Carbon The Element of Life Final

Carbon: The
Element of Life
By Vishal Yalavarti
Index
1. The Rise and Fall of a Star --01

2. The Biggest Nuclear Reactor- A
Star--12
3. Spectroscopy-The Art of
Elements --19
4. What is an Atom? -- 23
5. Element to Compound- An
Upgrade -- 31
6. Carbon’s Army of Compounds-1
-- 48
7. Carbon’s Army of Compounds-2
--57
8. The Early Solar System -- 65
9. Cell- The Biological Atom-1 -- 71
10. Cell- The Biological Atom- 2 --
80
11. Tissue- The Backbone of bio-
functions --105
12. Biodiversity- The Key to
Evolution -- 133
13. Joining the Dots… (summary
too) -- 153
Since carbon has the element number
six, I would like to dedicate this book
into six parts:
First, to my parents, who have guided
me throughout my life,
Second, to my best friend, Kushagra,
who kept me smiling even in the times
of gloom,
Third, to my other friend, Anashwara,
who helped me in writing the biology
section of the book,
Fourth, to my teachers, who kept me
motivated and answered my questions
sweetly,
Fifth, to the Internet, from which I have
learned so much and owe it a lot,
Sixth, to science, which kept me
curious and alert throughout my life.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
Good job on picking this book from the bookstore as
you will learn new things about the world around
you. We will explore the dark realms of science, trawl
into the fundamentals of science, learn about various
chemical compounds and how to make them (on
paper), explore the sinister dungeon of our body to
learn what tissue does what function in the body.
In my life-time, I have seen many people who treat
science as three different subjects- physics, chemistry
and biology. I never saw the point of classifying
science in this manner, because I feel that science
should be treated as one subject. Physics, chemistry
and biology are inter-related, as you will see in this
book.
We will try to link each chapter with the other
chapter, so to create a flow of understanding why you
are reading this chapter. At the end of the book, you
will find the answer to the question: How can we find
a Planet “B”? And then you will realize that finding a
Planet B similar to Earth is a very tedious task indeed.
So why not preserve this delicate sphere we live in?
By protecting this sphere, we can ensure ourselves a
better future for ourselves and our next generations.
Be prepared to be dazzled by the power of science.
Regards,
Vishal Yalavarti
The Rise and Fall of a Star
“Everything that has a beginning has an
ending.”- Jack Kornfield
See, apparently in the ancient times, they thought the

stars to be fixed and eternal.
In 185 AD, Chinese astronomers saw what they
called a “guest star”. The “star” in question was a
supernova called RCW 86. It made appearance for
eight months and vanished.
Image 1: This is RCW86, the oldest recorded

supernova.
Image Courtesy: NASA
1 | Carbon: The Element of Life

We now head to the 11th century, or to be precise,
1054 AD. A new star, brighter than the Moon, was
formed in constellation of Taurus the Bull. It lasted for
two years before fading. The “star” here is famous
Crab Nebula, also known as SN 1054.
Image 2: This is the Crab Nebula, one of the prehistoric nebulae,

still under study.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org

Let’s move to the 17th century. Newton discovers
gravity and the laws of classical motion. He explains
that gravity is universal and it is an attractive force.
Many other scientists came and enhanced our
knowledge of the Universe. We can now find
nebulas, galaxies, black holes using computers.
But the question still remained. How did the Earth
form to be habitable?
Let’s take an example of us, I mean, the humans. We
start off as a baby, growing up, consuming
energy(scientifically), go through different stages of
life, like teenage, adulthood and finally old age.
There are many funeral rites across the world when
we die. Hindus burn the body, Christians and
Muslims bury, Ancient Egyptians mummified and so
on. But in the end, the body decays and the energy is
sucked by Mother Earth.
This cycle sort of applies to stars. We see that the star

is not there initially. In place of it there is a stellar
nebula. The material of the nebula slowly starts to
accumulate at a certain point. The star has now two
choices, be simple and become an average star like
our Sun, or be greedy and become shiny like Sirius.
Let’s take the case of an average star. Oh, also, there
are two types of average stars, simple and greedy
(P.S: These are my observations. Don’t use these

terms). The simple average star has a chance to form
planets from the remaining residue of the stellar
nebula. Of course, it will have a tough time to keep
the planets in order using gravity. The greedy one
can accumulate more nebular matter, but it will be
classified as an average star, the only difference
being in the temperature and luminosity. The
“simple” average stars like the Sun have a radius of
696,340 km. The “greedy” average stars are slightly
bigger, having an average radius of 1,190,300 km
(Sirius A).
Image 3: This is Sirius A, one of the brightest stars in the night

sky and a part of the Sirius binary system.
Image Courtesy: space.com

Both the stars grow relatively, becoming giants. They
have a radius of around 17,671,000 km (Arcturus).
The giants now consume more energy to sustain its
form.
A situation arises when the giant is not able to sustain
its shape and bursts. It forms a planetary nebula. A
planetary nebula is nebula which can spawn
cosmological objects but at a slower rate than that of
a stellar nebula. In the middle of energy of the
previous giant, there lies a small white dwarf. It is
basically the core of the previous star.
Image 4: This is Arcturus, a red giant. It proposed

that the Sun will also become a red giant,
swallowing Mercury and Venus due to its size.
Image Courtesy: science.howstuffworks.com

Let’s now take the case of the massive star. The radius
of a massive star is around 617,100,000 km
(Betelgeuse). They also become big but their giant
forms aren’t called as giants. They are called super
giants. With an average radius of 887,100,000 km
(Delta Cephei) and mass of 3.58 * 1031 kg (Rigel),
they stand out big. The biggest star, UY Scuti (data
might change in future), is also a supergiant.
Image 5: This is Betelgeuse, a red supergiant. It is said that this

star will die in a violent supernova.
Image Courtesy: universetoday.com

Image 6: This is Delta Cephei, as viewed from the night sky.
Image Courtesy: theskylive.com

Image 7: This is Rigel, a blue supergiant. It is lies in
the famous constellation of Orion and is one of the
brightest stars in the night sky.
Image Courtesy: astronomytrek.com

Here’s where things get a little interesting. The death
of a massive star leads to a supernova. So, all the
historic examples we saw were previous super giants.
But what will happen after the supernova?
Image 8: A supernova ejecting the elements of the previous star.

Image Courtesy: space.com
There is a limit called as the Chandrasekhar Limit. It

states that after a threshold mass of a star, the star will
implode and become a black hole. The limit is
generally around 1.4 times the mass of our Sun. And
if the mass is lower than the limit, it will form into a
neutron star.

A neutron star is a star which is made up of, well,
neutrons. Due to high polarity, neutron stars often
spin to speeds close to what we term as “super-fast”.
Image 9: This is the Crab Pulsar, a relatively young

neutron star, formed in the remanent of the Crab
Nebula.
Image Courtesy: Wikipedia
A black hole is a body is a region in space (or should I

say, spacetime) where gravity is the dominating force.
The levels of gravitational force become so high that
no particle, man, spaceship, star, planet, or even light

could pass through the vortex.
(Small fact of consolation: Black holes “evaporate”
after a few billion years due to Hawking Radiation.)
Image 10: This is a photo render of the Cygnus X-1 black hole,
situated in the Cygnus constellation. The acceleration of gravity
here is a staggering 20.42 m/s2, which is almost double the
gravity on Earth.
Image Courtesy: scitechdaily.com
Anyways, when we are dealing with life, we often look

for the simple and average star like our Sun.
Why? The question shall be answered in the
upcoming chapters.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
“The mind that opens a new idea never

returns to its original size.” – Albert Einstein

The Biggest Nuclear
Reactor- A Star
“The foods we choose make a difference.”-
Michael Greger.
Funnily, it so happens that when a star “eats”, it
changes the whole Universe.
Let’s start of from the new born star. Baby Star has to
ingest lots of materials from the nebula remanent to
maintain its form as a star. Slowly and gradually, the
star grows bigger and hotter. It is now able produce
energy for itself.
To produce energy, normal electric currents will not
do for the star. It needs something big.
And that’s where nuclear fusion comes into the
picture. We humans have been messing with nuclear
power recently, as in the 21st century. We divide
nuclear energy into two types.
1. Nuclear Fission: It is basically saying that a

heavy atom like Uranium gets decayed into
smaller atoms like Krypton. A lot of energy is
generated in this process. This is the type of
technology which is used in nuclear bomb and
nuclear reactors.

Image 11: To trigger a nuclear reaction we need a neutron to
destabilize the uranium, which triggers a chain reaction.
2. Nuclear Fusion: It is basically saying that we

are smashing lighter atoms to get heavy atoms
and energy. It is the opposite of nuclear fission.
We will be studying nuclear fusion in this
chapter.

Image 12: A deuterium nucleus (isotope of hydrogen, also known
as heavy water) and a tritium nucleus are smashed together
under immense pressure and become unstable. The by-
products of this reaction are highly-ionized helium nuclei called
alpha particles and neutrons.
Image Courtesy: nuclearconnect.org
The star’s primary energy source is hydrogen. Since

hydrogen is in abundance due to proton-proton
reactions, it is easy for the star to undergo nuclear
fusion. The by-products of the fusion are helium and
energy. This is called as H-He reaction.
The star undergoes from helium to other relatively

heavy elements like lithium, beryllium etc. This
process is called energetic particle interaction.

Image 14: When lithium and deuterium combine,
alpha particles are formed.
When the fusion reaches carbon, a new cycle starts.

First carbon occurs, then nitrogen and oxygen. This is
called as CNO cycle.

Image 15: This is a classic CNO cycle. But when an accumulation
of oxygen happens, this cycle stops.
When it reaches oxygen, if forms new elements in

spheres of varying distances from the core. The
lighter elements like hydrogen are situated in the
outside. This reaction stops when the core becomes
iron. Then, the energy for fusion is gone or is very
minute for the big giant star.

Image 16: This is what happens when a star accumulates matter
in its body. When iron is in abundance, the collection stops.
Image Courtesy: lumen.courselearning.com
Applying the theory of death of stars in the previous

chapter, we can now decide what it will be after
death. So, when they explode, they release the
elements into the outer Universe.
But how do we find elements that are made far away
from Earth? We use spectroscopy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
“In the midst of darkness, light persists.”- Mahatma

Gandhi

Spectroscopy- The Art of
Elements
“It’s not fun to do spectroscopy.”- Garik
Israelian
Yeah, it is not fun. It is deadly serious when you are
finding exoplanets.
We all like colours, right? Red for Anger, Blue for Sky,
Green for Earth, White for Air, and so on.
Let’s just say that such colours exist in spacetime. To
us, most gases are invisible in nature. We can only
detect them by doing certain experiments like
lighting a candle, popping of a burning matchstick
etc.
Humans wanted to see the gases at any cost. So,
what did we do? We detected the absorption of light
of the gas through a prism and inserted an analyser.
We found that there were beams of light of varying
colours on the screen.
There are two types of spectrums (or should I say,
spectra):
1. Absorption spectrum: All substances absorb
light to some extent. So, the spectrum analysed

on the basis of absorption, is called absorption
spectrum.
2. Emission spectrum: Again, all substances emit
light when hit with photons. So, the spectrum
analysed on the basis of emission of photons, is
called emission spectrum.
Here are some substances and their emission and
absorption spectra:
Element Emission spectrum Absorption spectrum

Hydrogen
Helium
Lithium
Carbon
Nitrogen
Oxygen
But how to read these images? You have to look in

the form of wavelengths. Wavelength of a wave is
somewhat related to the source of the waves. Wider

the wavelength, i.e., the distance of one crest and
one trough, lower the energy. Often it happens that
the wider wavelengths emit red light and the
narrower ones emit purple light. So, if a source
element is projecting waves of a particular
wavelength, we can say that the element is having the
particular energy. If the analyser is showing the lines
from the left at a high intensity, i.e., a thick line, it
generally means that the substance is ionized or
unstable.
Image 17: This is NGC 604, a H II region in the Triangulum Galaxy.

A H II region has ionized hydrogen which helps in the formation
of stars. Note the bluish tint of colour at the centre and compare
it with the spectrum diagram of hydrogen.

But what is the relation of spectroscopy to
exoplanets? Everything, you and I, the stars, the
planets, the moons radiate energy. We are looking
for one element in particular.
Carbon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Persistence is to the character of man as

carbon is to steel. -Napoleon Hill

What is an Atom?
“A physicist is just an atom’s way of looking at
itself.”- Niels Bohr
Before we visit carbon, we need to see what is an
atom.
Imagine you have a building. To create the building,
you need the four walls. To create those walls, you
need bricks. So, here, bricks are the fundamental unit
of building.
Let’s replace “building” with “substance”, the “walls”
and “bricks” with “atoms”. Now the sentence
becomes:
“To create a substance, you need molecules. To
create those molecules, you need atoms.”
Let’s start with the atom. The atom is held together

by charges. Like charges repel, unlike attract, those
types of charges. The positive charge is being
provided by the proton. It has a mass of 1.67262 ×
10−27 kg and a charge of +1 (obviously).

The negative charge is being provided by the
electron. It has a mass of 9.10938356 × 10-31 kg and a
charge of -1.
The extra mass is being provided by the neutron. For
example, an atom of helium has a weight of 4 “units”
and it contains 2 “units” of protons (casually ignoring
the electrons as they are too small), so scientists
concluded that the extra 2 “units” must come from a
new particle which was ignored earlier.

Image 18: This is the Bohr’s version of the atom. Note that all
protons and neutrons are concentrated in the nucleus. The
electrons revolve around the nucleus.
Image Courtesy: shutterstock.com

So, to find the number of electrons/protons in a
neutral atom, we use this formula:
Number of electrons = Number of protons

(At this point, you are, like, this man is stupid. Of
course, by common intuition, they would be equal.)
Problem 1: A neutral atom X has 18 electrons. Find
the number of protons.
Solution: Total charge of the electrons = (-1 × 18)
= -18
To nullify the negative charges, we need positive
charges.
So, 0-(-18) = +18
Number of protons= 18
There are many things that define an atom. Here are

some of the followings:
1. Atomic Number: It is the number of protons or
electrons in a neutral atom. For example,
hydrogen has one proton, so its atomic number
is 1. It is denoted by the letter Z.
Problem 2: The atomic number of X is 187. Find the
number of electrons.
Solution: Atomic number= Number of protons
So, the atom has 187 protons.
Then, applying number of protons = number of
electrons, we get the answer as 187 electrons.
2. Atomic Mass: It is the sum of the protons and
the neutrons inside the element. For example,
helium has 2 protons and 2 neutrons, so the
atomic mass of helium is 4. It is not the same as
atomic weight.
Problem 3: The number of protons and neutrons in
atom M are 20 and 15 respectively. What is the
atomic mass of M?
Solution: Atomic mass = 20+15
= 45 amu (atomic mass unit)
3. Electronic configuration: It describes how the
electrons are arranged in an atom. For
example, the electron configuration of lithium is
1s12s1, or to be lazy, [He]2s1. The first one is the
standard notation and is often longer when you
get to heavier elements. The second one is the
abbreviated one. This uses noble gases to
shorten the writing. The constant, in this case
“2”, denotes the energy shell, the power
denotes the number of electrons in the sub-
shell and the “s” denotes the type of sub-shell.

Problem 4: If element “X” contains 2 electrons in
the innermost shell and seven electrons in the
outer shell, write the noble gas electronic
configuration of element “X”.
Solution: Element “X” has 2 electrons in the inner
most shell, so they will go into the 1st s-shell, i.e.,
1s2. The other 5 electrons shall be divided into 2
and 5 electrons, i.e., the 2nd s-shell and the p-shell.
The final output is 1s22s22p5. Now, we know
helium is the nearest noble gas to the element,
which has the configuration 1s2. Replace 1s2 with
“[He]” and the final answer is [He]2s22p5.
(By the way, this element “X” is the element
fluorine, so no mysteries around it, please.)
4. Valency: It denotes (sort of) the combing
power of the element. It is related to the
electrons in the outermost shell. We will discuss
this parameter later.
Problem 5: Write the valency of phosphorus, which
has the electronic configuration 2,8,5.
Solution: The last term in the configuration
represents the outermost electrons and are called
valence electrons. So, phosphorus has 5 valence
electrons. But that is not our answer. You see, valence
electrons from 1 to 4 are considered as metals and
are given the valence number equal to the number of

valence electrons. Valence electrons from 5 to 7
(cause 8 means noble gas) are considered as non-
metals and we need to apply the expression 8 - (no.
of valence electrons in the non-metal). In our case,
phosphorus has 5 valence electrons, so subtract 5
from 8 and we get 3 as our valency.
5. Electronegativity: It denotes the “selfishness”
of the atom. Basically, it is the measure of
attracting the shared electrons of the other
element in the compound. To find the
electronegativity of a molecule, we need to
subtract the electronegativity values of its
constituent elements.
Problem 6: Write the electronegativity of fluorine if
hydrogen fluoride has an electronegativity value of
1.9 and the value for hydrogen is 2.1.
Solution: The formula for electronegativity of a
molecule is: Electronegativity of a molecule=
Electronegativity of larger atom – electronegativity of
smaller atom. Since we don’t know the
electronegativity of fluorine, assume it as “x”.
Plugging in the values, we get 1.9 = x -2.1.
Transposing 2.1 to the left-hand side of the equation,
we get 1.9 + 2.1 = x, which gives our final answer as
4.0.

We are now done with the inherent mathematical
stuff of an atom. I think it’s time for an upgrade of
knowledge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
“Success is little more than a compound of

man and moment.” – Phillip Guedalla

Element to Compound: An
Upgrade
“All Nature is linked together by invisible
bonds and every organic creature, however
low, however feeble, however dependent, is
necessary to the well-being of some other
among the myriad forms of life.”- Georges
Perkins Marsh
There are two ways in which elements can combine
to form compounds:
1. Ionic Bonding
2. Covalent Bonding
Ionic bonding is the process in which one atom loses
its electrons and the other one gains the electron(s).
For example, sodium has an extra electron and
chlorine needs one electron to complete its shell.
They react violently for the electron and found
themselves being a component of the compound
NaCl, or common salt.

Image 19: The following image shows the ionic transfer of an
electron from sodium (Na) to chlorine (Cl) to form a compound,
NaCl.
Image Courtesy: itc.gsw.edu
To look at the technical picture, the atom that is

giving the electron is called the cation and the atom
which takes the electron is called as the anion of the
compound.
So, is this the case only for sodium and chlorine? No.
There are, ah, some tables you need/ need not
memorise to create simple ionic compounds.

Anions
Name of ion Formula Valency
Hydrogen HCO3- -1
Carbonate
Hydrogen HSO4- -1
Sulphate
Hydrogen HSO3- -1
Sulphite
Fluoride F- -1
Chloride Cl- -1
Bromide Br- -1
Iodide I- -1
Hypochlorite ClO- -1
Iodate IO3- -1
Nitrite NO2- -1
Nitrate NO3- -1
Dihydrogen H2PO4- -1
phosphate
Cyanide CN- -1
Thiocyanate SCN- -1
Permanganate MnO4- -1
Hydride H- -1
Hydroxide OH- -1
Superoxide O 2- -1
Hydrogen HO2- -1
peroxide
Carbonate CO32- -2
Chromate CrO42- -2
Dichromate Cr2O72- -2
Manganate MnO42- -2
Sulphide S2- -2
Sulphite SO32- -2
Sulphate SO42- -2
Oxide O2- -2
Peroxide O22- -2
Zincate ZnO22- -2
Aluminate AlO33- -3
Arsenate AsO43- -3
Boride B3- -3
Borate BO33- -3
Nitride N3- -3
Phosphide P3- -3
Phosphite PO33- -3
Phosphate PO43- -3
Ferricyanide [Fe -3
(CN)6]3-
Cations
Name of the Formula Valency
ion
Hydrogen H+ +1
Lithium Li+ +1
Sodium Na+ +1
Potassium K+ +1
Rubidium Rb+ +1
Copper (I) Cu+ +1
[Cuprous]
Silver Ag+ +1
Gold (I) Au+ +1
[Aurous]
Mercury (I) Hg+ +1
[Mercurous]
Ammonium NH4+ +1
Phosphonium PH4+ +1
Beryllium Be2+ +2
Magnesium Mg2+ +2
Calcium Ca2+ +2
Strontium Sr2+ +2
Barium Ba2+ +2
Radium Ra2+ +2
Copper (II) Cu2+ +2
[Cupric]
Mercury (II) Hg2+ +2
[Mercuric]
Iron (II) Fe2+ +2
[Ferrous]
Chromium Cr2+ +2
[Chromous]
Cobalt (II) Co2+ +2
[Cobaltous]
Nickel Ni2+ +2
Manganese Mn2+ +2
(II)
[Manganous]
Cadmium Cd2+ +2
Zinc Zn2+ +2
Lead (II) Pb2+ +2
[Plumbous]
Tin (II) Sn2+ +2
[Stannous]
Iron (III) Fe3+ +3
[Ferric]

Manganese Mn3+ +3
(III)
[Manganic]
Aluminium Al3+ +3
Gold (III) Au3+ +3
[Auric]
Antimony (III) Sb3+ +3
[Antimonous]
Arsenic (III) As3+ +3
[Arsenous]
Chromium Cr3+ +3
Cobalt (III) Co3+ +3
[Cobaltic]
Boron B3+ +3
Platinum (IV) Pt4+ +4
[Platinic]
Lead (IV) Pb4+ +4
[Plumbic]
Tin (IV) Sn4+ +4
[Stannic]
Arsenic (V) As5+ +5
Antimony (V) Sb5+ +5
[Antimonic]

Note: Some of the elements can have two cations of
different valences. To denote that, we put a Roman
number next to it in brackets. For example, Copper
has two cations, Cu+ and Cu2+. We denote them as
Copper (I) and Copper (II) respectively. And when we
name the compounds constituting the ions, we
denote them as cuprous and cupric respectively.
So, what is the use of these tables? Well, we can
simulate real-life ion reactions in paper. Here’s how:
Step 1: Take the ions which you want to combine.

Let’s take Copper (I) and Fluorine.
Step 2: Note down the valencies of both the
elements.
Step 3: Write them like this:
Element: Copper Fluorine
Valency: +1 -1
Step 4: Cross-multiply the elements and the

valencies, i.e., the minus one will go to copper and
the plus one will go to fluorine.
Step 5: Remove the signs. The final answer will be
CuF or cuprous fluoride or copper (I) fluoride.
This was the case of monovalence, that is combining
valencies of value one each. So, can we combine an
ion of valence 1 and of valence 4?

Problem 4: If I combine an ammonium ion with a
ferrocyanide ion, what compound will I get? Also
derive its formula.
Solution: Ammonium ion: NH4+
Ferrocyanide ion: [Fe (CN)6]4-
NH4 [Fe (CN)6]4-
+1 4-
After cross-multiplying, we get (NH4)4Fe (CN)6 or

simply, ammonium ferrocyanide.
A special case arises when the valencies are equal

but are greater than one.
Problem 5: If I combine a lead (II) ion with a
carbonate ion, what compound will I get? Also derive
its formula.
Solution: Lead (II) ion: Pb2+
Carbonate ion: CO32-
Pb CO3
+2 -2
After cross-multiplying, we get Pb2 (CO3)2. But is this
the final answer? No. An additional step to such
problems is to cancel out the common factor of the
valencies, in this case 2. So, now, the final answer

should be PbCO3 or plumbous carbonate or lead (II)
carbonate.
This was the case when the atoms are taken from one
atom and given to the other. What if the atoms share
the electrons?
When atoms share electrons, the bond between
them is called a covalent bond. So how do covalent
bonds work?
Let us bring the concept of valence electrons here.
Let’s take the example of oxygen.
We see that it needs two electrons to fill its outermost
shell. If I now bring another oxygen which, again,
needs two electrons to fill, we can now form two
shared covalent bonds like such:

In reality, the bond looks like this:
Image 21: A double bond formed by two oxygen atoms to form

oxygen gas (O2) along with the pi and sigma bonds.
Image Courtesy: brainkart.com
This happens because electrons revolve around the

nucleus in an orbital, forming long and tear-drop
shaped orbits. And when they share the electron, the
orbital combines into one.
Molecules such as O2 (oxygen molecule), H2
(hydrogen molecule), Cl2 (chlorine molecule), N3
(nitrogen molecule), C-60 (buckminsterfullerene),
CH4 (methane), C6H6 (benzene), etc are formed by
covalent bonds.
These orbitals look complicated, right? What if there
was a way to show these bonds?
In 1916, a man called Gilbert N. Lewis explained the
concept of an electron dot structure in his book The
Atom and The Molecule.
It says that instead of arranging atoms in circles we
can arrange them like this:
The O in the middle represents the nucleus and the

dots are the outermost electrons.
And when we combine two oxygen atoms to form an
O2 molecule, we represent it like this:

(I rearranged the dot structure for simplicity.)
So now the two single dots become bonds.
S. No Basis of Ionic Bonds Covalent Bonds

difference
1. Elements They are generally They are generally
formed between a formed between
metal and a non- two non-metals.
metal.
2. Electrons The electrons are The electrons are
transferred from shared between
one atom to the elements.
another.
3. Melting Point High melting point Low melting point
4. Boiling Point High boiling point Low boiling point
5. Direction of Non-directional Directional bond
bond bond

6. Polarity High polarity Low polarity
7. Shape Definite shape Irregular shape
8. State at room Sometimes solid, Sometimes liquid
temperature mostly liquid and and gaseous,
gaseous mostly solid
There are a lot of differences between ionic and

covalent bonds.
So, what is the meaning of these bonds in our quest

of exoplanets? We are looking for an element that
can bind with many other elements with relative ease
and is stable.
Carbon.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
“Organic chemistry has become a vast

rubbish heap of puzzling and bewildering
compounds.” – J. Norman Collie

Carbon’s Army of
Compounds-1
“We define organic chemistry as the chemistry
of carbon compounds.”- August Kekulé
So, from our last chapter we learnt that elements can
form compounds through two major bonds: ionic
and covalent.
Image 22: A carbon atom with its nucleus and

electrons, according to the Bohr’s model of an atom.
Image Courtesy: byjus.com

So, what is so “special” about carbon? Well, there are
two parameters:
• Carbon can gain four electrons to complete its
outermost shell.
• Carbon can lose four electrons to complete its
outermost shell.
Now we have a versatile compound which can either
gain or lose electrons.
So, let’s see how carbon forms compounds. In this
example, we will take methane (CH4) as our test
subject.
• Carbon needs four electrons to complete four
electrons.
• Hydrogen can share one electron.
• So, they form a compound like this:
This compound is called methane and has four single

hydrogen bonds around a carbon.

Methane, like all covalent compounds is mostly
found in its gaseous state. It is used as a fuel and as
an ingredient for making organic chemical.
Next example, ethane (C2H6).
1. Make a single carbon-to-carbon bond.
2. Hydrogen can share one electron and each
carbon needs three electrons.
3. So, the compound looks like this:
Ethane is used in plastic and detergent

manufacturing.
Such compounds are called linked compounds,
accounting for the shape of the compounds.
Let’s take hexane for the moment.

To analyse such compounds, we take the “skeleton”
of the compound, (by removing all the other
elements other than carbon) as such:
We see it is a straight link of six carbon atoms. What if

I split the chain into this?

And now if I attach the hydrogens to the carbon
atoms, I get:
The structure looks a lot different from the above

straight linked yet the chemical composition is the
same, six carbons. Such compounds are called
branched compounds.
What else can we do to this straight linked hexane
skeleton? Let’s assume the six atoms as six points and
the distance between two adjacent points is equal.
What is the first shape that come to our mind? Yes, a
regular hexagon is our first choice. So, the skeleton
looks like this:

Adding the hydrogens, we get:
Such compounds are called cyclic compounds.

We have just touched the tip of the iceberg. We can
create more compounds using different elements
like chloro-compounds, ketones, alkanes, alkynes,
basically the stereotypical aspect of chemistry.
--------------------------------------------------------------
“You will die but carbon will not; its career

does not end with you. It will return to the soil,
and there a plant may take it up again in time,
sending it once more on a cycle of plant and
animal life.”- Jacob Bronowski

Carbon’s Army of
Compounds-2
“We cannot hope to either understand or to
manage the carbon in the atmosphere unless
we understand and manage the trees and the
soil too.”- Freeman Dyson
In the last chapter, we learnt that carbon has a
tendency to form almost unlimited compounds. The
compounds we saw are called as hydrocarbons. Now
we will see, as promised in the previous chapter, how
carbon reacts to other elements.
There are some fundamental groups when we study
carbon’s compounds. Some can be simple like
chloro-compounds and some can be complex like
carboxylic acids.
(For all these examples, the main hydrocarbon is
butane.)
Starting with chlorine; chlorine needs one electron to
complete its outer shell and carbon can give it. So,
what we can do is, take the hydrocarbon and
substitute one hydrogen for chlorine, as follows:

This compound is now called chlorobutane, i.e, four
carbons with hydrogens and one chlorine.
This holds true for all the halogens, that is, fluorine,
chlorine, bromine, iodine, etc. The general name of
these compounds is called haloalkanes. The prefix
used to define these compounds are chloro-, fluoro-,
bromo-, etc.
Next up is the alcohol group. It is rather
straightforward. It looks like this:

(The carbon atom shown is just an example how an
OH molecule reacts with a carbon atom.
Attach the OH molecule to substitute the hydrogen,
as follows:
The compound created above is called butanol. It is

used as a solvent in the food industry, in lacquers and
varnishes, vegetable oils, dyes, etc. To write the suffix
for such compounds with an alcohol group is to
remove the “-e”, in this case, it becomes “butan- “.
Next, add the suffix “-ol”, so that it becomes, in this
case, butanol.
Next up is the aldehyde group. This is how an
aldehyde looks like:

Attaching this group to butane, we get:
This compound is called butanal. It is used in rubber

accelerators, synthetic resins, solvents and
plasticizers. The suffix for such compounds is
obtained by removing the “-e” and adding a “-al” in
the end, in this case, butanal.
Next up is the ketones. This is how a ketone looks
like:

Ah, I forgot to tell one thing. Elements can form
single, double and triple bonds in covalent
chemistry. So, it means that if I have a double bond
with carbon, two of carbon’s valencies are satisfied
and vice versa. The fundamental groups we were
seeing were composed of single bonds. The ketone
group is composed of carbon double-bonded with
oxygen. Attaching this chain to butane, we get:
This compound is now called butanone. It is used in

industrial paints, glues etc. The suffix for such

compounds is obtained by removing the “-e” and
adding a “-one”, in this case, butanone.
The next group is called the carboxylic acids. It looks
like this:
It is basically a carbon atom single-bonding with a

OH molecule and is double-bonded with oxygen on
the other side. Applying this group to butane, we
get:
This compound is called butanoic acid and is acidic

in nature (Duh, we never knew that, did we?). It is

used in the manufacture of perfumes, flavourings,
pharmaceuticals and disinfectants. The suffix for this
type of compound is “-oic acid”.
The next group is called the amides. It looks like this:
It is basically a carbon atom double bonding with

oxygen on one side, whereas single bonding with
nitrogen on the other side. Adding this group to
butane, we get:

This compound is now called as butanamide. It is
used in a lot of complicated situations, from the
manufacture of hydroxamic acids to the manufacture
beta-amodoorganotin (baffle your teacher by this).
You are now perhaps wondering how these complex
yet satisfying compounds relate to our question, that
is: How is carbon responsible for creating life as we
know today?
--------------------------------------------------------------
“Controlling carbon is a bureaucrat’s dream. If

you control carbon, you control life”- Richard
Lindzen

The Early Solar System
“On a cooler sun on a primordial earth: "I later
learned that biologists, when they are feeling
jocose, refer to this as the 'Chinese Restaurant
Problem'--because we has a dim sun.”- Bill
Bryson
Let’s now shift our focus to the early Solar System.
The Sun, as we knew, was a new born star,
sometimes referred as a protostar, or this case,
“protosun’. The protosun formed in a planetary
nebula, a big one, as it happens. The protosun began
feeding itself on the remnants of the nebula. Slowly,
the protosun became big.
Image 23: A photo render of how the sun must have

looked before it became what it is today.
Image Courtesy: phys.org

The interesting thing to note here is unlike other big
stars, the Sun did not feed itself on all the nebular
matter. After some million years, the matter started to
condense, forming the “protoplanets”. These objects
had a high revolution and rotation speed. But as we
know, momentum decreases with increase in time.
Gradually, the protoplanets took a recognizable form

in the shape of a sphere. The elements started to
settle down, relatively.
Anyways, we are not fussed about all the planets. We

are looking for one planet in particular. Earth.
Earth is special in a lot of ways. For one, it is at the

perfect distance from its host star. This factor
determines how hot or cold a planet is to be. Second,
is that, the elements categorized themselves. That is,
the lighter elements formed the atmosphere like
hydrogen, helium etc. and the heavier elements like
iron, sodium etc. formed the crust, mantle and core.
This is unique because, in some planets like Jupiter,
hydrogen, which is a gas (Duh.), can be found in a
liquid state.
The primordial Earth was a literal hell. Lakes of lava,

occasional explosions, no life, everything was
desolate here. Elements started to form compounds
but were shattered by the proto-Earth’s instability. As
mentioned, Earth cooled down, hence the elements
started making stable compounds.

The most important of these compounds are amino
acids. They are made up of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen,
and most importantly, a fundamental group, like the
aldehydes. They look like this:
The “R” is unique for every amino acid, which makes

them pretty special and diversified. The most
common examples are glycine (one hydrogen),
valine (glycine but hydrogen is substituted by an
isopropyl), leucine, isoleucine, proline etc.
Amino acids gave rise to the next tier of life, proteins.

Proteins are regarded as one of the building blocks
of life because it is the main material of many cell
organelles.

The next important complex compound is glucose.
Glucose gives rise to different other compounds like
carbohydrates, fructose, sucrose, and most
importantly, cellulose. It looks like this:
The third complex compound we are going to

discuss are fatty acids. These are the, sort of, a
storage area for glucose. They look like this:
(The above compound is found in coconut oil. There

are other fatty acids which are beyond the scope for
our purpose.)

The fourth complex compound we are going to
discuss are vitamins. These compounds help in
repairing different parts of our body. They look like
this:
(The above compound is called vitamin B. It helps in

cell health, growth of red blood cells, good eyesight
etc.)
So where can we find these complex yet primordial

compounds in nature. What if I told you that you will
find these compounds in your body? Surprising, ain’t
it?
Amino acid, aka proteins (in the case of our body),

are found when you eat eggs, chicken, fish etc.
Glucose, aka carbohydrates, are found when you eat
bread, rice, jam etc. Fatty acids, aka fats, are found

when you eat oil-based food like samosas, jalebis etc.
Vitamins, (no aka’s) are found when you eat
vegetables and fruits like oranges, apples, bananas,
mangoes etc.
What I would suggest for a healthy diet to have a

moderate amount of carbohydrates, a lesser quantity
of proteins, meagre amount of fats and a lot of
vitamins for a healthy body.
But you might be asking, how does our diet relate to

our prime question?
All right, all right. To explain why I am talking about

your diet, we need to go from macroscopic to
microscopic.
--------------------------------------------------------------
“The cell never acts, it always reacts.”- Ernst

Haeckel

Cell- The Biological Atom-1
“A cell is regarded as the true biological
atom.” -George Henry Lewes
We know, from previous chapters, a big thing is
made from several small things. Take the case of
anything non-living, for example, a chair. They are
made from wood (aka cellulose). Cellulose is made
from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, or simply atoms.
(Of course, you will say an atom is made from
protons, electrons and neutrons. But seeing that we
have already discussed this and going too small will
complicate matters, we are not discussing further on
the subject.)
Same goes for living organisms like birds, humans,

mammals, etc. We have different organs to do
different tasks like breathing, tasting, thinking and so
on. These organs are a part of an organ system, like
the respiratory system, the digestive system and the
nervous system. These organs are made up of things
called “tissues”. These are fibre-like, thin, and useful
structures for the body. These tissues are formed
from unit substances called cells.

So, what is a cell then? A cell, is a functional and
structural unit of life.
My science teacher always said to me, “Traditionally,
when a statement is short and concise, we take each
word seriously.” In this case, let’s start with structural.
As seen in the above pyramid chart, we can see that a
cell forms structures to comprise an organism. This
forms the structural part of the definition.
Being a fundamental part, the cell has to play a lot of
roles depending on the situation. Let’s take the
examples of the neuron and muscle. The neuron
needs to transport information across the body;
hence it needs a long and thin yet strong body.
Taking the case of muscles, they need to get the
oxygen in large amounts quickly, so that the motion
keeps going. Here we can see that a cell does some
work which helps the organism in the whole. This
forms the fundamental part of the definition.
Organisms come in two types: unicellular and
multicellular. Unicellular organisms have only one cell
to their name. These can range from the tiniest
bacteria to the largest algae which invades the lakes.
Multicellular organisms have many cells in their
name. They can range from nostocs to big elephants.
They often have trillions of cells.

(Fun fact: The human body has 724,000,000,000,000
cells.)
There are three factors that determine the function of
the cell:
1. Nucleus: Let’s take an example of a computer’s
CPU (central processing unit). What does a CPU
do? It processes the information and gives it as
an output, and in some cases, store the data for
further usage. The nucleus is a sort of the CPU
of the cell. It controls all the activities of the cell
like producing energy, making proteins,
creating DNA and RNA and so on. The size of
the nucleus depends of the space allocated to
the cell and the function. For example, the
muscles cells need more energy producing
organelles (organs of the cell) than a big
nucleus. Nerve cells need prefect coordination
to send information across the body. Hence the
nucleus is kept isolated from the rest of the cell.

Image 24: A photo render of a nucleus in a typical eukaryotic
cell.
Image Courtesy: videvo.net
2. Cell membrane: Let’s bring the computer back.

Your computer has an anti-virus to protect your
data from malicious software like trojans and
viruses. It analyses each file and program to
check for any viruses. The cell membrane, or if
you want to be fancy, the plasma membrane is
sort of the anti-virus software of the cell. It
analyses everything trying to enter to enter the
cell. It allows useful substances like proteins,
water etc. and rejects bad substances like
viruses etc. It is made of a phospholipid bilayer,
i.e., the top part is made of a phosphorus
molecule and the bottom part is made from
lipids.

Image 25: A plasma membrane working in full flow to sustain
the cell.
3. Cytoplasm: All the cell organelles float in a jelly-

like substance called as cytoplasm. Particles like
proteins, ATPs, starch zip across the fluid
matrix. (In the image, the red fluid is the
cytoplasm.)
Image 26: The cytoplasm and the cell organelles inside it.
Image Courtesy: istockphoto.com
On the basis of the nature of nucleus, cells are

classified as prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. (Sounds
like geeky stuff to me.) The word prokaryotic is

derived from “pro- “(primitive) and “karyon” (kernel or
in this case, nucleus.) In prokaryotic (sounds easy
now?) cells, the nucleus is not fully matured to do any
high-level cell functions. Examples include amoeba,
blue-green algae, mycobacteria etc.

On the basis of position, i.e., in a plant or an animal,
cells are segregated into plant cells and animal cells.
Both are eukaryotic but plant cells have another layer
of protection after the plasma membrane called the
cell wall. It is composed of cellulose. But cell wall is
not exclusive to plants only. It has been found in
bacterial cells, algae and fungal cells (composition
might vary).
If there are so many different varieties of cells, how
do they coordinate their functions effectively. The
answer is rather obvious: organs of the cell help the
cell to perform its functions.
--------------------------------------------------------------
“Cell structure is a little like gardening. You sit
and look at the cells and then you see
something and say, “You know, that doesn’t
look right.”- Siddhartha Mukherjee

Cell- The Biological Atom-2
“Life is a whim of several billion cells to be you
for a while.”- Groucho Marx
In the previous chapter we saw the different categories of
cells on the basis of different factors like complexity of
nucleus (eukaryotes and prokaryotes), number of cells
(unicellular or multicellular) and so on.
But what we have never looked is how the cell works
so seamlessly.
Just as we have organs to perform our vital functions
like how the lungs helps in breathing, the cell has
organs known as cell organelles. Each has its own
unique properties and functions. We will we be first
looking at the organelles of a prokaryotic cell and
then progressively move to eukaryotic cells.
First up is the nucleoid. To feel prokaryotic cells
better about themselves, they have a 3rd grade copy
of a true nucleus called as a nucleoid. Apparently, it
stores all the genetic information of the cell.

Next up is the plasmid. Again, as with the nucleoid-
nucleus issue, prokaryotes have a unique type of
DNA known as plasmids. DNAs in a eukaryotic cell
are double-helix in shape but plasmids are circular.
DNA in a eukaryotic cell is found only in the nucleus
bound together by proteins called as histones
whereas plasmids are simple and not bound to some
complex structure. Also, they are found floating in the
cytoplasm.

The last thing we are discussing on prokaryotes are
its ribosomes. Ribosomes are the protein factories of
any cell, whether it is eukaryotic or prokaryotic in
nature. However, there is a fine distinction between
the ribosomes in both these types of cells. Firstly, the
ribosomes in a prokaryotic cell are the 70S
ribosomes, i.e., the “S” standing for Svedberg units
and in eukaryotic cells, it is the 80S variety of
ribosomes. Secondly, ribosomes in a prokaryotic cell
are found freely in the cytoplasm but in eukaryotes,
ribosomes are found floating and are also found
attached to the endoplasmic reticulum of the cell.

Image 27: The ribosome without the membrane
covering it.
Image Courtesy: ma.ucsc.edu
So, we are now done with the main organelles of a

prokaryotic cell. Let’s move to an animal cell for the
basic organelles of a eukaryotic cell.
First on our list is the nucleus. Although we have
already discussed this organelle, we will now be
exploring how this teeny-tiny organelle differentiates
the huge variety of cells into lowly prokaryotes and
royal eukaryotes. (I don’t mean to differentiate, but
hey, the truth is the truth.) The nucleus is the boss of

the cell as it regulates almost everything that goes in
the cell. Want to know when the cell eats or what is
the speed of packaging of materials in and out of the
cell? The nucleus is your man, or so to say, your
organelle. It contains a library of instructions known
as genes which you inherit from your parents. For
every situation, whether it is simple or apoplectic, the
nucleus has all the solutions. These genes compile to
form DNA, that is, (be ready for your brain to burst
into a million pieces), deoxyribonucleic acid. These
DNAs are bound to histone proteins to form
chromatin fibres. And when the cell is about to divide
(binary fission in most cases), the chromatins clump
together to form chromosomes.
(I am not going into details, because 1) it’s
complicated and 2) it’s not relevant to the main topic
of our discussion.)

The nucleus has many complex things inside it. The
nucleus has an outer covering called as the nuclear
envelope (sad you can’t post any letters in it) but it is
not smooth and rigid as you might think. It has
openings so to let input material come into the
nucleus. Like the cell has cytoplasm, the nucleus has
its own jelly-like matrix known as nucleoplasm.
Chromatins are suspended in it. At the heart of the
nucleus is perhaps the most significant thing of it, the
nucleolus. It sends information to start the
productions of protein-producing ribosomes.
Image 28: A diagram of the inner workings of the

nucleus.
Image Courtesy: microbionotes.com

Next up on our hitlist is the endoplasmic reticulum or
ER for short.
It secretes various complex compounds like proteins
and lipids throughout the cell. It also acts as an
interface from the nucleus to the cytoplasm. The ER is
composed of two main components:
1. Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum: This part of the
ER is “rough” because ribosomes are
embedded in its surface. These ribosomes
along with the floating ribosomes of the
cytoplasm help the cell secrete protein for its
own use. They are found more abundantly in
the hepatocytes of the liver which needs
proteins to carry on its day-to-day functions.
2. Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum: This part of
the ER is “smooth”, because, well, it has no
ribosomes on it. It secretes important
molecules like steroids (to decrease
inflammation in the cell), phospholipids (for the
plasma membrane) and lipids (to store energy
for long term use, aka fats). They are found in
big amounts where something or the other has
to be secreted like the oil glands in the skin
which waterproofs the skin. It also helps in
detoxification of the cell.

Image 29: The endoplasmic reticulum (both RER and
SER included) with the nucleus.
Image Courtesy: javatpint.com
The next organelle is the mitochondria (singular is

mitochondrion). You can spell it like, “mai-toh-
kawn-dree-uh”. Remember this pronunciation
because this organelle is the second-best
organelle in the cell after the nucleus. It is the main
source of energy for the cell. It manufactures
“adenosine triphosphate” or just ATP for short.
This ATP along with the proteins of the ribosomes
fuel up the cell to perform its day-to-day activities.
It is believed that the mitochondria once used to
be a prokaryotic cell until it was engulfed by a
eukaryotic cell and adapted itself for the cell. Proof

of this? Well, the mitochondria has its own DNA
which only comes from your mother’s genes and
also has its own ribosomes (the 70S variety,
generally found in prokaryotes). To increase the
efficiency of the mitochondria, it has invaginations,
also known as cristae, to increase the surface area
so that more reactions can take place to form the
ATP molecules.
Image 30: Diagram of mitochondria, the powerhouse of

the cell.
The next organelle we are about to discuss is the

Golgi apparatus, (called dictyosomes in plant cells),

the packaging centre of the cell. It is named after
Camilo Golgi, the bloke who discovered it using
body, the Golgi Complex and the Golgi Apparatus.
The main function of the Golgi body/apparatus is to
“package” the proteins and lipids synthesised by the
RER/ribosomes and the SER respectively. What it
basically does is it packs the proteins and lipids into a
vesicle along with a recognition protein. The cell has
an option to decide whether to store the vesicle or
send it out for the other cells to use. The Golgi
apparatus also acts as a trash identifier. We know that
each chemical reaction has a by-product and some of
these by-products are not needed by the cell. So, to
conserve space, the “trash” molecules are sent to the
Golgi apparatus and then it is packed and sent to the
plasma membrane for disposal. It also secretes
mucus, which is present when you have a running
nose, but is beneficial in a way. Mucus traps bacteria,
viruses, fungal spores from entering your body by
trapping them in their sticky matrix. And then when
you blow your nose, all those microorganisms will go
away down the sink. The Golgi apparatus is made up
of flattened discs and has two faces, the cis face and
the trans face. The proteins and lipids enter the cis
face and get processed in the cisternae. The new
vesicle containing the modified proteins or lipids is
transferred to the trans face.

Image 31: The Golgi apparatus, along with the incoming
and outgoing vesicles.
Image Courtesy: britainnica.com
The next organelle is perhaps the most dangerous

organelle of all, the lysosome. It is known as the
“suicide bag” of the cell because it dies after doing its
function which is to basically destroy the thing it is
specified to. To give a more peaceful definition,
when a cell organelle is worn out or is doing the work

in a wonky sort of way, the lysosome goes and sprays
hydrolytic enzymes all over the organelle. It also acts
as the cell’s army as it kills the viruses, bacteria and
other stuff which are trying to invade the cell. The
lysosomes are activated by the nucleus and are
manufactured by the Golgi apparatus. It is covered in
a single membrane of width 100 µm. If you want to
infiltrate the cell, manipulating the lysosome is your
best bet.
Image 32: The lysosome, the most dangerous and

unstable organelle of a cell.
Image Courtesy: dreamstime.com

The next organelle is the vacuole, the storehouse of
the cell. It stores important nutrients like proteins,
complex molecules, ATP etc. for the cell for later
usage. Animal cells have many vacuoles but are small
in size, whereas in plant cells, the vacuole is the
prominent organelle after the nucleus. It is covered
by a membrane known as the tonoplast. Following is
a diagram of the plant cell’s vacuole (diagram won’t
vary much in animal cells, but will be a lot smaller):
Image 33: The vacuole is one of those organelles which

define the similarities between a plant cell and an
animal cell.

The next organelle is the centriole, which helps the
cell in cell division. Cell division is a fancy way of
saying that the cell splits itself into two parts called as
daughter cells and then those daughter cells divide
to form two more daughter cells and so on. They are
only two for each cell and position themselves at the
poles of the cell. The function of centrioles is to help
organize the chromosomes before cell division
occurs so that each daughter cell has the correct
number of chromosomes after the cell divides.
Centrioles are found only in animal cells, and are
located near the nucleus. They are made of a protein
called as tubulin.
Image 34: The centriole, the helper of cell divison.

Image Courtesy: science.howstuffworks.com

Now we move on the organelles of the ever-versatile
plant cell. The plant is a eukaryotic cell, like the
animal cell. So, obviously, both of them have some
things in common. But due to the process of
evolution, plants had employed more organelles to
do its functions. So, let’s now see the exceptional
organelles of the plant cell which we animals don’t
have:
Starting off, we have the cell wall, the toughest
membrane of the entire cell family. It is composed of
cellulose and hemicellulose. Its position is the outer
membrane of the cell, i.e., before the plasma
membrane. The primary function of the cell wall is to
protect and provide structural support to the cell. The
plant cell wall is also involved in protecting the cell
against mechanical stress and to provide form and
structure to the cell. It also filters the molecules
passing in and out of the cell.

Image 35: The cell wall, the plant cell’s toughest
bodyguard ever.
Image Courtesy: thoughtco.com
The next organelle of the plant cell is the plastids.

They are the next version of the mitochondria, only
more powerful and versatile. They do complex stuff
for the cell like manufacturing carbohydrates,
proteins and fats, giving the green colour to the plant
and much more. They also do the most famous thing
which plants are famous for: making food out of thin
sunlight and air. The plastid is differentiated on the
basis of function they do:
1. Proplastid: A proplastid is an organelle found
in the meristematic regions of the plant. It is

colourless and small. It is from where plastids
are derived. It is still undeveloped and may
divide to produce more proplastids. As the cell
containing proplastids mature, the proplastids
transform and develop into plastids with
specialized functions.
Image 36: A microscopically enlarged image of a

proplastid.
Image Courtesy: journals.biologists.com

2. Etioplast: Etioplasts are chloroplasts that have
not been exposed to light. They are usually
found in flowering plants grown in the dark. If a
plant is kept out of light for several days, its
normal green pigments will actually convert
into etioplasts.
Image 37: A microscopic image of the etioplast.

Image Courtesy: pixels.com
3. Leucoplast: Leucoplasts are usually found in

most of the non-photosynthetic parts of the
plant like roots. They act as a storage shed for
starches, lipids, and proteins depending on the
need of the plants. They are mostly used for
converting amino acids and fatty acids.

Image 38: A microscopic image of the leucoplast.
There are many types of leucoplasts on the basis of

what they store:
a) Amyloplasts: Amyloplasts are found in roots
and storage tissues and store and
synthesize starch for the plant through
the polymerization of glucose.

Image 38: A stained slide of amyloplasts put under a
microscope.
Image Courtesy: pixabay.com
b) Elaioplasts: Elaioplasts are found in the

anthers of flowering plants and in the seeds of
oil plants like sunflower, groundnut etc. and in
citrus fruits. They produce fats and lipids for the
cell for future usage.

Image 39: A black-white microscopic photo of
elaioplasts.
Image Courtesy: nature.com
c) Proteinoplast: Proteinoplasts (also known as

aleuroplasts) are responsible for… (duh)
proteins. They are found in protein-rich plants
like Brazil nuts, pulses and peanuts.

Image 40: A faintly-stained slide of proteinoplasts.
Image Courtesy: wikiwand.com
4. Chromoplast: Chromoplasts is the secret to a

plant’s beauty, its colour. They produce
carotenoids, i.e., different colour pigments for
the cell. They are found more concentrated in
the flowers and basically everywhere which is
not green in colour.

Image 41: A vibrant microscopic image of a group of
chromoplasts. (slide taken from the plasmodesmata of a plant
cell.
Image Courtesy: stock.adobe.com
5. Chloroplasts: Chloroplasts are a subunit of

chromoplasts, just that instead of many colours,
it produces the green pigment, chlorophyll. It is
the site for photosynthesis, i.e., producing food
from sunlight for the plant.
Image 42: A microscopic image of the driver of photosynthesis,

chloroplasts.
Image Courtesy: quora.com

So…I think we are done with all the basic organelles
of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Note that in
some cells, they have transformed their organelles to
suit their needs. This is called adaptability of
organisms. For example, amoeba has modified its
plasma membrane to pseudopodium (meaning false
feet). It helps the organism to engulf the food on its
way.
Let’s now proceed to the second ladder of our
biology pyramid- tissues.
--------------------------------------------------------------
“Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissues.

Realize the strength and move on.” -Henry
Rollins

Tissues- The Backbone of
bio-functions
“Any cell, tissue or organ is capable of crying out
for attention, and when you give it some, the
healing process begins.” -Deepak Chopra
In the last chapter we have discussed how a cell is
capable of the most primitive of bio-functions. Now
we shall see how these cells come together in perfect
coordination to form something even more complex.
The study of tissues is called histology.
Simply put, a tissue is a group of cells working in
perfect coordination with each other. There are
several types of tissues based on what they do and
where they are located.
Just like cells, tissues are divided into two broad
categories: plant tissues and animal tissues.
Let’s start with the plant tissue this time (because we
started off with the animal cells in the previous
chapter). They are broadly classified into
meristematic and permanent tissues.
Meristematic tissues are the tissues that divide
constantly. These tissues are found in areas of growth

of a plant. The cells of this tissue are spherical, oval,
polygonal or rectangular in shape. They have a dense
cytoplasm and a prominent nucleus. On the basis of
location, the meristematic tissues are divided into
apical, intercalary and lateral meristems.
Image 43: A cross-section of a plant stem to show

the meristematic cells.
Image Courtesy: byjus.com

• Apical meristem: These tissues are situated at
the shoots and roots of the plant. They produce
vertical height to the plant.
• Intercalary meristem: These tissues are
located near the nodes and internodes of the
plant. They are responsible for the elongation
of the stem.
• Lateral meristem: These tissues are found just
beneath the bark. It is responsible for
increasing the girth or thickness of the stem.
Heading on to permanent tissues, we find that the
meristematic tissues have adapted themselves (the
technical term is differentiation) to form the
permanent tissues. They do not divide as they lose
the ability to divide on maturity. Permanent tissues
are divided on the basis of complexity, simple
permanent tissues and complex permanent tissues.
Simple permanent tissue is divided into three types,
parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma.
• Parenchyma: The cells of this tissue are large,
rounded or iso-diametric. They are thinly walled
and have a large central vacuole. The
parenchyma can change its form depending
upon what it is storing. When it contains the
green pigment chlorophyll, it becomes a
chlorenchyma. When parenchyma is present is
water plants like lotus and needs buoyancy to
float, it fills up with air and becomes an
aerenchyma. When parenchyma stores ergastic
substances (non-protoplasmic substances), it
becomes an idioblast.
Image 43: A view of a stem to prove it contains

parenchyma.
• Collenchyma: The cells of this tissue have thin

walls that are especially thick at their corners
due to deposition of cellulose and pectin.
Intercellular spaces are generally absent.
Collenchyma provides mechanical support for
plants with no secondary growth. It is present at

the margin of leaves and resist the tearing
effect of the wind.
Image 44: A view of collenchyma from a microscope.

Image Courtesy: topperlearning.com
• Sclerenchyma: The cells of this tissue are

completely dead and thick walled with

deposition of lignin. It comprises in the
formation of the secondary growth of the plant,
i.e., the bark of the cell.
Image 45: Stained slide of sclerenchyma under a

microscope.
Image Courtesy: carolina.com
Moving on to complex permanent tissues, they are

composed of more than one type of cell which work
together as a unit. There are two types of complex
permanent tissues, xylem and phloem.

• Xylem: Xylem conducts water and dissolved
minerals from the roots to all other parts of the
plant. The xylem is composed of tracheids,
vessels, xylem parenchyma and xylem
sclerenchyma. It also gives mechanical strength
to the plant.
• Phloem: Phloem conducts food and water

across the plant. It is composed of sieve tubes,
companion cells, phloem parenchyma and
phloem sclerenchyma.

Image 46: A cross-section of a flax stem. The first
circle is the pith, the second circle is the xylem, the
third circle is the xylem (a little more complex than the
previous one), the fourth one is the phloem, the fifth
one is the sclerenchyma, the sixth one is the cortex
and the last circle is the epidermis.
Next up is the cortex, the second-outer layer of a

plant. The cells are mostly thinly-walled parenchyma
and may contain chloroplasts in it (the outer cortex).
It lies below the epidermis and forms a part of the
cork of obtained from a woody plant. (Refer cross-
section for diagram.)
The last tissue of the plant cell is the epidermis.
“Epidermis” is a general term meaning “outer layer”.
It is the final covering of leaves, roots, stems and
flowers of the plant. It protects against water loss,
regulate gas exchange, secretes metabolic
compounds, and (especially in roots) absorbs water
and mineral nutrients.
(Refer cross-section for diagram.)
We have now finished with the plant part of the

tissues. Let’s move on to the tissues present in our
body, the animal tissues.
Animal tissues are classified on what do they do,
where they are present, why they are present and so
on. Broadly, animal tissues are divided into four
types: epithelial tissues, muscular tissues, connective
tissues and nervous tissues.
Starting off with the epithelial tissues, whose main
function is to cover and protect the sensitive organs
of the animal body, basically what we call the skin
and the dermal section. They also form ducts and
glands, like the sweat glands on our skin. Epithelial
tissues are classified on the basis of shape, i.e., the
shape of the cells.
• Simple epithelium:

a) Simple squamous epithelium: The cells of
this epithelium are thin, flat, irregular in
shape with no intercellular space. They
protect the linings of important organs like
mouth, oesophagus, nose, blood vessels etc.
Skin is also composed of this epithelium.
Image 47: An animated photo of a simple squamous

epithelium.
Image Courtesy: biologydictonnary.net
b) Cuboidal epithelium: The cells are cubical

in shape and are found in kidney tubules,
salivary glands, thyroid glands etc. It helps in
absorption, excretion and secretion.

Image 48: An animated photo of a simple cuboidal epithelium.
Image Courtesy: commons.wikimedia.org
c) Columnar epithelium: The cells are

cylindrical in shape in which the nucleus is
towards the base. They are found near the
lining of the stomach, small intestine and
colon, forming mucous membrane for the
gall bladders and the oviducts. A
modification of the columnar epithelium is
the glandular epithelium. It is present where
smoothness is required, like the nasal
passage where these glands secrete mucus
(too much of it and we get a cold and a
running nose) which is a
mucopolysaccharide (something complex
composed of proteins and carbohydrates).
Image 49: A pencil diagram of a columnar epithelium.
Image Courtesy: jotscroll.com
d) Ciliated epithelium: They are just columnar

epithelium, just that they have these hair-like
projections called as cilia. They are found in
the reproductive tract, the sperm duct and
the oviduct. They are also found in the lining
of the trachea and bronchi and the kidney
tubules.

Image 50: A ciliated columnar epithelium with the hair-
like projections, cilia.
Image Courtesy: bio.davidson.edu
e) Pseudostratified epithelium: A
pseudostratified epithelium is a type of
epithelium that comprises of only a single
layer of cells, but it is positioned in a way that
the tissue looks stacked or stratified in
shape. They are found in the lining of
trachea as well as the upper respiratory tract.

Image 51: An animated image of the (oh, dear)
pseudostratified epithelium.
Image Courtesy: biologydictonnary.net
• Complex epithelium:
a) Transitional epithelium: Transitional
epithelium is a stacked or stratified
epithelium in which the shape of the surface
cell changes depending upon the degree of
stretch. When the epithelium is not
stretched, the cells of the surface layers are
large and rounded.

Image 52: A diagram of the transitional epithelium.
Image Courtesy: microbenotes.com
Next up, we meet the muscular tissues. They contain

cells with strong contractile ability which produces
movement in a body. Muscle cells are long and
slender, arranged in a parallel pattern. These cells
have a lot of microfilaments (a part of the
cytoskeleton) which are composed of actin and
myosin (a kind of complex protein). The muscular
tissue can be divided into three parts:
a) Skeletal muscles: Don’t get fooled by the term
“skeletal”. It means that these muscles
cooperate with bones to produce voluntary
(stuff which we can control) movement. Some
good examples of voluntary movement are

running, twisting your abdomen, typing a letter
to your grandmother etc. The cells of the
skeletal tissue are cylindrical with many nuclei
(plural for nucleus) arranged in bundles. It is
present in the locomotory regions of the body,
like the legs and the arms, also in the pharynx,
tongue (yes, tongue is also a muscle) and at the
beginning of the oesophagus.
Image 52: A microscopic image of the skeletal tissue.

You can see little bands across the tissue and some
purple dots. The bands are called striations and the
purple dots are the nuclei. Fun fact: Skeletal muscles
are also called straited muscles because of these
striations.
Image Courtesy: teaching.ncl.ac.uk

b) Smooth muscles: Smooth muscle cells are
spindle shaped and has a single nucleus at the
centre of each cell. These are also called
unstraited muscles because they don’t have any
bands across the tissue. These tissues are
mainly found in areas of involuntary (stuff we
can’t control) motion, like at the intestine,
arteries and veins, iris of the eye, ciliary bodies,
uterus, urinary bladder etc.

Image 53: A microscopic image of the smooth muscle. You can
see that the cells are spindle shaped with a prominent nucleus
at the centre.
Image Courtesy: medcell.med.yale.edu
c) Cardiac muscles: Cardiac muscles are

somewhat of a mix between skeletal muscles
and smooth muscles. They contain striations
like the skeletal muscle but have a single
nucleus at the centre. It is only restricted to the
heart of the body.
Image 54: A microscopic image of the cardiac muscle.

You can see the branched tissues containing the
bands and a single nucleus for each cell.

Next up, we have the connective tissues. These
tissues connect different parts of the body, fill up the
empty space, act as shock absorbers for various
delicate organs, stores energy for further use (aka
fats) and so on. Connective tissues can be divided
into four types on the basis of their function:
a) Areolar tissue: Areolar tissue is found in the

skin and in most of the internal organs of the
organism. It is found in epithelial membranes,
blood vessels, and nerves. It forms a matrix that
surrounds and supports the thing it is
supposed to protect.
Image 55: A microscopic image of an areolar tissue.

Areolar tissue is also called loose connective tissue
because of the loose threads hanging around the
tissue.
Image Courtesy: studyqueries.com

b) Dense connective tissue: This connective
tissue serves as a packing and binding material
for most of the organs in the body. Complex
molecules like collagen and elastin are present
in the matrix. This tissue is the main component
of tendons (muscle-bone connector) and
ligaments (bone-bone connector).
Image 56: A microscopic image of the dense

connective tissue. You can see the dense packing of
the cells, hence the name, “dense” connective
tissues.

c) Adipose tissue: Adipose tissues store fats
which act as a shock absorber for many delicate
organs. It is located below the skin and acts as
an insulator. The cells of the adipose, also
called as adipocytes, are irregular and have a
large central storage area for the fats. Adipose
tissues are also found in the blubber of many
snowy animals like penguins, whales, polar
bears, snow foxes etc.
Image 57: A microscopic image of an adipose tissue.

Image Courtesy: terumobct.org

d) Skeletal tissue: Skeletal tissues are the
tissues relating to the skeletal system of an
organism. They are of two types:
1. Cartilage tissue: The cells of
this tissue, also known as
chondrocytes, are responsible
for creating a firm yet flexible
matrix. It has an extensive matrix
which is usually pin, somewhat
translucent with a clearly visible
space called as a “lacunae”.
Cartilages are present in the
nose (the property which makes
you bend your nose), the ear
(some people have the ability to
twist the ears without using
his/her hands), the bone joints
and in the supporting rings of
the trachea.

Image 58: A microscopic image of a hyaline cartilage.
The purple stuff is the chondrocytes and the holes
are the lacunae.
Image Courtesy: medcell.med.yale.edu
2. Bones: The bone tissue is very

hard and non-flexible. The
matrix of bones contains
collagen fibres and mineral
deposits. The most abundant
element found there is calcium,
followed by traces of
magnesium, carbonate and
fluoride ions. The cells of the
bone tissue are called

osteocytes and are stellate in
shape (star-shaped cells).
Image 59: A microscopic image of a bone tissue with

10x magnification. We can notice a big hole in the
bone cell system, the Haversian canal, which helps
the flow of nutrients, along with the little holes
(canaliculi), in and out of the cell.
Image Courtesy: med.libretexts.org
e) Fluid connective tissues: As the name

indicates, the connective tissue is fluid and
travels through various parts of the body. There
are two types of fluid connective tissues:
1. Blood: Blood is a colloidal
solution of plasma, water, some
proteins, dissolved gases and
some organic and inorganic
solutes. The matrix is liquid
rather than solid or semi-solid in
nature.
Image 60: A microscopic overview of a typical blood

tissue mixed with lymph cells.
Image Courtesy: courses.lumenlearning.com
2. Lymph: It is a colourless fluid,

similar in composition to blood,
except the red stuff of the blood
is gone. It’s chiefly composed of

plasma and leucocytes (not to
be confused with leucoplasts, a
type of plastid). There are many
types of leucocytes, like
neutrophils, eosinophils,
basophils, lymphocytes,
platelets, monocytes and
erythrocytes. Lymph is
responsible in the excretory
system and the immune system.
Image 61: The types of lymph cells in the human

body.
Image Courtesy: cancer.gov

Next up are the nervous tissues, the main
communications centre of an organism. It senses
stimuli and transmits the signal from one part to
another part of the body. The nerve cell, or the
neuron, is the longest cell of any multicellular
organism.
• Neuron: The overall structure of a neuron is
very complicated yet delicate in nature. It
consists of the main cell body with the nucleus
and stuff (cyton) and a narrow rod extending
from the cyton till the neuron’s ending (axon).
The cyton gets the signal from hair-like stuff
called dendrites and transmits the signal down
the axon to the axon terminal. The signals are
created by electric impulses which travel at high
speeds.

Image 62: A detailed diagram of a nerve cell along
with the cyton, nodes and the dendrites.
Image Courtesy: thoughtco.com
So, we are done with all the major types of tissues

known to mankind. Let’s move two steps down
(ignoring the organ systems because the book would
be too detailed), the organisms themselves.
--------------------------------------------------------------
“Biodiversity starts in the distant past and it

points toward the future.”- Frans Ponting

Biodiversity- The Key to
Evolution
“It is that range of biodiversity that we must care
for- the whole thing- rather than just one or two
stars.” -David Attenborough
Let’s imagine a real-life scenario to start this chapter.

In your lifetime, you may have saw different types of
flies, like houseflies, dragonflies, mayflies and so on.
They all are different in shape yet they have one
common property – they fly. This is one of the basic
fundamentals in classifying organisms into different
groups.
Attempts to classification began since the geeky
Greeks, thanks to Aristotle, who put his feet in literally
every subject. Other people like Pliny the Elder and
Theophrastus laid the foundation of bio-classification.
Their theorem was that we can separate organisms
on the basis of where they lived, that is, whether the
organism lives in air, water or land. Obviously, such a
system is faulty as there can be organisms which live
on both the domains of habitats. A good example
can be amphibians. Now, what are amphibians?

Amphibians are the organisms which are able to
thrive in both water and land, which obviously puts us
into a problem as to where to classify the
amphibians. Frogs, toads, salamanders and newts
are some organisms which form the family of
amphibians.
Image 63: Salamanders, newts, toads and frogs form

a major part of the biological family Amphibia.
Image Courtesy: en.wikipedia.org, livescience.com,
nwf.org, kids.nationalgeographic.com

A second classification emerged in the 18th century
(1758, to be precise), under the banner of the
famous biologist Carolus Linnaeus (to be discussed
later too). He proposed two big kingdoms- Kingdom
Plantae and Kingdom Animalia (“Plantae” for plants
and “Animalia” for animals). At the first, this system
faced no opposition from the scientific community.
But then, we began to notice some organisms which
were plant looking but ate like an animal (fungus) or
an animal looking organism but synthesises food
from sunlight (protists like Euglena). Such organisms
marked out from both the kingdoms and the two-
kingdom classification fell down quickly. Blame your
mushroom soup for that.
A modification to Linnaeus’ classification appeared in
1866, by Ernest Haeckel (he did not hack bodies
during his time, I assure you). He proposed a three-
kingdom classification – Kingdom Plantae (plants),
Kingdom Animalia (animals) and Kingdom Protista
(unicellular plants and animals). Now, all the weirdo
fungi and protists could be placed in the Kingdom
Protista. Everyone thought that they had cracked the
problem of classification.
Or was it? Fast-forward to the year 1956, where

Herbert Copeland found out that bacteria and its
related organisms are different than those of the

Kingdom Protista. Basically, what we are trying to say
is, bacteria are prokaryotic and protists are
eukaryotic. So, Copeland created a new kingdom
called as Monera for the bacteria-related stuff.
Finally, we have the last attempt on bio-classification
and this is the classification we accept these days. In
1969, a biologist named Robert Harding Whittaker
proposed a five-kingdom system. The kingdoms are-
Kingdom Monera (bacterial stuff), Kingdom Protista
(unicellular eukaryotic organisms), Kingdom Fungi
(for the mushrooms and stuff), Kingdom Plantae (for
plants) and Kingdom Animalia (for animals).
The next thing which came to the biologists’ mind

was that how to differentiate two varieties of the same
thing. For example, a rose is typically red in colour
with some spiky thorns around its stem. There are
many other roses, like the Dog-rose, Multiflora rose,
French Rose and so on. To differentiate between all
these similar-looking yet different species, we have
come with a particular nomenclature. Remember we
used to define new covalent compounds in the
chapters “Carbon’s Army of Compounds-1” and
“Carbon’s Army of Compounds- 2” on the basis of
number of carbon atoms, functional groups, type of
bond and so on. The art of naming stuff on the basis
of some rules is called nomenclature.

Coming back to the biologists, they needed a system
to differentiate between the local varieties and the
real varieties. Our good man, Carolus Linnaeus, came
up with a simple system. In this system, each
organism is provided with two words, a generic name
and the specific name. So, if I wanted to differentiate
between a jaguar and a leopard, I can simply write
their common genus, which is, Panthera (a genus of
nasty, big cats) and combine it with their specific
names, pardus for leopard and onca for jaguar.
Combining these two, we get the leopard’s name as
Panthera pardus and the jaguar’s name as Panthera
onca. Note that both the generic and specific names
are usually Latin and the generic name starts with a
capital letter and the specific name follows the
generic name, starting from a small letter. This
system, proposed by dear Linnaeus, is called
taxonomy.
Another key thing in bio-diversity is the hierarchy of
taxonomy. It is a system of classification in which
taxonomic categories are placed in order of a logical
sequence. The sequence is as follows:

Kingdom
Phlyum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
• Species: It is the lowest category in the

taxonomical pyramid. They include a group of
individuals which resemble closely in structure
as well as functions.
• Genus: It’s a group of closely related species
with common ancestry, form a genus. For
example, a collection of bears with distinct
characteristics comes under the genus Ursus.

Image 64: The genus Ursus contains many types of
bears like the grizzly bear, the polar bear and so on.
• Family: A number of genera (plural for genus)

having common factors, are grouped as a
family. The genus Ursus comes under the family
Ursidae which also contains giant pandas.

Image 65: The family Ursidae contains bears and the
distantly-related giant panda.
• Order: A number of families having some

common factors, are grouped as in an order.
The family Ursidae comes under the order
Carnivora, which stands for carnivorous
animals. (Note: Even though most bears are
omnivorous, we consider most omnivorous
animals in the order Carnivora.)

Image 66: The order Carnivora contains families of
different kinds of organisms, like jaguars, walruses,
hyena, wolf, racoon, bears and so on. Basically, the
order Carnivora contains animals which eat meat
only.
• Class: A number of orders which have common

factors are classified into one class. The order
Carnivora is a part of the bigger class,
mammals, or simply class Mammalia.

Image 67: The class Mammalia contains organisms
like wolfs, kangaroos, squirrels, humans, zebras,
pandas, bears, deers, pangolin, sea otters, elephants,
moles, whales and so on. Basically, the class
Mammalia contains organisms which do not
originate from an egg and can feed their babies with
their own milk.
• Phylum: Many classes with common

characteristics combine to form a phylum. The
order Mammalia is a part of the bigger phylum
Chordata (Chordata means that the organism
has some support to maintain its body organs,
it may be bones or flexible cartilage.).
• Kingdom: It is the highest category of the
taxonomical pyramid. Remember the five-type
classification we did earlier? Monera for
bacterial stuff, Plantae for plant stuff, Animalia
for animal stuff, Protista for protist stuff and
Fungi for fungus stuff? These are classified as
the five major kingdoms of taxonomy. In our
“bear” case, the phylum Chordata comes under
the kingdom Animalia, which is to say, animals.

Image 68: The kingdom Animalia contains both
vertebrates and invertebrates like tigers, bears,
ocelots, chameleon, snakes, frogs, ducks, octopuses,
humming birds and so on.
Image Courtesy: tutorialspoint.com
Now let’s move to the main details of each kingdom

roughly because it will take ages for me to describe
the whole kingdom, which also includes its families,
orders, classes, phylum, genera, species and the
whole taxonomic classification of the kingdom.
Let’s start with the most basic kingdom, Monera. As
we discussed earlier, the kingdom Monera contains
unicellular prokaryotic organisms like bacteria,

archaebacteria, cyanobacteria, mycoplasma and so
on. It is said that they were the first signs of life to
originate life on Earth and have not changed much
since then. Some organisms in Monera have a cell
wall made up of a complex molecule called as
peptidoglycan. They have a lack of proper cell
organelles, that is, they are mostly prokaryotic in
nature. Organisms like blue-green algae can
synthesise food from the sun while others depend on
other organisms, that is they are heterotrophic in
nature.
Image 69: Different types of bacteria constitute in

the kingdom Monera.
Image Courtesy:
kingdomsmidtermproject.weebly.com

The next kingdom we are going to discuss is the
kingdom Protista, which includes unicellular
eukaryotic organisms. It includes organisms like
Amoeba, Trypanosoma, Giardia, Paramecium and so
on. They have well-defined organelles which are
membrane-bound. They also have some
adaptabilities which help in their locomotion, such as
developing a flagellum (tail-kind of thing) or some
cilia (hair-like stuff around the organelle).

Image 70: Different types of protists form the
kingdom Protista.
Next up is Kingdom Plantae, which contains

multicellular photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms,
aka plants. They can produce their own food, with
carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to produce their
food, with the exception of carnivorous plants, which
thrive on small animals like flies and cockroaches.
The cells have a cell wall made from cellulose and
hemicellulose. Most plants are rooted to the surface,
with the exception of floating water plants found in
fresh waters or seas. The growth of the plant is
indefinite (unless you chop it down), and new organs
are continuously added throughout its lifespan.

Image 71: Different kinds of plants form the kingdom
Plantae.

The second-last kingdom we are going to discuss is
kingdom Fungi. This kingdom contains organisms
whose entire structure is not divided into root, stem
and leaves. They can be both unicellular (like yeast),
and multicellular (like mushrooms) and have a cell
wall made up of chitin. Fungi obtain their food either
from dead animal and plant matter (saprophytes) or
from other living organisms (parasites).
Image 71: Different kinds of fungus form the kingdom

Fungi.

The last kingdom we are going to discuss is perhaps
the most complicated of the all, Kingdom Animalia.
All the organisms are eukaryotic and some are
unicellular but most are multicellular. They can live in
the air, water, land or can be a mix of the any three
factors. They can have tissue organisation (found in
simple organisms like sponges) or organ-system
organisation (from worms to animals). Animals have
different ways to move from one place to another,
spiders have long, slender legs; birds fly with their
wings; fishes swim with their fins and so on. The
animals are either oviparous (egg -laying animals) or
viviparous (they give birth to the young one). All
animals are heterotrophic, that is, they are
dependent on other sources for food. On the basis of
food, they can be divided into herbivores (plant-
eating animals, like cows), carnivores (animal-eating
animals like lions), omnivores (they eat both plants
and animals, like humans) and scavengers (they feed
on the dead remains of animals, like vulture).

Image 72: Different kinds of animals form the
kingdom Animalia.
Image Courtesy: inaturalist.org
So we are done with all the factors for life to exist. We

went through galaxies, compounds, cell organelles,
the early solar system, humongous stars, tissues and

finally organisms, which obviously includes us
humans. But what do these factors mean when we
cannot co-relate them with other?
It’s time…to connect the dots.
--------------------------------------------------------------
“Collecting the dots. Then connecting them.

And then sharing the connections with those
around you. This is how a creative human
works.” – Amanda Palmer

Joining the Dots…
(summary too)
“You can’t connect the dots by looking forward,
you can only connect them by looking
backwards.” – Steve Jobs
The time has come…for this blabber-mouth to tell
you why he has been blabbing nonsense stuff to you
innocent readers.
Starting off with our first chapter, “The Rise and Fall of
a Star”, we discussed that there are many types of
stars and how they rise and how they die. But the
dying of stars depends upon the mass of the star. If
the mass of the star is too big, it will form gravity’s
fortress of doom, a black hole. If it is a moderate
heavy star, it may form a neutron star after a
spectacular supernova. If it’s a small star, we have a
white dwarf which is composed of the core elements
of the previous star. Plus, if there is any extra matter
which is not consumed by the star, they form planets
which are composed of the previous star’s
compositive elements. So, it is wise to say that we all
are made from stardust (according to Carl Sagan).

In the next chapter, “The Biggest Nuclear Reactor- A
Star”, we saw how a star creates the elements
mentioned in chapter 1. We saw many types of
nuclear reactions and saw how the elements help
together to form new elements (By the way, scientists
are using this trick to create synthetic radioactive
elements like Oganesson). When the star dies, it
creates a concentric circle of elements from
hydrogen to iron and when the star goes ka-boom,
all the matter is expulsed into space. The planets are
formed from these elements only, for example, the
Earth.
In the third chapter, “Spectroscopy- The Art of
Elements”, we saw how various elements show
various spectra in the spectral analyser. With this
method we can finally detect what element has a
major fraction in the star/planet/nebula/galaxy
system.
In the fourth chapter, “What is an Atom?”, we
discussed what is an atom, what it is composed of,
what are the inherent properties which differentiate
one element from another. We also threw some
formulas to work out the problems given.
In the fifth chapter, “Element to Compound- An
Upgrade”, we saw how elements form compounds
using two methods: ionic compounds and covalent
compounds. We saw that, in ionic compounds, the

valencies of the constituents play a key role in the
formation of the compound. There were two types of
ions- cations and anions. A table was given for the
valencies of various cations and anions. Next, we saw
how a covalent bond works, along with the
complexities involved in it. Next, we discussed the
difference between ionic compounds and covalent
compounds, and noticed that both of them are very
similar both physically and chemically.
In the sixth chapter, “Carbon’s Army of Compounds–
1”, we saw how carbon plays a pivotal role in the
formation of various covalent compounds due to its
critical position of either losing four electrons are
gaining four electrons to complete its valence shell.
We then saw what were hydrocarbons and the
different types of them. We explored different
configurations of the same compound and saw that
even though they were chemically the same, but they
varied a lot structurally.
In the seventh chapter, “Carbon’s Army of
Compounds- 2”, we saw how fundamental groups
combine together to form exotic compounds which
have a high-position in our day-to-day activities.
In the eight chapter, “The Early Solar System”, we saw
that the proposal of extra matter of the dead star was
true in the case of the solar system. We saw how the
sun used to be unstable, what we now call as a

“protosun”. We saw more complex compounds like
vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins and other complex
stuff.
In the eighth chapter, “Cell- The Biological Atom- 1”,
we saw how these complex compounds mentioned
in the previous compounds form together in perfect
coordination to form a cell. We saw that cells come in
various shapes and sizes, ranging from nerve cells to
an egg of an ostrich. Mainly, cells are divided on the
basis of whether they have a well-defined nucleus
and organelles, that is, they are divided into
prokaryotes and eukaryotes.
In the ninth chapter, “Cell- The Biological Atom – 2”,
we saw, in detail, about the organelles in each type of
cell, both prokaryotic and eukaryotic. We also saw
that when these organelles work in perfect co-
ordination, then only the cell can function properly.
In the tenth chapter, “Tissues- The Backbone of Bio-
functions”, we saw that a tissue is made up of a group
of cells working together. Like with cells, tissues were
also divided into plant and animal tissues. We went
across a perilous journey about various kinds of
tissues, from bones to skin, we covered it all.
In the last chapter, “Biodiversity- The Key to
Evolution”, we saw that these tissues form organs,
which form an organism. We saw how scientists

laboriously tried to separate each of the organisms
into separate groups, what we now call as kingdoms.
Next, we saw Linnaeus’ taxonomy which showed us
that we can compare one animal with an another on
the basis of any one factor, be it the genus, the
family, the order, the class or the kingdom. We saw
the properties of each kingdom roughly (so to not
waste your precious time) and saw how each
kingdom has its similarities and differences.
So, to summarise the whole book in one paragraph,
it would look like this:
“When a star dies, it explodes the matter inside it to
the outer universe. If some matter is left which is not
engulfed by the new star, it becomes a planet. The
elements are formed in the form of nuclear reactions
held inside the star. Then, we saw that the elements
have some distinct properties which define them
their own identity. The elements form compounds in
two ways- ionic and covalent. We saw that the
element carbon occupies a critical position in the
formation of covalent compounds because of its
electron shell. Most covalent compounds are made
from carbon and hydrogen, also called
hydrocarbons. These covalent bonds go further to
form even complex bonds, creating important
molecules like cellulose, glucose, proteins and so on.
These compounds work together to form the cell.

The cell has many organelles which help it to sustain
itself. These cells come together to form a tissue. A
tissue is responsible for the activities happening
inside the organism. These tissues form organs,
which in turn, makes an organism. The organisms
contribute to the food cycle, hence preserving the
nature of life. We now realise the role of carbon and
how it plays a vital role in sustaining life on Earth.
Thus, if we want to find a planet “B”, we must first find
the amount of carbon and oxygen in it, by using
spectroscopy. Obviously, it is too hard to go through
the data from millions of star-planet systems, so we
must strive to protect this delicate planet we have in
our hands. Reduce climate change. Reduce carbon
emissions. Reduce plastics. Then only we will able to
make this planet a better place to live.”
So…we come to an end of a glorious saga of science,
only to realise that finding a planet “B” is tough, but
saving our planet Earth is a more viable solution. We,
as a responsible citizen of the globe, should strive to
achieve these goals to protect our future.

Since you have reached
this far into the book, I
would like to add some
extra chapters to the
book which will enhance
your day-to-day
knowledge of modern
science. (Apologies to
people named Jerry in
advance…)
“Extra Stuff” Index
1. Light’s Disguises: An introduction to light’s dual

nature
2. Flat Earthers v/s Real Earthers: A debate on the
shape of the Earth
3. Albert’s Relativity-1: A deep learning of general
relativity
4. Albert’s Relativity-2: A deep learning of special
relativity
5. Doomsday Imminent: The death of the Universe
6. The Alien Equation: An explanation of the Drake’s
Equation
Light’s Disguises
It all started in the 17th century, where King James II reigned over the
bewitching land of England and Frederik Hendrik ruled over the land of
Netherlands. The two countries had the two most influential people in
the field of science. From England, we have Sir Isaac Newton and from
Netherlands, we have Christiaan Huygens. Let’s hear what these two
big-brain heads had to say about light.
Before Newton, it was widely accepted that light gained its quality of
colour with interacting with matter. For example, the rainbow effect
shown by a prism when light is passed through it, these people claimed
that the prism has somehow stained the light. (Now you tell me, all
these experiments were done on clean equipment, so how come the
prism “stained” itself during the experiment?)
(I had to ask Jerry, my assistant donkey, to help me with the prism
and… the ancestral, rusty and cranky torchlight. Poor animal literally
cried when I said to hold the torchlight at an angle.)
Newton claimed that the white light that we see is actually a mixture of
different colours of light, and these are split up by the prism because
they are all refracted by slightly different amounts.
Copying from other philosophers of his time, Newton said that light was
made from a stream of particles, or “corpuscles”. This idea explained the
reason of reflection of light on smooth surfaces like mirrors etc.
But Newton’s theory was not able to explain how, when light hits many
surfaces, some of it is reflected and some is refracted. Huygens argues
that space was filled with weightless particles (cough, the aether, cough)
and that light caused disturbances in the aether that spread out in
concentric waves. By this addition, the old scientists could prove why
light bends at different angles if placed across in different mediums.
This could also explain the diffraction of light.
However, due to Newton’s fame and glory, Huygens’ idea got sided and
people followed Newton blindly. But, as history shows us, there will be
a time where the contradictory books of a statement shall be read in
time yonder. A hundred years later, a scientist named Thomas Young
showed that light does indeed behave as a wave.
We have come a long way across, from the 17th century to the 21st
century. We came to realise that both Huygens and Newton were
correct, just that their definitions are not applicable today. The
corpuscles stated by Newton are now what we call as particles of light
or photons. As for Huygens, the waves, instead of being concentric, are
now transverse, that is, it travels in a straight line. Light does not need
an aether to travel, it can travel through anything, be it water, air,
vacuum (not your household vacuum cleaner, the space one) etc.
Let’s now move to matters close to home: (a rather foolish debate) is
the earth flat or spherical or a pumpkin?
Flat Earthers and Real
Earthers
It’s a cold, rainy day in Earthsphere, Houston and two groups of the
geological community came together in the town hall. The deserted city
has a scientific history which lasts over a thousand years. The first
group- they call themselves “The Flat Earthers” from Birmingham. They
sat in left side of the dusty old hall. They have many followers on
Twitter (trying to cross Barack Obama, I guess) and Facebook,
worshipping the all-omniscient “flat” earth model.
On the other hand, we have “The Scientists” or simply “Real Earthers”.
They don’t have much followers these days, but they have a lot of
backing from governmental space agencies. They sat in the right side of
the hall.
The debate began with a ten-hour long speech from the mayor of
Earthsphere, who is the last living resident there and an esteemed
scientist in the field of astronomy. He said that he was privileged to
have both sides of the “war” and hoped to have a fruitful discussion.
The mayor came down the stairs, coughing all the way to his seat.
The debate started off with the Flat Earthers, saying that they had a
rich history of “scientific” backing and proofs. When asked what kind of
proofs, they showed an Earth model taken during the 19th century:
Members of the Flat Earth Society and other flat-Earthers claim

that NASA and other government agencies conspire to fabricate
evidence that the Earth is spherical. NASA is guarding the Antarctic ice
wall that surrounds Earth. Flat-Earthers argue that
NASA manipulates and fabricates its satellite images, based on
observations that the colour of the ocean’s changes from image to
image and that continents seem to be in different places. The publicly
perpetuated image is kept up through a large-scale practice of
"compartmentalization" (“Such big words!”, yelled a scientist), according
to which only a select number of individuals have knowledge about the
truth. They also claim that the Sun and Moon are much closer than the
observed value recorded in the astronomy textbooks.
The bored scientists asked whether their useless speech was done.
When affirmed that this was the case, they presented their argument.
First of all, all these theories are centred upon mistrust on scientists and
the field of science. They claimed that eight statements can prove the
Flat Earther’s beliefs to the dust. When asked what was “those eight
statements”, an esteemed scientist rose took a globe from his pocket
(you should have seen the look of disgust on the Flat Earthers, it would
have ashamed your favourite serial villain) and spoke:
“I have some statements from our Flat Earth brothers which have been
collected painstakingly by our analysts. Ah, here would like to present
ten arguments in defence of the spherical earth (sceptical sniggers from
the Flat Earthers):
1. Gravity does not make any sense
in Flat Earth: Even students can prove that objects
fall to the Earth at an acceleration of 9.8 m/s2. And to produce
the acceleration, we need an adequate force (Force =
mass*acceleration, Newton’s second law of motion), which is
termed as gravity. But no, you idiots say that the phenomenon
of gravity is not induced by the Earth, but rather the density
and buoyancy of the medium, that is, air. But we all know that
both these quantities are not forces in any perspective, so that’s
that.
2. We can’t see things because of a

quantity called “8 in/mi2”: You say that
the curvature of the Earth is 8 in/mi2. First of all, derived
quantities are of the format unit1/unit2, which you kind of
follow. But there is another rule: you cannot simply compare
two units of the same measurement, here it is distance. Also,
this unit is a parabolic estimation, for doing calculations with
parabolas. And, the Earth is not a parabola, neither in our model
not in yours. Strike number two, done.
3. Water does not curve, it finds a
level to settle on: I can prove the first
statement wrong by an experiment. (Pulls out a piece of wax
paper from his jacket.) You all see this wax paper, right? (Pulls
out a dropper.) And this dropper? Great. Now, I transferred the
drop of water into the paper, and lo, it is a sphere (kind of). SO,
IT CURVES, duh. (Some people jumped at this exclamation.) It is
subjected to external forces just like any other thing like fire,
earth, air etc. The oceans converge, just like the curvature of the
earth, so the second statement is also proved wrong. Strike
three, all neat and clean.
4. Earth’s atmosphere does not
exist next to a vacuum: First of all, we
must reach to a common definition on the word “vacuum”.
Vacuum is a region where there is simply “nothing”. Most
people here have the assumption that vacuum is like a vacuum
cleaner (he gestured towards the Flat Earthers), so the
atmosphere can’t exist. We have many valid scientific laws to
prove that the atmosphere is intact and provides us air to
breathe. Strike four, ha ha.
5. Show water sticking to a
revolving Earth: What I am seeing from this
seemingly irrelevant experiment is that you want to deduce that
water, just like anything else, will fly off the grid. Now, we
know that the Earth spins once every day so large linear
velocities do not make much sense in this context. We also
know that the Earth is very large, so instead of large linear
velocities like 1000 m/s, we should use units of rotational
velocity like rotations per minute (rpm). Planes go higher than
that speed, and you people must have noticed this (seeing that
you came from Birmingham to Houston), you are quite
comfortable while in the plane. Strike five, bang on.
6. Moonlight is cold: First of all, many of my
brethren here are not familiar with moonlight. Basically, when
the sun emits light on the moon and the light is reflected back
on Earth, it is termed as moonlight. Now these people claim that
moonlight causes coldness in the region it is casting its light.
What these people do in their experiments is that they are in an
open field in Earth and took that as measurement number 1.
Then they go to a much colder spot, say their shack of a house,
taking that as measurement 2. Based on this, they say, since
measurement 2 is hotter than measurement 1, moonlight is cold
and generates coldness over the area casted. Well, for now, let’s
assume this is the truth. But you must add a second parameter,
that is, you must measure the same fields of interest when the
moon is not there, a new moon. And lo, the temperatures are
still the same. So, the moon is not the reason of the coldness of
the Earth. Strike six, pack up the thermometers.
7. Rivers flow uphill: For this, we need to clarify

some points. Some people think that (pulling out a crumpled
paper) up is “up” (writes an upwards sign on the paper) and
down is “down” (writes a downwards sign on the paper). Listen
up, my good sirs, there is no up or down in space. “Up” is just
“away from the centre of the Earth” and “down” is “towards the
centre of earth”. As far as I know, rivers flow from higher
elevation to lower elevation, rather than moving “up” to “down”.
This elevation is taken in consideration with the sea level, the
basis of all elevation statistics on Earth. Strike seven, cut clean.
8. How is the Earth closer to the

Sun in the winter?: This seems an impossible
question to answer, but we have a simple solution for it. Winter
in the northern hemisphere means summer in the southern
hemisphere and vice-versa. And, if it is summer in any
hemisphere, the Earth will obviously come closer to the Sun,
irrespective of the hemisphere. Strike eight, hot palms.
“That’s it. Your absurd beliefs have been demolished by some

simple, real-life and accurate observations. Learn the definitions of
science and then come to talk with us. Don’t talk about nonsensical
conspiracies, like you mentioned one about NASA. Accept the facts
and move on in life.”, concluded the scientist.
Just when all hope was lost for those Flat Earthers, your dazzling
author stepped in and had a choice of words:
“Er…hello…everyone. Sorry for gate-crashing your little party. I
heard that you were discussing whether the Earth is flat or
spherical. Well, I am here to say, it’s neither. (“Huh?”, exclaimed the
beduffled scientists) My proposal is that the Earth looks like a
pumpkin!”
Silence fell throughout the hall like a blanket. An elderly scientist
asked, “My boy, do you what you are talking?” I replied, “Yes sir, I
will speak about it if you let me speak at the podium.”
I got the access (Yay!) to the podium and started to speak:
“Our esteemed scientists here, disproved the Flat Earthers with a
couple of simple points. Me, a resident of the poles, have a lot of
life experience with me. I would like to edit the existing globe
model by just saying that the Earth is flat at the poles and bulged
out at the equator.
A simple proof of this is to measure the acceleration of gravity at
different strategic places across the Earth. Our first area of interest
will be the poles, say the South Pole. We take the measure of the
weight of an object at the location and keep it safe for now. From
the weight, we can calculate the acceleration at the poles by
applying the equation acceleration due to gravity= Weight/mass.
Now, if we take the same setup to the equator, say somewhere at
Africa. Again, from the equatorial weight, we can calculate the
acceleration caused by gravity at the equator. By observing both
quantities under scrutiny, we find that the polar acceleration is
larger than the equatorial acceleration. This, in turn, shows that the
radius of the Earth is shorter at the poles and largest at the equator.
Now, try to visualize the scenario. If the Earth is larger at the
equator and shorter at the poles, it will produce a bulging effect.
This is technically a geoid, a geometrical shape used to denote a
bulging effect in spheres. But for our discussion, we can fairly
conclude that the Earth looks like a pumpkin. In a way, the Earth is
flat (at the poles) and round across the surface. So, all hope is not
lost for both the sides. Now, I take my leave.”
I concluded my speech in midst of applauses and astonishment. I
felt happy that day and order Jerry to cook me some roasted
chicken with moonlight-enriched peperoni (had to wait for a
whopping 15 days to get the moon to be full).
Albert’s Relativity-1
The year was 1905, another cold, damp day in the patent office at Bern.
Eccentric scientists sent their odd and imaginary inventions and
hypothesis to be verified every day. Except for one teenager. He sat in
the corner table and started pulling out his master thesis on different
matters, like the photoelectric effect, curvature of spacetime, kinetic
theory of heat, general and special relativity. This was the day, the day
he had been working so hard to achieve. The day his predictions will
come in front of the public.
The man’s name was Albert Einstein, one of the leading intellectuals of
the 20th century, synonymous with the term “genius”. People were
initially shocked that a teenager with no scientific background had
disproved the greatest scientist of all, Sir Isaac Newton. They started
calling him as a madman and a happy to go person, but he did not
care. He stood on his ground for years to come, until a report led by
the English astronomer Arthur Eddington proved his theories. Albert
instantly became a celebrity in the field of science, even being awarded
with the posthumous Noble prize in Physics on the 9th of November,
1921.
Einstein’s theories helped us prove the existence of black holes, the

mystery behind Mercury’s eccentric orbit around the Sun, creating
satellite sync clocks (aka GPS, global positioning system) and
electromagnets, opened a new door to quantum physics, cathode ray
tubes (aka 20th century TVs) and so on.
In this session, we shall mainly focus about the relativistic concepts of
his 1905 paper: general relativity and special relativity.
Starting off with general relativity, it is safe to say that it is Einstein’s
version of gravity, in contrast to the then-prevailing belief of Newtonian
gravity.
But obviously we must know the prevailing belief moving to new ideas,
right? Well, you are right. Before starting off with Einstein’s version of
this fundamental force, we must look into the pages of history.
Humans were obsessed with the motion of stars and planets with
respect to the earth. Some Greeks, aka Aristotle and Ptolemy, proposed
complicated diagrams, consisting of epicycles and deferents, just to
prove that Earth is in the centre of the Universe and all the stars (Note:
The stars were called as “fixed stars” as they did not change.) revolve
around it.
This went prevalent for ages, even getting religious acceptance in the
form of the Bible. But real-life observations showed a different
scenario. Astronomers like Aryabhata and Aristarchus, claimed that the
Earth revolves around the sun. At that time, nobody paid much
attention to these hypotheses because 1) people were conservative back
then, that is, they resisted change and 2) if a person went against the
Church, he would be punished severely.
Some of these “weird” and “real-life” observations were that 1) the
retrograde motions of certain planets like Mars and Jupiter, 2) the
“phases” of Venus, 3) Jupiter has moons of itself and 4) the apparent
size and angular size of the sun. The geocentric model failed to explain
why these observations occur.
In 1543, a Polish canon (not the war canons, the Church canons) said
that the Earth goes around the Sun and not the other way round.
Cleverly, he published his theory just a few months before his death (I
don’t know how he knew that he will die at that moment, but hey, old
people are mysterious, OK?). Anyways, this theory came to be known as
the “heliocentric” theory. This theory gained much support later, 200
years after his death, during the European Renaissance, when science
truly began to flourish. But geocentric monks and heliocentric critics
(aka the Church) had one valid point. If the Sun is at the centre of the
Universe, then they should detect a parallax effect between the Earth
and another star.
Now, what is this parallax? Let’s do an experiment, shall we? Hold your
thumb in front of your eyes, at a distance of, say 20 cm. Now, gently
close your left eye and see the thumb from your right eye. Again, do
the same thing, but close the right eye this time, and try to look at
your thumb. What do you see? You observe an apparent shift of the
position of the thumb. It occurs due to the change in viewpoint of the
observer, of the observed thing, or both. What these geocentric priests
are arguing is that, if the Earth is in motion relative to the Sun, we
must see an apparent shift in the stars once every monthly period, say
6 months.
This is pretty easy to prove. Get your thumb-eye experiment back but
this time, get a far-away object like a lamp positioned to a distance of 1
metre. You will observe that the apparent shift of the lamp is zero or
nullable in nature. Applying the same theory, we can say that there is a
parallax but very minute and not visible to the naked eye. But by
applying trigonometry, we can say that there indeed is a parallax shift
of the stars which we tend to omit.
But the heliocentric system still had the problem of the previous geo-
centric system. It did not match with the observations detected by
astronomers all around the world.
Some modifications were made under the leadership of Johannes
Kepler, who, with his three laws of planetary motion explained how the
planets moved around the Sun. The three laws are:
1. The Law of Orbits: All planets move around the sun in an
ellipse, rather than a circle, with the Sun at one of its foci.
2. The Law of Areas: A line that connects a planet to the Sun

sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.
3. The Law of Periods: The square of the time taken by the planet
to revolve a full orbit around the Sun is directly proportional to
the cube of the semi-major axis, that is T2 α R3. We can also
write this expression as a constant expression, T2/R3 =k.
Kepler also allowed us to create this small, yet informative table

which allowed us to calculate the time period, the semi-major
axis and the constant:
Planet Semi-major Time period The constant
axis “k”
Mercury 5.79 * 1010 m 88 days 2.99
Venus 10.8 * 1010 m 225 days 3.00
Earth 15 * 1010 m 365.25 days 2.96
Mars 22.8 * 1010 m 687 days 2.98
Jupiter 77.8 * 1010 m 4332 days 3.01
Saturn 143.0 * 1010 m 10,756 days 2.98
Uranus 287 * 1010 m 30,687 days 2.98
Neptune 450 * 1010 m 60,190 days 2.99
(You might notice three things here: one, I did not include Pluto here,
because it is now a dwarf planet, two, all these values are estimated
values and three, the value of “k” is roughly around 3 for each planet.)
Alternatively, the third law could be written in the terms of Newtonian
gravity:
𝟐
𝟒𝝅
𝑻𝟐 = 𝒂𝟑
𝑮𝑴
Now, we can actually start solving problems based on predicting the
time period of a planet under any star and planet.
Problem 1: A star of mass 2.446 * 1029 kg, located 4.39 light
years away from the Sun (aka Proxima Centauri, the closest star,
because God was merciless while placing us in the Universe) has a
system of two planets, Proxima Centauri “b” and Proxima Centauri “c”
(you might ask about Proxima Centauri “a”, but don’t ask, OK? It’s the
will of God, got it?). For this question, we shall take the planet Proxima
Centauri B, whose semi-major axis is 7,479,893,500 metres long (for
simplicity, we will take the value as 7.4798935 * 109 metres). Find the
period of revolution of Proxima Centauri B according to the data given
above. (π=3.14159265359 and G=6.67408 * 10-11)
Solution: At first, this problem may seem complicated to most
minds of simpletonic nature, due to the decimals involved in the data.
But fear not, we shall calculate the time period of the planet with a
profound scientific mind.
𝟒𝛑𝟐
Now we have the expression, 𝑻 = 𝟐
× 𝒂𝟑 , where “T” is
𝑮𝒎
the time period, “a” is the semi-major axis and “m” is the mass of the
star. Note that we are not taking the planet into consideration because
1) gravity was not discovered during Kepler’s time and 2) the mass of
the planet is too small in comparison with its host star.
So, now we need to find out the time period. Basically, we can transport
the 2nd power to the RHS to make it a square root of it, like so:
𝟒𝛑𝟐 𝟑
𝑻=√ 𝒂
𝑮𝒎
But when plugging in the real values, we realise that such expressions
are impossible to calculate. What time-saving people do is that they
divide up the problem into smaller parts. In our case, we find ourselves
in a big situation. What we can do here is, first solve the numerator
part and then the denominator part, and finally, find the square root of
the quotient obtained.
Step 1: Solving the numerator part (4π2) ×a3.
4π2 = 4×3.14159265359×3.14159265359
= 39.4784176044
a3 = (7.4798935 × 109)3
= 418.491116102 × 1027 metres
(4π2) ×a3 = 16521.3670452 × 1027
Step 2: Solving the denominator part 𝑮𝒎.
Gm = 6.67408 × 10-11 × 2.446 × 1029 kg
= 16.32479968 × 1018
Step 3: Dividing the numerator by the denominator.
(𝟒𝛑𝟐 ) ×𝒂𝟑 𝟏𝟔𝟓𝟐𝟏.𝟑𝟔𝟕𝟎𝟒𝟓𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟕
=
𝑮𝒎 𝟏𝟔.𝟑𝟐𝟒𝟕𝟗𝟗𝟔𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟖
That concludes to the premature value of 1012.0410277 * 109 (My
Babbage calculator, aka an Analytical Engine, literally broke down 10
million times, even with more RAM added into it. I guess the machine
was just lazy by virtue and nature.).
Step 4: Finding the square root of the premature value.
√𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟐. 𝟎𝟒𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟕𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎𝟗 = 100.600249885*104
seconds
Step 5: Converting the value in seconds to days.
1 second= 1.1574 * 10-5 days
So, 100.600249885*104 seconds = 11.64354744039352 days or to be
rough, 11 days.
So, by using The Law of Orbits and a glimpse at Newtonian physics, we
were able to calculate some basic values about a star system.
But Kepler’s Laws did not explain “why” this effect occurs. Enter the
long-haired, great saint of classical mechanics, Sir Issac Newton.
Using Kepler’s Laws, he was able to prove that there existed a magical
force called gravitational force or gravity, which allowed the Sun to
attract to the Earth as well as let an apple fall from the Earth.
To it in his words, he said, “any particle of matter in the universe
attracts any other with a force varying directly as the product of the
masses and inversely as the square of the distance between them.”
Now, you might ask me: how did Newton derive an entirely different
formula of gravity from the planetary laws of Kepler? Well, let’s just
look how he derived the equation.
First of all, we need three variables, two masses, m1 and m2 and the
distance between them, “r”. Now, Newton claimed that the mysterious
force reduces in magnitude when the distance between them increases.
And, at the same time, if the magnitude of any one or both of the
masses increase, the force also increases. This gives us two
proportionality equations:
𝑭 𝜶 𝒎𝟏 𝒎𝟐 (That is, force increases when the masses increase)
𝟏
𝑭𝜶 (That is, the force decreases when the distance increases)
𝒓𝟐
Now, combining these two equations, we get:
𝒎𝟏 𝒎 𝟐
𝑭𝜶
𝒓𝟐
Now, to get rid of the proportionality sign, and to make it into an
equation which simpletons can understand, he said that there is
gravitational constant G which influences the behaviour of the force.
𝒎𝟏 𝒎𝟐
𝑭=𝑮
𝒓𝟐
The value of “G” was determined by yet another English scientist Henry
Cavendish. He took a huge setup of two balls (aka mass1 and mass2) on
a balance and calculated the constant with ease. He roughly calculated
the value to 6.67408 * 10-11 N m²/kg².
So, all’s good? Well…kind of. Newton rose to such heights after this
theory of a magical force, everyone lifted him to the status of a genius
and a big brain. Many scientists then just went to do minor things in
astronomy, so not to insult the “big” things done by Newton and
Kepler.
But still, scientists noticed some discrepancies in Newton’s model. First
of all, to most scientists, gravity seemed to be some action-at-distance
force. Second, practical observations, like the eccentric orbit of Mercury
around the Sun clouded Newton’s theory. Third, it seemed like any
change in one mass object would instantly communicate to all the other
masses of the system, which indirectly sets a gravitational “speed”,
which most scientists believed to be the fastest speed in the observable
universe. But we know that, the speed of light is the fastest speed ever
discovered.
With such discrepancies, Einstein came forward and put his thesis on a
special gravity method: general relativity.
The theory of general relativity says that the observed gravitational
effect between masses results from their warping of spacetime.
So, now we have a new word to explore: space-time. Well, to put it
simply, space-time is just a fabric of the universe which is composed of
two axes (plural for axis) or fibres called space (represents distance
travelled by an object) and time (represents time taken to travel the
distance). So, with that out of the mind, let’s explore more of general
relativity.
So, let’s do a thought experiment. Take an infinite sheet of cloth and a
ball of a given mass. What general relativity is trying to say is that the
ball tends to create a curve in the space-time. Heavier objects create a
larger curve, like stars; and lighter objects create a smaller curve, like
planets.
Now, we cannot prove general relativity as we did with the Newtonian
formula as it involves much physical parameters to be taken in
consideration. The Einsteinian formulae of gravity is:
𝑮𝝁𝝂 + Λ𝒈𝝁𝝂 = 𝜿𝑻𝝁𝝂

That’s right, I used the word formulae, plural for the word “formula”.
This is because many equations of spacetime have been compressed
into this one little equation. Values like 𝑮𝝁𝝂 are said to be values,
known as tensors, which are composed of more tensors. Let us see
what these equations (also known as field equations) have to say in
regards of gravity:
1. 𝑮𝝁𝝂 : This is the Einstein tensor for gravity, which is
composed of yet another equation:
𝟏
𝑮𝝁𝝂 = 𝑹𝝁𝝂 − 𝑹𝒈𝝁𝝂
𝟐
Here, 𝑹𝝁𝝂 is the Ricci curvature tensor, the value which denotes
curvature of the space time. Its practical value is in the form of
another long and complex equation, which is beyond the scope of
our discussion. And we also have 𝑹, the Ricci scalar constant,
which does not have any direction as compared with the real
curvature tensor, which has a magnitude and a direction.
2. 𝒈𝝁𝝂 : This is the gravitational metric tensor, which is basically
a vague way of saying that this value is generalizing the link
between the Newtonian physics and Einsteinian physics because
Newtonian physics is valid up to a certain point. The formula, as
seen with the Ricci curvature tensor, is complex and out of
scope of our discussion.
3. 𝜿: Similar to Newton’s gravitational constant, Einstein also
developed his own gravitational constant, 𝜿. Funny enough, I
have two pointers to share here: 1) The Einsteinian constant
uses the Newtonian gravitational constant in its equation and 2)
for your sake, I actually managed to find the simplest formula
for this constant, which is:
𝟖𝝅𝑮
𝜿= 𝟒
𝒄
This value approximates itself to 2.077 × 10-43 N-1, which is a neat
value for most scientists.
4. Λ: Ah, this is one of my favourites, the cosmological constant.
Einstein, along with many other scientists thought that the
universe was static (we will prove that this is wrong in our next
chapter), but observations from Edwin Hubble showed that the
universe is expanding with a defined acceleration. Anyways, we
have a formula for this, but it is dependent upon another
quantity, 𝑻𝝁𝝂 (in vacuum) and the Einsteinian gravitational
constant:
Λ
𝑻𝝁𝝂 =−
𝜿
5. 𝑻𝝁𝝂 : This is the stress-energy tensor, also known as the
stress-energy-momentum tensor, which defines the density
and momentum in spacetime. It is an attribute of matter,
radiation and non-gravitational fields. This density and
momentum are the sources of the gravitational field in the
general relativity equation.
So, we can see that Einstein covered every aspect of gravitation
including the non-gravity forces. So, um, you think that this is the
perfect model? Well, you are wrong, it’s time I introduced to the last
phase of the history of gravitation: quantum gravity.
Before we actually start on quantum gravity, we have two aspects of

looking into it: the macroscopic view and microscopic one.
The macroscopic view is that theories like general relativity break down
as we approach the deadliest object in the Universe: black holes. We
saw that in chapter 1 of the main book, a black hole is formed when a
huge “greedy” star implodes itself, making gravity the only king in the
heavenly body. Now, in a black hole, all the matter is concentrated in a
singular point, known as…the singularity. The singularity has been
evading scientists since it’s discovery. This is the reason we need
quantum gravity. But what exactly is quantum gravity? It’s time we
looked at the microscopic scale.
On the microscopic scale, matter is dominated by four forces:
electromagnetism, strong nuclear forces, weak nuclear forces and
gravity. Generally, we associate gravity with planets and stars but not
with atoms. In quantum gravity, however, we are considering gravity as
force which is affected by the other three forces. Our current
understanding of the nuclear forces and electromagnetism comes from
a complex field of study known as quantum mechanics. Now, as we
saw earlier, Einstein’s general relativity does not work on complex
bodies like black holes and singularities. At distances very close to the
centre of the black hole, quantum fluctuations of spacetime are expected
to play an important role. To describe these quantum effects a theory of
quantum gravity is needed. Such a theory should allow the description
to be extended closer to the centre and might even allow an
understanding of physics at the centre of a black hole. On more formal
grounds, one can argue that a classical system cannot consistently be
coupled to a quantum one.
The field of quantum gravity is actively developing, and theorists are
exploring a variety of approaches to the problem of quantum gravity,
the most popular being M-theory and loop quantum gravity. All of
these approaches aim to describe the quantum behaviour of
the gravitational field. This does not necessarily include unifying all
fundamental interactions into a single mathematical framework.
However, many approaches to quantum gravity, such as string theory,
try to develop a framework that describes all fundamental forces. Such
theories are often referred to as a theory of everything. Others, such as
loop quantum gravity, make no such attempt; instead, they make an
effort to quantize the gravitational field while it is kept separate from
the other forces.
So, we have seen the history, the present and the future of the big
man, gravity. It’s now time we move on to the more down-to-earth
predictions of Einstein: special relativity.
Albert’s Relativity-2
In the last chapter, we saw that Einstein overthrew Newton’s “gravity-a

magic voodoo force” theory and presented a beautiful model of
“indentations in space-time”. Let’s just say, in special relativity, Newton
faced even more embarrassment from Mr. Einstein.
The whole concept of special relativity starts at the concept of inertial

and non-inertial frames. Now what exactly are these frames? Well, to
start from the basics, motion is relative, that is, it needs certain
perspectives for it to be valid. Don’t understand me? Let’s see from a
story of loopholes:
One day, I was sitting in a train, watching the trees and birds whizz
past across my field of view. A thought came to my mind. The trees
are definitely not moving as they are rooted to the ground. But then
why, does the tree seem to be in motion? And it’s logical that birds
can’t fly at speeds so fast as I had observed, then how did it get its
extra speed? Before I had time to conceptualize my thoughts, my
assistant Thomson saw from the train me and called me. He said that I
was in motion. How humiliating! I am sitting in the train and doing
absolutely nothing and you say I am in motion? He sent me a video
proving that I was “in motion”. Then I wanted to get back to him. So, I
said to him that he was also in motion. When he asked how, I said that,
to an astronomer in space, the earth is in a rotational motion, and since
we are on Earth, we are also in motion. But Thomson disagreed with
me and said that the Earth revolves around the Sun, so we should take
the Sun as our eternal judge. I waved the suggestion off, by saying that
the Sun revolves around the centre of the Milky Way, so we can’t take
the Sun as our eternal judge. Thomson, not stepping back, said that the
galaxies move away from each other due to the expansion of the
universe. After this proclamation, I neither had a statement to go
against it and the engineer had no statement to support his
predicament, so we just changed topics.
The final thesis of the story is: there is no stationary frame of

reference. Motion is relative to something or the other.
Here comes the concept of inertial and non-inertial frames. Inertial
frames are the frames which are at rest. You might have seen that we
solve physics problems where motion is “with respect to the ground”.
But as we saw in the previous story, the ground itself is in motion, so
we can’t take it as an unbiased judge. Still, we humans tend to
conceptualize the ground as the final stationary judge of all time, so let
it be for now. To understand the internal physics of the inertial frames,
we need to do an experiment (yet another story from the old bloke):
One day, I bought Thomson for a project (read: extreme revenge for the
train incident). I prepared a large metal box for this experiment (so large
that it can fit the villa of the rich people), a Boeing 707 aeroplane and a
Starship space rocket. I gave Jerry a football to play while I do the hard
work. First, I put Thomson inside the metal box, which is now at sea
level, and told him to toss the ball in any direction. He saw no apparent
obliteration of the laws of physics. Then, carefully lifting the box to the
aeroplane, I told the pilot to drive the plane at uniform velocity (this will
be important later in the frames) with the box in the cargo section of
the plane. I called Thomson (he ignored the “no-electronics” rule of
most airline companies and picked up my phone.) and I asked him
whether he saw any change of surroundings. He said that I had not
even lifted him from the ground. How insulting! I asked Heathrow
airport to lend their planes for an experiment, this man comes up and
says I had not even lifted him? I let the matter be on hold and told the
plane to move to the nearest SpaceX facility for the rocket launch.
Observing uniform velocity at all costs, the Starship lifted off from the
ground. I told the mission control to deploy the box at an altitude
where there is no gravitational influence of the Earth. I called Thomson
from a space communication radar station and asked him whether he
felt anything. He again said no. I banged my head into the wall. How
much time and money I had spent into this experiment and this man
does not feel anything off? I again let the matter simmer down for a
while. Next, I sent a propulsion system from a nearby Moon station to
propel the box back to Earth. Surprisingly, he called to the station
before me. He yelled on the phone that he was feeling the pull of
gravity and to let him down the cursed contraption immediately. I
calmly replied to him that this was the final stage of the experiment
and asked him to be patient for a while. Apparently, the impact velocity
was greater than I thought (I am blaming it on the Moon station
people) so the shock and heat energy produced was much greater. The
box melted, creating a crater known as Crater Thomson (it’s in Africa)
and Thomson was covered in the liquid metal (most probably the
liquidified alloy of the Starship) and was stranded in the middle of the
Sahara.
This seemingly irrelevant story tells us a lot about a person’s

perspective with respect to the change of frames. Basically, when the
frame is at rest or is moving with uniform linear velocity, the frame is
an inertial frame. But when the frame starts accelerating, that is the
velocity is not the same everywhere, the frame is said to be non-
inertial. Now, the problem here was that many people (aka Newton’s
disciples) thought that the laws of physics are valid in only inertial
frames and not in non-inertial frames.
So, how does this all relate to special relativity? Calm down, we are
almost there. Special relativity was originally proposed by Albert
Einstein in a paper published on 26 September 1905 (aka annus
mirabilis) titled "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies". The
incompatibility of Newtonian mechanics with Maxwell's
equations of electromagnetism (complex stuff) and, experimentally,
the Michelson-Morley null result (some random experiment by two
people) demonstrated that the historically hypothesized luminiferous
aether (Newton is wrong again…) did not exist. This led to Einstein's
development of special relativity, which corrects mechanics to handle
situations involving all motions and especially those at a speed close to
that of light (known as relativistic velocities). Today, special relativity is
proven to be the most accurate model of motion at any speed when
gravitational and quantum effects are negligible. Even so, the Newtonian
model is still valid as a simple and accurate approximation at low
velocities (relative to the speed of light), for example, everyday motions
on Earth.
The priority postulates of special relativity are:
1. The speed of light is the ultimate speed limit of the cosmos and
nothing can cross it. It is the same for value for everything and
everyone, from rats to elephants, from cars to trucks, from
Mercury to Neptune, everything follows this value, which is
299,792,458 metres per second, or to be vague, 3 × 108 m/s.
2. The laws of physics are only applicable in inertial frames and
not to non-inertial ones. Special relativity describes whatever
motion takes place, whether it is done by your legs or by your
mouth, irrespective of whether the frame is in uniform motion
or in acceleration.
To look at the mathematical aspect of special relativity, we must do
some facts and vague conclusions. The first fact of special relativity is
that the universe in the shape of a Minkowski spacetime, which is
basically the three fundamental coordinates of space (the x, y and z
coordinates) and a fourth coordinate called time. Here, the spacetime
interval between any two events is independent of the inertial frame of
reference. A cross-section of the Minkowski spacetime would look
something like this:
Now, that was the easier part of our understanding of special relativity.
The hard part is to master the concept of the Lorentz transformations,
which helps to convert the coordinates from one frame to another
frame, if they are moving with a velocity with respect to the frame. We
will not go into the derivations of the transformation, so let’s see the
formula anyway.
Let (x, y, z, t) represent some coordinates in frame 1 and let (x’, y’, z’, t’)
represent some coordinates in frame 2. We have ν as a constant value
−1
𝑣2
and γ be the Lorentz factor, which is √1 − where “v” is
𝑐2
relative velocity between both the frames and “c” is the speed of light,
that is, 3 × 108 metres per second. The transformations of the
coordinates now become a set of equations like so:
′
νx
𝑡 = γ(t − 2 )
𝑐
𝑥 ′ = γ(x − νt)
𝑦′ = 𝑦
𝑧′ = 𝑧
So…what does this mean? If you look into the equations closely, you can
see that the motion of the frame does not matter when transferring the
coordinates of a particle from one frame to another.
Well…well…well… we have finally cracked the hardest nut of Einstein’s

papers finally. It’s time we move on to the more serious matters of our
universe: the death of the universe.
Doomsday Imminent
“The Universe is huge and mysterious.”, many scientists seem to say.

Well, that’s true but I would like to bring it to human perspective. Let’s
do an experiment (a story from the old bloke) to see how much you
can comprehend the vastness of the Universe.
Apparently, from our previous encounter, Thomson has survived with

minor injuries and is in hiding. Now, I found out the coordinates of
Thomson from an old friend (aka the President of Tunisia) and decided
to another experiment with him, so to satisfy the quest of your
knowledge. I locked Thomson in a yet another metal box (Thomson got
traumatised when he saw the box and then me) and told him to co-
operate with me for one last experiment. When he demanded why he
should listen to me, I patiently told him that the Tunisian Police has
announced a bounty for his head in the charges of “treason to the
State” and if he did not help me, the chief of the Tunisian Police will
come and sever his head, and for extra measure, dry it under the
presence of the glorious moon. He grudgingly accepted and I called my
pilot to take us to Greenfields Park in Northville, England.
Why there, you might ask? Well, I told Thomson to run up a footpath
that children usually race their friends to. Jerry told me that the
average distance of the footpath is around four to five metres. I gave
him a chocolate and told the pilot to take us to the Boston Charity
Marathon which is scheduled to take place in the city of Dorchester.
The marathon was organized to raise money for a charity which helped
leprosy patients with their disease and the entry fee was around 20
dollars. So, I told Jerry to empty his pockets for the fee. When he asked
why, I lightly told him that he was going to run in that marathon. He
protested, so I had to remind him of the Tunisian punishment laid on
him. He agreed to run the marathon which lasted a total of two hours
and Jerry came in the fourth place (how sad). He said to me that the
average distance of the marathon is around 40 to 50 kilometres. I gave
him a protein shake and told the pilot to take us to the Indira Gandhi
International Airport in New Delhi.
I saw the flight schedule board and saw the flight to Rio de Janeiro is
up in one hour. I booked our tickets, one for me and one for Thomson
(the pilot of the Rio de Janeiro flight went mysteriously missing, so we
had to use our own pilot) and boarded the plane. Doing some shady
mathematics in a ragged-looking piece of paper, Thomson announced
that the distance from New Delhi to Rio de Janeiro is around 140,000
kilometres. After landing in Rio de Janeiro, I bought the pilot an Inca
costume and to Thomson, I gave him some tacos to eat. I instructed the
pilot to take us to the nearest SpaceX rocket facility in the Vandenburg
Space Force Base Space Launch Complex, located in the city of Lompoc,
California.
We booked a Starship rocket which would hopefully take us to the
moon (space tourism is possible, if you have the right money). Thomson
was initially excited because it was his desire to be the first scientist to
land on the moon. I pointed out that he was not going to land on the
Moon, but he was going to measure the distance between the Earth
and the Moon. He felt disheartened, but he did the job anyways. His
average result came up to be 3,84,000 kilometres. I gave Thomson
some moonrocks as a memoir.
I booked a light sail (my creation), which reaches speeds of 1,800,000
metres per second. I set the course to the nearest star, Proxima
Centauri and told Jerry to measure the distance between Earth and
Proxima Centauri. Using stellar parallaxes as his only hope, he measured
the distance between the Earth and the star to be
40,000,000,000,000 kilometres.
Thomson desperately asked me how many more calculations are left. I
replied with a vague certainty that we have only two “interesting”
places to visit. Next, I set the course of the ship for Sagittarius A* (the
asterisk symbol represents that), which is the black hole at the centre of
the Milky Way. But for this journey, I had to ditch the light sail and
took up an Alcubierre warp drive. Applying calculus, Thomson calculated
the distance to be around 250,000,000,000,000,000 kilometres.
Before the radiation of the black hole killed us, I set the course back to
Earth for an intermediate stop before the “final” destination.
Acquiring two warp drive stations, we set the course to the edge of the
“observable” universe. Why “observable”? It is because, due to the
expansion of spacetime, humans are only able to view a certain portion
of the Universe, although this might change due to the expansion of
space-time. Me and Thomson followed traces of CMBR (cosmic
microwave background radiation, the stuff which allows you to see the
light of the Big Bang when it was young, that is, 13.8 billion years) and
reached the “current edge” of the observable Universe. We estimated it
would be around 440,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilometres.
Thomson then asked me whether there was a destination left. I softly
replied to him that there is one destination left: space itself. Before he
has time to comprehend what that meant, I pushed him off the warp
drive and he floated in spacetime, never to be seen again.
So, what did you observe? Yes, I agree the distances were huge, but the
units I used in the demonstration are units like metres and kilometres
which are not practical for astronomical observations. To solve this issue
and make the numbers fit into our primal brain, we devised a new
method of calculating such distances: the light second. Now, at first
glance, this unit might seem a unit of time for you. But no, no, no,
that’s not the case. To put it in perspective, it’s the distance travelled by
light in one second. Let’s do the derivation then, eh?
We all know that distance is speed × time. Now, we have the speed of
light as 3 × 108 metres per second and the time as 1 second. Now,
anything multiplied by one gives you the same number again. So, one
light second is equivalent to 3 × 108 metres. Thus, parameters like the
distance to the Moon can be solved pretty easily if we convert this into
light seconds. To do the calculation, we simply divide the actual value in
meters with the value 3 × 108 to get the converted value. For the
distance to the moon scenario, we get the approximate value as 1 light
second (to be exact, the real value is 1.28222038 light-seconds).
However, this method crumbles when we decide to compute larger
distances like the distance from Earth to Proxima Centauri. For such
values, we use the unit “light years” for better perspective. As we did
with light-seconds, one light year is the distance taken by light in one
year, which approximates itself to 9 × 1012 kilometres. Now, to compute
the value of the distance to Proxima Centauri, we do the same drill as
the light-second scenario and get the value as 4.246 light years.
Ok, ok, let’s stop the maths till here and imagine for a while. What if I
told you, distances like Earth to Proxima Centauri are very small in
comparison to the vastness of the universe? Even if calculated in light
years, the value is too big to comprehend. Now imagine if the Universe
dies? Imagine the collateral damage and chaos it will cause. With this in
the mind, let’s proceed to the main part of the discussion.
But if we want to predict the death of something, we must look into

the birth of that thing. The Universe is no exception to that. By our
current understanding of physics, we have constructed a model known
as the Big Bang. It states that from a dot with almost infinite density
and temperature, the Universe expanded in the terms of nanoseconds to
produce what we call the Universe. The Universe cooled sufficiently to
allow the formation of subatomic particles, and later atoms. Giant clouds
of these primordial elements—mostly hydrogen, with
some helium and lithium—later coalesced through gravity, forming
early stars and galaxies, the descendants of which are visible today. And
I have some good news for those dark energy geeks, the expansion of
the Universe is caused due to dark energy. Now, you might ask me at
what rate does the Universe expand? Enter Mr. Hubble, the scientist
who solved the biggest mystery in astrophysics.
Edwin Hubble confirmed through analysis of galactic redshifts in 1929
that galaxies are indeed drifting apart; this is important observational
evidence for an expanding universe. The Hubble–Lemaitre law (Lemaitre
was the bloke who theoretically propounded the Big Bang theory.) The
recessional velocity between two objects in the expanding universe to
equal to:
𝑣 = 𝐻0 𝐷
In this equation, “v” is the recessional velocity between two bodies, H0
is the Hubble’s constant which depends on time (its practical value is
around 70 kmps/mpc) and “D” is the original distance between the two
objects, measured in a unit bigger than your average light year, the
megaparsec (1 megaparsec = 3.26 × 106).
So, the Big Bang can be basically related by simply saying that from a
point of infinite density, emerged a universe which slowly took its
shape, taking 13.8 billion years to form what see as the observable
Universe.
Ok, so now we have the data relating to the birth of the universe. Let’s
look at three possibilities of the death of the universe:
1. The Big Rip: We just saw that the Universe expands and
expands. To put this prediction in perspective, let’s do an
experiment. Take a thin sheet of rubber and hold it along its
sides. Stretch the sheet to a point where the overall tension on
the sheet is maximum. Then try to stretch it even more. You
observe that the sheet splits when you apply the excess force.
Now change the rubber sheet with the Minkowski spacetime
fabric and you pretty much have the Big Rip. The first
symptoms of the Big Rip are the separations of galactic clusters
from each other. Then, the galaxies in the galactic clusters start
to go away from each other, making the Milky Way the only
observable galaxy in our perspective. Then, the star-planet
systems, like the Solar system get ripped and the planets are in
a disarray, which means that the Earth will be farther and
farther until the influence of the Sun is neglible. This anyway
would cause the doom of humanity, but the Big Rip doom of
the universe is when the ripping force starts to overcome the
strong nuclear forces and smear sub-atomic particles across
spacetime. Now, the observable part of the universe (if there is
a species left to observe the universe) is so small that none of
the fundamental forces are applicable in nature. The final climax
of the Big Rip is that the Universe shreds itself from a lot of
stuff to literal nothing, aka 0 metres. The fortunate part of this
hypothesis is that it is least likely possible because the
recessional acceleration is not strong enough to rip apart
everything in the Universe.
2. The Big Bounce: This theory is the complete opposite of the Big
Rip. It accounts for the fact that the Universe expands, but it
also says that after a certain point in time, the Universe will
start collapsing into itself and cause the distance between two
bodies to progressively increase. Now, when this process reaches
the state of infinite density (aka a singularity), we call this stage
as a Big Crunch. Now, this singularity will again explode,
forming a new Big Bang and new fundamental forces different
from the original Universe (because quantum fluctuations in
spacetime). This raises two main questions, 1) if the Universe
collapses, where would it collapse into, that is, what is the
location of the singularity formed aka the “centre” of the
Universe and 2) if the Big Bounce is true, does it mean that
there are infinite Big Bangs and infinite Big Crunches?
Fortunately, this theory is also incorrect because 1) there is no

“centre” of the Universe, thanks to Hubble’s observations and 2)
it’s impractical to think that an expanding universe will start to
shrink suddenly as if God willed it to shrink.
3. The Heat Death: We saw from the above two cases that the
recessional velocity is neither too big to rip us apart or too small
to crush us. In one trillion years, due to the inherent expansion
of the Universe, the Local Cluster (that’s what Milky Way,
Andromeda and the gang call themselves as) will perceptively
combine into a final, singular galaxy. The other “gangs” will have
slowly disappeared from the field view of the observable
horizon. Stars will decay to form white dwarfs, neutron stars
and black holes. Sadly, at the end of the stelliferous era, all the
stars will stop creating and only the remnants of the stars
remain (aka white dwarfs and the “waste” gang). This leads to
the Degenerative era which says that the planets, in one
quadrillion years, will either get thrown out from their orbits or
will decay inside their orbits. 95% percent of the remnant gang
is thrown out from the main galaxy into outer space. The rest of
the gang gets the opportunity to fall into the singularity of the
central black hole, making it a bright quasar. Now, assuming
that protons decay into smaller stuff, in 10 duodecillion years,
the nucleons, that is the protons and the neutrons, decay to
form photons and leptons, which utterly spells the doom of any
materialistic object left in the observable Universe. Next comes
the Black Hole era, where black holes are the only heavenly
body left. However, this era is not permanent, as black holes
“evaporate” due to Hawking radiation. When all the black holes
are dead, the Dark Era begins. This era is basically a mess of
photons, electrons and neutrinos flying around the Minkowski
spacetime fabric. From this stage onwards, it’s based on chance.
Given a non-zero probability and quantum fluctuations, we can
say for sure that in 10 ^ 10 ^ 10 ^ 56 years, a new Big Bang
will arise, thus officially declaring the end of this Universe. The
Heat Death is the most practical prediction of the three as it fits
well with the observations of quantum mechanics and Hubble’s
law.
All these predictions are very, very grave. But fear not. Earth will be
swallowed by the Sun in 7.5 billion years when the Sun turns from an
average yellow star to a humongous red giant, its size reaching the orbit
of Venus. Hence, if don’t find another planetary system withing these
7.5 billion years, we can face the doom of humanity much faster than
living in a new interstellar colony.
Anyways, it’s time we move on to the last and the most nerve-
wracking chapter of this book: finding aliens.
The Alien Equation
In the last chapter we saw that the Universe is huge, like literal huge.
For this chapter, we need to learn the history of astro-heretics during
the age of geocentricism.
When Nicolas Copernicus published his theory of heliocentrism in the

book “De revolutionibus orbium” just before his death in 1543, many
people believed that perhaps Earth is not unique in the celestial heavens
and the geocentricism priests are really fooling them in the name of
religion. An Italian monk by the name of Giordano Bruno first officially
stated this theorem and said that there may be other Earths with
organisms just like us. He was tried by the Inquisition for such
“heretical” beliefs and burned him at stake in the year 1600.
Nevertheless, his thoughts prevailed and astronomers continued to find
aliens. In the 1890s, astronomer Percival Lowell claimed to see “artificial
canals” on Mars, which “hinted the existence of Martians”. In 1918,
Swedish astronomer Svante Arrhenius claimed that the dense clouds of
Venus were illusions created by aliens to hide a thriving civilization. It is
now known that the clouds of Venus are high in sulphuric acid and the
temperature is around 462°C.
Before we tackle anything, let me clarify one thing, about probability.
Probability is the chance of an event occurring from the total number of
outcomes. In maths, the number 1 is denoted as a sure event and the
number 0 is an impossible event. However, in astrophysics, values
which are equal to zero are not exactly zero but somewhat of the value
of 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000001
or something. For example, if from your perspective, there is an object
which is massless, you might be tempted to say that the object’s mass
is zero. But that’s not the case. For very existent object, there is exists a
tag attached to it called as mass, even if it is “neglible”. Mathematically
speaking, this property can be expressed as follows:
𝐥𝐢𝐦 = 𝑷(𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕)
𝒏→𝟎
This means that the variable “n” will tend towards zero but is never
equal to zero. This form of expressing stuff is called as limits. So, we
can say with a certain consolidation that interstellar life exists in any
corner of the Universe, even if the value shows up to be 1 civilization
among 1000000000000000000000000000000000000 planetary
systems.
With that out of the way, let’s fast-forward from the 20th century to
the 21st century, or more precisely, to 1950. Meet Mr. Enrico Fermi, the
Italian scientist who, by asking a simple question, changed the direction
of science and science fiction alike. He just asked, “Where are they?”
(“they” is not in reference to his colleagues, but to the hypothesised
interstellar species, or aliens.). He answered the question by simplying
saying that there is a really low probability that we will find aliens
within our lifetime. To the general public of sci-fi fans, this was heart-
breaking, so others came up with some possible scenarios:
1. Humans are special (not likely): It is hypothesised that maybe
Earth is after all special and there can be no replacement for it.
This scenario is often quoted by environmentalists who do not
want a “planet B”.
2. Humans are too primitive to be contacted from intergalactic-
ruling aliens (70% probability): This scenario says that there
exists egomaniacal and ruthless aliens who think that humans
are indulging in basic things like rocketry, astronomy, atomic
physics, quantum mechanics and so on, that they refuse to talk
to us even after countless radio pings from us humans. Or, they
understand a different mode of communication then us, like
neutrino waves, gamma burst interactions and so on.
3. Aliens tried to communicate us in the past, but we were too
dumb to realise: It is common logic by now that science in the
ancient and medieval ages were not up to the mark and were
discarded hundreds of years later. So it is possible that aliens
older than us had the same question that we now have, and the
humans of the past thought that the public sightings of aliens
were just God testing puny mortals.
4. Humans are being tested by aliens like we do for animals:
Popularly known as the Zoo Hypothesis, this theory states that
an advanced interstellar species managed to create a lively
planet with organisms which are able to think for themselves.
This theory can be extended to the limits by saying that we live
in an alien-run simulation. In the same way we simulate an
organism’s behaviour through software programs, maybe an
alien civilization figured how to do the same, but on a real and
on a larger scale. However, the simulation paradox has its
limitations. What if the civilization which has created us in a
simulation is part of an another simulation of a bigger alien
civilization, which again is a simulation of a yet another huge
alien civilization and so on?
5. The aliens are sleeping: In the last chapter, we discussed that
the expansion of the universe causes it to cool down (too much
of it=heat death). We also know for a fact that advanced
computers like quantum computers prefer to work in lower
temperatures for greater efficiency. So, to increase the
civilization’s computational power, the civilization observes radio
silence with respect to us.
The quest for aliens still continued in spite of such odds. In 1960, a
scientist by the name of Frank Drake founded Project Ozma at
National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, Virginia to
send signals to distant civilizations. More than half a century has
passed, but still there are no signs of “them”.
Next, Drake founded SETI, which stands for Search for Extra-
terrestrial Intelligence, also jokingly known as the Order of the
Dolphin. To show himself smarter than others, Drake coined an
equation called as Drake’s Equation for the calculation of interstellar
civilizations in a particular galaxy:
𝑵 = 𝑹∗ ∗ 𝒇𝑷 ∗ 𝒏𝒆 ∗ 𝒇𝒍 ∗ 𝒇𝒊 ∗ 𝒇𝒄 ∗ 𝑳
This equation might seem complicated on first sight, but when you
realise that it is just a bunch of constants, some of which we know
and some of which we obviously don’t know. The terminology for
the Drake’s Equation is as follows:
𝑹∗ = Number of stars in the galaxy
𝒇𝑷 = Percentage of planets per star system
𝒏𝒆 = Average number of planets per star
𝒇𝒍 = Percentage of planets where life can evolve
𝒇𝒊 = Percentage of planets with intelligent life
𝒇𝒄 = Percentage of planets with civilizations capable of interstellar
communication
𝑳= Average number of years the alien civilization can
communicate
𝑵= Number of interstellar species capable of communicating with
other interstellar species
The interesting part of the Drake’s Equation is that it can be

customizable to our needs. For example, if we want to find the
number of planets which can harbour primitive life, we can ignore
the other fractions like fraction of intelligent life and the fraction of
planets with interstellar communication and proceed with the
calculation normally. The downside of this equation however, is that
we are unable to fill up most of the constant values, like the
percentage of planets with intelligent life, the average of years and
so on. But the upside of the downside is that it provides a sort of a
checklist for us to fill up the values or meet the doom predicted by
Mr. Fermi.
The next question that comes is that what do we mean by the term
“intelligent”. According to most dictionaries, intelligence is defined as
the ability of understand new scenarios and apply our old logic into
the scenario. However, in the world of aliens, being “intelligent” is a
crucial factor, as it differentiates organisms which resemble worms
to organisms which resemble like humans to organisms which
resemble like mutant Martian zombies. It is a sort of a resume for
the civilization to indicate its level of complexness. Generally,
intelligence of interstellar species is measured under the Kardashev
Scale, coined by the Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev. To put it
simply, an intelligent species needs large amounts of energy for
their needs and the Kardashev scale addresses just the same.
There are three types of civilizations: Type I, Type II and Type III.
Type I civilizations can harness the total energy of their host planet.
Currently, we are halfway near to completing the stage of the Type
I civilization. Type II civilizations are able to harness the collective
energy of their host star. They can achieve this by building a Dyson
swarm, which is basically a huge swarm of solar panels redirecting
the star’s light back to the solar stations on the host planet. Type III
civilizations are the ultimate champions of the Kardashev scale,
harnessing the power of all the stars in a galaxy, achieving near-
infinite amounts of energy.
The Kardashev scale can be extended to Type IV, which can harness
the power of multiple galaxies at once, or just controlling the
inherent power of their host universe.
The extended Kardashev scale can reach to Type V, which can
harness the power of multiple parallel universes, effectively enacting
the human image of a god.
Carl Sagan provided an equation to calculate a species’ Kardashev
rating like so:
𝐥𝐨𝐠 𝑷 − 𝟔
𝑲=
𝟏𝟎
Here, “K” represents the civilization’s Kardashev rating and “P” is the
amount of power consumed by it per year.
Problem: A civilization’s power input is around 100 yottawatts.
Calculate the Kardashev rating of that civilization.
Solution: As with our other problems, let’s break this problem
up into two parts: solving the numerator and solving the denominator.
Step 1: 100 yottawatts = 100 × 1024 watts = 1026 watts
𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟔 = 26 (don’t ask me how, it would be another book if I
explained how logarithms work)
𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟔 − 𝟔=26-6=20
Step 2:
𝒍𝒐𝒈𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟔 −𝟔
= 20÷10=2
𝟏𝟎
Hence the rating of the civilization would be around 2 Kardashev
ratings, or a perfect Type II civilization.
Mathematically speaking, humanity can reach the Type I civilization

mark in around 100-200 years, Type II civilization in around a
thousand years and Type III in a million years. In terms of energy, a
Type I civilization would need 10 petawatts, a type II civilization would
need 100 yottawatts, a type III civilization would need 1036 watts, a
type IV civilization would require 1046 watts and a type V civilization
would need around 1056 watts (that’s 1 followed by 56 zeroes).
Coming back to aliens, now if Drake’s equation and the Kardashev scale
are true, it provides us two independent observations. One, from the
Drake’s equation, we can see the number of civilizations possible for
interstellar communication. Two, from the Kardashev scale, we can see
what traits do we want to see from a growing interstellar species. Now,
the only thing left is to pinpoint the exact locations of the interstellar
species and establish a diplomatic relationship with them. However, this
is easier on paper than done. Here’s why.
Remember Carl Sagan? The man who extended the Kardashev scale to
the decimals? So, he now approached NASA because he heard that
NASA was launching a new set of probes to the outer planets. The
probes in question were Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, set to travel to the
outer planets Jupiter and Saturn respectively. He inserted 21-line
hydrogen emission spectrum inside the probes, hoping that alien
scientists would decode it and learn more about the Earth. They were
launched in 1972 and 1973 and showed never-seen insights on the two
planets. However, in the context of Sagan, he did not find any aliens in
the trip of the probes to their planets. Not at all disappointed, Carl
Sagan decided to ping the entire Universe with a signal from Earth. He
and Mr. Drake decided to choose the largest radio dish in existence, the
Arecibo Dish, located in Puerto Rico. The message was sent in a short
3-minute burst of 1000 kilowatts of radio waves, designed to travel to
the globular cluster M13, which is around 25,000 light years away
from Earth. The Arecibo message took the form of a mathematical code,
engrossing itself in strings of binary digits. In short, the message
contained information of the Earth: the numbers from 1 to 10, human
DNA, shape of humans and the coordinates of Planet Earth. When Sagan
and Drake realised that the return message will take forever to come
back, they repeated the same thing which they did with the Pioneer
probes, but this time, with the Voyager probes. The Voyager probes
were more advanced than their predecessors and had bigger aims to
achieve. Instead of doing a flyby like the Pioneer probes, the Voyager
probes offered scientists a close-up look into the mechanisms of Jupiter
and Saturn. This time, Mr. Sagan added a golden plaque to both the
probes, called the Voyager Golden Plaques. This was created in order to
let aliens know that this was a human satellite and if they wanted to
know more about us, they can visit a rocky planet known as Earth.
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have crossed interstellar space quite recently
and still the plaques have not been read. In 1990, Carl Sagan asked the
operators of Voyager 1 to take a picture of Earth from its mean position.
The craft captured the famous “Pale Blue Dot” image and he spoke
movingly for the same, “Everyone you love, everyone you know,
everyone you have heard of, every human being who ever was, lived
out their lives on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”.
Now, SETI is privately funded and is now more focused on finding signs
of interstellar activity like Dyson sphere, stellar engines, black hole
bombs and so on. So, for those who think that aliens do not exist, you
may be laughing now, but science will triumph and will have the last
laugh.

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Carbon: The

1. The Rise and Fall of a Star --01

See, apparently in the ancient times, they thought the

Image 1: This is RCW86, the oldest recorded

1 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Image 2: This is the Crab Nebula, one of the prehistoric nebulae,

2 | Carbon: The Element of Life

This cycle sort of applies to stars. We see that the star

3 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Image 3: This is Sirius A, one of the brightest stars in the night

4 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Image 4: This is Arcturus, a red giant. It proposed

5 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Image 5: This is Betelgeuse, a red supergiant. It is said that this

6 | Carbon: The Element of Life

7 | Carbon: The Element of Life

8 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Image 8: A supernova ejecting the elements of the previous star.

There is a limit called as the Chandrasekhar Limit. It

9 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Image 9: This is the Crab Pulsar, a relatively young

A black hole is a body is a region in space (or should I

10 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Anyways, when we are dealing with life, we often look

“The mind that opens a new idea never

11 | Carbon: The Element of Life

1. Nuclear Fission: It is basically saying that a

12 | Carbon: The Element of Life

2. Nuclear Fusion: It is basically saying that we

13 | Carbon: The Element of Life

The star’s primary energy source is hydrogen. Since

The star undergoes from helium to other relatively

14 | Carbon: The Element of Life

When the fusion reaches carbon, a new cycle starts.

15 | Carbon: The Element of Life

When it reaches oxygen, if forms new elements in

16 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Applying the theory of death of stars in the previous

“In the midst of darkness, light persists.”- Mahatma

17 | Carbon: The Element of Life

18 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Element Emission spectrum Absorption spectrum

But how to read these images? You have to look in

19 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Image 17: This is NGC 604, a H II region in the Triangulum Galaxy.

20 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Persistence is to the character of man as

21 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Let’s start with the atom. The atom is held together

22 | Carbon: The Element of Life

23 | Carbon: The Element of Life

24 | Carbon: The Element of Life

Number of electrons = Number of protons

There are many things that define an atom. Here are

26 | Carbon: The Element of Life

27 | Carbon: The Element of Life

28 | Carbon: The Element of Life

“Success is little more than a compound of

29 | Carbon: The Element of Life

30 | Carbon: The Element of Life

To look at the technical picture, the atom that is

31 | Carbon: The Element of Life

35 | Carbon: The Element of Life