India has a history of contributing to the global scientific community, which stretches across centuries from the base of ancient practices to the frontiers of present-day research. The country’s past is filled with great thinkers who turned to worldwide breakthroughs out of a challenge. In fields like quantum mechanics, astrophysics, and space research, our pioneers transformed how we as a world see the universe and the physical world.
- Dr C.V. Raman: The Maestro of Light
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, who did what no other scientist from the East had done before, transformed the field of optics. In 1930, he won the Nobel Prize in Physics, the first non-white and Asian to do so, for what proved to be a very radical discovery of the Raman Effect. What he showed is that when light passes through a transparent material, a portion of that light emerges at different wavelengths, which is a result of molecular vibration. While he is known for his work in light scattering, what is also less known is that he was very much into the study of sound, and put out some of the early scientific works on the harmonic structure of Indian percussion instruments like the tabla and the mridangam.
- Homi J. Bhabha: The Architect of Nuclear Physics
Regarded as the architect of India’s nuclear energy program, Homi Jehangir Bhabha made key contributions to quantum theory and cosmic radiation. He put in place the base for national atomic research and served as the first chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. His theoretical work on electron-positron scattering was of such importance that the phenomenon is known today as Bhabha scattering in the quantum physics community. Bhabha was a strong proponent of the use of nuclear infrastructure to reduce poverty and raise national self-reliance instead of a military focus.
- Sir M. Visvesvaraya: The Engineering Visionary
Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was a great engineer and architect as well as a statesman who saw through the implementation of what is today’s improved infrastructure in India. He is known for his design of automatic sluice gates and the introduction of large-scale block irrigation networks, which transformed agricultural water management. Also, he developed very efficient filtering systems via collector wells, which brought clean water to large-scale municipal areas. His legacy is recognised every year across the nation on September 15th, which we celebrate as Engineer’s Day.
- Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: The Missile Man and People’s President
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam left his mark for eternity in defence and aerospace engineering. In ISRO, he led India’s early rocketry development, which saw the successful launch of the Rohini satellite into space via the SLV-III program. Later, he took over at the Defence Research and Development Organisation, which he guided to achieve great national ballistic missile capabilities. Known for his devotion to teaching and youth mentorship, which he did very well, Kalam also did distinguished service as India’s 11th President.
- Satyendra Nath Bose: The Subatomic Trailblazer
Satyendra Nath Bose transformed mathematical physics with his work in quantum mechanics. In the 1920s, he put forth a new proof of Planck’s law, which he put forward to Albert Einstein without the use of classical physics. Einstein, who saw the great value in the work, took on the role of a collaborator, which resulted in the development of the basic Bose-Einstein Statistics. To pay homage to his great contribution to quantum theory, physicist Paul Dirac named the set of subatomic force carrier particles bosons after him.
- Srinivasa Ramanujan: The Mathematical Genius
Srinivasa Ramanujan did not have the benefit of formal training in advanced math, but instead, what he lacked in that respect, he made up for with his intuitive genius, which left the global academic community in awe. He put together almost 3,900 separate mathematical results, which in turn introduced what were at the time ground-breaking insights into infinite series, continued fractions, elliptic functions, and number theory. In England, he began to work with mathematician G.H. Hardy, which in turn opened up what proved to be very productive new areas of research, securing his place as one of the most naturally talented mathematical minds in human history.
- Dr Vikram Sarabhai: The Cosmic Catalyst
Dr Vikram Sarabhai is recognised by all as the father of India’s space program. He saw the value of space technology for a developing country, which in turn made him a strong case to the national leadership to found ISRO. Also, through his organisational talent, which went beyond astrophysics, he played a key role in setting up world-class management and educational institutions, which include the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).
- Jagdish Chandra Bose: The Polymath of Plant Physiology
A pioneer in many fields, Jagdish Chandra Bose did early work in microwave and radio optics, which in turn laid the principles of wireless communication that we see today as modern technology. Also, he put forward plant physiology as a research area, which he entered after the fact. Also, he developed what is today known as the crescograph, which was very sensitive. Through this, he demonstrated that plant tissue does, in fact, have electrical responses to stimuli, which in turn proves that plants react to environmental stresses in a way that is very much like animal life.
- Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar: The Chronicler of Stars
Astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, for years, worked out the life cycles of stars. His work on stellar dynamics and radiative transfer got him the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics. He put forth the “Chandrasekhar limit”, which sets the maximum mass a stable white dwarf can have before it collapses into a neutron star or black hole; thus, he laid out the basic structure that present-day astrophysicists use.
- Har Gobind Khorana: Decoding the Book of Life
Har Gobind Khorana was a leading biochemist who proved this in 1968 when he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his genetic research. In that work, he decoded the order of nucleotides in nucleic acids, which in turn is what carries the genetic information in cells and also what tells proteins how to form. Also, Khorana did the first ever to put together a fully functional synthetic gene in a live cell, which at the time was a global first and has since gone on to be the foundation for modern biotech, gene editing, and personalised medicine.
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