History of the Calcutta School of Physical Sciences

This book highlights the role of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, founder of the Calcutta school of physics and the Calcutta Mathematical Society, and his talented scholars – Sir C.V. Raman, D.M. Bose, S.N. Bose, M.N. Saha, Sir K.S. Krishnan and S.K. Mitra – all of whom played a significant role in fulfilling their goal of creating an outstanding school of physical sciences in the city of Calcutta. The main objective of the book is to bring to the fore the combined contributions of the greatest physicists of India, who in the colonial period worked with practically no modern amenities and limited financial resources, but nonetheless with total dedication and self-confidence, which is unmatched in today’s world. The book presents the golden age of the physical sciences in India in compact form; in addition, small anecdotes, mostly unknown to many, have been brought the forefront.

 

The book consists of 10 chapters, which include papers by these distinguished scientists along with detailed accounts of their academic lives and main research contributions, particularly during their time in Calcutta. A synopsis of the contents is provided in the introductory chapter. In the following chapters, detailed discussions are presented in straightforward language. The complete bibliographies of the great scientists have been added at the end. This book will be of interest to historians, philosophers of science, linguists, anthropologists, students, research scholars and general readers with a love for the history of science.

Purabi Mukherji has been a counsellor in Mathematics at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Kolkata centre, India, since 1994. Earlier, she served in the Department of Mathematics at the Gokhale Memorial Girls’ College, Kolkata, from 1994 to 2014. Dr Mukherji earned her PhD in Applied Mathematics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, in 1987. She received two “National Best Paper Awards” for her work on “Mathematical Modelling” in Geophysics, awarded by the Indian Society for Earthquake Technology of the University of Roorkee. Since 2010, she has been pursuing research in the field of History of Science and has successfully completed two projects funded by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), New Delhi. Currently, she is working on another INSA-funded project entitled “The Development of the School of Research on Number Theory in India During the 20th Century”. She has published over 40 research papers in reputed national and international journals and over 20 scientific articles in Bengali popular scientific magazines. She authored a book titled Pioneer Mathematicians of Calcutta University published by the Calcutta University Press, Kolkata. Dr Mukherji is a life member of the Indian Science Congress Association, Calcutta Mathematical Society, Indian Society of History of Mathematics, Indian Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Indian Society of Nonlinear Analysts and many others. She is also an editorial board member of the journal Indian Science Cruiser published by the Institute of Science, Education and Culture (ISEC), Kolkata.

Atri Mukhopadhyay is a retired professor of Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India. He earned his PhD in Physics from the University of Calcutta, Kolkata. He was responsible for restructuring and enriching the Meghnad Saha Archives at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata. His book entitled Abinash Meghnad Saha (Meghnad Saha the Invincible) in Bengali offers an in-depth analysis of the life and work of Meghnad Saha vis-à-vis the contemporary scientists in colonial India. He was the general secretary of the Indian Physical Society for several consecutive terms and has authored quite a number of articles in English and Bengali, including a classical Indian text on Mahabharata, and has published 40 research papers in international journals. He translated T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land into Bengali. His research has primarily been on the electron structure theory of atoms and molecules.