The Indian Scientists

1. Introduction

India can be termed as the land of science and mathematics. From the Vedic Epoch to the Modern Age, India has been the "Vishwa-guru" in the mentioned topics. We, the Indians were unkempt many times. But at the last, the planet would listen to our pre-planned views. The pinnacle of the evolution of India in science and mathematics is etched in almost all of the literature ever known.

From Aryabhata to CV Raman, many notable scientists and mathematicians who have their names on the hall of fame have Indian lifeblood running down their arteries. Not of the same genes, they were. But their chi was uniform.

Indians have been credited for the following masterpieces:

Discovery of Zero

Discovery of Decimal System

Numerical Notations

Fibonacci Numbers

Binary Numbers

Chakravala Method of Algorithms

Ruler MeasurementsTheory of Atom

Heliocentric Theory

Discovery of Wootz Steel

Smelting of Zinc

Seamless Metal Globe

Ayurveda

Iron Casted Rockets

Development of Calculus

There are many more items to this long list.

Consequently, we the citizens of India are not behindhand in the marathon of mankind.

2. Prafulla Chandra Ray

Born on 2nd August 1861, in the village of Raruli-Katipara in the Khulna District in present-day Bangladesh, Prafulla Chandra Ray was an Indian chemist, educationist, historian, industrialist, and philanthropist. He laid the foundation of Indian's first research school in Chemistry and established 'Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals'; India's first pharma company.

Ray acquired his primary education from the Hare School and the Albert School. In 1879, he succeeded the Entrance Examination and joined the Metropolitan Institute or the present-day Vidyasagar College. At the Metropolitan Institute, Ray learned under the shade of great teachers like Surendranath Banerjee and Prasannakumar Lahiri. They taught in him a passionate plea to achieve the freedom of India and to advance the circumstances of the people.

After completing his courses in chemistry from various institutes, in 1889, Ray was redirected to India and worked as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Presidency College.

Prafulla Chandra Ray realized that the progress of India was linked with industrialization. Without this, India could not develop. Even medications for Indian patients had to come from foreign states at that time. This had to be banned. Medicines had to be fabricated in India. Like these several thoughts going around Ray's mind. He wanted a beginning to be made at once. He prepared some chemicals at home. His work grew so fast that a separate company was formed. But he needed funds - a capital of only Rs. 800. But it became difficult to raise even this small amount. In spite of all these difficulties, he founded 'The Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals.

At first, it was arduous to sell the chemicals made there. But some friends, chiefly Dr. Amulya Charan Bose, supported his scheme. Dr. Bose was a leading medical physician and he enlisted the support of many other doctors. They, too, started using the chemicals made by the new Indian firm. Many graduates in Chemistry joined the staff of the factory and worked hard for its improvement. Bengal Chemicals became a recognized factory.

Ray's contribution to the Indian industry was even greater. Directly or indirectly he helped to start many other factories. Textile mills, soap factories, sugar factories, chemical industries, ceramic factories, and publishing houses were set up at the time with his active co-operation. He was the driving force behind the industrialization of the country, which began at that time. During all these years, he was also actively engaged in research in his laboratory at Presidency College. His publications on Mercurous Nitrite and its derivatives brought him recognition from all over the world. He guided many students in their research in his laboratory. Even famous scientific journals abroad began to publish their scientific papers. There was much that thought that Indians were backward in scientific knowledge and had received it only recently from the West. But Ray said that Indians knew little about their past history. They did not know much about the devotion and industry with which our ancestors developed knowledge. Ray was from the beginning interested in the work of the early Hindu chemists. After reading the famous book 'Greek Alchemy' by the great French scientist Berthelot his interest in Hindu Chemistry grew into a passion. He started reading many ancient books in Sanskrit, Pali, Bengali, and other languages, which contained information on the subject. He wrote an article about a famous Sanskrit treatise 'Rasendrasara Sangraha' and sent it to Berthelot. The French scientist published it with an introduction praising it as an extremely interesting article. He wrote to Ray asking him to continue his research into the ancient texts and to publish a whole book on Hindu Chemistry, after several years of study, Ray published his famous book, - 'The History of Hindu Chemistry' which received great praise from scientists all over the world. In this book, he has given a very interesting account to show that Hindu scientists knew about the manufacture of steel, about distillation, salts, mercury sulphides, etc., from very early times.

In 1901, Ray encountered Mahatma Gandhi for the first time in the house o\ Gopala Krishna Gokhale. Mohandas Gandhi had just then returned from South Africa. Ray developed great reverence for Gandhi at this very first meeting. Gandhi's straightforwardness, nationalism, and dedication to duty attracted him very much. He learned that it was easy to talk about truth but that it is far nobler to practice it in one's life. Gandhi also had great regard for Ray. When floods occurred and people faced destruction, Ray dedicated himself to help the devastated people. This made Gandhi call him a 'Doctor of Floods'!

Prafulla Chandra Ray passed away on the 16th of June 1944. He was 83 years old at the time.

Prafulla Chandra Roy had a great contribution to developing India in the scientific field.

3. Meghnad Saha

Meghnad Saha, an astrophysicist, was among scientists like C V Raman, Subramanian Chandrasekhar, Ramanujan who gained prominence.

Saha presented the world the Thermal Ionisation Equation, also known as the 'Saha Equation'. Saha's Equation is his celebrated contribution in astrophysics which related an element's ionization state to the temperature and pressure. His theory explained the spectral classification of stars. His work on other topics like selective spectroscopy, solar corona, solar radio emission, molecular dissociation, propagation of radio waves in the ionosphere, radiation pressure, and beta radioactivity is still acknowledged in the scientific community.

At Allahabad University, Saha wrote his famous book 'A Treatise on Heat'. His contributions even made him the President of the Indian Science Congress Association (physics section) in 1925. In 1938, he returned to the University of Calcutta as a physics professor. Here, he took several initiatives to promote academics. India's first-ever nuclear physics syllabus in MSc was designed by Saha in 1940 and he also built a cyclotron, a first in the country. He also started the Indian Science News Association (1935) and the Institute of Nuclear Physics (1950).

Saha was also active in the Indian political setup and was a staunch supporter of the peaceful use of nuclear energy. In 1952, he stood for the Parliamentary elections as an independent candidate from the North-West Calcutta constituency and won. It was due to Saha's effort as an MP that the Saka Calendar or the Indian national calendar, was adopted in 1956.

On 6 February 1956, Meghnad Saha, passed away from a heart attack.

4. Satyendra Nath Bose

Satyendra Nath Bose, an Indian Physicist Is recognized for working with Albert Einstein and developing the Bose-Einstein Condensate or the Boson. Satyendra Nath Bose discovered what became to be known as 'Bosons' and worked with Albert Einstein to define one of two basic classes of subatomic particles.

He had received knowledge from recognized scientists like Prafulla Chandra Ray and Jagadish Chandra Bose

5. P.C. Mahalanobis

P.C. Mahalanobis was an Indian statistician who formulated the Mahalanobis distance and was contributory in creating India's stratagem for industrialization in the Second Five-Year Plan (1956–61).

After graduating in physics from Presidency College in 1912, he moved to England to study physics and mathematics at the University of Cambridge. Just before he left the university in 1915, he was introduced to statistics by one of his teachers. Mahalanobis laid the foundation of the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta on 17 December 1931.

Mahalanobis invented a measure of comparison between two data sets that are now known as the Mahalanobis Distance. He introduced innovative techniques for conducting large-scale sample surveys and calculated acreages and crop yields by using the method of random sampling. He devised a statistical method called fractile graphical analysis, which could be used to compare the socioeconomic conditions of different groups of people. He also applied statistics to economic planning for flood control.

With the objective of providing comprehensive socioeconomic statistics, Mahalanobis established the National Sample Survey in 1950 and also set up the Central Statistical Organization to coordinate statistical activities in India. He was also a member of the Planning Commission of India from 1955 to 1967. The Planning Commission's Second Five-Year Plan encouraged the development of heavy industry in India and relied on Mahalanobis's mathematical description of the Indian economy, which later became known as the Mahalanobis model.

For his pioneering work, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, one of India's highest honors, by the Indian government in 1968.