Sir JAGDISH CHANDRA BOSE -A MULTIFACETED SCIENTIST

Jagdish thus got to know of poor people’s sufferings. He learnt how to plough land and sow seeds for growing crops. He also learnt how fishermen fish in the rivers in boats and how cattle were taken for grazing on the hills. He had a servant who escorted him to school every day. In the past he had been a dacoit and Jagdish’s father, as a judge had sent him to jail. After completion of his jail term, a sympathetic Jagdish’s father had employed him in his own house. He used to tell young Jagdish about his cruel deeds and robberies. These stories made a deep impression in Jagdish’s heart. He grew up to be fair to the rich and poor alike and treat them equally.

Since childhood, Jagdish was very curious about everything that happened around him. He used to ask his father a number of questions. His father used to answer as much as he knew, but as Jagdish grew older; his father encouraged him to find out the truth himself.

For further education, J.C. Bose was admitted to St Xavier’s School in Calcutta. He stayed in a boarding house. He had no friends and was totally lonely. But being a born scientist, even in his hobbies, we can find the reflection of his scientific interest. In a nearby pond, he used to breed frogs and fish and would observe the activities with keen interest. Bose, in his curiosity would pull out a just germinated plant and observe its roots. He had a variety of pets like rabbits, squirrels, birds and even non-poisonous snakes.

After graduation, Bose wanted to join the Indian Civil Service. But his father wanted him to study Medicine, rather than being ruled by higher ups in Civil Service. He enrolled for studying medicine in London University, but within a year he had to quit due to ill health. He then went to study Natural Science at Cambridge. He secured B.Sc. from Cambridge along with B.Sc. from London University in 1884.

In 1885, Bose returned to India. He carried a letter from the eminent economist Fawcett, addressed to Lord Ripon, who was then the Viceroy of India. On the Viceroy’s request, Bose was appointed as officiating Professor of Physics in Presidency College. The then Principal C. H. Tawney had to accept him, in spite of his stiff personal opposition.

  Here too he had to face severe discrimination. Firstly, he was denied any facility for research. Secondly, an Indian Professor was offered only Rs. 200/- per month, whereas his English counterpart was receiving Rs. 300/- per month. And Bose being an Associate Professor, was offered only Rs. 100/- as salary. In a unique form of protest, Bose continued to teach for three years, without accepting the salary cheques. Ultimately, the college authorities had to acknowledge Bose’s teaching skills and his noble character. Finally he was made permanent as Professor of Physics and was paid all his arrears.

Bose generated interest among his students by conducting scientific demonstrations extensively. He thus became very popular. Some of his students at Presidency College like Meghnad Saha and Satyendranath Bose became famous as academics.

Jagdish Chandra Bose’s work was mainly in radio and plant research. Nobel laureate Sir Neville Mott, while explaining his own contributions to solid-state electronics, quoted – “J. C. Bose was at least 60 years ahead of his time”. To understand Mott’s statement, let us go through the history of radio research during Bose’s time.

James Clerk Maxwell, the British physicist had mathematically predicted the existence of electromagnetic waves of diverse wavelengths, but he died in 1879, before any experimental verification of his theory. Another British physicist Oliver Lodge could demonstrate that Maxwell’s waves existed, which were transmitted along wires, in 1887-88. Then in 1888, German physicist Heinrich Hertz proved experimentally that electromagnetic waves existed in free space. After Hertz’s death in 1894, Lodge pursued Hertz’s work and published a book. This caught the attention of Bose, just like other scientists in different countries.

In 1893, the first public radio communication was demonstrated by Nikola Tesla and one year later, Bose gave a public demonstration of wireless transmission at Town Hall of Kolkata in the presence of Lieutenant Governor Sir William Mackenzie. Bose ignited gunpowder and rang a bell at a distance, using millimetre range wavelength microwaves. In a Bengali essay, titled ‘Adrisya Alok’ (Invisible Light), Bose wrote, “The invisible light can easily pass through brick walls, buildings, etc. Therefore, messages can be transmitted by means of it without the mediation of wires”. In Russia, physicist Popov pursued the same research and in 1895, he expressed similar hopes for distant signalling with radio waves.

In May 1895, Bose’s first scientific paper on “Polarisation of electric rays by double refracting crystals” was presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. The second paper was sent to the Royal Society of London, through Lord Raleigh (his teacher in Cambridge University) in October 1895. In December 1895, the ‘Electrician’ published Bose’s paper, “A new electropolariscope”. During that period, English speaking scientists used the word ‘Coherer’ for Hertzian wave detectors. In 1895, the ‘Electrician’ wrote about Bose’s coherer: “Should Professor Bose succeed in perfecting and patenting his coherer, we may in time see the whole system of coast lighting throughout the navigable world, revolutionized by a Bengali scientist working single-handed in our Presidency College Laboratory”.

But the beautiful nature of Bose was, he worked hard to perfect his coherer, but never thought of patenting it. Bose’s invention was not patented because he was of the view that such inventions should be used for the benefit of the people. However, more than a year later, Marconi who was conducting experiments on wireless telegraphy, announced the result of his work. Hence Marconi is called the ‘Father of the Radio’.

In 1896, Bose impressed the Royal Society of England by writing a research article on electromagnetic waves. He was honoured with the Doctor of Science degree. To continue his work, Bengal helped him with the expenses. Bose was also encouraged by the British government, a rare honour for Indians. He put this to good use. At that time, there was a wrong notion shared by Indians and Westerners that Indians could not achieve anything important in Science. Bose proved this to be wrong and showed that geniuses were there in other countries too. He again went to England to explain his work to the Western scientists.

He became renowned in the world of Science. Praise poured in from various quarters including the ‘Spectator’ and ‘The Times’ of London, for having achieved great results without proper facilities, and with whatever instruments and equipment, which he had made himself. Bose was also invited by scientific associations in Germany, Japan, America and France to explain his achievements.

During the end of the 19th century, Bose switched over from studying electromagnetic waves to the investigation of plant response to stimuli. Bose demonstrated with the help of his new invention – the crescograph – that plants give a response to stimuli, as though they too have a nervous system. He deduced from his experiments that with pleasant music, plants grew faster; whereas in harsh sound or noise, their growth is stunted. He investigated into the mechanism of the effects of temperature, chemicals, etc on plant stimuli. He analyzed these effects and deduced that plants can feel pain and understand affection. Bose proved experimentally that plants have life too. He developed a device to record the pulse of a plant to which he connected the device. The plant along with its roots was dipped up to the stem in a container of bromide, a poison. The steady movement of the device, which recorded the pulse beat of the plant, changed to an unsteady one, indicating the effect of the bromide, and suddenly stopped. The plant was now dead due to the poison.

Bose further found that during the night, plants shrink a little. He also found that plants grow in a slight curve, rather than straight. He revealed that plants have positive and negative charges, which push them forward and backward respectively, which makes the plant slightly curved. Furthermore, he found the reason why the lotus opens up during sunrise and closes its petals at sunset. It is due to a rise in temperature in the morning and a drop in temperature in the evening.

Between 1901 and 1904, Bose submitted a number of papers indicating how the mechanical and electrical responses to stimuli of plants and animals were similar. But due to opposition from physiologists who were afraid that his new findings would be against their established theories, the Royal Society did not publish his precious work in its journals. But in spite of this setback, Bose did not give up his research, which he felt had led him to the truth.

Bose was accorded the honour of Companionship of the British Empire (CBE) by the British Government in 1903. In 1912, he was conferred the Companionship of the Star of India (CSI). He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science by University of Calcutta. When Bose retired from service in 1915, he was appointed Professor Emeritus.

Bose, who had to struggle for facilities and instruments for several years during his research, had always been thinking of setting up a laboratory. His dream came true on 30th November 1917, when he established the Bose Research Institute. The inaugural song was composed by the eminent poet Ravindranath Tagore.

At the inauguration ceremony he said, “This is not a laboratory, but a temple!” in this Institute, research is conducted in Physics and Botany, the two disciplines of science in which Bose had contributed greatly and had become famous.

The Royal Society in London, which had earlier refused to publish his findings in physiological research, honoured him by electing him as a Fellow in 1920. Banaras Hindu University and Dhaka University awarded Bose with an honorary Doctor of Science in 1933 and 1935 respectively. Bose continued his research in his institute till he died on 23rd November 1937.

Recently, some scientists have come together to give Bose his due recognition as the Father of wireless telegraphy. Bose had not sought a patent for this invention, which Marconi did a year later. Bose was not interested at all in monetary benefits. In this regard, Bose had written to Tagore that there was a great attachment for money in India, and he would not like to be caught in that trap. However, for one of his inventions, on strong persuasion from one of his American friends, Bose got his US patent in 1904. He was the first Indian to receive a US patent.

Bose was the author of a number of books, including ‘Response in the Living and Non-Living (1902) and ‘The Nervous Mechanism of Plants’ (1926). Bose was equally talented in literature. He was the first science fiction writer in Bengali. He was also the President of the Bengali Sahitya Parishad.

Excerpts from ‘World Famous Indian Scientists’