UPSC Note on Famous personalities in Science by Unacademy

The improvement of scientific ideas in current India can be ascribed to the specialists of this period. In the nineteenth century, Sir C.V. Raman achieved new Indian logical ideas. Dr Homi J. Bhabha, known as the Father of our Nuclear Physics, anticipated the eventual fate of Indian Science. Dr J.C. Bose, in plant physiology, Dr Vikram Sarabhai, in space sector and industrialization, and Dr Abdul Kalam in the field of defence innovation, achieved progressive changes to stir the wonder of modern India.

Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan was one of India’s most noteworthy mathematicians
He was born on 22 December 1887 in Erode, Tamil Nadu state, India
Later on, his parents moved to Kumbakonam, 160 kilometres from Chennai, where Ramanujan studied at the Town Hall School in Kumbakonam
At the age of fifteen, he came across a Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure Mathematics by G. S. Carr, which aroused his interest in mathematics and led him to, developing his ideas and theorems
In 1911, he published a paper on Bernoulli Numbers that brought him recognition
In 1914 he travelled to England to collaborate with British mathematician Godfrey H. Hardy on a scholarship
He made significant contributions to the analytical theory of numbers and worked on elliptic functions, continued fractions, and infinite series
His papers were published in English and European journals, and he was elected to the Royal Society of London

Chandrasekhar V. Raman

Chandrasekhar V Raman, popularly known as C.V. Raman was an Indian physicist who made substantial contributions to the growth of Science in India
He was born on 7 November 1888 in Tiruchirapalli, in Tamil Nadu
He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in the year 1930 for discovering that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the light that is deflected changes in wavelength
This phenomenon is now known as the Raman Scattering and results from the Raman Effect
He was knighted in the year 1929
During his time, he helped establish practically every Indian research institution, founded the Indian Journal of Physics and the Indian Academy of Sciences, and mentored hundreds of students who held prominent positions in India’s colleges and government

J.C. Bose

J.C Bose was one of the most prominent Indian scientists in plant physiology
He was born on 30 November 1858 at Mymensingh, now known as Bangladesh, where he had his early education. He had his advanced education at St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta
In 1885 he was appointed assistant professor of Physical Science at the Presidency College after earning a degree from the University of Cambridge in 1884
He made an apparatus to study the properties of electric waves
For his paper on “The Electromagnetic Radiation and Polarization of Electric Ray,” he was made a Knight In 1917 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1920
He was the first Indian scientist in Physics to receive this honour
His notable books were “Response in the living and non-living” (1902) and “The nervous mechanism of plants” (1926

Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha

Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha was an Indian Physicist born on 30 October 1909 in Mumbai
He is responsible for developing India’s nuclear energy program and is hence called the “Father of the Indian nuclear programme”
He completed his early education in Mumbai. He obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering with First Class from Cambridge, completed research work there, and received his doctorate in 1935
Until 1939, he carried out outstanding original research related to cosmic radiation. He came back to India when the Second World War began
Dr Bhabha joined the Indian Institute of Sciences at Bangalore as a Reader, following Dr C.V. Raman. Before long, he turned into a professor of Physics. Here, he laid out the idea of building a research institute for some new areas of Physics
He composed a letter to Sir Dorab Ji Tata proposing that an organization has to be set up to establish India’s framework as a world nuclear power. This foundation would create its specialists, and the nation would not need to rely upon outside sources
Subsequently, the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) was begun in 1945 at Dr Bhabha’s ancestral home. India’s first atomic research centre, Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), was set up at Trombay
India’s first nuclear reactor, Apsara, was additionally settled under his direction
Bhabha became the first chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission set up in 1948. His investigations in the field of atomic energy are considered vital in global circles
He was the president of the United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in 1955 and the president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics from 1960 to 1963
He was awarded the Adams Prize (1942) and Padma Bhushan (1954)
He also received a nomination for the Nobel Prize in 1951 and 1953-1956

Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai was an Indian physicist and industrialist born on 12 August 1919, Ahmadabad
Regarded as Father of Indian Space Program
He studied at Cambridge University, and when World War II forced him to return to India, he undertook research in cosmic rays under the direction of Dr C.V. Raman
He returned to Cambridge in 1945 to pursue a doctorate, and in 1947 he completed his thesis, “Cosmic Ray Investigations in Tropical Latitudes”
On his return to India, he established the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad
His studies of cosmic rays have clarified that cosmic rays are a stream of energy particles coming from space. While arriving at the earth, they are affected by the sun, the earth’s atmosphere, and attraction
Dr. Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai was the Chairman of the Indian National Commission for Space Research (INCOSPAR) and the Atomic Energy Commission
He coordinated the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS). He likewise made arrangements to take education to the towns through satellite communication
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1966 and the Padma Vibhushan posthumously (1972)

Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

He was the 11th President of India, born on 15 October 1931, in the island town of Rameshwaram, in Tamil Nadu
He played a significant role in developing missiles and nuclear weapons in India, which earned him the title of “Missile Man”
Dr. Kalam served in the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from 1963 to 1982
At Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, he developed the Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV 3), which put the satellite Rohini into space
In 1982, as Director, Defense Research Development Organization (DRDO), he was given the responsibility of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP) responsibility
He created five undertakings for defence services – Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag, and Agni. He drove India into a period of self-reliance
Agni, a surface missile, is a one-of-a-kind accomplishment. Its successful launch made India a member of the club of highly developed nations concerning aeronautical progress
Dr Kalam was the author of several books, including Wings of Fire (1999)
He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, in 1997 for his contributions in the field of Science and engineering

Famous Personalities of India In Science & Technology