History of the Calcutta School of Physical Sciences Purabi Mukherji • Atri Mukhopadhyay

Home , Debendra Mohan Bose, Taraknath Palit

History of the Calcutta School of Physical Sciences

123 Purabi Mukherji Atri Mukhopadhyay Department of Mathematics Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College Kolkata, West Bengal Kolkata, West Bengal India India

ISBN 978-981-13-0294-7 ISBN 978-981-13-0295-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0295-4

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This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. part of Springer Nature The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Dedicated to the memory of Late Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, the mentor of Calcutta School of Physics Foreword

The most glorious years of the Calcutta School of Physics were during the third decade of the twentieth century. The discoveries of Saha’s ionisation equation, Bose’s quantum statistics and Raman’s spectroscopic effect made the school world-famous within a short span of time. It continued with its distinguished record well through the fourth and fifth decades of the century. However, a key underlying fact is not so well known to the rest of the world. The school came into existence owing to the heroic foundational efforts by the great educationist and institution builder, Sir Asutosh Mookerjee. It is due to Sir Asutosh’s prescient vision and tireless efforts that the Postgraduate Physics Department of the University College of Science in Calcutta could become a flourishing centre of path-breaking research. Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University from 1906 until 1923, Sir Asutosh left no stone unturned to raise funds from benefactors (such as Sir Rashbehari Ghosh and Sir Taraknath Palit), develop the necessary infrastructure and initiate frontline programmes of instruction and research with the best available faculty. Although not known to the world at large, his persistent and sustained struggles with the British authorities in his single-minded drive to attain his goals in this respect became legendary in India. It is, therefore, befitting that this book by Dr. (Ms.) Purabi Mukherji and Prof. Atri Mukhopadhyay on the History of the Calcutta School of Physical Sciences has been dedicated to the memory of Sir Asutosh, and it starts with an article on his academic life and administrative career. This is followed by the detailed accounts of the academic lives and main research contributions of C.V. Raman, D.M. Bose, M.N. Saha, S.N. Bose, K.S. Krishnan and S.K. Mitra. These accounts are filled with rich details about how the great physicists went about making their extraordinary contributions, the barriers they had to overcome and the milestones they had to reach and leave behind. While going through them, I came across many little gems of facts that were unknown to me: mathematician Sir Asutosh was extremely knowledgeable about Theoretical Physics; Raman’s experimental research on musical instruments was accompanied by extensive theoretical work; D.M. Bose and Bibha Choudhury had discovered the muon before Cecil Powell; Saha provided the first experimental proof of the existence of photon momentum; S.N. Bose had

vii viii Foreword counted his photons (for blackbody radiation) in phase space cells as one in a cell, two in a cell, etc. without realising he had (profoundly) made them into indistin- guishable particles and had founded a new statistics that is different from Boltzmann’s; K.S. Krishnan was but an innocent bystanding victim of the furious feud between Raman and Saha; and S.K. Mitra had done distinguished work on electromagnetic waves of optical and ultraviolet wavelengths before acquiring fame with his breakthrough results on radio waves in the upper atmosphere. All bibliographies quoted in the text have been clearly written after a thorough and painstaking research. And yet, the presentation is extremely lucid. In totality, this book is not only a valuable volume from the scientiﬁc biographer’s perspective but also an eminently readable and instructive tome from the point of view of a general reader with a broad science background. I am sure it will ﬁnd its place on shelves of both bibliothèque as well as on those of many interested laymen. I express my sincere compliments to the authors and best wishes for the success of the book.

Prof. Probir Roy, FAPS, FNA, FASc, FNASc Senior Professor of Theoretical Physics (Retired), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, Maharastra

Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Senior Scientist, Astroparticle Physics and Space Science, Bose Institute, Kolkata, West Bengal Preface

Through this book, an attempt has been made to highlight the role of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, the eminent multifaceted intellectual and one of India’s foremost educationists, as the builder of the Calcutta School of Physical Sciences. Born in the middle of the nineteenth century in a country under foreign domination, Sir Asutosh was a dynamic visionary who had the courage to dream and the ability to convert those dreams into reality. He developed a fascination for physical sciences at an early age and was aware of its immense power to explain the aspects of the mysterious universe that had been considered inexplicable for a long time. He brought in exceptionally talented scholars with a love for physical sciences from all parts of India. Great names such as Sir C.V. Raman, Prof. D.M. Bose, Prof. S.N. Bose, Prof. M.N. Saha and Prof. S.K. Mitra were all chosen by Sir Asutosh to fulfil his goal of building an outstanding School of Physics in the city of Calcutta. In the introductory chapter, a synopsis of the contents of the monograph has been given. The following seven chapters have detailed discussions in simple language about the scientific contributions of the great personalities, particularly during their stay in Calcutta. In the “epilogue”, a few comparisons and reflections have been highlighted. Difficult technical jargon and mathematical equations have been avoided to make the reading lucid and enjoyable. The complete bibliographies of the great scientists have been added at the end. This has been done to make the readers aware of the vastness of their scientific work. The monograph is meant for students, research scholars and general readers with a love for the history of science. The golden period of the history of physical sciences in India has been presented in a compact form, and small anecdotes, unknown to many, have been brought to the fore. The authors sincerely hope it will be well-received by interested readers.

Kolkata, India Purabi Mukherji Atri Mukhopadhyay

ix Acknowledgements

The authors wish to convey their grateful thanks to the directors and librarians of Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), Kolkata; Bose Institute, Kolkata; S. N. Bose Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata; and the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Kolkata, for permitting them to freely use their respective libraries and archives during the preparation of the monograph. One of the authors (Purabi Mukherji) wishes to express her heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Reena Bhaduri, Secretary, Asutosh Mookerjee Memorial Institute, Kolkata, for giving her access to documents and books related to Sir Asutosh. Both the authors convey their grateful thanks to the following persons for giving permission and helping them to collect photographs and giving access to documents of the great academicians discussed in the monograph: 1. Professor Swagata Sen, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic), and Prof. Soumitra Sarkar, Chief Librarian, University of Calcutta, 2. Shri Tarun Maji, Head of the Publication Division, Bose Institute, Kolkata, 3. Shri Chanchal Kumar Das, Librarian, and Shri Basudeb Dafadar, Library Assistant, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, 4. Professor S.C. Roy, Editor-in-Chief, Science and Culture, Kolkata 5. Shri Laxminarayan Dutta, “Studio Memory”, Kolkata. The authors express their gratitude to Mrs. Prerna Raturi, Mr. Kausik Das and Dr. Jisnu Basu (SINP) for their assistance in editing. They also express their gratitude to Current Science for its kind permission. Both the authors express their sincere gratitude to Prof. Probir Roy, former Senior Professor of Theoretical Physics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, for painstakingly reading the monograph and also for writing the Foreword for the same.

xi Contents

1 Sir Asutosh Mookerjee (1864–1924) ...... 1 1.1 Introduction ...... 1 1.2 Childhood, Family History and Education ...... 1 1.3 Teaching and Research ...... 3 1.4 Early Science Movement and Institution Building (The School of Physics) ...... 7 References ...... 20 2 Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888–1970) ...... 21 2.1 Family History and Education ...... 21 2.2 Raman in Calcutta and His Golden Era of Research ...... 26 2.3 Discovery of the Raman Effect and Winning the Nobel Prize .... 53 2.4 Visits and Lectures at Home and Abroad ...... 68 2.5 Departure from Calcutta ...... 70 References ...... 76 3 Professor Debendra Mohan Bose (1885–1975) ...... 77 3.1 Early Life, Family History and Education ...... 77 3.2 Research and Teaching ...... 78 3.3 Service Proﬁle and Awards ...... 86 References ...... 91 4 Professor Meghnad Saha (1893–1956) ...... 93 4.1 Family History, Early Life and Education ...... 93 4.2 Teaching and Research ...... 96 4.3 Departure from Calcutta ...... 100 4.4 Visits Abroad ...... 101 4.5 Back to Calcutta, Scientiﬁc and Societal Contributions ...... 102

xiii xiv Contents

5 Professor Satyendra Nath Bose (1894–1974) ...... 109 5.1 Early Life, Family History and Education ...... 109 5.2 Teaching and Research ...... 112 5.3 Leaves Calcutta ...... 115 5.4 Visits Abroad ...... 120 5.5 Back to Calcutta, Service Profile and Awards ...... 120 6 Sir Kariamanickam Srinivasa Krishnan (1898–1961) ...... 125 6.1 Childhood, Early Life and Education ...... 125 6.2 Teaching and Research ...... 128 6.3 To Calcutta’s School of Physics ...... 129 6.4 Research Career and Service Profile ...... 131 References ...... 147 7 Professor Sisir Kumar Mitra (1890–1963) ...... 149 7.1 Early Life, Family History and Education ...... 149 7.2 Teaching and Research ...... 152 7.3 Pioneer Author ...... 155 7.4 Contributions to Science and Society, Awards ...... 157 References ...... 162 Epilogue: Comparisons and Reflections...... 163 Bibliography ...... 169 About the Authors

Purabi Mukherji is a counsellor in mathematics at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Kolkata Centre, India, since 1994. Earlier, she was in the Department of Mathematics at the Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College, Kolkata, during 1994. She earned her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, in 1987. She received two “National Best Paper Awards” for her work on “Mathematical Modelling” in Geophysics, awarded by the Indian Society for Earthquake Technology of the University of Roorkee. Since 2010, she has been seriously pursuing research in the field of History of Science and has successfully completed two projects funded by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi. Currently, she is working on another INSA-funded project entitled “The Development of the School of Research on Number Theory in India During the 20th Century”. She has published around 40 research papers in reputed national and international journals and about 20 scientific articles in Bengali popular scientific magazines. She authored a book titled Pioneer Mathematicians of Calcutta University published by the Calcutta University Press, Kolkata. She is a life member of the Indian Science Congress Association, Calcutta Mathematical Society, Indian Society of History of Mathematics, Indian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Indian Society of Nonlinear Analysts and many others. She is also an editorial board member of the journal Indian Science Cruiser published by the Institute of Science, Education and Culture (ISEC), Kolkata.

Atri Mukhopadhyay is a retired professor of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Calcutta, Kolkata. He was responsible for restructuring and enriching the Meghnad Saha Archives at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata. His book entitled Abinash Meghnad Saha (Meghnad Saha the Invincible) in Bengali is an in-depth analysis of the life and work of Meghnad Saha vis-à-vis the contemporary scientists in colonial India. He was the General Secretary of the Indian Physical Society for

xv xvi About the Authors several consecutive terms. He has authored quite a number of articles in English and Bengali, including a classical Indian text on Mahabharata and published 40 research papers in international journals. He translated T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land into Bengali. His research has primarily been on electron structure theory of atoms and molecules. Introduction

Sir Asutosh Mookerjee (1864–1924) is well known as a great educationist, a legal luminary and a peerless Vice-Chancellor who transformed the University of Calcutta from an affiliating and examining centre to an outstanding seat of teaching and research in Asia. His contributions as a pioneer researcher in Mathematics in India have also been discussed in several research papers and books by various authors. But not much has been written about Sir Asutosh’s abiding interest in Physics and his tireless efforts to build a strong School of Physics in Calcutta. For the sake of historical records, it is necessary to bring to the fore this aspect of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee’s creative contributions. As is widely known, Mookerjee was a brilliant scholar from the early days of his student life. He was a versatile genius with a special fascination for physical and mathematical sciences. In 1884, he stood first-class first in BA examination, with honours in Mathematics. In 1885, he completed MA in Pure and Applied Mathematics, standing first once again. In 1886, he acquired another MA degree in Physical Sciences. This was the first such instance of a dual degree being awarded by Calcutta University. The same year, he won the prestigious Premchand Roychand Studentship in Mathematical and Physical Sciences. This was the cov- eted blue ribbon of his university career in Calcutta. Mookerjee specialised in both Physics and Mathematics. In this context, it is necessary to mention the contributions of Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar (1833–1904) and his associate and friend Reverend Father Eugene Lafont (1837–1908). They, by establishing the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in Calcutta in 1876, initiated the first organised science movement in India. It inspired the youth community of India in general and Bengal in par- ticular. Mookerjee was no exception. From his early days in Presidency College, he had been a voracious reader of books in different disciplines. After the establish- ment of IACS, he would regularly attend the scientific lectures there and was further inspired by the Physics lectures delivered by Father Lafont. As a consequence, he started reading more books and treatises on physical sciences. The term “Mathematical Physics” was first coined and used by Sir Asutosh himself. For reasons which have been explained later, Mookerjee had to leave the

xvii xviii Introduction arena of science, but all his life he remained grateful to Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar for inspiring him in the pursuit of scientific research. From a historical perspective, it is necessary to evaluate Sir Asutosh’s contributions to the ongoing science movement in India. Here, his role in building the School of Physics in Calcutta has been highlighted. Mookerjee was made the Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University in 1906. Shortly after that, there were several important developments in the sphere of science education and research in Calcutta. With reforms and reorganisations, Sir Asutosh transformed the University of Calcutta from an examination-holding, degree- and affiliation-giving institution, to a vibrant and dynamic seat of learning of international repute. As the ruling colonial government barely gave any financial support, Sir Asutosh had to persuade and collect funds from individual donors. Sir T.N. Palit handed over his house at 92 Upper Circular Road (present-day Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road) and a princely sum of money to Sir Asutosh for the development of Calcutta University. With that amount, Sir Asutosh created two prestigious chair professorships in Physics and Chemistry. That was the first step in the creation of the School of Physics. The Palit Professorship in Physics was first offered to Sir J.C. Bose, who was already a renowned and well-established scientist. However, he turned down the offer since he was planning to establish the Bose Institute (which was founded in 1917) after his retirement from the Presidency College in Calcutta. With his unerring knack for spotting the right talent, Sir Asutosh selected a relatively unknown C.V. Raman for the post. Sir Asutosh informed the Syndicate of Calcutta University about this in the following words:

.....for the chair of Physics created by Sir T.N. Palit, we have been fortunate enough to secure the services of Mr. C.V. Raman, who has greatly distinguished himself and acquired a European fame by his brilliant researches in the domain of Physical Sciences, assiduously carried on, under the most adverse circumstances, amidst the distraction of pressing official duties. I rejoice to think that many of his valuable researches have been carried on in IACS, founded by our illustrious colleague Dr. M.L. Sircar, who devoted a lifetime to the foundation of an institution. I should fail in my duty if I were to restrain myself in my expression of genuine admiration I feel for the courage and spirit of self-sacrifice with which Mr. Raman has decided to exchange a lucrative official appointment with attractive prospects for a University Professorship, which I regret to say, does not carry even liberal emoluments. This one instance encourages me to entertain the hope that there will be no lack of seekers of truth in the Temple of Knowledge, which is our ambition to erect. In 1924, Raman was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London. Unfortunately, Sir Asutosh died earlier the same year and could not witness his favourite protégé’s hour of triumph. But the great visionary must have surely anticipated that the highest honour in the world, the Nobel Prize, would be bestowed on his favourite, C.V. Raman. The history of science will certainly acknowledge the enormous contribution that Sir Asutosh made in building the School of Physics in Calcutta just by his one act of selecting C.V. Raman as the Palit Professor and giving him the freedom to do his research in his own way. Introduction xix

Sir Asutosh’s role in setting up the School of Physics in Calcutta was not limited to the recruitment of Sir C.V. Raman. Raman was undoubtedly the most towering personality, but there were others who Sir Asutosh spotted and brought in, and they made Calcutta a world-renowned seat of physical sciences. The most notable youngsters recruited by Sir Asutosh for the Department of Physics at Calcutta University were D.M. Bose, S.N. Bose, M.N. Saha and S.K. Mitra. Sir C.V. Raman was instrumental in bringing in K.S. Krishnan as a student in the newly set-up Department of Physics at Calcutta University. Their contributions in the context of the School of Physics have been discussed in detail in respective chapters. It is also worth noting here that the lives and works of the above-mentioned scientists have been discussed in the form of books by many authors. However, the collective impact of their researches sustained by the dynamic and supportive leadership of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee has never been projected before. The present monograph is aimed at unravelling this aspect of the history of Indian scientiﬁc movement’s golden era.