SIR C V RAMAN

The Author

Shubashree Desikan is a PhD in Theoretical Condensed Matter, but chose to work in publishing – writing, editing, translating. Her knowledge of physics comes in handy when she writes science fiction and when she publishes science-related texts. She enjoys literature in translation.

Early Life…

Raman’s story begins in a village near Tiruchirapalli

He was born on 8 November 1888

Was the second child ofR. Chandrasekhara Iyer & Parvathi Ammal

Early life…

Family moved to Visakhapatnam when Raman was 4 yrs old

Raman’s father was a lecturer in Mrs. A. V. Narasimha Rao College

He taught Physics, Mathematics & Physical Geography

Raman…an intelligent student

Father was an athletic man & took active interest in sports

Raman was not physically strong

But was very intelligent

Preferred to read books & work at his studies

Raman – A voracious reader

Raman was a voracious reader. He read all the books in his father’s collection among which were original writings of great scientists.

To him, books were like old friends, never to be forgotten.

He was mainly influenced by 3 books – Edwin Arnold’s Light of Asia, The Elements of Euclid, & Hermann Helmholtz’s The Sensations of Tone.

Light of Asia by Edwin Arnold

The Light of Asia, subtitled The Great Renunciation, is a book by Edwin Arnold. The book is In the form of poem, and describes the life and time of Prince Gautama Buddha, who after attaining enlightenment became The Buddha, The Awakened One. The book presents his life, character, and philosophy, in a series of verses. The book has been highly acclaimed from the time it was first published, and has been the subject of several reviews. It has been translated into several languages.

The Elements of Euclid

Euclid's Elements is a mathematical and geometric treatise consisting of 13 books written by the Greek mathematician Euclid in Alexandria circa 300 BC. It is a collection of definitions, postulates (axioms), propositions (theorems and constructions), and mathematical proofs of the propositions. The thirteen books cover Euclidean geometry and the ancient Greek version of elementary number theory. The Elements is one of the oldest extant Greek mathematical treatises and it is the oldest extant axiomatic deductive treatment of mathematics. It has proven instrumental in the development of logic and modern science.

The Sensations of Tone

Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (August 31, 1821 – September 8, 1894) was a German physician and physicist who made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science. In 1863 Helmholtz published On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music, demonstrating his interest in the physics of perception. This book influenced musicologists into the twentieth century. Helmholtz invented the Helmholtz resonator to identify the various frequencies or "tones" present in musical and other sounds containing by multiple tones.

Raman’s Education

Completed schooling by 11 years

Spent two years in his father’s college

Went to Madras when he was 13

Joined B.A. in Presidency College.

Youngest in his class

Unimpressive in appearance

In his first English class, Professor E. H. Elliot asked him if he really belonged to the class

Raman stunned all sceptics and stood university first in B. A. exams

Education

Teachers asked him to prepare for ICS (precursor to the present IAS)

This was a very prestigious exam

But candidates had ti undergo a medical examination before the qualifying exam

The Civil Surgeon of Madras declared Raman unfit to travel to England

This was the only exam he failed

Later in life, Raman would feel grateful to the man who disqualified him

B.A. to M.A.

Joined M. A. Physics in Presidency College, Madras

Teachers allowed the students free to look after themselves.

Raman enjoyed this and attended only one lecture during the whole 2 years

But he was developing his original thinking during the time

Started experiments with light waves

Presidency College, Madras (now Chennai)

Then Now

Raman’s initial experiment with light waves There was a discussion in Raman’s textbook about

how light that fell on a screen placed in its path would get diffracted, or bent, when entering a narrow slit in it.

Raman wondered what would happen if the light shone straight, not from an angle, on the screen.

His classmates would not think of pursuing this simple alternative line to see if something different happened.

Raman not only studied this variant problem, but also got his results published in Philosophical Magazine (England), while still in his teens – the first student of Presidency College to publish a research paper.

Education, Marriage, & Job

Passed M. A. in January 1907 Stood first in the university Married Lokasundari Raman wanted to pursue research But no labs in India, and he could not travel to

England So, he decided to write FCS (Financial Civil

Services) exam – forerunner of IAAS Topped the exam Went to Calcutta to work as Asst Accountant

General

C V Raman with his wife, Lokasundari (later days)

Life changing moment for Raman: Spotting IACS in Calcutta In Calcutta, one day, when riding to

work on a tram, Raman spotted the IACS (Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science) signboard

Raman walked in to the building This was a historic moment IACS became the laboratory where

he and his team performed the legendary experiments on light

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

Then NOW

Raman’s double life

Worked efficiently as finance officer all day After office hours, moved to IACS and did

research until night Papers appeared in international journals like

Nature, Philosophical Magazine (England), Physical Review (USA)

Communicated with physicists around the world

Liked to teach and gave popular lectures in Calcutta

Introduced giving live demonstrations, which ordinary people loved

Raman’s public lectures

Raman’s papers appeared in international journals

Raman experiments with waves and sounds Raman was fascinated by

waves and sounds He carried the memory of

reading Helmholtz’s book Raman chose to study

musical instruments at IACS

Explained the working of Ektara, a simple instrument made of a resonant box and a string stretched to lie across the cavity

Different kinds of ektaras

A folk singer with his ektara

Raman’s Ektara…

Remarkable Resonances

Starting from the understanding of the simple instrument ektara, Raman developed several ideas which he called, ‘remarkable resonances.’

From Ektara to Violin

During this time, he took up violin for study

First time a scientific understanding was established, which is used even today

Raman’s studies on the violin were extensive

Later published as a book – On the Mechanical Theory of Vibrations of Musical Instruments of the Violin Family with Experimental Results: Part 1

Raman devised a Mechanical Violin Player Mechanical Violin Player devised by Raman

was assembled from parts brought from a cycle shop, and other odds and ends

Did not resemble the instrument we know But, it had all the essential features of the

violin Stretched string, resonant box, the bow that

can be moved at a desired speed and stroke-length by adjusting the mechanical wheel

First time a mechanical violin player was designed for research & the concept is used even today

Mechanical Violin Player

From Acoustics to Optics

Until 1920 acoustics continued to interest him Besides the violin, he studied the veena,

tambura, mridangam, tabla… Around this time, his interest turned to optics

which led to the great discoveries that Raman is famous for

Beginning of a full-fledged career in physics

Around 1917, Raman got chance to move into a full-fledged career in physics

Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee, newly appointed VC of Calcutta University offered him the position of Sir Taraknath Palit Professor of Physics Sir Ashutosh

Mookerjee

• To take up the Palit Professorship, he had to leave his secure govt. job along with a higher income

• The rule of ‘foreign experience’ was waived for Raman

• Raman volunteered to teach students, though he was required only to manage the lab and guide students in research

• Keen students from all over the country became his students and later rose to important positions

• K. Ramanathan, K. S. Krishnan and Suri Bhagavantam – some of the brilliant students of Raman

Professor of Physics at Calcutta University

C V Raman with his associates/students – K S Krishnan, K R Ramanathan, & S Bhagavantam

Sitting (left to right) : A.S. Ganesan, L.A. Ramdas, K.S. Krishnan, C.V. Raman, K.R. Ramanathan, S. Venkateswaran, S.S. Moorthy Rao. Standing (left to right) : C. Ramaswamy, S. Bhagavantam, S. Paramasivan, Sreenivasa Rao, N.S. Nagendranath, R. Ananthakrishnan and C.S. Venkateswaran

University Congress at Oxford In 1921, University of Calcutta conferred

honorary doctorate on Raman Went overseas for the first time to attend

University Congress at Oxford During his voyage back to India he spent

hours watching the Mediterranean sea and was struck by its colour

Lord Rayleigh’s earlier explanation for the blue colour of the sea

“The dark blue of the deep sea has nothing to do with the colour of water but is simply the blue of the sky seen in reflection.”

Lord Rayleigh (John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh) was an English physicist who, with William Ramsay, discovered the element Argon, for which he earned the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1904. He also discovered the phenomenon now called Rayleigh scattering, explaining why the sky is blue, and predicted the existence of the surface waves now known as Rayleigh waves.

Raman’s observations on the colour of the sea Raman did not appear satisfied with Lord

Rayleigh’s explanation He watched the sea intently and conducted

experiments while on the ship with his optical tools to capture the colour of the sky

When the ship finally reached Bombay, Raman’s paper explaining his observations on the Mediterranean Sea was ready

The paper was sent to the journal Nature

Raman’s discovery Water molecules could scatter

light just like air molecules – was an important and radical idea in those days

Set him on the track to discovering the famous ‘Raman Effect’

In 1922, he wrote a brilliant essay, ‘The Molecular Diffraction of Light’

In this essay, Raman speculated that light may exist in quanta, i.e., as mass-less particles of energy

In those days it was considered an extremely radical suggestion Raman’s Essay

Raman in his laboratory

Towards discovering the ‘Raman Effect’ Raman felt that if light did not exist as

particles, or quanta, then scattering experiments would show only a change in the light intensity and not in its frequency, or colour.

On the other hand, if light did exist as particles, or quanta, then a scattering of light could change its frequency as well as intensity.

Towards discovering the ‘Raman Effect’ Raman did not bother what others

thought about his ideas. He directed all research at the institute

towards finding evidence for the corpuscular theory of light through scattering experiments.

The discovery of the Compton effect in 1923 established the fact of the existence of light quanta beyond doubt.

Raman’s hunch was proved right.

Corpuscular theory of light

In optics, the corpuscular theory of light, set forward by Sir Isaac Newton, says that light is made up of small discrete particles called “corpuscles” (little particles) which travel in a straight line with a finite velocity and possess kinetic energy. This theory also rules out the presence of any medium for propagation of light.

Compton effectIn physics, Compton scattering is a type of scattering that X-rays and gamma rays undergo in matter. The inelastic scattering of photons in matter results in a decrease in energy (increase in wavelength) of an X-ray or gamma ray photon, called the Compton effect.

Arthur Holly Compton (September 10, 1892 – March 15, 1962) was an American physicist and Nobel laureate in physics for his discovery of the Compton effect. He served as Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1945 to 1953.

Towards discovering the ‘Raman Effect’ Now, Raman set his team members to

work on his ideas on light scattering. This was a delicate experiment,

because effect is very weak, and it is difficult to be sure of the observation.

K R Ramanathan, Raman’s student, first spotted this phenomenon in 1923.

Raman’s spectrograph

Towards discovering the ‘Raman Effect’ Many other students were also able to

reproduce this effect, which they named “feeble fluorescence”.

But, it took 4 more years for Raman and his team to become sure of what they were doing.

Finally, in 1927, they were able to say confidently that the new effect was not ‘a type of fluorescence’ but a ‘modified scattering’.

C.V. Raman explains a point to a group of scientists

The ‘Raman Effect’

This led to the discovery made on 28 February 1927 – the fact that light can undergo a scattering through a liquid resulting in a change in its frequency.

This was the famous ‘Raman Effect.’ This date is now celebrated as

National Science Day in memory of this historic event.

Effect after the ‘Raman Effect’ Raman was aware of the enormity of his

discovery. And he was so sure that he would get the

Nobel Prize for that year that he booked two steamer tickets to Europe in 1928!!

But he had to wait for 2 years before receiving the honour.

Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930.

Noble prize for physics in 1930

Sir C V Raman (second left) with other Nobel Laureates of 1930, (back row) M. Svedberg, M. Euller, M. Dahlein, Hans Fischer, (front row) Sir Clair Lewis, S. Lagerlof, Karl Landsteiner and M. Barany, after the presentation of the prizes in Stockholm.

Other honours

Raman received a large number of honorary doctorates and membership of scientific societies during his life.

The other important honours that Raman received: Before the Nobel Prize, Raman was knighted by

the British ruler in 1929. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal

Society in 1924. Raman was awarded the Franklin Medal in

1941 India’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna,

was awarded to him in 1954. In 1957, Raman received the Lenin Peace Prize.

Raman as Director of IIScSome time after being awarded the Nobel Prize, Raman was offered the post of Director of Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. He continued in that post till his retirement in 1948.

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Stamp released by the Govt of India on the centenary of Indian Institute of Science

As Director of IISc

As Director, Raman gave equal time to research and organizational work

Conducted a lot of important research Nurtured many good students during

his tenure as Director His tenure was not without

controversy, but he never gave up and never once thought of leaving the country for a better life

Raman Research Institute

After his retirement, Raman devoted time to the setting up of the Raman Research Institute and the running of the Indian Academy of Science in Bangalore

He edited journals Current Science and Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science

Logo of Raman Research Institute

Raman Research Institute

Indian Academy of Science

C. V. Raman (second from right) poses with other dignitaries at the inaugural meeting of the Indian Academy of Science in Bangalore on July 31, 1934

Indian Academy of Science, Bangalore

The journal started by C V Raman in 1932 to popularise science is published even today. The picture of the cover alongside is of the latest issue. An online version is also available athttp://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/ . One can even access back issues of Current Science on this site and read articles right from the first issue; and some of the articles written by C V Raman himself in the early issues. The first issue and subsequent issues can be accessed at http://www.ias.ac.in/j_archive/currsci/volindex.html . One can also read articles from Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Science @ http://www.ias.ac.in/j_archive/proca/volindex.html

End of an era…

C V Raman died on 21 November 1970

He was cremated in the Raman Research Institute campus itself, amidst the surroundings he loved, without any religious ceremonies

Today, a solitary tree is all that marks the spot in the grounds of the Raman Research Institute

The tree planted on the site at the campus of Raman Research Institute where Raman was

cremated

Assessment of C V Raman – an original thinker and a great scientist Raman was a brilliant student, an

original thinker, and a hardworking disciplined person

But more than these, C V Raman was able to contribute greatly to Indian science only because of his deep and genuine passion for physics

He also showed remarkable independence in choosing to work in areas that excited his curiosity.

Assessment of C V Raman – an original thinker and a great scientist In Raman’s youth, India was not an

independent country, and there were hardly any institutions or even libraries to support higher education

Faced with lack of infrastructure, Raman always improvised and built up whatever he needed from scratch

Raman’s determination, spirit and contributions will indeed remain special within the context of the practice of science in India

Postage stamps released by the Govt. of India in honour of Sir C V Raman

Postage stamp released by Republic of Guinea (West Africa) in honour of C V Raman

THANK YOUand

I hope you enjoyed this pictorial voyage into Sir C V Raman’s life and times

Dr S Jayasrinivasa RaoProfessor – Dept of H&S

Aurora’s Scientific and Technological Institute

This presentation was originally conceived by MR NAGARAJ CHILLAKUR, Asst Prof, MJR College of Engineering and Technology, Piler