CV Raman became a Nobel laureate after discovering that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the deflected light changes in wavelength and amplitude.
The phenomenon of scattering of light was named after him – Raman effect. He became the second Indian laureate, after Rabindranath Tagore to receive the honor.
He published his work on the ‘Molecular Diffraction of Light’ in 1922 which led to his ultimate discovery of the radiation effect on the 28 February, 1928 and earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Raman joined the Presidency College in Madras in 1902 after clearing his secondary education at only 13. Five years later, he received a MSc degree in physics with the highest distinctions.
Raman had a deep interest in music too and wrote an article on the theory of musical instruments.
Raman wrote about thirteen papers on the theory of violin and one on the Pianoforte. Raman’s monograph on ‘Musical Instruments and Their Tones’ in the Handbuch der Physrk makes references his own work on the Indian musical instruments, a pioneering effort at understanding the scientific principles behind the construction of these instruments, especially the way the percussive instruments such as the mridangam and the tabla acquired their desired tonal structure.
In 1933, he became a professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, after having worked as an accountant.
After his retirement in 1944, he established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore. He served as its director and remained active there until his death.
He was also became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1924 and was knighted by the British monarch in 1929.
In 1954, he also received the highest civilian award in India, the Bharat Ratna.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today greeted the nation on the occasion of National Science Day and called for reaffirming commitment towards leveraging the power of science for human progress.
‘National Science Day greetings to all scientists and science enthusiasts. Let us reaffirm our commitment towards fulfilling our collective scientific responsibility and leveraging the power of science for human progress,’ the prime minister tweeted.
The prime minister also shared a clip from his ‘Mann ki Baat’ broadcast on Sunday in which he talked about National Science Day.
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