Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937), physicist, plant physiologist, and founder of the Bose Research Institute in Calcutta. He was one of the first to find a link between botanical and physical sciences. His Crescograph could detect plant growth of one-millionth of a millimetre of a second. In 1899, he invented the Coherer, an early radio receiver that was the model for Marconi's wireless of 1901.

Dr. Bose expounded on the 'nervous mechanism' of plants - the ability of plants to recognize and react to the individual who has committed an act of violence (particularly toward a plant) in their 'presence'. He studied other plant topics, including photosynthesis.

Chandrasekhara V. Raman (1888-1970), the physicist who, in 1928, discovered the Raman Effect (or Raman Spectra) - the change in wavelength of light that is scattered by electrons as it passes through a liquid or gaseous medium. He won the Nobel prize in 1930 and used the prize money to establish the Raman Institute.

His field of research was diffraction and oscillation.

Dr. Raman was also guru to Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha. Plus, his reply to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru 's suggestion of a new, attractive institute is legendary - ''All I need is a tin shed and good brains working under it, not a grand brick-and-mortar structure.''

Megha Nath Saha (1894-1956), the brain behind the theory on degree of ionization of hot gases (vital in astrophysics) cleared many misconceptions about space. He is also the founder of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics.

Satyendra Nath Bose (1894-1974), worked without institutional support. He lent his name to Boson particles and described photons through the Bose-Einstein statistics.

Homi Jehangir Bhabha (1909-1966), the physicist who, with W. Heitler, developed the theory of Cascade showers of cosmic rays. He also observed the decreasing rate of decay in high-velocity mesons.
In 1935, he determined the cross-section and therefore the probability of electrons scattering positrons - now known as Bhabha Scattering. In 1937, he suggested, after studying cosmic rays, that the particles of highly penetrative quality found at and below ground level were not electrons. They were discovered to be mu-mesons in 1946. His theory on the existence of vector mesons was later proven in nuclear interactions.

In 1938, Dr. Bhabha recommended a method to confirm the time dilation effect of the special theory of relativity - measuring the lifetimes of the cosmic ray particles moving at spectacular speeds as they strike the atmosphere. Result - the prolongation of their lifetimes was precisely as had been predicted by the theory of relativity.

Dr. Bhabha was the originator of the country's nuclear programme and the founder of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. In 1948, India's Atomic Energy Commission was set up with Dr. Bhabha as its Chairman. In 1955, H.J Bhabha served as President of the first UN Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, at Geneva. From 1960-63 he served as the President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. In 1964, he uttered the famous words '' No power is as expensive as no power.''

Subrahmanyam Chandrasekhar (1910- ), the astrophysicist who developed the theory on the evolution of white dwarf stars, and won the Nobel Prize for 1983. He explained that once a star had burnt up almost all its hydrogen, it would not be able to withstand its own gravitational pull and would hence contract. During contraction, the density would increase sufficiently to allow the star to create enough internal energy to degenerate its atomic structure. However, a stable white dwarf star is created only by those stars whose stellar mass is less than 1.44 times that of the Sun. Stars with a mass greater than this limit would explode, the remaining mass forming a neutron star. This (1.44 solar masses) is the Chandrasekhar Limit, and has now been corrected to 1.2 solar masses.

The Chandrasekhar- Schonberg Limit - if the mass of the helium core of a star exceeds 10-15% of the star itself, the core contracts swiftly, and usually collapses.

Apart from these major achievements, Chandrasekhar studied the polarization of light from specific stars, as also energy transfer by radiation and convection in stellar atmospheres.

The Chandra X-ray observatory was carried out to space on the space -shuttle Columbia in July 1999 to mark the thirtieth anniversary of Apollo and the first man landing on the Moon. Named after Dr. Chandrasekhar, the 5-tonne, 45-feet long telescope will observe cosmic phenomenon that will hopefully unveil the secrets of the origin of the universe. White dwarf stars, neutron stars and black holes all emit X-rays that will be studied by Chandra that is in orbit 87,000 miles from Earth. This distance makes one thing perfectly clear - repairs will be impossible and the Chandra has to perform perfectly!

Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971) the physicist behind India's indigenous space programme. In 1966, he succeeded Dr. H.J.Bhabha as Chairman of the Indian Atomic Commission. From an industrialist family, he added new companies to the family empire - Sarabhai Chemicals, Sarabhai Engineering, and Sarabhai Glass. But space was his first love and together with Dr. Bhabha, Dr. Sarabhai is credited with the fact India's satellite launch cost infrastructure is one of the least expensive. In the mid-seventies, the former Basel Crater in the Sea of Serenity on the Moon was renamed the Vikram Sarabhai Crater by the International Astronomical Union.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (1931- ) is the recipient of three of India's highest awards - the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. In 1984, he initiated the Integrated Missile Development Programme. The successful launch of the Satellite Launch Vehicle III and the development of the missiles - Agni, Prithvi, Akash, Trishul and Nag - are largely due to his efforts. This scientist who writes poetry and plays the veena is indeed very special!

 

SOURCES :

The Cultural Heritage of India
Editors - Priyadaranjan Ray & S.N. Sen
Publishers - The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture

History of Science & Technology in India
Editors - G. Kuppuram & K. Kumudamami
Publishers - Sundeep Prakashan

Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
Publishers - McGraw-Hill.

Masters of the Millennium - 100 Indians who shaped the century
Publishers - The Sunday Observer (special edition).

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