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Biography of M.K. VAINU BAPPU ( 1927-1982 )

Manali Kallat VAINU BAPPU was a great astronomer and president of the International Astronomical Union. Being one of the greatest astronomers of India, Vainu has contributed much to the revival of optical astronomy in Independent India. Vainu was born on August 10, 1927 to a senior astronomer in the Nizamiah Observatory, Hyderabad. He was the only child of Manali Kukuzhi and Sunanna Bappu. Vainu Bappu was not only excelled in studies but took active part in debates, sports, and other extracurricular activities. However, astronomy to which he was exposed from an early age became his passion. Being a keen amateur…

Biography of Lord Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937)

Ernest Rutherford was born on August 30, 1871 in the southern island of Nelson, in New Zealand. His parents belonged to the Scottish farming community of England and had migrated to New Zealand in 1842. They were cultured and well educated. In 1889, Ernest won a scholarship to Nelson College, a secondary school, where he was a popular boy. Another scholarship allowed him to enroll in Canterbury College, from where he graduated with a BA in 1892 and an MA in 1893 with first-class honours in mathematics and physics. In 1895, Cambridge University announced scholarships for deserving students of British…

Biography of Komaravolu S. Chandrasekharan

Komaravolu S. Chandrasekharan is a famous scientist who worked in the fields of number theory and summability and also was a most successful editor of the Journal of the Indian Mathematical Society. He was a founder faculty of School of Mathematics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). K. Chandrasekharana was born on November 21, 1920 in Machilipatnam in modern-day Andhra Pradesh. He started his education from District Board School in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. Then he joined high School at Bapatla in Guntur. After that he got his M. A. in Mathematics from the Presidency College, Madras and was a…

Biography of Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan (KSK) 1898-1961

Kariamanikkam Srinivasa Krishnan, generally known as K. S. Krishnan and KSK. Mostly he is known as co-discoverer of the famous Raman Effect, a discovery which brought the first and till date the only Nobel Prize in Science to India. The Prize was awarded to Krishnan’s mentor and research guide C.V. Raman in 1930. The citation for the Nobel Prize also stated that the Prize was given to Raman for his work on the scattering of light and the discovery of the effect named after him. In reality, there is no controversy. Raman deserved the Prize. KSK was an outstanding physicist…

Biography of John Logie Baird

The inventor of the television, John Logie Baird was born on August 13, 1888, at a hamlet Helensburgh, Dunbarton, near Glasgow, Scotland. Son of a Scottish engineer, he became the first man to televise pictures of objects in motion. The Youngest in the family, John was of weak constitution and often remained ill, especially afflicted with cold. This affected his study. He did not have any particular interest in reading. His only interest was photography. He was a member of his school photography club. Boys took photographs all by themselves. The club held a monthly competition wherein the best photograph…

Biography of Johannes Kepler (1571 – 1630)

Johannes Kepler, a mathematician, astronomer and astrologer was born on December 27, 1571 at Wiel der Stadt, Wurtemberg, Germany. He is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican Astronomy. These works also provided one of the foundations for Isaac Newton’s theory of universal gravitation. Students of astronomy still study his theory. His father was a mercenary soldier and his mother was a daughter of an innkeeper. When he was four year old, a bout of smallpox weakened his eyesight and affected his…

Biography of James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831- 5 November 1879)

The pioneer of electromagnetism and contributor to the kinetic theory of gases James Clerk Maxwell, was born on November 13, 1831 at Edinburgh, Scotland. He was from a rich, famous and landowning family. This family had many a famous and promising personalities who brought laurels and honour to it. James spent his childhood in the rural areas. His father had studied law but never practiced. He was interested in educating his son and maintaining the family property. Little James had the hobby of dismantling mechanical toys and understanding their mechanism carefully. He would open up newly acquired toys and fix…

Biography of Jagdish Chandra Bose (1858 – 1937)

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, generally known as J.C. Bose, occupies a unique position in the history of modern Indian science. He is regarded as India’s first modern scientist. Jagdish Chandra Bose was an Indian physicist who pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics. Bose was born on November 30, 1858 in Munshiganj District in Bengal (Now situated in Bangladesh). His father Bhagwan Chandra Bose served the British India Government in various executive and magistrate of Faridpur and it is here Bose’s early childhood was mainly spent. His family originally hailed from the village Rarikhal, Bikrampur, in the current day…

Biography of J Robert Oppenheimer (1904 – 1967)

J Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. He was born in New York on April 22, 1904. His parents, Julius S. Oppenheimer, a wealthy German textile merchant, and Ella Friedman, an artist, were of Jewish descent but did not observe the religious traditions. He was fond of collecting rock samples since his childhood. He also liked to study microorganisms with a homemade microscope. Painting and music were his forte. His parents were well-to-do German-Jewish immigrants who had made fortune by importing textiles in New York City. They paid proper…

Biography of Irving Langmuir (1881 – 1957)

Irving Langmuir was born on Jan. 31, 1881 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. His elder brother Arthur played an important role in Irving’s progress. When Irving was nine years old, to sustain his interest in science, Arthur thought of setting up a small laboratory for him. At the age of 11, Irving joined school in Brooklyn. Within a year, his father was transferred to Paris and Irving had to be admitted at a French boarding house in Paris. He loved the school as he could spend as much time in the laboratory as he wanted to. When his father was…

Biography of Homi J. Bhabha (1909 – 1966 )

Homi J. Bhabha was the eminent scientist who played a key role in the development of the Indian atomic energy program. He is aslo considered as the father of India’s nuclear program. He was born on October 30, 1909 in a Parsi family of Mumbai. He was the son of Jehangir Hormaji Bhabha and Meherbai Framji Panday. His father was a Oxford- educated barrister. Bhabha received his early education at Bombay’s Cathedral Grammer School and Royal institute of Science. After that he went to the Cambridge, England for further education. he entered in the Caius College for Mechanical engineering. Before…

Biography of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1857 – 1894)

Heinrich Rudolph Hertz was born on February 22, 1857, in a well-to-do family in Hamburg, Germany. His parents began his education with the intention of shaping his career in architecture and engineering. But soon they realized his interest in pure science and research. He was a curious child with a habit of observing and learning about new ideas and things. Heinrich joined Berlin University, where a person of rare intelligence, versatility and multifaceted personality – Professor Hermann Von Helmholtz, taught various subjects like physiology, anatomy, physics and mathematics. On the basis of his researches in physics, he conducted research in…

Biography of Harish Chandra (1923-1983)

Dr. Harish Chandra was one of the outstanding mathematicians of his generation, an algebraist and analyst, and one of those responsible for Transforming Infinite dimensional group re-presentation theory from a modest topic on the periphery of mathematics and physics into a major field central to contemporary mathematics. Harish Chandra was a renowned physicist and mathematician of India. He was born on October 11, 1923 in Kanpur in North India. His father Chandra Kishor was a civil engineer. Harish Chandra spent his childhood at his maternal grandfather’s home in Kanpur. At an early age, he received his education from a tutor….

Biography of Georg Simon Ohm (16 March 1789 – 6 July 1854)

Georg Simon Ohm was born in South-Eastern Germany on March 16, 1787. His father was a locksmith who also manufactured and repaired guns. Since generations his family was involved in the business and his father inherited the same from his grandfather. He would move all over the cities of Germany and France to earn his living. At 40, he came to settle down in the village of Allergen. For 40 years his father conducted this business. After his arrival here, he got married and had two sons – Georg and Martin. His life took a turn thereafter. Georg’s father was…

Biography of G. N. Ramachandran (1922 – 2001)

G. N. Ramachandran was one of those scientists who have made India proud by their research. His full name was Gopalasamudram Narayana Iyer Ramachandran. He was the first person to propose a triple-helical model for the structure of collagen. He also made other major contributions in biology and physics. Professor Ramachandran was born on October 8, 1922, in the town of Ernakulam, Kerala, India. He was the son of G.R. Narayana Ayer and Lakshmi Ammal. His father was a Professor of Mathematics at a local college and thus had considerable influence in shaping Ramachandran’s interest in mathematics. He obtained his…

Biography of Great scientist Subhash Mukhopadhyay

The Great scientist Subhash Mukhopadhyay was born in Calcutta in India. He was educated at the Scottish Church College and after that he joined at the Calcutta Medical College, which was then affiliated to the University of Calcutta. His life and death has been the subject of countless newspaper reviews and a Bollywood film directed Tapan Sinha entitled “Ek Doctor ki Maut” (Death of a Physician). Dr. Subhash Mukhopadhyay created history when he became the first physician in India and second in the world after British physician Patrick Steptoe and Robert Edwards to perform the procedure to produce the test…

Biography of Dr. Sam Pitroda

Dr. Sam Pitroda is better known as “The father of India’s communication revolution”. Presently he is the Chairman of India’s National knowledge Commission, besides being the chairman and CEO of World- Tel Limited and the founder and CEO of C-SAM, Inc, he also worked as an advisor to the United Nations in 1992. He is an inventor, entrepreneur and policymaker. Sam Pitroda was born on 16 November, 1942 in Titlagarh, Orissa. His real name is Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda. His parents had migrated to Orissa from Gujarat. They were deeply influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy. Sam Pitroda did his…

Biography of Dr. Mani Bhaumik

Dr. Mani Bhaumik is a famous physicist from India who helped to develop the first excimer laser at the University of the Californis’s famous Northrop Corporation Research and Technology Center (NCRTC). This is the class of laser that would eventually eliminate glasses or contact lenses in many cases requiring vision correction (the procedure takes less than a minute and is going like wildfire today). Dr. Bhaumik was elected by his peers to be a fellow of the American physical society as well as the Institute of Electrical and electronics engineers. Dr. Mani lal Bhaumik is the elder son of the…

Biography of Dr. K. Kasturirangan (Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan)

Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan is a famous scientist of modern India. He is a member of several important scientific academies within India as well as abroad, currently he is an honorable member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). He was also the Director of ISRO Centre, where he looks after the activities related to the development of new generation spacecraft, Indian National Satellite (INSAT-2) and Indian Remote Sensing Satellites (IRS-1 A & 1 B) as well as scientific satellites. Krishnaswami Kasturirangan was born on October 24, 1940 at Emakulam, in the state of Kerala, South India. He obtained his B. Sc. degree with…

Biography of Dr. Jayant Narlikar

The great Indian astrophysicist, Dr Jayant Narlikar was born on July 19, 1938, in a highly educated and cultured family in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra. His father Prof. Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar was the Head of the Department of Mathematics at Benaras Hindu University. Thereafter he was Chairman of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission. Jayant Narlikar had his education in Varanasi. His mother was a graduate in Sanskrit from Mumbai (Bombay) University. Besides, she loved English literature. She was graceful, cultured and educated lady. Young Narlikar was exceptionally talented and always topped at school and college examinations. Mathematics was his favourite…

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