The Great Indian Scientists--C V Raman

                                  C V Raman (1888-1970)

Dr. Chandra Sekhar Venkata Raman, betetr known as C.V Raman, is one of the most distinguished Indian scientists of the 20th century. He was born on 7 November 1888 in a South Indian Brahmin family in the town of Tiruchirappalli in Tamilnadu. Raman's father was a school teacher. He was a scholar of physics and mathematics. He also loved arts and greatly appreciated good music. 

Raman's childhood and education

Raman's childhood was given an environment of music, traditional Sanskrit literature and modern science. He was genius right from his childhood and always came first in every class he attended. He was a child prodigy. He completed his matriculation at the age of 11. He then took admission into Presidency College , Chennai for a B.A degree course. He completed it in 1905. He not only stood first in the class but also won a gold medal. He then joined the same college to pursue Master's degree in Physics. During his B.A and M.A, Raman had displayed exemplary brilliance in scientific investigations. 

His career

At the insistance of his father, Raman took the Financial Civil Service (FCS) examination and stood first in that. He then proceeded to Calcutta  to join the Indian Finance Department as Deputy Accountant General. 

Calcutta was the political capital of India at that time, and the cultural capital as well. It was the main centre where scientific action was taking place in India.This took place because of The Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science which was founded by Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar and the University College of Science which was founded by Mr. Asutosh Mukherjee.

Raman, as he was employed, used to do his research before and after his work hours. After ten years of Government services, Raman resigned his post of Deputy Accountant General and joined Calcutta Uniersity as a Palit professor of Physics. 

His duties there were to devote himself to path-breaking research in his subject; to support research by students and to supervise the laboratory. He took 'Electricity and Magnetism' and 'Physical optics' classes. His style of teaching was involvment of the whole class which would increase the subject grasping ability of the students. The students used to feel thrilled in his classes as if they were actually making the discoveries. They used to get the excitement in his classes where the theories were livened by practical examples.

Raman published about 21 studies in the domestic journals while he had 146 publications in the foreign journals. He published work on acoustics and musical instruments, and that of a theory on bowed strings.

Awards he received

He was awarded the degree of 'Doctor of Science' in 1921 by the Calcutta University.

In 1924, he was elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society of London.

In 1929, the British Government in India conferred on him the knighthood title of 'Sir'.

He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930 for his 'Raman Effect'.

The Government of India honoured him with the highest civilian honour of the country 'Bharat Ratna' in 1954.

He was also awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1958.

The Raman Effect

On a sea voyage to Europe in 1921, Raman was amazed to notice the deep blue colour of the sea glaciers and the Mediterranian sea. He had in mind that it was light which had been playing the trick. Eventually, he carried out different types of experiments and researches on the sun rays passing through water, transparent ice blocks, and other media. The results were astonishing and he could establish the scientific explanation for the blue colour of the sea water and the sky. Raman detected some new lines in the spectrum on passinng the sun rays through different substances. These lines are called 'Raman lines' and the discovery is named after him as 'Raman Effect'. He won the Nobel prize in Physics for the same in 1930. The Raman effect has proved to be very useful tool for scientists. Raman's other interests of research were the physiology of human vision, the optics of colloids and the electrical and magnetic anisotropy.

Raman and conflicts

Raman was elected the Honorary Secretary of the Indian association for the Cultivation of science after the death of Lal Sircar in 1919. He held the post till 1933.

Raman had some conflict with the administrators of the Association and eventually he left not only the institute but also Calcutta. He made Banaglore his home in 1933.  He took up the directorship of the Indian Institute of Science. He remained Director for four years. Later, he had to face some conflict.

He made several changes at the IISc. The existing staff found him so intervening and two of them resigned their jobs. There was a growing resentment in the campus. Raman was accused of favouring the physics department at the cost of other departments. 

A committee was apponited in 1935 to review the institute's affairs. The committee confirmed that the charges and accusations made agAinst him were correct. He was also accused of not only administrative irregularities but also financial misconduct. He was asked to leave the Directorship of the institute but remained professor of Physics and continued till 1947.

In 1934, Raman  founded the Indian Academy of Sciences. He invested his personal property to build this. He also has given his Nobel prize money and the Lenin Peace Prize moneyfor its development. A museum was built to house Raman's collection of crystals, gems, minerals, rock specimens and shells. 

Later in 1943, he set up the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore. There he served as its director and remained active until his death in 1970.

Raman always took pride in being an Indian and stressed and endeavoured to have world class institutions and research in India.

Research years

From 1907 to 1917, raman did his research at the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science. As he was employed, he did the research work in the mornings and the evenings.

After ten yesr of government services, Raman resigned from his post to work as a professor of physics at the Calcutta University. He worked there for 15 years.

He joined IISc and continued his reasearch there. He founded the Indian Academy of Science in 1934. He also set upthe Raman Research INstitute in 1943. He continued scientific research from theses institutes until his death which was caused by a strong heart attack on 21 November 1970.

Raman's advice

Raman firmly believed that India should be self-sufficient in science. His sincere advice to aspring scientists was--"scientifc research needed independent thinking and hard work, not equipment."

The Great Indian Scientists--Homi Jehangir Bhabha

                        Homi Jehangir Bhabha (1909-1966)

Homi Jeahangir Bhabha is remembered as the most important exponent and visionary of the Indian nuclear programme. He is credited with designing the architecture of the Indian nuclear research programme. He was a physicist par excellence. Initially he had deeply studied cosmic rays while studying at Cambridge. Later he learned of the discovery of fission.

Bhabha's childhood and education 

Bhabha was born to a wealthy  Parsi family on 30 October 1909. His father Jehangir Babha was a well-known lawyer of his time in Bombay. Homi Bhabha was brought up in an atmosphere of academics and learning. He was initiated to literature, fine arts, music and painting during his formative years. 

Homi's schooling was at the Cathedral and John Connon School in Bombay. He later took admission into The Elphinstone College in Bombay. Later, he joined The Royal Institute of Science. Homi studied Mechanical Engineering in Cambridge. 

He was interested in Mathematics and theoretical physics as subjects and thus had no heart to study engineering. He wrote a letter to his father to allow him to pursue theoretical physics. His father asked him to complete his engineering and then go for it. Eventually after completing his engineering course, Homi Bhabha did his Ph.D in theoretical physics from Cambridge. During his stay and research, Bhabha travelled extensively. During his travel, he met several great physicists and science luminaries of the time. The interactions with the who's who of the then leading scientific community lay a profound foundation of scientific learning in Homi. Most of the interactions were with the leading pysicists of the time and physics being very close to his heart, he became immensely interested in the study of atoms, quantum theory and nuclear physics. He received Ph.D from Cambridge in 1935 in theoretical physics.

Early days as scientist

Bhabha-Heitler Theory

In 1936, Bhabha met Walter Heitler, a German physicist. Their collaboration resulted in the celebrated 'cascade theory of electron showers'. They proposed that cosmic rays are composed of electrons, protons and gamma rays and they hit the earth from all directions.

Positron theory: Bhabha scattering

The major achievement of one of his papers was-- Bhabha's investigation of electron positron scattering known as "Bhabha Scattering".

Meson theory

Bhabha had predicted the 'meson' in 1937. Bhabha himself has proposed the name 'meson' instead of 'mesotron' as it was earlier called. Mesons are unstable sub-atomic particles which are made up of quarks and anti-quarks.

Bhabha Equation

In the area of theoretical physics, he worked principally on what came to be referred to as the 'Bhabha Equation'.

Homi bhabha played a very critical role in the early days of the development of quantum electrodynamics.

Return to India

Bangalore Days

In 1939 he came for a short holiday to India, but was unable to go back as the second World War broke out. In India he took up the position of Special Reader teaching theoretical physics in the Indian Institute of Science in charge of the cosmic ray units.

In Bangalore, his work was mainly focussed on cosmic and elementary particles. He extensively used powerful mathematical techniques, and took note of fluctuation from the mean. During this period he also did some experimental work and designed Geiger counter telescopes and flew them on American Air Force planes, ofcourse with due permission, to try measure the hard components of cosmic rays.

Bombay days

Bahbha came to realize the immense potential that science and technology had and the lasting role they alone could play to transform India from an unerdeveloped country to a developed one.

He contemplated deeply as to what was hindering the widespread development of India and propogation of science. He came to a firm conclusion that there was a lack of adequate support for scientific infrastructure  in India and here were the short comings that were pulling  India as a nation behind and not letting it advance. He then took steps in that direction.

Notable contributions and their impact

Bhbha founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental research (TIFR). It helped India produce its very own scientists and experts who steered India towards self-reliant nuclear power generation, and other  scientific fields. He was eventually successful in persuading Jawaharlal Nehru enact in Parliament the Atomic Energy Bill, creating the Atomic energy Commission (AEC). Bhabha was made the first chairman. Nehru later established a seperate Ministry of Atomic Energy in August 1954. Bhabha was appointed secretery  to this ministry directly responsible to the Prime Minister of India.

Bhabha was very foresighted in buildng up  resources towards the Indian nuclear programme. He sent many scientists for trainng abroad in the initial stages

He was also instrumental in defining the three-stage programme in 1950 which formed the basis for India's nuclear development that we see today.

He was a pioneering geologist of India. He wanted to conduct thorough survey of natural resources, particularly minerals important for atomic energy programme such as uranium, thorium, beryllium, graphite etc.

He also wanted to develop strong research schools in basic sciences. He was keen to  start a programme for instrumentation particularly in electronics.

Bhabha was all for the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purpose. He promoted nuclear energy control and also prohibition of atomic bombs worldwide. He was completely against India using nuclear energy for building atomic bombs even if the country had enough resources and capabilities to do so. His vision was to harness the vast amounts of nuclear and atomic energy to eradicate India's misery and poverty. In an incredibly short span of two decades, he was able to  realize his visions, of an increasingly capable India to the area of nuclear power that he had formed in the mid-forties.

Homi Bhabha was the unanimous choice for the  scientific advisory committee to the secretary general of the United nations for the post of President of the conference. He went on to become a Governor of the International Atomic Energy Agency at Vienna.

Achievements

Homi Bhabha achieved a lot in scientific research, discoveries, organisational construction and nation building through the use of science.

He was awarded honorary doctorate by several Indian and foreign universities for his stellar contributions.

In 1941, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London. His name was proposed by none oher than C V Raman.

In 1948, he was felicitated with the Hopkins prize of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

He was elected the president of the Indian Science Congress in 1951.

He was conferred with the Padma Bhushan in 1954 for the advancement of nuclear energy in India.

Untimely Death

On 24 January 1966, while he was on his way to Vienna, the flight crashed on the Mount Blanc peak of the Alps mountains in Switzerland and Bhabha was no more.

At 56, he had left behind an organisation which would for years keep on doing the work he had started and contribute to the nation building through advancements in nuclear science and technology.

English Encounters----UNITS 3, 4, 5, 6---Grammar

Cultural Shock: Adjustment to New Cultural Environments (Unit 3)

Idiom	Meaning	Example sentence
Cat nap	Brief sleep	I took a cat nap during the English class.
Chicken out	To decide not to do something because you are too frightened	Are you going to smoke Marijuana or are you going to chicken out?
Copy cat	Imitating a celebrity or something popular	I phone copycat hi phone 5 is on good sale in China.
Dog days	A period of inactivity	These are indeed dog days for Bollywood industry.
Fishy	Doubtful, suspicious	Something is fishy about the accident.
Have a cow	Be upset, angry or worried	Don’t have a cow mom! I will clean my room.
Hold your horses	Be patient/ hold on/ wait	Hold your horses. We haven’t won yet.
Get the lion’s share	Get the major share	The eldest son gets the lion’s share of paternal property.
In the dog house	Be in trouble	Ravi was in the dog house when his father lifted his girlfriend’s call.
Kill two birds with one stone	Complete two tasks with one action	Cycling to work kills two birds with one stone. It saves money and gives you some exercise.
Let the cat out of the bag	Reveal a secret	We planned a surprise party to our mom. But my little sister let the cat out of the bag, meanwhile.
A little bird told me	Used when a person wants to hide the source of information	A little bird told me about your holiday plans to Japan.
Make a beeline	Go quickly and directly to someone or somewhere	I get cross (angry) when people make a beeline at the ATMs and theatres.
Raining cats and dogs	Rain heavily	All flights are cancelled as it has been raining cats and dogs since yesterday.
Rat race	The busy modern urban life style	The family quit the rat race in order to live a peaceful life.
Smell a rat	Suspect something	His wife smelt a rat when he suddenly started working late.
Straight from the horse’s mouth	Getting information from the concerned highest authority	Tomorrow is a holiday! I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.
Take the bull by the horns	Deal decisively with a difficult problem	The Indian government will have to take the bull by the horns and control corruption.

Correction of sentences

1.Kareena is the only one of those students who have lived up to the expectations of her teachers.

     Kareena is the only one of those students who has lived up to the expectations of her teachers.

2.One of my uncles has bought me this watch.(correct)

3.Summer holidays, which are usually declared by the principal, has not been announced yet.

       Summer holidays, which are usually declared by the principal, have not been announced yet.

4.Not only the students but also the teacher have been called by the director.

        Not only the students but also the teacher has been called by the director.

5.Most of the milk has gone bad. Four litres of milk are still in the freezer. 

         Much of the milk has gone bad. Four litres of milk is still in the freezer.

6.The students and the teachers each wishes for a new auditorium.

         The students and the teachers each wish for a new auditorium.

7.A large number of customers is standing at the ATMs.

         A large number of customers are standing at the ATMs.

8.Three years are a long time to be away from our families.

          Three years is a long time to be away from our families.

9.Physics are my favourite subject.

          Physics is my favourite subject.

10.With demonetization, the economics of the country has changed drastically.(correct)

                                                           

The Lottery (Unit 4)

Vocabulary

Use the words (in adjective and adverb forms) in the sentences of your own

Profusely (adv.): He profusely apologized to his staff.

Profuse (adj.): He offered profuse apologies to his staff.

Quietly (adv.): He wept quietly at the loss of his wife.

Quiet (adj.): He recollected the quiet moments he had with his wife.

Reluctantly (adv.): The student reluctantly started to read.

Reluctant (adj.): The student was reluctant to read.

Uneasily (adv.): I shifted uneasily in the chair.

Uneasy (adj.): I was uneasy in the chair.

Regretfully (adv.): The soon apologized regretfully for not looking after his parents.

Regretful (adj.): The son offered regretful apologies for not looking after his parents.

Nervously (adv.): She spoke nervously at the seminar.

Nervous (adj.): She gave a nervous speech at the seminar.

Hastily (adv.): The government has hastily taken the decision of demonetization.

Hasty (adj.): The government has made a hasty decision of demonetization.

Precisely (adv.): The price of commodities is precisely given.

Precise (adj.): The precise price of the commodities is given.

Willingly (adv.): The man has willingly given up drinking.

Willing (adj.): The man’s was a willing decision to give up drinking.

Defiantly (adv.): The opposition leader has defiantly made his points in the Assembly.

Defiant (adj.): The opposition leader made defiant points in the Assembly.

  

Correction of sentences

1.We are much interested in visiting your house.

             We are very interested in visiting your house.

2.Never she has sung so well.

             Never has she sung so well.

3.He nicely played piano.

             He played the piano nicely.

4.I felt so lonely.

             I felt so alone.

5.It is bitter cold.

             It is bitterly cold.

6.The movie is too interesting.

            The movie is very interesting.

7.He is so poor to pay the examination fee. (correct)

8.I am very much sorry.

            I am very sorry.

9.He is not clever enough to solve the problem. (correct)

10.Before long, not many people lived here.

              Not before long, many people lived here.

11.We arrived at midnight after a few hours.

              We arrived a few hours after midnight.

12.Soon she goes, the good.

              Soon she goes, the well.

13.I was little tired.

              I was a little tired.

14.He sang so loud.

              He sang so loudly.

15. She was almost standing near the door.

              She was standing almost near the door.

                        

The Health Threats of Climate Change (Unit 5)

Correction of sentences

1.We discussed about the cyclone.

                    We discussed the cyclone.

2.Immediately we reached at the airport.

                     Immediately we reached the airport.

3.I have ordered for his dismissal.

                     I have ordered his dismissal.

4.Vikas married with his friend’s sister.

                    Vikas married his friend’s sister.

5.Many students entered into the hall very late.

                    Many students entered the hall very late.

6.She resembles to her father.

                    She resembles her father.

7.This candidate is intelligent, but lacks of experience.

                    This candidate is intelligent, but lacks experience.

8.What is the time in your watch?

                    What is the time by your watch?           

9.They have travelled to Tirupati in train.

                    They have travelled to Tirupati by train.

10.The board members were pleased at me.

                    The board members were pleased with me.

11.She was trembling by rage.

                    She was trembling from rage.

12.We all congratulated her for her success in the project.

                   We all congratulated her on her success in the project.

13.Who is in the phone?

                   Who is on the phone?

14.I watched an interesting show at TV.

                   I watched an interesting show on TV.

15.Will you see me on next Friday?

                  Will you see me next Friday?

16.She is just the right height to be a police constable.

                  She is just the right height for a police constable.

17.Are you going to home now?

                  Are you going home now?

18.The ball slowly rolled into the goal.(correct)

19.I don’t care for your opinion.

                 I don’t care your opinion.

20.She has been ill since two weeks.

                She has been ill for two weeks.

21.The manager suggested me to take leave.

                The manager suggested that I take leave.

22.He is junior than me.

                He is junior to me.

23. This is the worst storm in ten years. (correct)

24.She sent the letter to me on my old address.

                She sent the letter to my address.

25.The loud music prevented me to sleep.

                The loud music prevented me from sleep(ing).

s.no	Phrase	One-word Substitute
1	Detailed plan of journey	Itinerary
2	A person of long experience	Veteran
3	A small enclosure for cattle, sheep, poultry etc.	Pen
4	One who escorts	Outriders
5	Exclusive possession of the trade in some commodity	Monopoly
6	One who studies stars, planets and other heavenly bodies.	Astronomer
7	A building in which monks live	Monastery
8	Government formed by the people.	Democracy
9	An assembly of listeners	Audience
10	One who believes in a single God.	Monotheist
11	An act of self-examination.	Introspection
12	One who changes sides	Turncoat
13	One who loves books	Bibliophile
14	Government by the new/ inexperienced	Neocracy
15	Killing of a human being	Murder
16	Composed of people from all over the world	Cosmopolitan
17	One who is incapable of making a mistake	Infallible
18	One who always runs away from danger	Timid
19	A tank for keeping live fish or other aquatic animals.	Aquarium
20	A narrative poem in short stanzas	Ballad
21	Person who rules without consulting the opinion of others	Autocrat
22	Destroyer of religious images/ icons	Iconoclast
23	A grant of ownership	Patent
24	A person who is womanish/ unmasculine	Effeminate
25	A word opposite in meaning	Antonym
26	A huge mass of snow moving slowly down the valley and slopes	Glacier
27	One who believes in fate	Fatalist
28	A speech delivered without any previous preparation	Extempore
29	Speech or language that is difficult to understand	Jargon
30	One who is devoted to sensual pleasures (eating, drinking..)	Epicure
31	Indifference to pleasure or pain	Stoic
32	A style in which a writer makes a display of his knowledge	Pedantic
33	One who talks in sleep	Somniloquy
34	Government by one person	Autocracy
35	A place for the sick to regain health	Sanatorium
36	One who has varied skills and talents	Versatile
37	One who represents a state in a foreign country	Ambassador
38	A learned person	Scholar
39	Remains of prehistoric animal or plant preserved by being buried	Fossils
40	One who exists at the same time as another	Contemporary
41	One who can speak two languages	Bilingual
42	Killing of an infant	Infanticide
43	One who copies the writings of others	Plagiarist
44	One who is all powerful	Omnipotent
45	Absence of the government in a country	Anarchy
46	That which can be easily broken	Fragile/ brittle
47	Persons working in the same department	Colleagues
48	Loss of memory (forgetfulness)	Amnesia
49	Violation of sacred things	Sacrilege

The Chief Software Architect (Unit 6)

Correction of sentences

1.Didn’t know what actually happened. Just happened to hear the noise.

                   I Didn’t know what actually happened. I Just happened to hear the noise.

2.Did you read the novel.Sons and Lovers by Lawrence.

                  Did you read the novel ‘Sons and Lovers’ by Lawrence?

3.I didn’t go with for the movie. Though I had enough money.

                  I didn’t go for the movie, though I had enough money.

4.A must-see movie. We need to watch it next week.

                  It’s a  must-watch movie. We need to watch it next week.

5.Felt like having a sweet. Immediately went out to buy some rasgullas.

                   I felt like having a sweet. So, I immediately went out to buy some rasgullas.

6.Very good to wear it. The sweater was warm.

                  It’s very good to wear it, the sweater was warm.

7. This drink very bitter. But that one sweet.

                  This drink is very bitter. But that one is sweet.

8.He has a sister. Who is very pretty.

                  He has a sister, who is very pretty.

9.Prem bought a book. That he wanted to read for a long time.

                  Prem bought a book. He wanted to read that for a long time.

10. Have no idea what he actually wants.

                  I have no idea what he actually wants.

11.Bread and butter are my usual breakfast.

                  Bread and butter is my usual breakfast.

12.The news that he is corrupt are not true.

                  The news that he is corrupt is not true.

13.25 kilometers is a long way to go by cycle/bicycle.

14.Either Krishna or his parents knows the news.

                  Either Krishna or his parents know the news.

15.Neither of the kids is playing cricket. (correct)

16.Don’t you think two thousand rupees are high for this pair of shoes?

                  Don’t you think two thousand rupees is high for this pair of shoes?

17.When I reached his house, there was a lot of people surrounding him.

                  When I reached his house, there were a lot of people surrounding him.

18.One of the policemen were shot dead in the firing.

                One of the policemen was shot dead in the firing.

19.Physics was my favourite subject at school. (correct)

20.Here stays all my relatives.

               Here stay all my relatives.

21.If the library limited its membership, it will have to raise its membership fee.

               If the library limits its membership, it will have to raise its membership fee.

22.By the time he reached playground, all his friends have left.

              By the time he reached playground, all his friends had left.

23.After the principal spoke about cleanliness of surroundings, all the volunteers had started cleaning ground.

            After the principal spoke about cleanliness of surroundings, all the volunteers started cleaning ground.

24.As Rani puts in her contact lenses, the doorbell rang.

            As Rani puts in her contact lenses, the doorbell rings.

25.The speaker usually asks for questions as soon as he has finished his lecture.

            The speaker usually asks for questions as soon as he finishes his lecture.

26.Sujatha was terribly disappointed with the feedback on her cooking because she worked very hard.

      Sujatha was terribly disappointed with the feedback on her cooking because she had worked very hard.

27.We all hope she would survive.

           We all hope she will survive.

28.Prem wants to donate all the money to an orphanage he earned last summer.

            Prem wants to donate all the money, he earned last summer, to an orphanage.

29.The student insisted that he has paid the fee long back.

             The student insisted that he had paid the fee long back.

30.The doctor advised bed rest for the patient, who suffers from a back ache.

             The doctor advises bed rest for the patient, who suffers from a back ache.