Showing posts with label Indian scientists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian scientists. Show all posts
Scientist of the Week - Vikram Sarabhai | Father of India's Space Program
". . . Countries have to provide facilities for their nationals to do front-rank research within the resources which are available. It is equally necessary, having produced the men who can do research, to organise task oriented projects for the nation's practical problems . . . "
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, the Founder of PRL and a distinguished cosmic-ray and space scientist, is regarded as the Father of Space program in India. Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 at Ahmedabad. He had his early education in a private school, ‘Retreat’ run by his parents on Montessori lines. This atmosphere injected into the young boy the seeds of scientific curiosity, ingenuity and creativity. With a natural inclination towards physics and mathematics, Vikram Sarabhai did not get into his family business.After school and college in Gujarat, he went to England and obtained his tripos at St. John’s College in 1939. He returned to India for a while and worked alongside Sir C.V. Raman in the field of cosmic rays, at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, after which he returned to Cambridge, England for further research in the area and completed his Ph.D. in 1947.
On his return to India, Dr. Sarabhai founded PRL from where he continued his research activities. He established the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad in 1948, in a few rooms at the M.G. Science Institute with Professor K.K. Ramanathan as Director. In April 1954, PRL moved into a new building and Dr. Sarabhai made it the cradle of the Indian Space Programme. At the young age of 28, he was asked to organise and create the ATIRA, the Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association and was its Honorary Director during 1949-56. He also helped build and direct the Indian Institute of Management,
Ahmedabad from 1962-1965.In 1962 he took over the responsibility of organising Space Research in India as Chairman of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). Dr. Sarabhai served as Director of PRL from 1965 to 1971 and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission during 1966-1971.
Sarabhai pioneered India’s space age by expanding the Indian Space Research Organization. India’s first satellite Aryabhata launched in 1975, was one of the many projects planned by him. Like Bhabha, Sarabhai wanted the practical application of science to reach the common man. Thus he saw a golden opportunity to harness space science to the development of the country in the fields of communication, meteorology, remote sensing and education. The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) launched in 1975- 76, brought education to five million people in 2,400 Indian villages. In 1965, he established the Community Science Centre in Ahmedabad with a view to popularise science among children. His deep cultural interests led him, along with his wife Mrinalini Sarabhai, to establish Darpana Academy, an institution devoted to performing arts and propagation of ancient culture of India. He was the recipient of the Bhatnagar Memorial Award for Physics in 1962, the Padma Bhushan in 1966, and was posthumously awarded the Padma
Vibhushan. He was the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1966, Vice-President and Chairman of the UN Conference on peaceful uses of outer space in 1968, and President of the 14th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The International Astronomical Union named a crater in the moon (in the Sea of Serenity) after him, in honour of his contributions to science.
Indi Proff
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai, the Founder of PRL and a distinguished cosmic-ray and space scientist, is regarded as the Father of Space program in India. Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 at Ahmedabad. He had his early education in a private school, ‘Retreat’ run by his parents on Montessori lines. This atmosphere injected into the young boy the seeds of scientific curiosity, ingenuity and creativity. With a natural inclination towards physics and mathematics, Vikram Sarabhai did not get into his family business.After school and college in Gujarat, he went to England and obtained his tripos at St. John’s College in 1939. He returned to India for a while and worked alongside Sir C.V. Raman in the field of cosmic rays, at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, after which he returned to Cambridge, England for further research in the area and completed his Ph.D. in 1947.
Ahmedabad from 1962-1965.In 1962 he took over the responsibility of organising Space Research in India as Chairman of the Indian National Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR). Dr. Sarabhai served as Director of PRL from 1965 to 1971 and Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission during 1966-1971.
Sarabhai pioneered India’s space age by expanding the Indian Space Research Organization. India’s first satellite Aryabhata launched in 1975, was one of the many projects planned by him. Like Bhabha, Sarabhai wanted the practical application of science to reach the common man. Thus he saw a golden opportunity to harness space science to the development of the country in the fields of communication, meteorology, remote sensing and education. The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) launched in 1975- 76, brought education to five million people in 2,400 Indian villages. In 1965, he established the Community Science Centre in Ahmedabad with a view to popularise science among children. His deep cultural interests led him, along with his wife Mrinalini Sarabhai, to establish Darpana Academy, an institution devoted to performing arts and propagation of ancient culture of India. He was the recipient of the Bhatnagar Memorial Award for Physics in 1962, the Padma Bhushan in 1966, and was posthumously awarded the Padma
Vibhushan. He was the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1966, Vice-President and Chairman of the UN Conference on peaceful uses of outer space in 1968, and President of the 14th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The International Astronomical Union named a crater in the moon (in the Sea of Serenity) after him, in honour of his contributions to science.
Indi Proff
Scientist of the Week: C.V.Raman
C . V . RAMAN
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was born at Tiruchirapalli in
TamilNadu on 7 November 1888. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and
physics so from the very beginning he was immersed in an academic
atmosphere. Raman’s academic brilliance was established at a very
youngage. He finished his secondary school education at the tender age of
thirteen and entered the Mrs. A.V.N. College at Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Two years later he moved to the prestigious Presidency College in Chennai.
When he was fifteen, he topped his class to receive his B.A.
degree with honours in Physics and English. Raman continued his studies at
the Presidency College and when he was barely eighteen, graduated at the
top of his class and received his M.A. degree with honours.
Raman joined the Indian Audit and Accounts Service and was
appointed the Assistant Accountant General in the Finance Department in Kolkata.
In Kolkata, he sustained his interest in science by working in the laboratory of
the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, in his spare time studying
the physics of stringed instruments and Indian drums.
In 1917, Raman gave up his government job to become the Sir Taraknath Palit Professor of Physics at the Science College of University of Calcutta (1917-33). He made enormous contributions to research in the areas of vibration, sound, musical instruments, ultrasonics, diffraction, photoelectricity, colloidal particles, X-ray diffraction, magnetron, dielectrics, etc. In particular, his work on the scattering of light during this period brought him world-wide recognition.
In 1924 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and a year
after was honoured with the prestigious Hughes medal from the Royal Society. Four years later, at the joint meeting of the South Indian Science Association and the Science Club of Central College, Bangalore, he announced his discovery of what is now known as the Raman Effect.
He was knighted in 1929, and in 1930, became the first Asian
scientist to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for his discoveries relating
to the scattering of light (the Raman Effect). In 1934, he became the Director of the newly established Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, where he remained
till his retirement. After retirement, he established the Raman Research Institute
at Bangalore, where he served as the Director. The Government of India conferred upon him its highest award,the Bharat Ratna in 1954.
Courtesy TIFR, Mumbai
Indi Proff
http://indiproff.blogspt.com/
http://junctiont.blogspot.com/
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was born at Tiruchirapalli in
TamilNadu on 7 November 1888. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and
physics so from the very beginning he was immersed in an academic
atmosphere. Raman’s academic brilliance was established at a very
youngage. He finished his secondary school education at the tender age of
thirteen and entered the Mrs. A.V.N. College at Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Two years later he moved to the prestigious Presidency College in Chennai.
When he was fifteen, he topped his class to receive his B.A.
degree with honours in Physics and English. Raman continued his studies at
the Presidency College and when he was barely eighteen, graduated at the
top of his class and received his M.A. degree with honours.
Raman joined the Indian Audit and Accounts Service and was
appointed the Assistant Accountant General in the Finance Department in Kolkata.
In Kolkata, he sustained his interest in science by working in the laboratory of
the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, in his spare time studying
the physics of stringed instruments and Indian drums.
In 1917, Raman gave up his government job to become the Sir Taraknath Palit Professor of Physics at the Science College of University of Calcutta (1917-33). He made enormous contributions to research in the areas of vibration, sound, musical instruments, ultrasonics, diffraction, photoelectricity, colloidal particles, X-ray diffraction, magnetron, dielectrics, etc. In particular, his work on the scattering of light during this period brought him world-wide recognition.
In 1924 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and a year
after was honoured with the prestigious Hughes medal from the Royal Society. Four years later, at the joint meeting of the South Indian Science Association and the Science Club of Central College, Bangalore, he announced his discovery of what is now known as the Raman Effect.
He was knighted in 1929, and in 1930, became the first Asian
scientist to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for his discoveries relating
to the scattering of light (the Raman Effect). In 1934, he became the Director of the newly established Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, where he remained
till his retirement. After retirement, he established the Raman Research Institute
at Bangalore, where he served as the Director. The Government of India conferred upon him its highest award,the Bharat Ratna in 1954.
Courtesy TIFR, Mumbai
Indi Proff
http://indiproff.blogspt.com/
http://junctiont.blogspot.com/
