Since the time I was four or five years old, I played alone for many years (even when I was in college) building dams across a little stream that flowed over a small stony hill into our reservoir in our farm. I was crazy about this. I spent several hours during weekends and summer days when I was in my village with this activity. I was amazed at the force and nature of water flow. I would use little stones and mud I could gather and build a dam. It is not easy to build a dam across flowing water. As you build, some of it gets washed up. The size of stones and the way they are placed while building the dam is also important. Otherwise, the water forces out the mud and sand leaving huge holes through the stony dam making it useless. No matter how big the dam that you build is, eventually, the water from the stream fills up and overflows. So, you have to make arrangements for overflow without damaging the dam. It is such a thrilling experience to build a dam that is virtually impenetrable and seeing the water raise.
I learned all practical aspects of hydrodynamics without knowing any special terms such as turbulence. I learned the difference in the stability of a dam of small height but huge catchment area and the tall dam with a small catchment area. I never knew about the terms or concepts of potential and kinetic energy but learned them without being able to express what they mean.
When I visited the same area next day to resume play, needless to say, I found the skeletal remains of my dam. So I would restart my activity. Sometimes I would just clean up and start over, sometimes I would try to start patching up the dam. Over the years, I must have built literally thousands of dams. I never got bored or impatient with my effort.
The stream I am talking about was really very tiny (sometimes it would swell up after a big rain), but during those childhood years, it was like a huge river to me.
I learned all practical aspects of hydrodynamics without knowing any special terms such as turbulence. I learned the difference in the stability of a dam of small height but huge catchment area and the tall dam with a small catchment area. I never knew about the terms or concepts of potential and kinetic energy but learned them without being able to express what they mean.
When I visited the same area next day to resume play, needless to say, I found the skeletal remains of my dam. So I would restart my activity. Sometimes I would just clean up and start over, sometimes I would try to start patching up the dam. Over the years, I must have built literally thousands of dams. I never got bored or impatient with my effort.
The stream I am talking about was really very tiny (sometimes it would swell up after a big rain), but during those childhood years, it was like a huge river to me.
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