Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose: Traversing the interdisciplinary gap between physics and biology

Abstract

Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose was a prolific and inventive experimental scientist. Born in what is now Bangladesh in 1858, his scientific career spanned more than 30 years and included a degree in natural sciences from Christ College, Cambridge, and a doctorate from the University of London in 1884. He studied under the likes of Lord Rayleigh, Sir James Dewar, and the great naturalist, Francis Balfour. In 1885, under great controversy, Bose assumed a faculty post in physics at Presidency College, Calcutta, India and remained there until his retirement in 1915. In 1917, he founded the institute which still bears his name and stayed technically active well into his 70s. At first, working with his own funds and only a tin smith, he managed to assemble the most sophisticated Hertzian wave apparatus of his day, and in only ten years, his fame had spread throughout Europe.

Files

Additional details