New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS): His pathbreaking achievement boiled down to the simple question: “Why the sky is blue?” though what really piqued his interest was the similar striking colour of the Mediterranean Sea’s waters. In his quest to reach the answer, Sir C.V. Raman went on beyond Sir Isaac Newton’s discovery of the constitution of light to find out what ensues when light encounters matter – in any state.
His findings, as demonstrated in the Raman Scattering and the Raman Effect, would not only solve a fundamental – but rarely asked – question of what causes our perception of colour in the things around us, but also be key in establishing the quantum nature of light – a hotly contested issue among physicists in the early decades of the 20th century.
“C.V. Raman was the first to recognise and demonstrate that the energy of a photon can undergo partial transformation within matter. I still recall vividly the deep impression that this discovery made on all of us….” Albert Einstein, arguably among the greatest physicists ever, said on his Indian colleague’s achievement. And Raman had equal respect for him – he had his head tonsured after learning of Einstein’s demise in 1955.
However, Raman’s discovery was not only important for abstruse, high-level physics but the related phenomenon – the Raman Spectrum of a compound and the Raman Line of a substance – would go on to have a profound practical impact in various fields.
In chemistry, they offer a non-destructive method for both qualitative and quantitative analysis of both organic and inorganic compounds, irrespective of their state as well as solution, while in medicine, it is used for non-invasive, monitoring cell activities and processes, identifying and analysing biological tissues, and detecting disease. In environmental science, it is used to analyse air and water pollutants, while there are also applications in mining, space exploration, material science – including the new growing field of nano-technology, forensics, and even, art conservation.
Born on this day (November 7) in Tiruchirapalli of then Madras Presidency, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata (C.V.) Raman (1888-1970) not only became the first – and technically the only – Indian winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics, but also the first Asian and non-White scientist to win any Nobel in science.
Apart from his considerable contribution to optics, was his interest in sound and acoustics, spanning the scientific basis of musical sounds on both Indian and Western instruments to devising the theoretical explanation of the acousto-optic effect (light scattering by sound waves), which would result in the development of laser-based optical communication components. He would also take up crystal dynamics, astronomy, the physiology of human vision, and investigations into the colours of flowers.
Yet his legacy to Indian science far outspans his scientific prowess.
Raman contributed to the development of science and science education in the country – despite his detractors (both British and Indian), influenced scientists like Homi Bhabha, Vikram Sarabhai, and his nephew Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar – who would also win the Nobel Physics Prize for his theories of the fate of stars, but above all, stressed self-reliance.
He had been pegged to go to the UK for higher studies after his post-graduation on the prodding of his British professor, but changed his plans when he came to know how much his father had sacrificed to ensure his and his brother’s education and the Madras Civil Surgeon’s warning about the effect of the English weather on his health. Instead, Raman would work in India only, though he would travel to Europe and the US frequently to attend conferences, meet colleagues, and collect his Nobel and other awards, including the Royal Society’s top medal and the Lenin Peace Prize.
His background and vision caused clashes with both the British regime and the government of free India. Stoked by vested interests due to personal jealousy as well as racial and regional grounds, these saw him leaving the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in Calcutta and stepping down as the first Indian director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore after just a few years.
Raman chiefly faulted the establishment of special scientific centres that drew away the best minds from universities, contending science could not progress in the country without teaching, the practice of sending young scientists for training abroad despite arranging visits and offering teaching faculty by top figures – as he had tried to do in the mid-1930s with Max Born, who had fled Nazi Germany but was snubbed, and above all, spending huge sums on importing scientific equipment – which could be manufactured indigenously at a fraction of the cost.
As he quipped, he had “made a Nobel-winning discovery with apparatus that cost a mere Rs 200”.
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