Apple that struck Newton may inspire budding Indian scientists

“After I returned from Australia, one of the scientists who had attended the seminar sent me a note suggesting that it might be a good idea to have the original apple tree under which Newton sat and is said to have hit upon the theory of gravity cloned and that sapling planted in the IUCAA campus,” elaborates the erudite director, as he explains the presence of three of these cloned saplings growing in Pune the only place in the country and one of the handful in the world to have achieved this unusual feat.

“Initially, I wasn’t sure whether this was possible, but then my scientist friend furnished me with all details, adding that there were institutes in the world that had done it,” he says.

Always one to pursue the unusual, Narlikar decided to take the plunge, and following up whatever details he could obtain, he tracked down the Brogdale Horticulture Trust in United Kingdom that held the licence to clone Newton’s tree. “I also made inquiries at the Trinity College and the Isaac Newton Institute, London that had cloned Newton trees’ in their campuses, which were doing fine. On my request, the Brogdale horticulture nursery agreed to send us grafted wood from the tree, and thus, it was in 1994 that we first received a part of Newton’s tree. We planted the grafted wood, but unfortunately it did not last more than a year.”

“So the next year we asked them to send us actual grafted plants, which they dispatched through ordinary post,” he continues. This parcel that was sent in March reached Pune in June! We were quite certain that none of these saplings had survived, but our garden expert here said he would nevertheless fetch them and see what could be salvaged. To our amazement, two of the three saplings survived. We planted them, and while one of them died after a few weeks, the other lived almost a year before withering away,” he reveals. Narlikar then asked the nursery for more saplings, requesting them to send them by registered post this time. But fresh hurdles cropped up.

Apparently the quarantine regulations of the country had changed in the meantime, requiring the director to get a certificate of approval from the Ministry of Agriculture in New Delhi. “At this juncture, I almost gave up, butas a last ditch attempt, contacted some friends at the Agricultural Research Institute in Delhi who on a routine basis had been importing saplings from abroad. They asked me to leave everything to them, and in December 1996, we got these three saplings. As of now, all are doing well,” he says with a smile.

The first question that probably comes to mind when told about the trees is regarding their authenticity. What makes the director so sure that the saplings at IUCAA belong to the original Newton’s tree? “The original tree that Newton allegedly sat under is no longer there,” explains Narlikar. “It lived for about 100 years, crashing down later in a thunderstorm. But before this had happened, that original tree had been cloned, and in that exact spot its cloned version exists today. The rest of the saplings in the world belong to that cloned tree.”

Meanwhile, the three saplings planted in different locations in the premises of IUCAA to study the correct amount of light and shade required by them, are flourishing and look healthy enough. One of them is still in a pot, while the others have attained a height of almost six feet.

The only special care that these plants, essentially growing in colder climates, require is spraying of water at regular intervals. Though the trees have survived one summer, Narlikar is planning to have a cover erected over them from March and June, to ensure protection from the excessive heat of the season.

But what was it that made the scientist undertake so much trouble to get the saplings and plant them at IUCAA? And he replies, “What is the significance of Sinhagad the mighty fort near Pune minus all the history associated with it? Similarly these might be mere apple trees, but assume importance because they belong to the family of the apple tree of Newton. And that fact is worthy enough to make efforts for.”

And when is all this labour likely to bear fruit literally?. “We cannot say. For that matter, we do not even know if they will bear fruit, since Pune’s climate is really not very conducive for growing apples; we just have to wait and watch.”

So even if this puts paid to anyone’s plans of sitting under the tree, hoping for an apple to fall on their head, consequently resulting in a path-breaking scientific discovery, Narlikar does plan to make the potted sapling one of the major exhibits at his proposed open air science park for children in IUCAA. “All children learn about the famous apple tree Newton sat under and if they can actually see it they would identify with the lesson so much more,” he points out.

Finally, have these saplings been given any special name? “Of course. We pondered over it for days and came up with this very unusual name — Newton’s Apple Tree!” quips the renowned scientist, with characteristic wit.