. This centre was established at
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Henceforth his wings flew high and his knowledge
scattered all over the country. He started the project for fabrication and launched his first
Indian satellite, Aryabhata.

Although he involved himself in space programmes he didn’t lose interest in cosmic rays.
He had a clear understanding of this and most of his research was confined to this aspect
of rays. He founded a Community Science Centre at Ahmedabad in 1966. His greatest
notable achievement is establishing IIMS (Indian Institute of Management) considered
for their management. Education to develop the textile industry he started the ATIRA
(Ahmedabad Textile Industrial Research Association).

Sarabhai, to empower the visually challenged people, started BMA (Blind Men
Association). He held different distinguished positions such as president of the physics
section, Indian Science Congress (1692). He played a vital role in the creation of IIM in
Ahmedabad.  He died on 30th December 1971 in Kerala at the foundation stone laying
ceremony of Thumba railway station. He died because due to poor health and stress.  He
received awards such as Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1966) and Padma Vibhushan,
posthumously.

Answer the following

1. Write about the childhood and education of vikram sarabhai?

The Sarabhai family was an important and rich Jain business family. His

father Ambalal Sarabhai was an industrialist, owned many mills in Gujarat, and
devoted his life to poor people. Vikram Sarabhai matriculated from the Gujarat
College in Ahmadabad after passing the Intermediate Science examination.
2. How did Vikram Sarabhai set up physical research laboratory?

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was interested in science education. Sarabhai returned to an

independent India in 1947. Looking at the needs of the country, he persuaded
charitable trusts controlled by his family and friends to endow a research
institution near his home in Ahmadabad. This led to the creation of the Physical
Research Laboratory in Ahmadabad on 1947.

2. How did Vikram Sarabhai work on the effect of solar activity on cosmic rays?

Sarabhai is interested in space research and it made him to achieve in that. He had
a vision to make the nation to stay in high position after that he compared his
study of solar activities and cosmic rays.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

3. What are the achievements of Vikram Sarabhai in space research?

Vikram Sarabhai is considered the father of India's space programme. He

established the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) this is considered one
of his greatest achievement. After that he convinced the government and talks
about the importance of the space programme in order to develop the nation.

5. What honours did Vikram Sarabhai receive?

Sarabhai received various awards such as Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1962)
Padma Bhushan (1966) and after that he died because of his bad health in
1971.Finally; he was awarded as Padma VIbhushan in 1972.

7. CHARLES SPENSER CHAPLIN

Summary

Charles Chaplin was born on 16 April, 1889 in London. Both of his parents were
music hall artists. His father was an alcoholic who led the family into poverty and
destruction. After his father’s death, his mother took up the responsibilities. Due to her ill
health Chaplin was insisted to learn to sing, dance and act at the age of two. At an early
age, he hardly knew a song but presented it everywhere to earn money. His mother’s
deteriorating health made her to leave her children at an orphanage.

With Chaplin entirely on his own started to develop his career. With the assistance
of his brother, Chaplin started doing stage performances. With that experience Chaplin
gradually entered into the films which burned life upside down. ‘Making a Living’ was
his first film. It was not a success but Chaplin got favorable comments. His attire brought
him fame. Huge trousers, big size shoes on the wrong legs, tight-fitting coat and a small
bowler hat were the remarkable costume set that famed Chaplin.

He improvised his body language and costume with every film. ‘Kid Auto Races at
Venice’, ‘Punctured Romance’ and ‘Shoulder Arms’ were the films that depicted reality in
a funny way. At a party he met a young, beautiful 16 year old actress Mildred Harris.
Though Chaplin was uninterested in love he married her. They gave birth to a child who
barely survived only three days. The marriage ended up in divorce. Chaplin managed to
overcome the regret by acting in films further on. His early life was portrayed in the film
‘The Kid’ which led him to success with handful of money.

In 1925 ‘The Gold Rush’ is the great picture that satisfied numerous people as well
as Chaplin. It was his masterpiece. Chaplin himself had said “the picture I want to be
remembered by”. Subsequent to the success, Chaplin again entered into the marriage life.
Lita Grey was a 16 year old actress who married Chaplin. They gave birth for two sons.
Yet it beccame failure. He abandoned his wife and children and faced severe criticisms by
people.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

‘City Lights’ and ‘Modern Times’ were the following films which clamied huge
success. During filming one of these films Chaplin suffered the loss of his mother. Later
in 1943, at the age of 54 Chaplin married the daughter of American Playwright Eugene O’
Neil. Though this marriage faced several problems relating to the citizenship, this
marriage was a success for Chaplin with many children.

He received many tributes and Academy awards from the film industry. He stood
as a consisted entertainer. People admired his comedy. Chaplin was a multitalented
person who presented himself as a writer, director, actor, producer, and a musician.
According to Stan Laurel “He’s the greatest artist that was ever on the screen”. Chaplin
still lives in the works that he had produced.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

1. Depict the childhood of Chaplin.

Charles Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889 in London. His parents were music hall
artists. His father died soon due to his addiction to the alcohol. Due to her ill health, his
mother left her children at an orphanage. Chaplin had taken only two years of schooling
when he was with his mother. So, Chaplin spent his childhood days with his elder
brother Sid. They managed to live their lives by doing stage performances.

2. Give an account of the entry of Chaplin into films.

Chaplin entered into the film industry with the assistance of his elder brother. Chaplin
managed to sign his contract with the Keystone Company after several years of hard
work. Keystone produced his first film ‘Making a Living’ with a favourable success. From
then on Chaplin became famous and many film companies gave him a warm welcome.

3. Write about the important films of Chaplin.

‘Making a Living’ is the first film of Chaplin which gave him recognition. Chaplin’s early
life went through lot of hardships and those incidents were portrayed in his film ‘The
Kid’. His major success was ‘The Gold Rush’ released in 1925. He played as a simple
prospector amongst gold hunters. He himself had admired of the film as, “the picture I
want to be remembered by”. ‘City Lights’ and ‘Modern Times’ were the other important
times which lifted Chaplin’s life.

4. Describe the greatest film of Chaplin.

‘City Lights’ was the greatest film of Chaplin. He proved himself as an intellectual giant
through this film. He not only produced, directed and starred in the film but also wrote
and conducted the music. Though he suffered a loss of his mother during the filming of
‘City Lights’, he stood as a multifaceted individual.

5. How did Chaplin blend Comedy and Pathos?

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

The word ‘Pathos’ means showing emotions or feelings. Chaplin picked the reality from
life and portrayed it in a funny way. His body language and attire made perfect
combination of entertainment. Thus, through blending comedy and pathos made Chaplin
reach the audience.

5. How did Chaplin succeed in his role in the improvised film?

Chaplin received favorable comments in his early films. Later, ‘Keystone’ comedians
were told to improvise a film loaded with comedy to make the audience laugh throughout
the movie. Chaplin decided to assemble a funny costume such as huge trousers, big sized
shoes, a tight-fitting coat, small bowler hat, bamboo cane, and a toothbrush moustache.
With all these combination Chaplin’s film was improvised. Fortunately it worked in all
his films. People enjoyed and admired him for his actions which led his success
throughout his life.

8.WANGARI MAATHAI

SUMMARY

Wangari Maathai was the founder of the Green Belt Movement and the 2004
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. She wrote four books: The Green Belt Movement; Unbowed: A
Memoir; The Challenge for Africa; and Replenishing the Earth. After writing a number of
books, the Green Belt movement featured as a documentary film, Taking Root: the vision
of Wangari Maathai. 
Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, a rural area of Kenya, Africa in 1940.
She got a degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison,
Kansas (1964), a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh (1966), and
pursued doctoral studies in Germany and the University of Nairobi, before obtaining a
Ph.D. (1971) from the University of Nairobi, where she also taught veterinary anatomy.
She was the first woman to get doctorate degree in East and Central Africa and she
became the chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and an associate professor in
1976 and 1977 respectively. In both cases, she was the first woman to attain those
positions in that region. 

She was active with the National Council of Women of Kenya (1976–1987) and was
its chairman (1981–1987). In 1976, while she was serving the National Council of Women,
she introduced the idea of community based tree planting. She continued to develop this
idea into a broad organization and the Green Belt Movement (GBM), she mainly focused
to reduce poverty and environmental protection by planting trees. 

Maathai was internationally known for her fight for democracy, human rights,

and environmental conservation, and served on the board of many organisations. She
talked to the UN on a number of times and spoke on behalf of women at special sessions
of the General Assembly during the five-year review of the Earth Summit. She served the
Commission for Global Governance and the Commission on the Future. 

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

She represented the Tetu constituency in Kenya’s parliament (2002–2007), and

served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in Kenya’s ninth
parliament (2003–2007). In 2005, she was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador to the
Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem. In following year she founded the Nobel Women’s
Initiative with her sisters. In 2007 Maathai was invited to be co-chair of the Congo Basin
Fund, a scheme by the British and the Norwegian governments to help protect the Congo
forests.

In recognition of her deep dedication to the environment, the United Nations (UN)
Secretary-General named Wangari Maathai a UN Messenger of Peace in December 2009,
with a focus on the environment and climate change. In 2010, she was referred to the
Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group, a panel of political leaders, business
people and activists established with the aim to inspire worldwide support for the
success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Also in 2010, Maathai became a trustee of the Karura Forest Environmental

Education Trust, established to safeguard the public land for whose protection she had
fought for almost twenty years. That same year, in partnership with the University of
Nairobi, she founded the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental
Studies . The Institute will bring together academic research in land use, forestry,
agriculture, resource based conflicts, and peace studies with the Green Belt Movement
approach and members of the organisation. 

Professor Maathai died on 25 September 2011 at the age of 71 after battling with
ovarian cancer. Memorial ceremonies were held in Kenya, New York, San Francisco, and
London. 

Answer the following:

1. Write briefly about the childhood and the education of Maathai.

Wangari Maathai was born on April 1, 1940 at Ihithe village, Nyeri District Kenya.
She belongs to Kikuyu ethnic group the famous ethnic group in Kenya. Maathai family
relocated to white-owned farm in the rift valley where her father found work. Later 1947,
she returned back to her village and started her primary school at the age of eight with
her brothers. After moving to Intermediate primary school she learnt English fluently and
changed her name to Mary Josephine. She involved in Christian society known as the
Legion of Mary which attempted to help fellow human beings. In 1956 she completed her
studies and secured first in the class and planned to attend the university of East Africa in
Kampala, Uganda.

John F. Kennedy US Senator, agreed to fund under the program known as the
Kennedy Airlift or Airlift Africa. Maathai become the first Kenyan chosen to study in
American universities. After receiving her bachelor of science in 1964, she was accepted
pursue her master degree in biology at University of Pittsburgh.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

2. Describe the political activism of Maathai.

Maathai continued to teach at Nairobi, becoming a senior lecturer in anatomy in

1975 chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy in 1976 and associate professor in
1977. She was the first woman in Nairobi appointed to any of these positions. During this
time, she campaigned for equal benefits for the women working on the staff of the
university, going so far as to attempt to turn the academic staff association of the
university into a union, in order to negotiate for benefits. The courts denied this bid, but
many of her demands for equal benefits were later met. 

Maathai was asked to be a member of the local board, eventually becoming the
chair of the board. The Environment Liaison Centre worked to promote the participation
of non-governmental organizations in the work of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), whose headquarters was established in Nairobi following
the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm in 1972.
Maathai also joined the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK). Through her
work at these various volunteer associations, it became evident to Maathai that the root of
most of Kenya's problems was environmental degradation.

3. Give an account Maathai’s Green Belt Movement.

Wangari Maathai’s “Green Belt” changed to “Green Belt Movement”. Maathai

poured her efforts into the Green Belt Movement. Along with the partnership for the
Norwegian Forestry Society, the movement had also received "seed money" from the
United Nations Voluntary Fund for Women. These funds allowed for the expansion of
the movement, for hiring additional employees to oversee the operations, and for
continuing to pay a small stipend to the women who planted seedlings throughout the
country. It allowed her to refine the operations of the movement, paying a small stipend
to the women's husbands and sons who were literate and able to keep accurate records of
seedlings planted.

4. How did Maathai work for the cause of democracy?

Wangari Maathai made a great effort to unite the opposition and promote free and
fair elections in Kenya in the period of first multi-party election of Kenya in 1992. Mwai
Kibaki the former vice president had left the ruling Kenya African National Union
(KANU) and formed the Democratic Party. Maathai and others believed that it may lead
to opposition in the country and they formed the Middle Ground Group to unite the
opposition.

In the same year tribal clashes occurred throughout Kenya. Maathai believed that
it was incited by the government with her friends she went to the tribal areas and spread
the Green Belt movement and planted “trees of peace”. After her return to Kenya Maathai
campaigned for parliament in 2002 elections. She defeated Kenya African National Union
with 98% of vote and become the Assistant Minister in the Ministry for Environment and
Natural Resources in January 2003.

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A.M. Jain College Shift-II Department of English; II year; III semester
Notes Prepared by Professors: VinothPrasath, Subapriya &Hari kumar
Inspiring Lives

5. How do you feel about the personality of Maathai?

Wangari Maathai is a political hero and an environmentalist. She was a natural

born leader, a role model for women and people all over Africa. She is a hero to a lot of
people who can look up to her in many ways. She's brave, smart and positive. These are
three traits every hero should have.
Wangari Maathai has won many awards and honors from environmentalist and
feminist organization, such as the Noble Peace Prize in 2004. She is an inspiration and
influence to many people.

6. What are the major achievements and contributions of Maathai?

Wangari Maathai major achievements and contributions throughout her life are
she received various awards and honors for her outstanding contribution as an
environmentalist and activist. The most prominent of these include the Nobel Peace Prize
in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She was
awarded two honorary degrees, Doctor of Public Service by the University of Pittsburgh
in 2006 .

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