JAGADISH CHANDRA BOSE

He invented the Crescograph in the early 20th century – a device for measuring growth and tiniest of movement in plants and their response to external stimuli. It was for this and other inventions that Bose was awarded knighthood in 1917. It is reported that the central hall of the Royal Society of London was jam packed with famous scientists as Bose dipped a plants roots in a bromide solution and plugged in his instrument – which showed tremors, and then convulsive movements that abruptly ceased as the plant succumbed to the noxious agent. He was able to demonstrate that plants had feelings and responded to positive and negative influences much like animals.

Bose went to St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta where he came in contact with a Jesuit Father Eugene Lafont who played a significant role in developing his scientific side. Bose wanted to study in England to compete for the Indian Civil Service like his father, however the latter wanted his so to be a scholar who would “ rule nobody but himself”. He attempted a brief stint at studying medicine but odors of the dissection room affected his health and he transferred to Christ’s College in Cambridge. He pioneered radio and microwave technology, reducing the waves to millimeter level.In Kolkata Town Hall Lieutenant Governor Sir William Mackenzie,witnessed Bose’s demonstration of ringing a bell at a distance and igniting gunpowder remotely. He called his wave receiver “ Mercury Coherer”. He also invented the radio transmitter and receiver but true to his nature did not believing in patenting any of his research for commercial gain. In his travels he met Guglielmo Marconi who was commercializing his work on radio waves. Marconi did acknowledge the importance of Bose’s research. The Wi Fi we enjoy today owes much to Bose’s pioneering works.

Bose did encounter racism and lack of funding while in Cambridge and upon his return to India, but what galled him more than ever was that in his position as a Professor of Physics at Cambridge College in Calcutta he was paid about a third less than his British counterparts and publication of many of his research was suppressed. He refused to accept any remuneration for three years, and ultimately the administration caved in, matched his pay and also covered all his back pay. His lectures were packed with students as he openly discussed all his research findings.

Due to lack of funds he often had to conduct his experiments at his home. It is said that Sister Nivedita provided him some financial support and edited his numerous publications.

Bose is also regarded as the father of Bengali Science Fiction. In 1896 a businessman Hemendra Mohan Bose hit upon a novel marketing ploy to promote his brand of hair oil called Kuntalin. He instituted a short story competition that would feature the Kuntalin hair oil. Bose won the prize for his scientific mystery “Polatak Toofan”- The Runaway Cyclone where a balding voyager on a ship to Ceylon, threatened by a cyclone that would destroy Kolkata remembers the bottle of Kuntalin hair oil given to him by his daughter, and pours it on the stormy waters and there by calms the surface- a “butterfly” effect – minor changes making a major impact. He went on to write several other novels and short stories.

Bose died on November 23, 1937 in Giridih Bihar at age 78. A true “renaissance man” – he is an inspiration today and to the generations of the future.