Speedy Internet ?
Did u know, Who is behind it ?
The general perception among most people today, especially those who are exposed to western media, is that all of the modern technologies were invented by western scientists, while Indian scientists & scholars are usually depicted as lazy babus or copycats. However, a quick look into real history shows that most of the critical technologies of 19th/20th century, were actually invented by Indian scientists, and one such Indian scientist was Narinder Singh Kapany.
Right from his young age, Narinder Singh was fascinated with light rays, and during his schooldays at the foothills of Himalayas, he had observed that light need not always travel in straight lines, but can also bend across valleys and mountains. It was this idea which actually motivated him to take up optics for his PhD thesis at London, where he started experimenting with different materials to transmit light rays over long distances.
After years of research, he became the first scientist in the world to use a bunch of tiny glass cylinders as the medium of transmission, and in 1950s, he successfully demonstrated light transmission through bent glass cylinders incorporating the concept of Total Internal Reflection to send light waves over very long distances. In fact, it was Narinder himself who actually coined the term “Fibre Optics”, to refer to his technological innovation, and for his invention, he obtained hundreds of patents!
Today, fibre optics is the backbone of our high speed broadband internet, which has become so critical that the whole world will come to a halt without it. Hence, it is a matter of pride for every Indian to acknowledge the role of an Indian scientist in developing such a critical technology, which will hopefully inspire future generations of youngsters to develop more such innovative technologies, and in the process, make every citizen proud of our nation’s contributions!
Content courtesy:
fb.com/guruprasad.gp
