Jagadish Chandra Bose, Indian Scientist
"The great biologist, who showed those plants, too can feel in their own way. Jagadish Chandra Bose saved money he bought a small laboratory and built his equipment; and scientists in Europe and America wondered at his discoveries. A true patriot and a great man." As quoted by Sreemathi Hariprasad. A Bengali physicist from undivided India considered as the father of Bengali science fiction and was the first Indian to get a US patent. His major achievement was to demonstrate the similarity of responses to stimulation between the living and the non-living as well as the fundamental similarity of responses in plant and animal tissues.
Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on the 30th of November 1858 in Mymensingh now it is in Bangladesh. His father Bhagawan Chandra Bose was a man of excellent qualities. Bhagavan Chandra Bose was the Deputy Magistrate of Faridpur and also a respected leader of Brahma Samaj. In 1887, he was married to Abala, daughter of the renowned Brahmo reformer Durga Mohan Das. Earlier, Abala was denied admission to Calcutta Medical College as female students were not accepted in the college then. She went to Madras (now Chennai) in 1882 on Bengal government scholarship to study medicine but had to give up because of ill health. Abala Bose was a social worker well-known for her efforts in the field of women`s education and her contribution towards the poor condition of widows. To the very end of his life Jagadish Chandra Bose was busy with research. He died in November 1937.
As Bhagaban Chandra Bose believed that before studying English one must know his or her mother tongue, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose was admitted to a vernacular school at the early stage of his education. Then after he went to Kolkata to began a new chapter in his life at the very tender age of nine. At Kolkata he joined the Hare School in 1869 and then St. Xavier`s school. He was admitted to St.Xavier`s College to study B.A. It was father Eugene Lafont of that college who inspired J.C.Bose a great interest in the study of natural science of Physics.
Jagadish Chandra Bose went to England to study medicine at London University after receiving his B.A in science from Calcutta University in 1879. But he repeatedly fell ill. So he had to discontinue the course. Through the recommendation of Ananda Mohan Bose, his brother-in-law and the first Indian wrangler he then studied Natural Science in Christ Church College, Cambridge. He received the natural science Tripos from Cambridge. He passed the Bachelor of Science Examination of London University also.
Jagadish Chandra Bose was back in India. He joined as the professor of Physics of the Presidency College, Calcutta. The Indian teachers in the college were paid one third of what the British teachers were paid. So Jagadish Chandra Bose refused his salary but worked for three years. He could not even get the scientific instruments he needed for research. This did not continue for long. He was acknowledged and given the full salary.
His was an alert mind, always on the look out for new ideas. To widen his knowledge and discover new things, he wanted to do research. Jagadish Chandra Bose had no laboratory and he did not have the instruments. Presidency College also lacked a proper laboratory. Bose had to conduct his researches in a small 24 square foot room. Sister Nivedita writes, "I was horrified to find the way in which a great worker could be subjected to continuous annoyance and petty difficulties … The college routine was made as arduous as possible for him, so that he could not have the time he needed for investigation." During the British Period nobody was expected to be favoured with a research laboratory or research grants. Bose confronted the circumstances and dominated over them.
The first remarkable aspect of Jagadish Chandra Bose`s microwave research was that he reduced the waves to the millimetre level about 5 mm wavelength. That was within a few octaves of visible light. He knew that long waves were advantageous because of their great penetrative power but realised their disadvantages for studying the light like-properties of those electric waves. One year after Nikola Tesla made the first public demonstration of radio communication in 1893, Jagadish Chandra Bose ignited gunpowder and rang a bell at a distance using microwaves in wavelength in milimetre of range. This was held in a public demonstration in the Town Hall of Calcutta in November 1894, in the presence of Sir William Mackenzie, the Lieutenant Governor. Jagadish Chandra Bose wrote in a Bengali essay, `Adrisya Alok` (Invisible Light), "The invisible light can easily pass through brick walls, buildings etc. Therefore, messages can be transmitted by means of it without the mediation of wires." He can rightly be called the inventor of wireless telegraphy. Bose was the first in the world to fabricate and demonstrate in public this.
Jagadish Chandra Bose went to London on a lecture tour in 1896 and met Marconi, who was conducting wireless experiments for the British post office. In an interview, Bose said he was not interested in commercial telegraphy and others can use his research work. In 1899, Bose announced the development of a "iron-mercury-iron coherer with telephone detector" in a paper presented at the Royal Society, London. From this it appears that Bose`s demonstration of remote wireless signalling has priority over Marconi. Neville Francis Mott, Nobel Laureate in 1977 for his own contributions to solid-state electronics, remarked that "J.C. Bose was at least 60 years ahead of his time" and "In fact, he had anticipated the existence of P-type and N-type semiconductors."
His next contribution to science was in plant physiology. He forwarded a theory for the ascent of sap in plants in 1927. The ascent of sap is the upward movement of water from the root to the top in the transport tissues. According to his theory the pumping action of the living cells in the endodermis junction were responsible for the ascent of sap in plants. His research in plant stimuli were pioneering. He showed with the help of his newly invented `crescograph` that plants responded to various stimuli as if they had nervous systems like that of animals. He therefore found a parallelism between animal and plant tissues. His experiments showed that plants grow faster in pleasant music and its growth delayed in noise or harsh sound.
Jagadish Chandra Bose`s first scientific paper, "On polarisation of electric rays by double-refracting crystals" was communicated to the Asiatic Society of Bengal in May 1895. His second paper was communicated to the Royal Society of London by Lord Rayleigh in October 1895. In December 1895, the London journal the Electrician published Bose`s paper, "On a new electro-polariscope". He`s the first science fiction writer in the Bengali language. In 1896, Bose wrote `Niruddesher Kahini` the first major work in Bangla Science Fiction. Later, he added the story in `Obbakto` book as `Polatok Tufan`.
Jagadish Chandra Bose was not interested in patenting his invention. The Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Delhi Dr V S Ramamurthy stressed the attitude of Bose towards patents at a seminar "His reluctance to any form of patenting is well known. It was contained in his letter to Rabindranath Tagore dated May 17, 1901 from London. It was not that Sir Jagadish was unaware of patents and its advantages. He was the first Indian to get a US Patent in 1904. And Sir Jagadish was not alone in his avowed reluctance to patenting. Roentgen, Pierre Curie and many others also chose the path of no patenting on moral grounds." This attitude of Bose towards patents also recorded in his inaugural lecture at the foundation of the Bose Institute, the institute he founded on 30th November 1917.
Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was honored with `Knighthood` by British governance in the year 1916. He was honored with the fellowship of the Royal Society in 1920 and has been the member of the Vienna Academy of Science. Bose has been the founding fellow of the National Institute of Sciences of India now known as the Indian National Science Academy. The Jagadis Bose National Science Talent Search Institute scholarship program was started in West Bengal to honor the memory of J.C.Bose`s birth centenary in 1958.
It was Jagadish Chandra Bose, an eminent Indian scientist, who explained that plants also suffer pain like us. Though he worked in other fields of science, he is best know for his research into the life of plants. His place in the history has now been re-evaluated. He is now credited with the invention of the first wireless detection device and electromagnetic waves. Sir J.C.Bose is considered as forerunner in the field of biophysics.
Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on the 30th of November 1858 in Mymensingh now it is in Bangladesh. His father Bhagawan Chandra Bose was a man of excellent qualities. Bhagavan Chandra Bose was the Deputy Magistrate of Faridpur and also a respected leader of Brahma Samaj. In 1887, he was married to Abala, daughter of the renowned Brahmo reformer Durga Mohan Das. Earlier, Abala was denied admission to Calcutta Medical College as female students were not accepted in the college then. She went to Madras (now Chennai) in 1882 on Bengal government scholarship to study medicine but had to give up because of ill health. Abala Bose was a social worker well-known for her efforts in the field of women`s education and her contribution towards the poor condition of widows. To the very end of his life Jagadish Chandra Bose was busy with research. He died in November 1937.
As Bhagaban Chandra Bose believed that before studying English one must know his or her mother tongue, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose was admitted to a vernacular school at the early stage of his education. Then after he went to Kolkata to began a new chapter in his life at the very tender age of nine. At Kolkata he joined the Hare School in 1869 and then St. Xavier`s school. He was admitted to St.Xavier`s College to study B.A. It was father Eugene Lafont of that college who inspired J.C.Bose a great interest in the study of natural science of Physics.
Jagadish Chandra Bose went to England to study medicine at London University after receiving his B.A in science from Calcutta University in 1879. But he repeatedly fell ill. So he had to discontinue the course. Through the recommendation of Ananda Mohan Bose, his brother-in-law and the first Indian wrangler he then studied Natural Science in Christ Church College, Cambridge. He received the natural science Tripos from Cambridge. He passed the Bachelor of Science Examination of London University also.
Jagadish Chandra Bose was back in India. He joined as the professor of Physics of the Presidency College, Calcutta. The Indian teachers in the college were paid one third of what the British teachers were paid. So Jagadish Chandra Bose refused his salary but worked for three years. He could not even get the scientific instruments he needed for research. This did not continue for long. He was acknowledged and given the full salary.
His was an alert mind, always on the look out for new ideas. To widen his knowledge and discover new things, he wanted to do research. Jagadish Chandra Bose had no laboratory and he did not have the instruments. Presidency College also lacked a proper laboratory. Bose had to conduct his researches in a small 24 square foot room. Sister Nivedita writes, "I was horrified to find the way in which a great worker could be subjected to continuous annoyance and petty difficulties … The college routine was made as arduous as possible for him, so that he could not have the time he needed for investigation." During the British Period nobody was expected to be favoured with a research laboratory or research grants. Bose confronted the circumstances and dominated over them.
The first remarkable aspect of Jagadish Chandra Bose`s microwave research was that he reduced the waves to the millimetre level about 5 mm wavelength. That was within a few octaves of visible light. He knew that long waves were advantageous because of their great penetrative power but realised their disadvantages for studying the light like-properties of those electric waves. One year after Nikola Tesla made the first public demonstration of radio communication in 1893, Jagadish Chandra Bose ignited gunpowder and rang a bell at a distance using microwaves in wavelength in milimetre of range. This was held in a public demonstration in the Town Hall of Calcutta in November 1894, in the presence of Sir William Mackenzie, the Lieutenant Governor. Jagadish Chandra Bose wrote in a Bengali essay, `Adrisya Alok` (Invisible Light), "The invisible light can easily pass through brick walls, buildings etc. Therefore, messages can be transmitted by means of it without the mediation of wires." He can rightly be called the inventor of wireless telegraphy. Bose was the first in the world to fabricate and demonstrate in public this.
Jagadish Chandra Bose went to London on a lecture tour in 1896 and met Marconi, who was conducting wireless experiments for the British post office. In an interview, Bose said he was not interested in commercial telegraphy and others can use his research work. In 1899, Bose announced the development of a "iron-mercury-iron coherer with telephone detector" in a paper presented at the Royal Society, London. From this it appears that Bose`s demonstration of remote wireless signalling has priority over Marconi. Neville Francis Mott, Nobel Laureate in 1977 for his own contributions to solid-state electronics, remarked that "J.C. Bose was at least 60 years ahead of his time" and "In fact, he had anticipated the existence of P-type and N-type semiconductors."
His next contribution to science was in plant physiology. He forwarded a theory for the ascent of sap in plants in 1927. The ascent of sap is the upward movement of water from the root to the top in the transport tissues. According to his theory the pumping action of the living cells in the endodermis junction were responsible for the ascent of sap in plants. His research in plant stimuli were pioneering. He showed with the help of his newly invented `crescograph` that plants responded to various stimuli as if they had nervous systems like that of animals. He therefore found a parallelism between animal and plant tissues. His experiments showed that plants grow faster in pleasant music and its growth delayed in noise or harsh sound.
Jagadish Chandra Bose`s first scientific paper, "On polarisation of electric rays by double-refracting crystals" was communicated to the Asiatic Society of Bengal in May 1895. His second paper was communicated to the Royal Society of London by Lord Rayleigh in October 1895. In December 1895, the London journal the Electrician published Bose`s paper, "On a new electro-polariscope". He`s the first science fiction writer in the Bengali language. In 1896, Bose wrote `Niruddesher Kahini` the first major work in Bangla Science Fiction. Later, he added the story in `Obbakto` book as `Polatok Tufan`.
Jagadish Chandra Bose was not interested in patenting his invention. The Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Delhi Dr V S Ramamurthy stressed the attitude of Bose towards patents at a seminar "His reluctance to any form of patenting is well known. It was contained in his letter to Rabindranath Tagore dated May 17, 1901 from London. It was not that Sir Jagadish was unaware of patents and its advantages. He was the first Indian to get a US Patent in 1904. And Sir Jagadish was not alone in his avowed reluctance to patenting. Roentgen, Pierre Curie and many others also chose the path of no patenting on moral grounds." This attitude of Bose towards patents also recorded in his inaugural lecture at the foundation of the Bose Institute, the institute he founded on 30th November 1917.
Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was honored with `Knighthood` by British governance in the year 1916. He was honored with the fellowship of the Royal Society in 1920 and has been the member of the Vienna Academy of Science. Bose has been the founding fellow of the National Institute of Sciences of India now known as the Indian National Science Academy. The Jagadis Bose National Science Talent Search Institute scholarship program was started in West Bengal to honor the memory of J.C.Bose`s birth centenary in 1958.
It was Jagadish Chandra Bose, an eminent Indian scientist, who explained that plants also suffer pain like us. Though he worked in other fields of science, he is best know for his research into the life of plants. His place in the history has now been re-evaluated. He is now credited with the invention of the first wireless detection device and electromagnetic waves. Sir J.C.Bose is considered as forerunner in the field of biophysics.
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