The life-story of (Sir) C. V. Raman, Eminent Indian Physicist and Nobel-Prize Winner
(Windsor, ON, Canada)
(Windsor, ON, Canada)
It is a well-known fact that India boasts of a civilization that goes back thousands of years well before our era. Indeed, India has made ample contributions to the advance of world civilization as we know it. Ancient India boasted several universities which provided advanced education when other well-known countries had none. Also, it is a known fact, that Indian scholars had made significant contributions to learning in arts, philosophy and sciences. Some of the known institutions for advanced learning in Ancient India had names like: Ratnagiri University, Vikramshila University, Jagaddla University, Puspagiri University, Odantapuri University, Somapura University, Nalanda University, Takhashila University and Valabhi University.
In fact, India was the only country known to have universities in ancient times — which got India to be hailed by the world as “Vishawa Guru” (World Teacher). Indeed, among the fabulous contributions of Indian scholars to world civilization, are the numerals to-day commonly known as Indo-Arab numerals that we all use including the ground-breaking “zero” (0) which was also invented by an Indian scholar and mathematician named Aryabhatta (976 C.E. – 500 C. E.). Acharya Aryabhatta’s “Zero’ would be popularized in its use by Arab-Muslim scholars who, thus, among others, helped spread the light of learning across Europe and, in the process, helped usher in the Age of Renaissance, which would be a game-changer in not only Europe but in world civilization as well. As a matter of fact, Indian scholars have always made significant contributions to learning and winning in modern times some of the prestigious honours for their work. One name that readily pops up in our mind is that of poet Rabindranath Tagore, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for his awesome collection of poems: “Geetanjali” (An Offering of Songs). The other name that emerges in that category is that of physicist, (Sir) Dr. Chandrasekara Venkata Raman, who was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for his discovery of what would be known as “the Raman Effect”. Prof. C. V. Raman would be the first Asian to be awarded the coveted science prize and his win would be a landmark one for India. In fact, he was the first Indian or person of colour to win the distinguished Prize. What an honour it was for India and the Indian people! It would not go un-noticed in India. The Government of India would go on to proclaim “National Science Day” in India in “his honour,” and which is commemorated every year on February 28 – the date he discovered what would come to be known as the “Raman Effect” proving scientifically why the sea appears blue. And, what an honour it was for the modest Indian scientist, who was known for being ever humble and unassuming in real life and who could easily go un-noticed in a crowd. But Prof. C. V. Raman was no ordinary mortal, no ordinary Indian! He was a world-class scientist. The more so, after he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Prof. Chandrasekara Venkata Raman was born at Tiruchirapalli, in Tamil Nadu, India, on November 17, 1888. His father was himself an instructor of Mathematics and Physics – which meant young Chandrasekara was brought up in an academic atmosphere at home since very early in his life, which would go on to reflect on his future performance as a distinguished researcher and scientist. As a student, he performed brilliantly. He got his B. A. in 1905, graduating at the top of his class and winning, in the process, the Gold Medal in Physics. He would top that up by brilliantly completing his M.A. and also garnering the highest distinctions.
As a matter of fact, in the year 1920, Prof. C. V. Raman would become famous for his “work in the field of light scattering,” using a spectrograph that he himself had developed and, with the help of his student, K. S. Krishnan, he discovered that “when light traverses a transparent material, the deflected light changes its wave-length.” Prof. C. V. Raman would thus show particular interest in “the blue color of water and ice” and, through his research, he came to discover “the scientific explanation of why the sea and sky appear blue”. And that was due to what would come to be known as “the Raman Effect.”
It is said that great discoveries are often the results of keen observations of Nature and the persistent pursuit to find the truth. Prof. Raman was such a scientist. He would use very simple apparatuses to make several significant discoveries at times using just the sunlight –- as in the case of his discovery of the ‘Raman Effect.’
Dr. C. V. Raman had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and his commitment to scientific inquiry led him to pursue his higher education in physics in which he excelled. And, it was during his time as a student that he first encountered the scientific phenomenon that would become the corner-stone of his research, and which was in “light scattering.”
In fact, Dr, C. V. Raman’s fascination sparked a curiosity in him that would push him to unravel its secrets. In 1921, it is told that while he was aboard a ship in the Mediterranean Sea, he made a ‘remarkable’ discovery. He noticed “that when sunlight passed through transparent materials such as water, the scattered light displayed different colors compared to the incident light.”
That phenomenon would be named, as mentioned above, after Dr. Raman himself – an experiment that helped him understand a lot about the molecular structure of matter – the discovery would eventually win him the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Prof. C. V. Raman initially began a career in the financial services of the Indian Government, and spent his free time in a lab in Calcutta (now Kolkatta) and published his scientific findings in well-known international journals like “Nature”, the “Philosophical Magazine” and the “Physics Review’, which got him noticed as a scientist and researcher beyond India.
In 1917, he would join the University of Calcutta as Professor of Physics and that would be the start of his distinguished career in academia. Later, Dr. Raman would set up the “Raman Research Institute” in Bangalore, India, where he would carry on his scientific research until his death in 1970.
Prof. C. V. Raman, received a knighthood from Great Britain in 1929; he would also be the recipient of several honorary doctorates and membership in scientific societies.
Prof. C. V. Raman is reckoned among the most famous scientists in the world. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society early in his career and is justly honoured each year in India on February 28 with the celebration of “National Science Day,” which was actually the day, he discovered “the Raman Effect.” The National Science Day in India is commemorated annually to remind young Indians of the wonderful world of science and of the historic contributions to Physics of (Sir) C. V. Raman. He truly was a great Indian!