Mammoth Math

I took a week to decide and finally accepted the challenge of working with elephants, the symbol of Lord Ganapati, who keeps away all obstacles and leads us to success. Thus, my thesis was ‘Certain Physiological Studies on Indian Elephants’. It had two aims—to study the characteristics of blood in baby, adult female elephants and tuskers (adult males), and to evolve a simple and reliable prediction equation for calculating their body weights.

In my home state of Kerala, these gentle mammals run aplenty and (once domesticated) are found mostly in temples, which are usually located far away from a weighbridge and it is difficult to determine their weight. Therefore, my findings would be useful for veterinarians because the dosage of medicines and food are fixed based on the body weight of animals. We developed a simple and reliable equation to estimate elephants’ body weight by taking certain body measurements using a tape measure: BW=-1010+0.036 (LxG) {BW=body weight (kg), L=length of body (cm) and G=chest girth (cm)}

We also formulated an equation for finding elephant height:H=-1.60+1.99 FFC {H=height, FFC=forefoot circumference (in cm)}, which is approximately twice the forefoot circumference. Thus, the simple forefoot print is enough to visualise the height of the elephant.

At the end of my thesis work, Prof B.C. Joshy, the renowned scientist and a good friend of Prof Nirmalan, visited our department. Incidentally, he was fond of elephants and was very impressed with my study. I took him to Punathoor Kotta, the elephant camp house of the Lord Krishna temple at Guruvayoor. As a token of love and affection, I offered him a picture of an elephant with raised trunk and fanned-out ears drawn on a bamboo sheet. He was enchanted and commented: "You people have taken so many measurements for studies, why not use them to calculate the total Body Surface Area (BSA) of this majestic animal? Yours will the first report of its kind in the world."

The BSA determines our physiological adjustments against environmental changes. If the exposed BSA is more, heat will be lost but it is retained if the BSA is less exposed, as in summer and winter respectively. More importantly, the basal metabolic rate, an important consideration to calculate food requirement, is based on BSA, as are prescriptions of certain drugs.

Initially, I was not enthusiastic to start this new project because of two reasons: it was not part of my programme, and it might delay the award of my degree. But Prof Nirmalan, my family and friends encouraged me to do it. Now, various parts of the elephant’s body have different geometrical shapes. The ear is like a triangle, the trunk, tail and limbs are like cylinders, and the body is like a barrel. Thus, we divided the different anatomical parts and summed up the area to get the BSA of that elephant. All animals were weighed before taking these measurements.

We made several trips to forests, temples and circuses to collect data from 24 adult elephants, 12 females and 12 tuskers. The equipment we used were a strong tape measure, a horizontal thin wooden rod with spirit level and a thin thread.

The animals varied in weight from 1.8 tonnes to 5.3 tonnes and the BSA of females ranged between 13.56 and 21.18 mts, while that of tuskers varied from 12.16 to 20.96 mts, indicating more BSA to females than males. Since actual measurement of BSA using our technique is dangerous, strenuous and laborious under practical field conditions, we derived an equation to predict the BSA from two body measurements of that elephant:S=-8.245+6.807 H+7.073 FFC, {S=BSA (m2), H (cm)=height, FFC (cm)=forefoot circumference}

Once, while taking the height of an elephant at its shoulders, we nearly met with death. My friend was holding one end of the tape at the base of the forefoot, while the first mahout sitting in line with the shoulders held the other end in position. I was standing near the forefoot noting the measurements. Suddenly the elephant turned violent, swung its trunk and hit me. I was thrown a few feet away.

My friend, who was near the foot, fell down and the elephant stamped on him. With God’s grace, the foot fell on the tip of his North Star shoe, and not his toes. Then, the animal began to bring down its tusk to attack him, while he was struggling to free his shoes and run. At this moment, I ran towards the elephant and tried to pull my friend out; it turned its head and began to charge at me, lifting its foot. This was the god-given opportunity for my friend to free his shoes and escape. Both of us were injured. This incident was a nightmare and I stayed away from research for some months, to regain my mental and physical strength.

This study was finally published in The Veterinary Research Communications, Netherlands, in 1990. Prof Nirmalan told me once, "These equations will be known as the Sreekumar-Nirmalan formula, as other famous ones." This work is useful for scientists involved with metabolic studies, wildlife experts and forest officials.

To my delight, 12 years later, last August, I received an e-mail from Marc Abrahams, chairman of the Ig Nobel Board of Governors and editor of the Annals of Improbable Research. He said Prof Nirmalan and I had been selected for one of the Ig Nobel Prizes for our unique work on ‘Estimation of the total surface area in Indian elephants (Elephas maximus indicus)’. The award ceremony was held on October 3 at the Sanders theatre of Harvard University.

Abrahams mentioned I’d be personally honoured by three Nobel Prize winners, William N. Lipscomb (Chemistry, 1976), Dudley Herschbach (Chemistry, 1986) and Richard J. Roberts (Medicine and Physiology, 1993). He also organised a sponsor, TV channel NHK Japan, for my trip to and stay at Harvard. Due to personal reasons, I couldn’t make it to Sanders theatre but my photograph was shown and my message, in which I dedicated the award to Prof Nirmalan, was read out.

The NHK crew came to Thrissur in November 2002 to hand over the certificate and conduct my interview. I recreated the process of my research for their team. It was telecast in December in Japan. Our scientific community did not realise the significance of our research till we won the Ig Nobel. But what has hurt me is the reaction of some members of the scientific community here who have maligned my work without even reading it or inquiring about the Ig Nobel Prize. They have gone to the extent of writing anonymous letters to heads of institutions to tarnish my image and credibility.

However, I find comfort in what Abrahams wrote about the philosophy of the Ig Nobel, "Whether your achievement is for the public good or bad may be difficult or even painful to explain. But the fact is, you did it and have been recognised. Let others make of that recognition what they will."