Sir C.V. RAMAN

FROM SAMPATH’S DESK:

  

 Sir C.V. RAMAN

(7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970)

 

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was born on 7^th November 1888 in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu.

 

An Indian physicist well known for his work in ‘light scattering’, he invented, duly aided by his student KS Krishnan,  that ‘when light traverses a transparent object (say like a prism), the wavelength and amplitude necessarily get changed for some of the deflected light’. This phenomenon of scattering of light was named as ‘Raman Effect’, also well known as ‘Raman Scattering’.

 

Raman was conferred with Nobel Prize in Physis in 1930. The other awards received by him were:

 

Fellow of the Royal Society (1924)

 

Matteucci Medal (1928)

 

Knight Bachelore (1930)

 

Hughes Medal (1930)

 

India’s Bharat Ratna (1954)

 

Lenin Peace Prize (1957)

 

He was associated with the Indian Finance Department, Rajabazar Science College (University of Calcutta), Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Indian Institute of Science and Raman Research Institute, Bangalore.

 

Initially,  in deference to his father’s wishes, he cleared and in fact, topped the Financial Civil Service (FCS) Examination, and became Assistant Accountant General. But that line was not his cup of tea. He had innate passion and instinct penchant for the wonderland of Physical Science. Despite his job being hectic, he still stole time to attend the Research Laboratory of the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science.

 

Even amidst paucity of time and limited facilities, he always burnt the midnight oil to engage himself in research studies in science. He published his path-breaking findings in one of the leading International Journals including ‘The Philosophical Magazine’, ‘Nature’, and ‘Physics Review’, among others - especially in areas of acoustics and vibrations - which were appreciated and welcomed by the scientist community, as they provided sufficient knowledge and deeper insights that enabled further studies in those areas.

 

To quote his own words, “The essence of science is independent thinking, hard work, and not equipment”. If there is a will there is a way. True to this saying , the greatest quality was his ‘single-minded devotion to science’.

 

Educated entirely in India, C.V. Raman made his first trip to London in 1921, where his reputation in the study of optics and especially acoustics was already known to the English physicists J. J. Thomson and Lord Rutherford, who gave him a warm reception. Raman's specialty had been the study of the vibrations and sounds of stringed instruments such as the violin, the Indian veena and tambura, besides the two unique Indian percussion instruments, the tabla and the mridangam - all basically used in the classical music concerts.

According to sources, the impulse, impetus and incentive for his research came from this first ever overseas voyage. Raman was simply captivated by the blue colour of the expanses of the sea and that expanded his thought processes on  Physical Science. 

 

Actually, it was the return trip from London to Bombay (now Mumbai) aboard the SS Narkunda that changed forever the direction of Raman's future. During the 15-day voyage, his restless and probing mind became fascinated with the deep blue colour of the Mediterranean. Unable to accept the then well-known and widely-believed theory and explanation of Lord Rayleigh's that the colour of the sea was just a reflection of the colour of the sky, Raman proceeded to outline his thoughts in the matter while still at sea, and sent a letter to the editors of the journal NATURE when the ship remained docked in Bombay.

  

His well-known and much-celebrated works were:

 

Raman’s Fascination with Light Scattering

 

Raman Measures - on the Effect of Light Scattering

 

Raman Effect as the Physicist’s Tool

 

Raman Effect as the Chemist’s Tool

 

The Laser and Raman Spectreoscopy

 

 

National Science Day is celebrated in India on 28 February each year to mark the discovery of the Raman Effect by Sir C. V. Raman on this day in 1928. For his discovery, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930.

 

Following awards in his name are given to budding scientists:

 

Raman Young Science Innovator Award (RYSI) – given to students studying in Standards III to X.

 

Raman Experiential Science Teacher Award (REST) – there will be three categories of this award – Physics, Chemistry and Biology

 

 

Once, Sir CV Raman was asked at a dinner party why was he not drinking? The teetotaller jovially quipped, “You can see the Raman’s effect in alcohol, but can’t see alcohol’s effect in Raman.”

 

 

 

(R.SAMPATH)

11/3/2022