Satyendra Nath Bose: Physicist par Excellence

Satyendra Nath Bose was born on January 1, 1894, in present day Kolkata, to Surendranath Bose, an accountant in the East Indian Railway Company, and Amodini Devi. The eldest among seven siblings, Bose joined a local school at the age of five. In 1907, aged 13, he joined the city’s Hindu School that had made notable contributions to the Bengal Renaissance and the Reformation movement.

Soon, his mathematical prowess made Bose an outstanding pupil. Bose’s numerical skills were honed by his father who had a great interest in mathematics and science.

After completing school in the year 1909, he enrolled in the Presidency College where he completed BSc and MSc in mixed mathematics. Bose’s marks created a record in the annals of the university. His fellow student and future astrophysicist Meghnad Saha, who later worked with Bose, stood second.

Career & research

Instead of opting for a Ph.D, Bose decided to join the Calcutta University as a research scholar in 1916. He took up studies in the theory of relativity and served as a physics lecturer. Along with Saha, he wrote many papers on theoretical physics and pure mathematics.

The next year, his first paper on quantum statistics was published in the Philosophical Magazine. In 1921, he joined the Dhaka University’s physics department as a Reader. Three years later, he wrote a paper on Planck’s quantum radiation law which was seminal in creating the field of quantum statistics.

The publication led to recognition and Bose got an opportunity to work in Europe for two years at X-ray and crystallography laboratories, where he worked alongside Einstein and Marie Curie, among other renowned scientists of the time.

After teaching at the Dhaka University for almost 25 years, where he was also the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Bose returned to the Calcutta University in 1945 and taught there till retirement in 1956.

Personal life

In 1914, Bose married Ushabala Ghosh who was then 11 years old. A self-taught scholar, he had a wide range of interests in fields like chemistry, biology, mineralogy, philosophy, arts, literature, and music. After India attained freedom from colonial rule, he served on many research and development committees.

He also played the esraj, a musical instrument similar to a violin, very well. Bose passed away on February 4, 1974 of bronchial pneumonia at the age of 80.

Achievements

He was appointed as the president of the National Institute of Sciences (1949), and served as Rajya Sabha member for six years, from 1952 to 1958. In 1954, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his contributions to the sciences and became Fellow of the Royal Society four years later.

He was also appointed as the vice-chancellor of Visva-Bharati University. Bose received the country’s highest honour for a scholar, the title of India’s National Professor in 1959. The SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata was established in 1986.

Interesting Facts

1.Boson, a class of elementary subatomic particles, was named after Bose to commemorate his contributions to physics. Physicist Paul Dirac coined the term ‘boson’ for particles that obey Bose-Einstein statistics.

2.Apart from Bengali and English, Bose was well-versed in three other languages - French, German and Sanskrit. He was also proficient in knowing poetry such as the works of Lord Tennyson, Rabindranath Tagore and Kalidasa.

3.When Bose’s article on Planck’s law was not accepted for publication, he sent it directly to Einstein, who recognised its importance, translated it to German and got it published on behalf of Bose, in a science journal.

4.Bose didn’t have a doctorate so he did not qualify for the post of a professor when he applied to the Dhaka University in 1926. However, after Einstein’s recommendation, Bose was made the head of the department.

5.Described as the Father of the ‘God Particle’ in a 2012 New York Times report, Bose joined the group of scientists like Willard Gibb & Oswald Avery, who contributed tremendously, yet didn’t receive the Nobel prize.

Sources: wikipedia, famousscientists.org, biography.com, encyclopedia.com, britannica.com