APJ Abdul Kalam
Born
- 15 October 1931
Achievements -
This eminent scientist and engineer has also served as
the 11th President of India from the period 2002 to 2007. APJ Abdul Kalam is a
man of vision, who is always full of ideas aimed at the development of the
country. He firmly believes that India needs to play a more assertive role in
international relations.
Apart from being a notable scientist and engineer, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam served as
the 11th President of India from the period 2002 to 2007. He is a man of
vision, who is always full of ideas aimed at the development of the country and
is also often also referred to as the Missile Man of India. People loved and
respected Dr APJ Abdul Kalam so much during his tenure as President that was
popularly called the People's President. Read more about the biography of Dr
APJ Abdul Kalam here.
APJ Abdul Kalam was born on 15 October 1931 at the South Indian state of Tamil
Nadu and received honorary doctorates from about 30 universities globally. In
the year 1981, the Government of India presented him the nation's highest
civilian honor, the Padma Bhushan and then again, the Padma Vibhushan in 1990
and the Bharat Ratna in 1997. Before Kalam, there have been only two presidents
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain - to have received the Bharat
Ratna before bring appointed to the highest office in India.
Read on about the life history of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, who's also the first
scientist and bachelor to occupy the seat of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. His
perspectives on important topics have been enunciated by him in the book 'India
2020'. It highlights the action plans that will help develop the country into a
knowledge superpower by the time 2020. One thing for which he received ample
kudos is his unambiguous statement that India needs to play a more assertive
role in international relations.
And Dr APJ Abdul Kalam regards his work on India's nuclear weapons program as a
way to assert India's place as a future superpower. Even during his tenure as
President, APJ Kalam took avid interest in the spheres of India's science and
technology. He has even put forward a project plan for establishing
bio-implants. He is also an ardent advocate of open source software over
proprietary solutions to churn out more profits in the field of information
technology in India.
Birbal Sahni
Born
- 14 November 1891
Died - 10 April 1949
Achievements - Birbal Sahni was a renowned paleobotanist and geologist
of India. He is Sahni is credited for setting up the Birbal Sahni Institute of
Palaeobotany at Lucknow in the state of Uttar Pradesh. In the year 1929, he
received the degree of Sc. D. from the University of Cambridge. He was also
appointed the Fellow of the Royal Society of London (FRS) in the year 1936,
which is the biggest British scientific honor.
Birbal Sahni was a renowned paleobotanist of India, who studied the fossils of
the Indian subcontinent. Also a great geologist, Sahni is credited for
establishing the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany at Lucknow in the state
of Uttar Pradesh. Born on 14 November in the year 1891 at Behra in the
Saharanpur District of West Punjab, Birbal was the third son of Ishwar Devi and
Prof. Ruchi Ram Sahni. Some famous personalities who were regular guests of his
parents were Motilal Nehru, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Sarojini Naidu and others.
Read on further about the biography of Birbal Sahni, who received his education
at the Government College University of Lahore and later from Punjab University.
He attended the Emmanuel College at Cambridge in the year 1914. And after this,
he pursued further studies under Professor A.C. Seward and was given the D.Sc.
degree from London University in the year 1919. Birbal Sahni then came back to
his native country India to work as the professor of Botany at the highly
esteemed Banaras Hindu University at the holy city of Varanasi.
Sahni also taught at the Punjab University for about a year. Birbal Sahni's
academic background was so strong that he was elected the head of the botany
department in Lucknow University in the year 1921. There were numerous such
landmarks in the life history of Birbal Sahni, whose fabulous research work was
honored by the University of Cambridge that decided to present him with the
degree of Sc. D. in the year 1929. In the coming time, Sahni not only continued
his own study, but also appointed and guided a number of bright students under
him.
He holds the credit of establishing the Paleobotanical Society that went on to
set up the Institute of Palaeobotany on 10 September 1946. Professor Sahni was
respected by all academicians and scholars of his time both in India and
abroad. He was appointed the Fellow of the Royal Society of London (FRS) in the
year 1936, which is the biggest British scientific honor. And for the first
time since its inception, this award was given out to an Indian botanist.
C.V. Raman
Born:
November 7, 1888
Died: November 21, 1970
Achievements: He was the first Indian scholar who studied wholly in
India received the Nobel Prize.
C.V. Raman is one of the most renowned scientists produced by India. His full
name was Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. For his pioneering work on scattering of
light, C.V. Raman won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930.
Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman was born on November 7, 1888 in Tiruchinapalli,
Tamil Nadu. He was the second child of Chandrasekhar Iyer and Parvathi Amma.
His father was a lecturer in mathematics and physics, so he had an academic
atmosphere at home. He entered Presidency College, Madras, in 1902, and in 1904
passed his B.A. examination, winning the first place and the gold medal in
physics. In 1907, C.V. Raman passed his M.A. obtaining the highest
distinctions.
During those times there were not many opportunities for scientists in India.
Therefore, Raman joined the Indian Finance Department in 1907. After his office
hours, he carried out his experimental research in the laboratory of the Indian
Association for the Cultivation of Science at Calcutta. He carried out research
in acoustics and optics.
In 1917, Raman was offered the position of Sir Taraknath Palit Professorship of
Physics at Calcutta University. He stayed there for the next fifteen years.
During his tenure there, he received world wide recognition for his work in
optics and scattering of light. He was elected to the Royal Society of London
in 1924 and the British made him a knight of the British Empire in 1929. In
1930, Sir C.V. Raman was awarded with Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on
scattering of light. The discovery was later christened as "Raman
Effect".
In 1934, C.V. Raman became the director of the newly established Indian
Institute of Sciences in Bangalore, where two years later he continued as a
professor of physics. Other investigations carried out by Raman were: his
experimental and theoretical studies on the diffraction of light by acoustic
waves of ultrasonic and hypersonic frequencies (published 1934-1942), and those
on the effects produced by X-rays on infrared vibrations in crystals exposed to
ordinary light. In 1947, he was appointed as the first National Professor by
the new government of Independent India. He retired from the Indian Institute
in 1948 and a year later he established the Raman Research Institute in
Bangalore, where he worked till his death.
Sir C.V. Raman died on November 21, 1970.
Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar
Born
- 21 February 1894
Died - 1 January 1955
Achievements - A noted scientist of India, Dr Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar
was appointed the first director-general of the prestigious Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research. He also hold the credit of building 12
national laboratories like Central Food Processing Technological Institute at
Mysore, National Chemical Laboratory at Pune and so on.
Dr Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was a distinguished Indian scientist. He was born
on 21 February 1894 at Shahpur, which is located in Pakistan in present times.
His father passed away sometime after the birth of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. As
such, he spent his childhood days with his maternal grandfather who was an
engineer and it was here that he developed an interest in science and engineering.
Read on this biography to know more about the life and professional history of
Dr Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar.
As a child, Bhatnagar loved to construct mechanical toys. In the home of his
maternal family, he also developed an interest in writing poetry and his one
act play in Urdu 'Karamati' won the first prize in a competition. After
completing his master's in India, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar headed to England
for a research fellowship. Here he got his D. Sc degree from the London
University in the year 1921. When he came back to his native country, Bhatnagar
was presented with a proposal of professorship at the renowned Benaras Hindu
University.
Dr Bhatnagar was knighted by the British Government in the year 1941 as an
award for his research in science, whereas, on 18 March 1943 he was selected as
fellow of the Royal Society. Though his area of interest included emulsions,
colloids, and industrial chemistry, but his primary contributions were in the
spheres of magneto-chemistry. He also made a melodious kulgeet i.e. University
song, which is still sung with great pride before any function in his
university.
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru himself was an advocate of scientific
development. After India gained freedom from British rule in 1947, the Council
of Scientific and Industrial Research was established under the chairmanship of
Dr. Bhatnagar, who was appointed its first director-general. In the coming
years, he set up 12 national laboratories like Central Food Processing
Technological Institute at Mysore, National Chemical Laboratory at Pune, the
National Metallurgical Laboratory at Jamshedpur and many others.
Har Gobind Khorana
Born
- 9 January 1922
Achievements - Har Gobind Khorana is an American molecular biologist,
who was born to an Indian Punjabi couple. For his work on the interpretation of
the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis, he was awarded the
Nobel Prize in the year 1968.
Har Gobind Khorana is an American molecular biologist born on 9 January 1922 to
an Indian Punjabi couple. For his work on the interpretation of the genetic
code and its function in protein synthesis, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in
the year 1968. This award was, however, also shared by Robert W. Holley and
Marshall Warren Nirenberg. The very same year, he received another award
'Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize' along with Nirenberg that was presented to them by
the Columbia University.
Read this biography to learn more about Har Gobind Khorana, who became a
citizen of the United States of America in the year 1966. In present times,
he's residing at Cambridge in Massachusetts, United States as a part of the MIT
Chemistry faculty. Har Gobind Khorana was also the first to produce
oligonucleotides, which is chains of nucleotides. He was also the first person
to segregate DNA ligase, an enzyme that connects sections of DNA together.
These custom-designed portions of artificial genes are extensively used in
biology labs for sequencing, cloning and engineering new plants and animals.
This invention by Dr. Khorana has become automated and commercialized so that
anyone now can order a synthetic gene from any of a number of companies. Thus,
this is the history of the life of Dr Har Gobind Khorana as a biologist.
Homi Bhabha
Born:
October 30, 1909
Died: January 24, 1966
Achievements: Founded Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; was the
first chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission; was chairman of the first
United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, held in Geneva
in 1955.
Homi Bhabha, whose full name was Homi Jehnagir Bhabha, was a famous Indian
atomic scientist. In Independent India, Homi Jehnagir Bhabha, with the support
of Jawaharlal Nehru, laid the foundation of a scientific establishment and was
responsible for the creation of two premier institutions, Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Homi Bhabha was the
first chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission.
Homi Jehangir Bhabha was born on October 30, 1909, in Bombay in a rich Parsi
family. After graduating from Elphinstone College and the Royal Institute of
Science in Bombay, he went to Cambridge University. He received his doctorate
in 1934. During this period he worked with Niels Bohr on the studies that led
to quantum theory. Homi Jehnagir Bhabha also worked with Walter Heitler on the
cascade theory of electron showers, which was of great importance for the
understanding of cosmic radiation. He did significant work in identifying the
meson.
Due to outbreak of Second World War, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, returned to India in
1939. He set up the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore under C. V. Raman in 1939. With the help of J.R.D. Tata, he
established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research at Mumbai. In 1945, he
became director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
Apart from being a great scientist, Homi Bhabha, was also a skilled
administrator. After independence he received the blessings of Jawaharlal Nehru
for peaceful development of atomic energy. He established the Atomic Energy
Commission of India in 1948. Under his guidance Indian scientists worked on the
development of atomic energy, and the first atomic reactor in Asia went into
operation at Trombay, near Bombay, in 1956.
Homi Bhabha was chairman of the first United Nations Conference on the Peaceful
Uses of Atomic Energy, held in Geneva in 1955. He advocated international
control of nuclear energy and the outlawing of atomic bombs by all countries.
He wanted nuclear energy to be used for alleviating poverty and misery of
people.
Homi Bhabha received many honorary degrees from Indian and foreign universities
and was a member of numerous scientific societies, including the National
Academy of Sciences in the United States. He also authored many articles on
quantum theory and cosmic rays. Homi Bhabha died in an aeroplane crash in
Switzerland on January 24, 1966.
Jagdish Chandra Bose
Born:
November 30, 1858
Died: November 23, 1937
Achievements: He was the first to prove that plants too have feelings.
He invented wireless telegraphy a year before Marconi patented his invention.
Jagdish Chandra Bose was an eminent Indian scientist. He was the first to prove
that plants and metals too have feelings.
Jagdish Chandra Bose was born on November 30, 1858 in Mymensingh (now in
Bangladesh). His father Bhagabanchandra Bose was a Deputy Magistrate. Jagadish
Chandra Bose had his early education in village school in Bengal medium. In
1869, Jagadish Chandra Bose was sent to Calcutta to learn English and was
educated at St.Xavier's School and College. He was a brilliant student. He
passed the B.A. in physical sciences in 1879.
In 1880, Jagdishchandra Bose went to England. He studied medicine at London
University, England, for a year but gave it up because of his own ill health.
Within a year he moved to Cambridge to take up a scholarship to study Natural
Science at Christ's College Cambridge. In 1885, he returned from abroad with a
B.Sc. degree and Natural Science Tripos (a special course of study at
Cambridge).
After his return Jagadish Chandra Bose, was offered lectureship at Presidency
College, Calcutta on a salary half that of his English colleagues. He accepted
the job but refused to draw his salary in protest. After three years the
college ultimately conceded his demand and Jagdish Chandra Bose was paid full salary
from the date he joined the college. As a teacher Jagdish Chandra Bose was very
popular and engaged the interest of his students by making extensive use of
scientific demonstrations. Many of his students at the Presidency College were
destined to become famous in their own right. These included Satyendra Nath
Bose and Meghnad Saha.
In 1894, Jagadish Chandra Bose decided to devote himself to pure research. He
converted a small enclosure adjoining a bathroom in the Presidency College into
a laboratory. He carried out experiments involving refraction, diffraction and
polarization. It would not be wrong to call him as the inventor of wireless
telegraphy. In 1895, a year before Guglielmo Marconi patented this invention,
he had demonstrated its functioning in public.
Jagdish Chandra Bose later switched from physics to the study of metals and
then plants. He fabricated a highly sensitive "coherer", the device
that detects radio waves. He found that the sensitivity of the coherer
decreased when it was used continuously for a long period and it regained its
sensitivity when he gave the device some rest. He thus concluded that metals
have feelings and memory.
Jagdish Chandra Bose showed experimentally plants too have life. He invented an
instrument to record the pulse of plants and connected it to a plant. The
plant, with its roots, was carefully picked up and dipped up to its stem in a
vessel containing bromide, a poison. The plant's pulse beat, which the
instrument recorded as a steady to-and-fro movement like the pendulum of a
clock, began to grow unsteady. Soon, the spot vibrated violently and then came
to a sudden stop. The plant had died because of poison.
Although Jagdish Chandra Bose did invaluable work in Science, his work was
recognized in the country only when the Western world recognized its
importance. He founded the Bose Institute at Calcutta, devoted mainly to the
study of plants. Today, the Institute carries research on other fields too.
Jagdish Chandra Bose died on November 23, 1937.
M.Visvesvaraya
Born:
September 15, 1860
Died: April 14, 1962
Achievements: Architect of Krishnarajasagar Dam; devised steel doors to
stop the wasteful flow of water in dams; honored with Bharat Ratna.
Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was an eminent engineer and statesman and played
a key role in building of modern India.
Sir M. Visvesvaraya was born on September 15, 1860 in Muddenahalli village in
the Kolar district of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore (present day
Karnataka). His father Srinivasa Sastry was a Sanskrit scholar and Ayurvedic
practitioner. His mother Venkachamma was a religious lady. He lost his father
when he was only 15 years old.
Visvesvaraya completed his early education in Chikkaballapur and then went to
Bangalore for higher education. He cleared his B.A. Examination in 1881. He got
some assistance from the Government of Mysore and joined the Science College in
Poona to study Engineering. In 1883 he ranked first in the L.C.E. and the
F.C.E. Examinations (equivalent to B.E. Examination of today).
When Sir M. Visvesvaraya cleared his engineering, Government of Bombay offered
him a job and appointed him Assistant Engineer at Nasik. As an engineer, he
achieved some marvelous feats. He planned a way of supplying water from the
river Sindhu to a town called Sukkur. He devised a new irrigation system called
the Block System. He devised steel doors to stop the wasteful flow of water in
dams. He was the architect of the Krishnaraja Sagara dam in Mysore. The list is
endless.
Sir M. Visvesvaraya lead a very simple life. He was a strict vegetarian and a
teetotaler. He was known for his honesty and integrity. In 1912, Maharaja of
Mysore appointed Visvesvaraya as his Dewan. Before accepting the position of
Dewan of Mysore, he invited all his relatives for dinner. He told them very
clearly that he would accept the prestigious office on the condition that none
of them would approach him for favours. As Dewan of Mysore, he worked
tirelessly for educational and industrial development of the state. When he was
the Dewan many new industries came up. The Sandal Oil Factory, the Soap
Factory, the Metals Factory, the Chrome Tanning Factory , were some of them. Of
the many factories he started the most important is the Bhadravati Iron and
Steel Works.
Sir M. Visvesvaraya voluntarily retired as Dewan of Mysore in 1918. He worked actively
even after his retirement. Sir M. Visvesvaraya was honored with Bharat Ratna in
1955 for his invaluable contribution to the nation. When he reached the age of
100, the Government of India brought out a stamp in his honor. Sir Visvesvaraya
passed away on April 14, 1962 at the age of 101.
Some of the honours and laurels conferred on Sir M. Visvesvaraya
- 1904: Honorary
Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for an unbroken period
of 50 years
- 1906:
"Kaisar-i-Hind" in recognition of his services
- 1911: C.I.E.
(Companion of the Indian Empire) at the Delhi Darbar
- 1915: K.C.I.E.
(Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire)
- 1921: D.Sc. -
Calcutta University
- 1931: LLD -
Bombay University
- 1937: D.Litt -
Benaras Hindu University
- 1943: Elected as
an Honorary Life Member of the Institution of Engineers (India)
- 1944: D.Sc. -
Allahabad University
- 1948: Doctorate
- LLD., Mysore University
- 1953: D.Litt -
Andhra University
- 1953: Awarded
the Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Town Planners, India
- 1955: Conferred
' BHARATHA RATNA'
- 1958: 'Durga
Prasad Khaitan Memorial Gold Medal' by the Royal Asiatic Society Council
of Bengal
1959: Fellowship of the Indian Institute of
Science, Bangalore
Meghnad Saha
Born:
October 6, 1893
Died: February 16, 1956
Achievements: Made outstanding contribution to the field of
Astrophysics. He put forward an "ionization formula" which explained
the presence of the spectral lines.
Meghnad Saha was an outstanding Indian scientist. He made remarkable
contribution to the field of Astrophysics.
Meghnad Saha was born on October 6, 1893 in Sheoratali, a village in the
District of Dacca, now in Bangladesh. He was the fifth child of his parents,
Sri Jagannath Saha and Smt. Bhubaneshwari Devi. His father was a grocer in the
village. Meghnad Saha had his early schooling in the primary school of the
village. As his family could hardly able to make both ends meet, Meghnad Saha
managed to pursue his schooling only due to the generosity of a local medical
practitioner, Ananta Kumar Das, who provided him with boarding and lodging in
his house.
In 1905, British Government took the decision of partition of Bengal. There was
great political unrest in Bengal as popular opinion was against the partition.
Sir Bampfylde Fuller was governor of East Bengal at that time. One day he came
to visit the Collegiate school. Meghnad Saha along with other students
boycotted his visit. As a result he was suspended from the school and his
scholarship was terminated. He took admission in the Kishorilal Jubili School
and passed the Entrance Examination of the Calcutta University in 1909, standing
first among the student from East Bengal obtaining the highest marks in
languages (English, Bengali and Sanskrit combined) and in Mathematics. In 1911,
he ranked third in the ISc exam while the first position went to another great
scientist Satyendranath Bose.
Meghnad Saha took admission in Presidency College Calcutta. In 1913 he
graduated from Presidency College with Mathematics major and got the second
rank in the University of Calcutta while the first one was taken by S.N. Bose.
In 1915, both S.N.Bose and Meghnad Saha ranked first in M.Sc. exam, Meghnad
Saha in Applied Mathematics and S.N. Bose in Pure Mathematics.
While studying in Presidency College, Meghnad got involved with Anushilan
Samiti to take part in freedom fighting movement. He also came in contact with
nationalists like Subhash Chandra Bose and Rajendra Prasad.
In 1917, Meghnad Saha joined as lecturer at the newly opened University College
of Science in Calcutta. He taught Quantum Physics. Along with S.N. Bose, he
translated the papers published in German by Einstein and Minkowski on
relativity into English versions. In 1919, American Astrophysical Journal
published - "On Selective Radiation Pressure and it's application" -
a research paper by Meghnad Saha. He put forward an "ionization
formula" which explained the presence of the spectral lines. The formula
proved to be a breakthrough in astrophysics. He went abroad and stayed for two
years. He spent time in research at Imperial College, London and at a research
laboratory in Germany. In 1927, Meghnad Saha was elected as a fellow of
London's Royal Society.
Meghnad Saha moved to Allahabad and in 1932 Uttar Pradesh Academy of Science
was established. He returned to Science College, Calcutta in 1938. During this
time Saha got interested in Nuclear Physics. In 1947, he established Institute
of Nuclear Physics which later was named after him as Saha Institute of Nuclear
Physics. He took the first effort to include Nuclear Physics in the curriculum
of higher studies of science. Having seen cyclotrons used for research in
nuclear physics abroad, he ordered one to be installed in the institute. In
1950, India had its first cyclotron in operation.
In 1952 he stood as an independent candidate for Parliament and was elected by
a wide margin. He died on February 16, 1956 due to a heart attack.
Satyendra Nath Bose
Born:
January 1, 1894
Died: February 4, 1974
Achievements: Famous for "Bose-Einstein Theory". A subatomic
particle Boson has been named after him. Honored with "Padma
Bhushan".
Satyendra Nath Bose was an outstanding Indian physicist. He is known for his
work in Quantum Physics. He is famous for "Bose-Einstein Theory" and
a kind of particle in atom has been named after his name as Boson.
Satyendranath Bose was born on January 1, 1894 in Calcutta. His father
Surendranath Bose was employed in the Engineering Department of the East India
Railway. Satyendranath was the eldest of his seven children.
Satyendra Nath Bose had his schooling from Hindu High School in Calcutta. He
was a brilliant student. He passed the ISc in 1911 from the Presidency College,
Calcutta securing the first position. Satyendra Nath Bose did his BSc in
Mathematics from the Presidency College in 1913 and MSc in Mixed Mathematics in
1915 from the same college. He topped the university in BSc. and MSc. Exams.
In 1916, the Calcutta University started M.Sc. classes in Modern Mathematics
and Modern Physics. S.N. Bose started his career in 1916 as a Lecturer in
Physics in Calcutta University. He served here from 1916 to 1921. He joined the
newly established Dhaka University in 1921 as a Reader in the Department of
Physics. In 1924, Satyendra Nath Bose published an article titled Max Planck's
Law and Light Quantum Hypothesis. This article was sent to Albert Einstein.
Einstein appreciated it so much that he himself translated it into German and
sent it for publication to a famous periodical in Germany - 'Zeitschrift fur
Physik'. The hypothesis received a great attention and was highly appreciated
by the scientists. It became famous to the scientists as 'Bose-Einstein
Theory'.
In 1926, Satyendra Nath Bose became a Professor of Physics in Dhaka University.
Though he had not completed his doctorate till then, he was appointed as
professor on Einstein's recommendation. In 1929 Satyendranath Bose was elected
chairman of the Physics of the Indian Science Congress and in 1944 elected full
chairman of the Congress. In 1945, he was appointed as Khaira Professor of
Physics in Calcutta University. He retired from Calcutta University in 1956.
The University honored him on his retirement by appointing him as Emeritus
Professor. Later he became the Vice Chancellor of the Viswabharati University.
In 1958, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
Satyendra Nath Bose was honored with 'Padmabhusan' by the Indian Government in
recognition of his outstanding achievement. He died in Kolkata on February 4,
1974.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Born:
October 19, 1910
Died: August 21, 1995
Achievements: Discovery of Chandrasekhar Limit; awarded Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1983.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was one of the greatest scientists of the 20th
century. He did commendable work in astrophysics, physics and applied
mathematics. Chandrasekhar was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was born on October 19, 1910 in Lahore. His father,
Chandrasekhara Subrahmanya Ayyar was an officer in Government Service in the
Indian Audits and Accounts Department. His mother Sita was a woman of high
intellectual attainments. C.V. Raman, the first Indian to get Nobel Prize in
science was the younger brother of Chandrasekhar's father. Till the age of 12,
Subramanyan Chandrasekhar had his education at home under his parents and
private tutors. In 1922, at the age of 12, he attended the Hindu High School.
He joined the Madras Presidency College in 1925. Subrahmanyan Chandrashekhar
passed his Bachelor's degree, B.Sc. (Hon.), in physics in June 1930. In July
1930, he was awarded a Government of India scholarship for graduate studies in
Cambridge, England.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar completed his Ph.D. degree at Cambridge in the
summer of 1933. In October 1933, Chandrasekhar was elected to a Prize
Fellowship at Trinity College for the period 1933-37. In 1936, while on a short
visit to Harvard University, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, was offered a position
as a Research Associate at the University of Chicago and remained there ever
since. In September 1936, Subrahmanyan Chandra Shekhar married Lomita
Doraiswamy. She was her junior at the Presidency College in Madras.
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar is best known for his discovery of Chandrasekhar
Limit. He showed that there is a maximum mass which can be supported against
gravity by pressure made up of electrons and atomic nuclei. The value of this
limit is about 1.44 times a solar mass. The Chandrasekhar Limit plays a crucial
role in understanding the stellar evolution. If the mass of a star exceeded
this limit, the star would not become a white dwarf. It would continue to
collapse under the extreme pressure of gravitational forces. The formulation of
the Chandrasekhar Limit led to the discovery of neutron stars and black holes.
Depending on the mass there are three possible final stages of a star - white
dwarf, neutron star and black hole.
Apart from discovery of Chandrasekhar Limit, major work done by Subrahmanyan
Chandrasekhar includes: theory of Brownian motion (1938-1943); theory of the
illumination and the polarization of the sunlit sky (1943-1950); theory of the
illumination and the polarization of the sunlit sky (1943-1950); the
equilibrium and the stability of ellipsoidal figures of equilibrium, partly in
collaboration with Norman R. Lebovitz (1961-1968); the general theory of
relativity and relativistic astrophysics (1962-1971); and the mathematical
theory of black holes (1974- 1983).
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was awarded (jointly with the nuclear astrophysicist
W.A. Fowler) the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983. He died on August 21, 1995.
Vikram Sarabhai
Born:
August 12, 1919
Died: December 31,1971
Achievements: Considered the Father of the Indian space program;
instrumental in establishing the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in
Ahmedabad in November 1947; was Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. He
along with other Ahmedabad-based industrialists played a major role in the
creation of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Vikram Sarabhai was one of the greatest scientists of India. He is considered
as the Father of the Indian space program. Apart from being a scientist, he was
a rare combination of an innovator, industrialist and visionary.
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919 at Ahmedabad in an affluent
family of progressive industrialists. He was one of eight children of Ambalal
and Sarla Devi. He had his early education in a private school, “Retreat” run
by his parents on Montessori lines. Some of the great men of India such as
Gurudev Rabindranath, J. Krishna Murthi, Motilal Nehru, V. S. Shrinivasa
Shastri, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Maulana Azad, C. F. Andrews, C. V.
Raman et al. used to stay with the Sarabhai family when they visited Ahmedabad.
Mahatma Gandhi also once stayed at their house while recovering from an
illness. Visits by such great men greatly influenced Vikram Sarabhai.
After his matriculation, Vikram Sarabhai proceeded to Cambridge for his college
education and took the tripods degree from St. John's college in 1940. When
World War II began, he returned home and joined as a research scholar under Sir
C. V. Raman at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore His interest in solar
physics and cosmic ray led him to set up many observation stations around the
country. He built the necessary equipment with which he took measurements at
Bangalore, Poona and the Himalayas. He returned to Cambridge in 1945 and
completed his Ph.D in 1947.
Vikram Sarabhai was instrumental in establishing the Physical Research
Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad in November 1947. The laboratory was established
in a few rooms in M.G. Science Institute of the Ahmedabad Education Society,
which was founded by his parents. Subsequently, it got support from the Council
of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Department of Atomic
Energy.
Vikram Sarabhai did research on the time variations of cosmic rays and
concluded that meteorological effects could not entirely affect the observed
daily variations of cosmic rays; further, the residual variations were wide and
global and these were related to variations in solar activity. Vikram Sarabhai
visualized a new field of research opening up in solar and interplanetary
Physics.
The year 1957-1958 was designated as International Geo-physical year (IGY). The
Indian program for the IGY had been one of the most significant ventures of
Sarabhai. It exposed him to the new vistas of space science with the launching
in 1957 of Sputnik-I. Subsequently, the Indian National Committee for Space
Research was created, of which Vikram Sarabhai became Chairman.
With active support from Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, set up the first Rocket
Launching station (TERLS) in the country at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on
the Arabian Coast, as Thumba is very close to the Equator. The first rocket
with sodium vapour payload was launched on November 21, 1963. In 1965, the UN
General Assembly gave recognition to TERLS as an international facility.
After the sudden death of Homi Bhabha in an air crash, Vikram Sarabhai was
appointed Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission in May 1966. He wanted the
practical application of science to reach the common man. He decided to acquire
competence in advance technology for the solution of country’s problems based
on technical and economic evaluation of its real resources. He initiated
India’s space programme, which today is renowned all over the world.
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was awarded with Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Medal in 1962 and
Padma Bhushan in 1966. Vikram Sarabhai passed away in his sleep on December
31,1971.
Anil Kakodkar
Born
- 11 November 1943
Achievements - Dr Anil Kakodkar is a famous Indian nuclear scientist.
Currently, he's the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India (AECI)
and the Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy. He
was also the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Trombay.
Dr Anil Kakodkar is a very distinguished nuclear scientist of India. He is
presently the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India (AECI) as well
as the Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy. He
was the director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre at Trombay from the year
1996-2000 before being granted the opportunity of leading India's nuclear
programme. Read on more about the biography of Anil Kakodkar.
Anil Kakodkar was born on 11 November 1943 in the Barawani village located in
the present day Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. He's the son of Mrs Kamala Kakodkar
& Mr. P. Kakodkar, both of whom happen to be Gandhian freedom fighters. His
early education happened here and at Khargoan. After this, Anil Kakodkar went
away to Bombay to pursue his post-matriculation studies. He graduated from the
Ruparel College there.
Kakodkar then joined VJTI in Bombay University in 1963 to obtain a degree in
Mechanical Engineering. In the year 1964, Anil Kakodkar joined the Bhabha
Atomic Research Centre (BARC). He also notched a masters degree in experimental
stress analysis from the University of Nottingham in the year 1969. The life
history of Anil Kakodkar's career as nuclear scientist further saw him join the
Reactor Engineering Division of the BARC.
Anil Kakodkar also has the credit of being a member of the core team of
architects of India's Peaceful Nuclear Tests that were conducted during the
years 1974 and 1998. He also led the indigenous development of the country's
Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor Technology. Anil Kakodkar's efforts in the
rehabilitation of the two reactors at Kalpakkam and the first unit at
Rawatbhatta is noteworthy as it were about to close down.
In the year 1996, Anil Kakodkar became the youngest Director of the BARC after
Homi Bhabha himself. From the year 2000 onwards, he has been leading the Atomic
Energy Commission of India and playing secretary to the Department of Atomic
Energy. Dr Anil Kakodkar has been playing a crucial part in demanding
sovereignty for India's nuclear tests. Infact, he is known for being a strong
advocate of India's self-reliance by employing Thorium as a fuel for nuclear
energy.
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Born:
December 22, 1887
Died: April 26, 1920
Achievements: Ramanujan independently discovered results of Gauss,
Kummer and others on hypergeometric series. Ramanujan's own work on partial
sums and products of hypergeometric series have led to major development in the
topic. His most famous work was on the number p(n) of partitions of an integer
n into summands.
Srinivasa Ramanujan was a mathematician par excellence. He is widely believed
to be the greatest mathematician of the 20th Century. Srinivasa Ramanujan made
significant contribution to the analytical theory of numbers and worked on
elliptic functions, continued fractions, and infinite series.
Srinivasa Aiyangar Ramanujan was born on December 22, 1887 in Erode, Tamil
Nadu. His father worked in Kumbakonam as a clerk in a cloth merchant's shop. At
the of five Ramanujan went to primary school in Kumbakonam. In 1898 at age 10,
he entered the Town High School in Kumbakonam. At the age of eleven he was lent
books on advanced trigonometry written by S. L. Loney by two lodgers at his
home who studied at the Government college. He mastered them by the age of
thirteen. Ramanujan was a bright student, winning academic prizes in high
school.
At age of 16 his life took a decisive turn after he obtained a book
titled" A Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied
Mathematics". The book was simply a compilation of thousands of
mathematical results, most set down with little or no indication of proof. The
book generated Ramanujan's interest in mathematics and he worked through the
book's results and beyond. By 1904 Ramanujan had begun to undertake deep
research. He investigated the series (1/n) and calculated Euler's constant to
15 decimal places. He began to study the Bernoulli numbers, although this was
entirely his own independent discovery. He was given a scholarship to the
Government College in Kumbakonam which he entered in 1904. But he neglected his
other subjects at the cost of mathematics and failed in college examination. He
dropped out of the college.
Ramanujan lived off the charity of friends, filling notebooks with mathematical
discoveries and seeking patrons to support his work. In 1906 Ramanujan went to
Madras where he entered Pachaiyappa's College. His aim was to pass the First
Arts examination which would allow him to be admitted to the University of
Madras. Continuing his mathematical work Ramanujan studied continued fractions
and divergent series in 1908. At this stage he became seriously ill again and
underwent an operation in April 1909 after which he took him some considerable
time to recover.
On 14 July 1909 Ramanujan marry a ten year old girl S Janaki Ammal. During this
period Ramanujan had his first paper published, a 17-page work on Bernoulli
numbers that appeared in 1911 in the Journal of the Indian Mathematical
Society. In 191,1 Ramanujan approached the founder of the Indian Mathematical
Society for advice on a job. He got the job of clerk at the Madras Port Trust
with the help of Indian mathematician Ramachandra Rao.
The professor of civil engineering at the Madras Engineering College C L T
Griffith was interested in Ramanujan's abilities and, having been educated at
University College London, knew the professor of mathematics there, namely M J
M Hill. He wrote to Hill on 12 November 1912 sending some of Ramanujan's work
and a copy of his 1911 paper on Bernoulli numbers. Hill replied in a fairly
encouraging way but showed that he had failed to understand Ramanujan's results
on divergent series. In January 1913 Ramanujan wrote to G H Hardy having seen a
copy of his 1910 book Orders of infinity. Hardy, together with Littlewood,
studied the long list of unproved theorems which Ramanujan enclosed with his
letter. Hardy wrote back to Ramanujan and evinced interest in his work.
University of Madras gave Ramanujan a scholarship in May 1913 for two years
and, in 1914, Hardy brought Ramanujan to Trinity College, Cambridge, to begin
an extraordinary collaboration. Right from the start Ramanujan's collaboration
with Hardy led to important results. In a joint paper with Hardy, Ramanujan
gave an asymptotic formula for p(n). It had the remarkable property that it
appeared to give the correct value of p(n), and this was later proved by
Rademacher.
Ramanujan had problems settling in London. He was an orthodox Brahmin and right
from the beginning he had problems with his diet. The outbreak of World War I
made obtaining special items of food harder and it was not long before
Ramanujan had health problems.
On 16 March 1916 Ramanujan graduated from Cambridge with a Bachelor of Science
by Research. He had been allowed to enrol in June 1914 despite not having the
proper qualifications. Ramanujan's dissertation was on Highly composite numbers
and consisted of seven of his papers published in England.
Ramanujan fell seriously ill in 1917 and his doctors feared that he would die.
He did improve a little by September but spent most of his time in various
nursing homes. On February 18, 1918 Ramanujan was elected a fellow of the
Cambridge Philosophical Society and later he was also elected as a fellow of
the Royal Society of London. By the end of November 1918 Ramanujan's health had
greatly improved.
Ramanujan sailed to India on 27 February 1919 arriving on 13 March. However his
health was very poor and, despite medical treatment, he died on April 6, 1920.
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Prasanta Chandra
Mahalanobis
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Date of Birth
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:
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Jun 29, 1893
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Date of Death
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:
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Jun 28, 1972
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Place of Birth
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:
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India
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Prasanta
Chandra Mahalanobis (June 29, 1893-June 28, 1972) was an Indian scientist and
applied statistician. He is best known for the Mahalanobis distance, a
statistical measure. He did pioneering work on anthropometric variation in
India. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute, and contributed to large
scale sample surveys. His father, Prabodh Chandra, was an active member of
the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. His mother, Nirodbasini, belonged to a family of
considerable academic achievements. He graduated in Physics in 1912 from the
Presidency College, Kolkata and completed Tripos at King's College,
Cambridge. He then returned to Calcutta. Inspired by the Biometrika and
mentored by Acharya Brajendranath Seal he started his statistical work.
Initially he worked on analyzing university exam results, anthropometric
measurements on Anglo-Indians of Calcutta and some metrological problems. He
also worked as a meteorologist for some time. In 1924, when he was working on
the probable error of results of agricultural experiments, he met Ronald
Fisher, with whom he established a life-long friendship. He also worked on
schemes to prevent floods. His most important contributions are related to
large scale sample surveys. He introduced the concept of pilot surveys and
advocated the usefulness of sampling methods. His name is also associated
with the scale free multivariate distance measure, the Mahalanobis distance.
He founded the Indian Statistical Institute on 17 December, 1931.
In
later life, he contributed prominently to newly independent India's five-year
plans starting from the second. His variant of Wassily Leontief's
Input-output model was employed in the second and later plans to work towards
rapid industrialisation of India and with his colleagues at his institute, he
played a key role in developing the required statistical infrastructure. He
also had an abiding interest in cultural pursuits and served as secretary to
Rabindranath Tagore, particularly during the latter's foreign travels, and
also his alma mater Visva Bharati University, for some time.He received one
of the highest civilian awards Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India
for his contribution to science and services to the country. He died on Jun
28, 1972, a day before his seventy-ninth birthday. Even at this age, he was
still active doing research work and discharging his duties as the Secretary
and Director of the Indian Statistical Institute and as the Honorary
Statistical Advisor to the Cabinet of the Government of India. He had got
Weldon Medal from Oxford University in 1944 and Padma Vibhushan in 1968. He
was also elected a fellow of the Royal Society, London in 1945 and Honorary
President of International Statistical Institute in 1957.
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