C V Raman
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, born on 7 November 1888 near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, had an early passion for physics and music, inherited from his father, a lecturer. Raman completed his matriculation at 11 and earned a gold medal in physics during his bachelor’s degree at Presidency College, Madras. After completing his MA in physics in 1907, he worked in the Finance Department in Calcutta but pursued experimental research at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science.
In 1921, Raman began studying why the sea appears blue, leading to his groundbreaking discovery of the Raman Effect. This phenomenon, where light changes wavelength when passing through a transparent material, won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930, making him the first Asian to receive the award in science.
Raman became the first Indian director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore in 1933 and later founded the Raman Research Institute in 1948. He was honored with the Bharat Ratna in 1954 for his remarkable contributions to science.
Trivia : India celebrates National Science Day on 28 February each year to honor the discovery of the Raman Effect in 1928.
References:
- Bright Sparks - Indian Scientists by Arvind Gupta
- C. V. Raman - Famous Scientists
- C. V. Raman - Nobel Prize Biography
