The Making of Modern Physics in Colonial India

The Making of Modern Physics in Colonial India
Author: Somaditya Banerjee
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2020-05-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317024699

This monograph offers a cultural history of the development of physics in India during the first half of the twentieth century, focusing on Indian physicists Satyendranath Bose (1894-1974), Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888-1970) and Meghnad Saha (1893-1956). The analytical category "bhadralok physics" is introduced to explore how it became possible for a highly successful brand of modern science to develop in a country that was still under colonial domination. The term Bhadralok refers to the then emerging group of native intelligentsia, who were identified by academic pursuits and manners. Exploring the forms of life of this social group allows a better understanding of the specific character of Indian modernity that, as exemplified by the work of bhadralok physicists, combined modern science with indigenous knowledge in an original program of scientific research. The three scientists achieved the most significant scientific successes in the new revolutionary field of quantum physics, with such internationally recognized accomplishments as the Saha ionization equation (1921), the famous Bose-Einstein statistics (1924), and the Raman Effect (1928), the latter discovery having led to the first ever Nobel Prize awarded to a scientist from Asia. This book analyzes the responses by Indian scientists to the radical concept of the light quantum, and their further development of this approach outside the purview of European authorities. The outlook of bhadralok physicists is characterized here as "cosmopolitan nationalism," which allows us to analyze how the group pursued modern science in conjunction with, and as an instrument of Indian national liberation.

Meghnad Saha

Meghnad Saha
Author: Pramod V. Naik
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 213
Release: 2017-09-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319621025

This biography is a short yet comprehensive overview of the life of Meghnad Saha, the mastermind behind the frequently used Saha equations and a strong contributor to the foundation of science in India. The author explores the lesser known details behind the man who played a major role in building scientific institutions in India, developed the breakthrough theory of thermal ionization, and whose fervor about India’s rapid progress in science and technology, along with concern for uplifting his countrymen and optimizing resources, led him to eventually enter politics and identify the mismanagement of many programs of national importance to Parliament. This book is free of most academic technicalities, so that the reader with general scientific knowledge can read and understand it easily. One interested only in Saha’s contribution to physics can pick up just that part and read it. Conversely, the average reader may skip the technical chapters, and read the book without loss of continuity or generality to still get a coherent picture. This work touches on all aspects of Saha’s multidimensional personality, which overflows in the pages of his periodical, Science and Culture,as well as his many speeches, debates and discussions in Parliament, all of which is appropriately conveyed in this book.

Selected Papers, Volume 7

Selected Papers, Volume 7
Author: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1997-06-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780226101033

In these selections readers are treated to a rare opportunity to see the world through the eyes of one of the twentieth century's most brilliant and sensitive scientists. Conceived by Chandrasekhar as a supplement to his Selected Papers, this volume begins with eight papers he wrote with Valeria Ferrari on the non-radial oscillations of stars. It then explores some of the themes addressed in Truth and Beauty, with meditations on the aesthetics of science and the world it examines. Highlights include: "The Series Paintings of Claude Monet and the Landscape of General Relativity," "The Perception of Beauty and the Pursuit of Science," "On Reading Newton's Principia at Age Past Eighty," and personal recollections of Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and others. Selected Papers, Volume 7 paints a picture of Chandra's universe, filled with stars and galaxies, but with space for poetics, paintings, and politics. The late S. Chandrasekhar was best known for his discovery of the upper limit to the mass of a white dwarf star, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983. He was the author of many books, including The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes and, most recently, Newton's Principia for the Common Reader.

Nucleus and Nation

Nucleus and Nation
Author: Robert S. Anderson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 728
Release: 2010-05-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0226019772

In 1974 India joined the elite roster of nuclear world powers when it exploded its first nuclear bomb. But the technological progress that facilitated that feat was set in motion many decades before, as India sought both independence from the British and respect from the larger world. Over the course of the twentieth century, India metamorphosed from a marginal place to a serious hub of technological and scientific innovation. It is this tale of transformation that Robert S. Anderson recounts in Nucleus and Nation. Tracing the long institutional and individual preparations for India’s first nuclear test and its consequences, Anderson begins with the careers of India’s renowned scientists—Meghnad Saha, Shanti Bhatnagar, Homi Bhabha, and their patron Jawaharlal Nehru—in the first half of the twentieth century before focusing on the evolution of the large and complex scientific community—especially Vikram Sarabhi—in the later part of the era. By contextualizing Indian debates over nuclear power within the larger conversation about modernization and industrialization, Anderson hones in on the thorny issue of the integration of science into the framework and self-reliant ideals of Indian nationalism. In this way, Nucleus and Nation is more than a history of nuclear science and engineering and the Indian Atomic Energy Commission; it is a unique perspective on the history of Indian nationhood and the politics of its scientific community.

History of the Calcutta School of Physical Sciences

History of the Calcutta School of Physical Sciences
Author: Purabi Mukherji
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2018-06-26
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9811302952

This book highlights the role of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, founder of the Calcutta school of physics and the Calcutta Mathematical Society, and his talented scholars – Sir C.V. Raman, D.M. Bose, S.N. Bose, M.N. Saha, Sir K.S. Krishnan and S.K. Mitra – all of whom played a significant role in fulfilling their goal of creating an outstanding school of physical sciences in the city of Calcutta. The main objective of the book is to bring to the fore the combined contributions of the greatest physicists of India, who in the colonial period worked with practically no modern amenities and limited financial resources, but nonetheless with total dedication and self-confidence, which is unmatched in today’s world. The book presents the golden age of the physical sciences in India in compact form; in addition, small anecdotes, mostly unknown to many, have been brought the forefront. The book consists of 10 chapters, which include papers by these distinguished scientists along with detailed accounts of their academic lives and main research contributions, particularly during their time in Calcutta. A synopsis of the contents is provided in the introductory chapter. In the following chapters, detailed discussions are presented in straightforward language. The complete bibliographies of the great scientists have been added at the end. This book will be of interest to historians, philosophers of science, linguists, anthropologists, students, research scholars and general readers with a love for the history of science.