The Great Indian Scientists--Jagadish Chandra Bose

Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937)

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, popularly known as J.C. Bose occupies a unique position in the history of modern Indian science. He was widely considered the doyen of Indian science particularly in the field of botany. He was a Bengali polymath, physicist, botanist, archaeologist and an early writer of science fiction.

(doyen=leading light/exemplar/pioneer Polymath=a person with extraordinarily broad knowledge)

He pioneered the investigation of radio and microwave optics, made significant contribution to plant science and laid the foundations of experimental science in the Indian subcontinent. He had initially done phenomenal work as physicist and later turned into a top rated plant biologist.

Bose is considered the father of Bengal science fiction. He invented the Cresograph, a device for measuring the growth of plants. IEEE has recently named him one of the fathers of radio science. A crater on the moon has been named in his honour.

Birth and birthplace

Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on 30 November 1858 in Mymensingh, now in Bangladesh. In the year 1971, the people of Bangladesh fought to separate the then East Pakistan from Pakistan to form Bangladesh. There were many Sanskrit schools in the region and it gave rise to many scholars.

Parents

Bose’s father Bhagaban Chandra Bose was Deputy Magistrate of Faridpur District. He was a follower of the Brahmo religion, whereas his wife Bhamasundari Debi was an orthodox who practiced Hindu religion and rituals. Jagadish had 5 sisters and a brother. Bose was greatly influenced by his father’s ideals

Bhagaban Chandra Bose was highly educated and had a great appreciation for science as a subject. He wanted his son to become a scientist. He was a fearless leader who protected his town as well as numerous adjoining villages. He used to have good command over his people and his force. It is said that he even offered job for a dacoit to take care of young Jagadish.

Bhagaban Chandra Bose wanted his son to study in a vernacular school because he believed that one must have command over one’s own mother tongue and one’s own culture, tradition, literature and people. Bose studied with the children of farmers, fishermen and workers. This exposed him to various themes that were going in the society. The stories his classmates told about nature and everyday life sowed the seeds of Bose’s interest in investigating the works of nature. They inspired him to read the great epics, Mahabharata and Ramayana. His mother showed no discrimination of caste among Bose’s friends and used to feed everyone.

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Education

Bose was sent to Calcutta to join Hare School in 1869 and then St. Xavier’s School. Later, he joined the St. Xavier’s college where he was associated with a Jesuit, Father Eugene Lafont who was known as Father of Modern Science in Calcutta. Bose received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Calcutta in 1879 in physics.

Bose wanted to go to England for higher studies but there were hindrances. The family’s financial condition was not good at that time as Bose’s father had invested huge amount in tea business and failed in it. Bose’s mother already lost a son and sending another son far away in the name of education was unbearable to her. But, she took a decision to send him off by selling her jewellery and ornaments. This decision not only changed the life of Jagadish but also helped the cause of advancement of science in India.

Bose took up medicine in England, but was throughout afflicted by fever. So he took up science the next year at Christ’s college which was in Cambridge University, for which he won a scholarship. He took up the course of Natural Science. He took up rowing as sport to improve his health condition. He studied under Lord Rayleigh who discovered Argon and went on to win a Nobel prize for that. Bose received Natural Science Tripos from the University of Cambridge and also completed a B.Sc. from the University of London.

Early career

Bose wanted to join the Imperial Education Service (IES) but he was not offered with that despite of great recommendation. He was given the post of Officiating Professor of Physics at The Presidency College, Calcutta. His salary was half the salary that an English got for the same post. Bose accepted the position but put a fight against the discrimination by not taking his salary. He started teaching in the best possible way and stressed on both theoretical and practical sides of sciences. After 3 years, his salary was increased to the same level as an English professor and he received his entire salary in arrears. He used this money to repay the debt of his father.

Contributions as a scientist

In 1894, on his 36^th birthday, he decided to pursue scientific research. He conducted his researches in a small room given by the Presidency College.

His first research was on electric radiation. He devised and fabricated a very sensitive radiator called ‘coheror’ which was earlier invented by Branly and Lodge. With this improvised version of the equipment, Bose could show various properties of radio waves like reflection, absorption, interference, double reflection and polarization.

In 1895, Bose presented a public demonstration at Town Hall in Calcutta where he sent an electromagnetic wave across 75 feet, passing through walls to remotely ring a bell and explode some gunpowder.

He also demonstrated a new type of radio waves as small as 1 cm to 5mm, which we now call microwaves. His papers titled “On the Polarisation of Electric Rays by Double Reflecting Crystals” and “On the Determination of the Indices of Refraction of Sulphur for the Electric Ray” were published in the Royal Societiy’s proceedings. Other papers in The Electrician of Friday which was started by Michael Farady.

Bose was invited to deliver a lecture at the Royal Institution, London.  He demonstrated his devices for the generation and detection of radio waves.

Bose created wireless communication as much as two years before Guglielmo Marconi, but Marconi won the Nobel prize for it as he had sent it first and as Bose had no awareness and knowledge of its significance. Also, Bose never bothered about patenting his work. He kept them open to entire world to adopt. He believed that science and its application is for the benefit of mankind.

Bose was fascinated by the ‘fatigue’ and ‘revival’ displayed by metals. He observed that metals too had ‘feelings’ and that they too had ‘sensitivity’. But the results were not very regular and his attention shifted to plants. The pulse beat of the plant is shown as a light spot, which responded to poison, proving that plants have life. His path-breaking discovery was opposed at first by some scientists at the Royal Society. Later, he was able to prove that plants respond to outside stimuli like chemicals, drugs, wounds, electric waves, electric shock, heat/cold, touch, music etc.

Bose being a physicist could device and invent very sensitive instruments to help him in research. One such instrument was ‘Crescograph’ which measures the growth of a plant in a very microscopic way. It could record a growth as small as ten-millionth inch per second. He made most of his sensitivity experiments on plants like Mimosa pudica(touch-me-not). His findings had wide implications and eventually influenced subjects like physiology, chronobiology, cybernetics, medicine and agriculture.

Bose was invited by the physical society of Paris to advise and explain the results of his experiment. There, Bose read his paper on “The Similarity Responses of Inorganic and Living Matter”. Swami Vivekananda happened to be there in Paris and attended his lecture. He later praised Bose for his contribution to the scientific achievement

Achievements and Awards

Bose won the reputation of presenting his papers at the Royal Society of London on a Friday evening. His papers were published in the proceedings of Royal Society as well as The Friday Electrician. He was invited by the Physical Society of Paris to explain his experiments.

He was considered as the pioneer of Bengali science fiction. His book ‘Polatok Toofan’ (Absconding Storm) described how a cyclone could be averted using a bottle of hair oil. It explained how oil changes the surface tension and holds water. His book ‘Niruddesher Kahini’ (Story of the Untraceable) was the first major Bengali science fiction.

The University of London offered him an honorary Doctor of Science (D. Sc.)

The Bose institute was started in 1917 for research work. Rabindranath Tagore helped Bose greatly in funding the money.

He continued as Professor Emeritus on full pay instead of pension, after his retirement.

In 1903, Bose was honoured with the title of the Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE).

In 1912, he was awarded the Commander of the Star of India (CSI)

He was also given the title of “Sir” by the British monarch.

He was elected the Fellow of Royal Society of London in 1928.

The Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden (Shibpur, near Kolkata) is named in the honor of this extraordinary scientist.

IEEE has recently has recently acknowledged him as one of the pioneers in discovery of radio science.

A crater on the moon has been named in his honour.

Bose breathed his last on 23 November 1937 leaving behind a legacy which will keep the country’s head high for years to come.