C. V. Raman

In this Indian name, the name "Chandrasekhara" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, "Venkata Raman".
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, FRS

Born 7 November 1888(1888-11-07)
Thiruvanaikoil, Tiruchirappalli, Madras Presidency, British India
Died 21 November 1970(1970-11-21) (aged 82)
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Nationality Indian
Fields Physics
Institutions Indian Finance Department
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
Indian Institute of Science
Alma mater Presidency College
Doctoral students G. N. Ramachandran
Known for Raman effect
Notable awards Knight Bachelor (1929)
Nobel Prize in Physics (1930)
Bharat Ratna (1954)
Lenin Peace Prize (1957)

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, FRS (Tamil: சந்திரசேகர வெங்கடராமன்) (7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970) was an Indian physicist and Nobel laureate in physics recognised for his work on the molecular scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect, which is named after him. Raman had significant contributions to the quantum photon spin, acousto-optic effect, acoustics of Indian musical instruments.

Contents

Biography

Early years

Venkataraman was born at Thiruvanaikaval, near Trichinopoly, Madras Presidency to R. Chandrasekhara Iyer (b. 1866) and Parvati Ammal (Saptarshi Parvati).[1].He was the second of their eight children. At an early age Raman moved to the city of Vizag, Andhra Pradesh. Studied in St.Aloysius Anglo-Indian High School. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and physics, so he grew up in an academic atmosphere.

Raman entered Presidency College, Chennai, in 1902, and in 1904 gained his B.A., winning the first place and the gold medal in physics. In 1907 he gained his M.A., obtaining the highest distinctions. He joined the Indian Finance Department as an Assistant Accountant General

Career

In 1917 Raman resigned from his government service and took up the newly created Palit Professorship in Physics at the University of Calcutta. At the same time, he continued doing research at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Calcutta, where he became the Honorary Secretary. Raman used to refer to this period as the golden era of his career. Many talented students gathered around him at the IACS and the University of Calcutta.

Energy level diagram showing the states involved in Raman signal.

On February 28, 1928, through his experiments on the scattering of light, he discovered the Raman effect. It was instantly clear that this discovery was an important one. It gave further proof of the quantum nature of light. Raman spectroscopy came to be based on this phenomenon, and Ernest Rutherford referred to it in his presidential address to the Royal Society in 1929. Raman was president of the 16th session of the Indian Science Congress in 1929. He was conferred a knighthood, and medals and honorary doctorates by various universities. Raman was confident of winning the Nobel Prize in Physics as well, and was disappointed when the Nobel Prize went to Richardson in 1928 and to de Broglie in 1929. He was so confident of winning the prize in 1930 that he booked tickets in July, even though the awards were to be announced in November, and would scan each day's newspaper for announcement of the prize, tossing it away if it did not carry the news. He did eventually win the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him. He was the first Asian and first non-White to receive any Nobel Prize in the sciences. Before him Rabindranath Tagore (also Indian) had received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

C.V Raman & Bhagavantam, discovered the quantum photon spin in 1932, which further confirmed the quantum nature of light. [1]

Raman also worked on the acoustics of musical instruments. He worked out the theory of transverse vibration of bowed strings, on the basis of superposition velocities. He was also the first to investigate the harmonic nature of the sound of the Indian drums such as the tabla and the mridangam.

Raman & his student Nagendranath, provided the correct theoretical explanation for the acousto-optic effect ( light scattering by sound waves ), in a series of articles resulting in the celebrated Raman-Nath theory. Modulators, and switching systems based on this effect have enabled optical communication components based on laser systems.

In 1934 Raman became the director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, where two years later he continued as a professor of physics. Other investigations carried out by Raman were experimental and theoretical studies on the diffraction of light by acoustic waves of ultrasonic and hypersonic frequencies (published 1934-1942), and those on the effects produced by X-rays on infrared vibrations in crystals exposed to ordinary light.

He also started a company called Travancore Chemical and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in 1943 along with Dr. Krishnamurthy. The Company during its 60 year history, established four factories in Southern India. In 1947, he was appointed as the first National Professor by the new government of Independent India.

In 1948 Raman, through studying the spectroscopic behavior of crystals, approached in a new manner fundamental problems of crystal dynamics. He dealt with the structure and properties of diamond, the structure and optical behavior of numerous iridescent substances (labradorite, pearly feldspar, agate, opal, and pearls). Among his other interests were the optics of colloids, electrical and magnetic anisotropy, and the physiology of human vision.

Personal life

Raman retired from the Indian Institute of Science in 1948 and established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, Karnataka a year later. He served as its director and remained active there until his death in 1970, in Bangalore, at the age of 82.

He was married on 6 May 1907 to Lokasundari Ammal with whom he had two sons, Chandrasekhar and Radhakrishnan.

Honours and awards

Raman was honoured with a large number of honorary doctorates and memberships of scientific societies. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society early in his career (1924) and knighted in 1929. In 1930 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1941 he was awarded the Franklin Medal. In 1954 he was awarded the Bharat Ratna. He was also awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1957.

India celebrates National Science Day on 28 February of every year to commemorate the discovery of the Raman effect in 1928.

Publications

1909
  • "The Small Motion at the Nodes of a Vibrating String", Nature, 1909
  • "The Maintenance of Forced Oscillations of a New Type", Nature, 1909
  • "The Ectara", J. Indian Math. Club, 1909
1910
  • "The Maintenance of Forced Oscillations", Nature, 1910
  • "Oscillations of the Stretched Strings", J. Indian Math. Club, 1910
1911
  • "Photographs of Vibrational Curves", Philos. Mag., 1911
  • "Remarks on a Paper by J.S. Stokes on 'Some Curious Phenomena Observed in Connection with Melde's Experiment'", Physics Rev., 1911
  • "The Small Motion at the Nodes of a Vibrating String", Phys. Rev., 1911
1912
  • "The Maintenance of Forced Oscillations of a New Type", Philos. Mag, 1912
  • "Some Remarkable Cases of Resonance", Phys. Rev. 1912
  • "Experimental Investigations on the Maintenance of Vibrations", Bull. Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1912
1913
  • "Some Acoustical Observations", Bull. Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1913
1914
  • "The Dynamical Theory of the Motion of Bowed Strings", Bull. Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1914
  • "The Maintenance of Vibrations", Phys. Rev. 1914
  • "Dynamical Theory of the Motion of Bowed Strings", Bulletin, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1914
  • "On Motion in a Periodic Field of Force", Bull. Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1914
1915
  • "On the Maintenance of Combinational Vibrations by Two Simple Harmonic forces", Phys. Rev., 1915
  • "On Motion in a Periodic Field of Force", Philos. Mag, 1915
1916
  • "On Discontinuous Wave-Motion - Part 1", Philos. Mag, 1916 (with S Appaswamair)
  • "On the 'Wolf-Note' of the Violin and Cello", Nature (London). 1916
  • "On the 'Wolf-Note' in the Bowed Stringed Instruments", Philos. Mag., 1916
1917
  • "The Maintenance of Vibrations in a Periodic Field of Force", Philos. Mag, 1917 (with A. Dey)
  • "On Discontinuous Wave-Motion - Part 2", Philos. Mag, 1917 (with A Dey)
  • "On Discontinuous Wave-Motion - Part 3", Philos. Mag, 1917 (with A Dey)
  • "On the Alterations of Tone Produced by a Violin 'Mute'", Nature (London) 1917
1918
  • "On the 'Wolf-Note' in the Bowed Stringed Instruments", Philos. Mag., 1918
  • "On the Wolf-Note in Pizzicato Playing", Nature (London), 1918
  • "On the Mechanical Theory of the Vibrations of Bowed Strings and of Musical Instruments of the Violin Family, with Experimental Verification of Results - Part 1", Bulletin, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1918
  • "The Theory of the Cyclical Vibrations of a Bowed String", Bulletin, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1918
1919
  • "An Experimental Method for the Production of Vibrations", Phys. Rev., 1919
  • "A New Method for the Absolute Determination of Frequency", Proc. R. Soc. London, 1919
  • "On the Partial Tones of Bowed Stringed Instruments", Philos. Mag, 1919
  • "The Kinematics of Bowed Strings", J. Dept of Sci., Univ. Calcutta, 1919
1920
  • "On the Sound of Splashes", Philos. Mag, 1920
  • "On a Mechanical Violin-Player for Acoustical Experiments, Philos. Mag., 1920
  • "Experiments with Mechanically-Played Violins", Proc. Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1920
  • "On Kaufmann's Theory of the Impact of the Pianoforte Hammer", proc. S. Soc. London, 1920 (with B Banerji)
  • "Musical Drums with Harmonic Overtones", Nature (London), 1920 (with S. Kumar)
1921
  • "Whispering Gallery Phenomena at St. Paul's Cathedral", Nature (London) 1921 (with G.A. Sutherland)
  • "The Nature of Vowel Sounds", Nature (London) 1921
  • "On the Whispering Gallery Phenomenon", Proc. R. Soc. London, 1922 (with G.A. Sutherland)
  • "On Some Indian Stringed Instruments", Proc. Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1921
1922
  • "On Whispering Galleries", Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1922
  • "On the Molecular Scattering of Light in Water and the Colour of the Sea", Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1922
  • "The Acoustical Knowledge of the Ancient Hindus", Asutosh Mookerjee Silver Jubilee - Vol 2,
1926
  • "The Subjective Analysis of Musical Tones", Nature (London), 1926
1927
  • "Musical Instruments and Their Tones"
1928
  • "A new type of Secondary Radiation", Nature, 1928
  • "A new radiation", Indian Journal of Physics, 1928
1935
  • "The Indian Musical Drums", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1935
  • "The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part I", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1935 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
  • "The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part II", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1935 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
  • "Nature of Thermal Agitation in Liquids", Nature (London), 1935 (with B.V. Raghavendra Rao)
1936
  • "The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part III: Doppler Effect and Coherence Phenomena", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1936 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
  • "The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part IV: Generalised Theory", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1936 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
  • "The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part V: General Considerations - Oblique Incidence and Amplitude Changes", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1936 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
  • "Diffraction of Light by Ultrasonic Waves", Nature (London), 1936 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
1937
  • "Acoustic Spectrum of Liquids", Nature (London), 1937 (with B.V. Raghavendra Rao)
1938
  • "Light Scattering and Fluid Viscosity", Nature (London), 1938 (with B.V. Raghavendra Rao)
1948
  • Aspects of Science, 1948
1951
  • The New Physics: Talks on Aspects of Science, 1951
1953
  • "The structure and optical behaviour of iridescent opal", Proc. Indian. Acad. Sci. A38 1953 (with A. Jayaraman)
1959
  • Lectures on Physical Optics, 1959

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Sir C. V. Raman (1988). Scientific Papers of C.V. Raman: Acoustics Volume 2. Indian Academy of Sciences. p. ix. 

References

Further reading

External links

Nobel Laureates in Physics
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Bharat Ratna laureates

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1954) · C. Rajagopalachari (1954) · C. V. Raman (1954) · Bhagwan Das (1955) · Mokshagundam Visvesvarayya (1955) · Jawaharlal Nehru (1955) · Govind Ballabh Pant (1957) · Dhondo Keshav Karve (1958) · Bidhan Chandra Roy (1961) · Purushottam Das Tandon (1961) · Dr. Rajendra Prasad (1962) · Dr. Zakir Hussain (1963) · Pandurang Vaman Kane (1963) · Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966) · Indira Gandhi (1971) · V. V. Giri (1975) · K. Kamaraj (1976) · Mother Teresa (1980) · Acharya Vinoba Bhave (1983) · Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) · M. G. Ramachandran (1988) · B. R. Ambedkar (1990) · Nelson Mandela (1990) · Rajiv Gandhi (1991) · Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (1991) · Morarji Desai (1991) · Abul Kalam Azad (1992) · J. R. D. Tata (1992) · Satyajit Ray (1992) · A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1997) · Gulzarilal Nanda (1997) · Aruna Asaf Ali (1997) · M. S. Subbulakshmi (1998) · Chidambaram Subramaniam (1998) · Jayaprakash Narayan (1998) · Ravi Shankar (1999) · Amartya Sen (1999) · Gopinath Bordoloi (1999) · Lata Mangeshkar (2001) · Bismillah Khan (2001) · Bhimsen Joshi (2008)

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