Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose

Science is not for sale, it is for public service. This is the ideology of Sir J.c. Bose. Magnificent scientist with hundreds of discoveries and invention but had only one patent with his name.  A strong opponent of patent system sir J.c. Bose did not care about his fame anytime.

           

 

                                 Under the British rule India lost their many gems that can brightens the darkness, in the dark sky of British company some stars able to find their places successfully, Sir J.c. Bose is one of them. In the previous blog we had discussed about him that despite having a Natural science background how he was obsessed with modern physics and their calculation. Here we have the opportunity to discuss about his life, researches, achievements and ethics. Let’s experience his grace through his stories.

Early life

                 

                      Sir J.C Bose was born in a Bengali kayasta family in Munsi ganj, Bengal presidency (presently in Bangladesh). His father was front worker of Brahma samaj and worked as civil servant with the title Deputy Magistrate and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in several places. Sending child to English medium school was a sign of aristocrat family in those days. Although that his father sent him to village vernacular school. He explained somewhere that the school did not have the discrimination mind set. A Muslim boy and a fisherman’s boy were his playmates, after the school his mother used to feed them all without any discrimination although she was an orthodox old fashioned lady. Due to this environment he was totally unaware of class system and confliction between Hindu and Muslim. He developed the love for nature from childhood and gathered many curiosities about nature. When he asked his father about his queries, his father used to tell that, he should find his own answers after completing the studies.

Education and qualification

 

                    Bose joined Hare school, followed by St. Xavier School for English learning. He passed the entrance of St. Xavier College, Kolkata. Here he met Jesuit Father Eugene Lafont, who played a significant role in developing his interest in natural sciences. He received BA from University of Calcutta. He wants to be a civil servant under British rule but his father wanted to build him as a scholar who would rule nobody but himself. He went to University of London to learn medicine but his health did not support his ambitions. Through some recommendation he got admission in Cambridge University to study natural science. Lord Rayleigh, Michael Foster, James Dewar, Francis Darwin, Francis Balfour, and Sidney Vines were his teachers who flourished his path for future.

 

Achievements

                    After graduating in science, he returned to India and was appointed professor of physical science at Presidency College, Calcutta. He builds his own school associated with a lab where he used to teach students science and performed many experiments in front of them to create interest towards science. In his laboratory he performed experiments and wrote letter to different eminent scientist. He was the first to tell that plants also have feelings and they give reaction to external stimuli. His curiosity towards physics leads him into new branch of science that is biophysics, so field of researches are Botany, Physics and Biophysics for him. Naming galvanometer as eye and wires as optic nerve implies his love towards biology. He was one of the pioneer researchers of Radio, He made different parts of radio, and he was the first to invent wireless transmission. Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi taking information from Bose’s work he made commercial telegraphy of radio waves. Bose showed how the millimetre range wavelength microwaves could travel through the human body (of Lieutenant Governor Sir William Mackenzie), and over a distance 23 metres through two intervening walls where they trigger apparatus he had set up to ring a bell and ignited gunpowder in a closed room. Despite his ground breaking researches on wireless transmission Marconi got the Nobel Prize for wireless   transmission. Nobelurate Sir Nevill Mott said Bose was about 60 years ahead of his time and had rightly predicted use of N-type and P-type semiconductors in the future. Response in the Living and Non-living and The Nervous Mechanism of Plant these two books of Bose considered to be greatest in the history of plant science.

Scientific ethics and Racism he faced

                  He was totally influenced by the ancient scientific development of India. He believed science should not be use for any commercial profit; this is only the service to people. He was a strong opposite to patent system. He had only one patent in his name for crescograph that also only due to the peer pressure. In a interview in Europe he refused to register his name in patent for wireless transmission telling Science is not for sale.

                  Despite his valuable research work on wireless transmission and semiconductor he was not able to got Nobel Prize because of the racism faced at that time for being Indian. He faced racism in his job while working as professor in presidency college, with his salary being much lower than that of British counterparts. Bose registered his protest by teaching without taking any salary for three years. After that they gave regular post with arrear of 3 year full salary.

 

                He is considered as the father of science in Indian subcontinent for promoting science through his Bose institute. He served the institute as director till his death. He was knighted in 1917 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1920. The Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden was named after him. Stay tuned with hungry researcher for more such information.

                                                                                               Hungry and Foolish

 Answers covered for the questions:

1. who is J C Bose ?
2. Was JC Bose nominated for Nobel Prize?
3. Which instrument is invented by JC Bose?
4. Who is the Father of 5G?
5. Who is the Father of science in India?
6. Why did not Bose get Nobel Prize?