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

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History of the Calcutta School of Physical Sciences Purabi Mukherji • Atri Mukhopadhyay History of the Calcutta School of Physical Sciences Purabi Mukherji • Atri Mukhopadhyay 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 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018939019 © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper 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) .............
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