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Tuesday 28 February 2012

Indian National Science Day 28 FEBRUARY




      
             February 28, is Science Day. On that day in 1928, Sir C.V. Raman announced the discovery of the Raman Effect. For this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930. The Raman Effect led to the growth of a new discipline, Raman Spectroscopy, which has now become a powerful tool for a wide range of scientific investigations and industrial applications.

           Raman was a genius. He finished school education at the age of 11 and graduated in Physics and English from the University of Madras four years later. At 17, he did his Master’s in Physics. Thereafter, he joined the Indian Audit and Accounts Service and was posted at Kolkata. But his love for Physics continued.

          In 1915, he was appointed Palit Professor of Physics in the Science College of Calcutta University. In 1933, he moved to Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, as its Director. After Independence, the Government of India appointed him the first National Professor.

              Raman was a compulsive and relentless investigator. He never stopped learning and doing research. After his retirement in 1948, he established Raman Research Institute at Bangalore and continued to work there till his death on November 7, 1970.

             Raman was a die-hard nationalist. He never believed that good quality research could be carried out only with foreign-made instruments. He emphasised on self-reliance in science and technology. Raman also represents an era when the facilities for education and research were very limited. Yet a large number of scientists did research work of international level. Some of them were J.C. Bose, S.N. Bose, Meghnad Saha, Homi Bhabha, P. C. Ray and Birbal Sahni. It is now being acknowledged that J. C. Bose invented wireless, not Marconi.


Read more on C. V. Raman

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