Source: – Ratnakar Sadasyula
Today is the Punya Thithi of Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose, one of the great Indian scientists of the modern era. One who came up with the concept of radio much before Marconi did. A true polymath, and a selfless genius who gave his all for India. pic.twitter.com/snQkIZwanX
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
To call J.C.Bose just a scientist, would however be akin to calling, Leonardo Da Vinci a mere painter, this man was a true polymath, whose genius transcended boundaries.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
. What do you say of a man who was a physicist, biologist, and has been named by IEEE as one of the fathers of radio science. A man who was not just a scientist, who discovered that plants too could have feelings, but also wrote science fiction in Bengali.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He was also an inventor, who apart from the crescograph invented many other instruments for research in physics and made significant contribution to the field of chronobiology. Jagadish Chandra Bose, was some one who could not be really slotted, a true multi faceted genius.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on Nov 30, 1858 in Mymensingh now in Bangladesh. His father Bhagawan Chandra Bose was a Brahmo by belief, and worked as the Deputy Magistrate of Faridpur and other places.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
By nature a man with a heart of gold, Bhagawan Chandra helped out villagers from his own money during the 1880 famine in Bengal. Though born in Mymensingh, Jagadish grew up primarily in Faridpur, where his father was stationed.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Contrary to the then established practice of sending people to a convent school, his father sent him to a vernacular school. Studying with people lower down the class order than him, and making friends with them, got Jagadish a much broader perspective on life.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In the vernacular school, to which I was sent, the son of the Muslim attendant of my father sat on my right side, and the son of a fisherman sat on my left. They were my playmates. I listened spellbound to their stories of birds, animals and aquatic creatures.- JC Bose
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
JC Bose mingled with the poorer boys, swam rivers, learnt about nature from them, which he credited a lot later for his thought process too. Most of his classmates were sons of farmers and fishermen, and from them he learnt about the rather tough life they lived.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He had an insatiable curiosity for life and all that around him. Growing up amidst the fields, lakes and rivers of rural Bengal, imbibed in him a love for nature as well a curiosity about it. #AcharyaJCBose
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
JC Bose was also inspired by his father, who undertook many scientific projects, and was also a nationalist and humanist. No better example of his humanism, than the fact that one of his servants, was a dreaded ex dacoit whom he personally captured.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He narrated stories from the Ramayan and Mahabharat to Bose, who was pretty much influenced by the character of Karna. Growing up in the company of boys less fortunate than him, made him more tolerant, and never differentiated between the rich and poor. #AcharyaJCBose
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He narrated stories from the Ramayan and Mahabharat to Bose, who was pretty much influenced by the character of Karna. Growing up in the company of boys less fortunate than him, made him more tolerant, and never differentiated between the rich and poor. #AcharyaJCBose
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Bose often saw himself in Karna, the outsider who came from nowhere and challenged the hierarchy, overcoming his own disadvantage. And at the age of 9, he was in a somewhat similar situation, when he was admitted to the prestigious St.Xaviers School in Kolkata.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Coming from a vernacular background, he had to face a class full of English speaking guys, who often teased him about it, and provoked him too at times. With not much friends there to speak, he spent his time in solitude,.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
And this is where he developed his skills of observation and scientific temperament.Being intelligent he was a favorite of his teachers and passed most examinations with distinction.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
One of the biggest influences on his life was Father Eugene Lafont, a Belgian Jesuit, who was known for his vast knowledge in science. Being mentored and tutored by Lafont, helped Bose to hone his intellectual skills even more, and also develop an interest in Physics.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Having graduated in BA( Physical Sciences) from Kolkata University, Bose was not exactly sure of his future. However considering the financial difficulties his father was facing then, Bose decided to appear for the Indian Civil Services exam.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
His father though was against it, saying that as a Civil Servant, he would be cut off from the common people, and he wanted him to study something that could be of use to them. His parents decided that it would be better for him to study Medicine abroad in England,
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
His mother pawned her jewelry to raise money for it. And soon he sailed for England, to study medicine. However Bose could not cope with the rigors of the course, and had to quit because of ill health.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In 1882, he enrolled in Cambridge for a course in Natural Sciences, in the Christ College there. The fact that his brother in law Anandamohan Bose studied there, earlier was also a factor.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Being the brilliant student that he was he soon received the Natural Science Tripos at Cambridge, and was also fortunate to have the guidance of such scientists like Lord Raleigh, James Dewar, Francis Balfour. He also married the well known feminist and social worker Abala Bose.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Coming back to India, Bose joined Presidency College, Kolkata, and it was there he came face to face with the discrimination Indians suffered. The Indian teachers there were paid 1/3rd of what the British teachers got.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
When he was appointed as Physics professor, it was opposed by Britishers like Charles Tawney, the principal of Presidency. Fortunately there were others like the then viceroy Lord Ripon, and Professor Fawcett, economist who knew Bose well, who backed him.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Even then Bose was only paid 1/2 of what Britishers were paid, and he also was not given the proper facilities for research, and he had to improvise his own equipment. He got over this by creating a makeshift laboratory at home, and would pursue his research after college.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Most of his salary went into his laboratory, and equipment, and he lived rather frugally. His research was conducted in a small 24 square feet room, in Presidency, with some rather rudimentary equipment.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
James Maxwell was the one to formulate the theory of electromagnetic radiation, however he could not verify it experimentally. German physicist Heinrich Hertz, conducted a series of experiments between 1886 and 1888, that showed existence of electromagnetic waves in free space.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Bose had read Oliver Lodge’s book on Hertz’s experiments and was motivated to study more on electric waves. Realizing the disadvantages associated with long waves, Bose first reduced them to mm level around 5mm wavelength.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In Nov 1894, Bose for the first time gave a demonstration of microwaves at the Kolkata Town Hall, where by he ignited gunpowder and rang a bell at a distance of using the microwaves. Also developed an improved “Coherer” over the previous ones by Eduard Branly and Oliver Lodge,
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In 1895 he published his findings in “On the polarisation of Electric Rays by Double Reflecting Crystals” at the Asiatic Society of Bengal, his first research paper.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
ithin a year in 1896, one of his other papers “On the Determination of the Indices of Refraction of Sulphur for the Electric Ray” was published by Royal Society of London, and it was probably the first time, papers by an Indian were published in a Western periodical.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In a sense Jagadish Chandra Bose shattered the myth that only the West was good at science, while Indians were fit only for religious and spiritual studies. Lord Kelvin congratulated him on his success, the renowned papers like Times, Spectator were all praise.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
The fact that Jagadish Chandra Bose managed to achieve so much with pretty rudimentary equipment, and in the face of discrimination, made his achievement, that much more remarkable.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
One thing that needs to be understood, is that Bose was primarily seeking to study the nature of radio microwave optics, he was not really keen on the radio. He had met Marconi in 1896, who was at the same time working on the wireless, and seeking to market it commercially.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Bose was not interested in the commercial aspect, and opened his research work for all to use. In spite of that his contribution to the field of radio science was very significant, where he would rank as one of the pioneers.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He was the first to use a semiconductor junction to detect radio waves, and this was an influence on Pearson and Brattain in 1954, when they were doing their work on semiconductors.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Sir Nevil Mott, Noble Laureate remarked that “J.C.Bose was at least 60 years ahead of his time, had anticipated the existence of N and P type semiconductors much before than any one”.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
By now Bose fame had spread all over the world, he was giving lectures in France, Germany, US, Japan, where he explained the significance of his discoveries. Many English scientists came forward now to improve the conditions under which he was working.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Many English scientists came forward now to improve the conditions under which he was working. Lord Kelvin wrote a letter to the then Secretary of State, George Hamilton, asking for assistance to Bose in setting up a proper laboratory with all the equipment needed in Kolkata.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
The then Viceroy Lord Elgin, though showing interest in the project, felt it was not a priority, and the lab ultimately was opened in 1914, just a year before Bose retired. Many other scientists too like Prof Fitzerland, Sir William Ramsay, Sir George Gabriel Stokes too helped
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
One aspect which Bose was pretty much against, was patenting his inventions. In a sense he never saw science as a means of monetary benefit, for him it was used to benefit mankind.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He could easily have had made a fortune just by patenting his inventions, but he was never really interested in it. This is the reason, why Marconi gets the credit for radio, though it was Bose who actually first demonstrated it’s practical application.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He openly laid out the design for his coherer for others to adopt, and refused to take any patent for it. Even when he was offered money for his inventions, he refused to take it.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
One of his admirers, Sara Bull, filed a patent for the galena receiver by Bose. But he showed no interest and it lapsed. His philosophy was simple, knowledge was not any one’s personal property, and any could use the fruits of his work.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In the meantime Bose conducted his research at the Davy-Faraday Research Institute in England, where he would do his path breaking work on the discovery of plant stimuli.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
If animals and human could respond to outside stimuli, could not plants also do the same, he wondered. And that led to his landmark research on plant behavior and stimuli, where he first conducted his experiment with a leaf, a carrot and a turnip he bought from his garden.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He began to work more extensively on this and in 1900 he bought out his paper “On the Similarity Responses of Inorganic and Living Matter” at the Paris International Conference, where he compared the responses of living tissues with inorganic matter.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In a sense Bose was giving a more scientific touch to the age old Eastern philosophy of the basic unity of all living beings. Swami Vivekananda who was in Paris, then, went to hear Bose at the Congress, and praised him highly for his work. Tagore wrote a poem in his honor.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
His major contribution to the field of biophysics, was his demonstration of the electrical nature of stimuli in plants, to say wounds or chemical agents, which till then was assumed to be chemical in nature.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He was one of the first to study action of microwaves in plant tissues, changes in the cell membrane. He also did pioneering research work in the seasonal effect mechanism on plants, effect of temperature and comparative study of fatigue response in metals as well as plants.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In 1902, Bose came back to Kolkata where he continued his work on the physiological properties of plant tissues and showcased his investigation in the form of monographs. One of his most significant inventions was the Crescograph, an instrument that could measure the plant growth
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In 1915, Bose retired as Professor of Physics, he had actually got a 2 year extension in recognition of his services. Even after retirement, the Govt made him as Professor Emeritus on full pay, instead of giving him pension as per the standard practice.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Bose did not give up on his research work even after retirement and kept working on it till the end of his life. Having experienced the struggle of doing research without proper equipment, Bose came up with the idea of a full fledged research institute, and laboratory.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
. He began to collect funds for this very purpose, and finally on Nov 23, 1917, his dream came true, when the Bose Research Institute was opened in Kolkata. He was greatly helped in his endeavor by Tagore, who contributed financially, and also backed him in his efforts.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
He made an appeal to the ancient temples of learning, at Taxila and Nalanda that in their heydays attracted scholars from all over the world. It was significant that the thunderbolt fashioned out of Rishi Dadichi’s bones would be symbol of Bose Research Institute.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
In a sense Jagadish Chandra Bose was a modern day Dadichi, who gave away everything, without expecting anything in return. He made an appeal to the ancient temples of learning, at Taxila and Nalanda that in their heydays attracted scholars from all over the world.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Jagadish Chandra Bose was a writer of science fiction too, and has often been called the father of Bengali Science Fiction. He wrote Niruddesher Kahani in 1896, a very famous short story and his Palatak Toophan was one of the first works in Bengaki science fiction.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
A close friend to Rabindranath Tagore, he would spend many evenings with him, listening to his stories and plays, the latter on the other hand, was one of his greatest admirers, supported him in many ways.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Bose has been credited with invention of wireless detection device as well as a pioneer in the field of biophysics. His work on the millimetre band radio has been recognized by IEEE as a milestone
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
Today Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose is no longer around us, physically, but his legacy shall endure forever. Not just as a scientist, but also as a writer, thinker, a polymath. And of course the Bose Research Institute in Kolkata he founded, #Naman.
— Ratnakar Sadasyula (@GabbarSanghi) November 23, 2018
