Biography of Famous Chemists C. V. Raman
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (C. V. Raman): Nobel Laureate in Physics
Early Life and Education:
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was born on November 7, 1888, in Tiruchirappalli, in the Madras Presidency of British India (now in Tamil Nadu, India). His father, Chandrasekaran Ramanathan Iyer, was a lecturer in mathematics and physics, and his mother, Parvathi Ammal, was a homemaker. Raman exhibited an early interest in science and was fascinated by the play of light and colors.
Raman attended St. Aloysius Anglo-Indian High School in Vishakhapatnam and later joined Presidency College in Madras (now Chennai) for his higher education. In 1904, at the age of 16, he passed his matriculation examination and entered Presidency College. In 1907, Raman graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, specializing in physics and English.
Early Career:
After completing his education, Raman joined the Indian Finance Department as an Assistant Accountant General in Calcutta (now Kolkata). However, his passion for scientific research led him to seek opportunities in the field of physics.
In 1917, Raman took up a position at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in Calcutta, where he began his groundbreaking research in the field of optics.
Raman Effect:
The year 1928 marked a turning point in Raman’s career. While conducting experiments on the scattering of light, he observed a phenomenon that would later be named the “Raman Effect.” He discovered that when monochromatic light is scattered by molecules in a transparent material, the scattered light contains new frequencies not present in the incident light.
This groundbreaking discovery demonstrated that the scattering of light could provide valuable information about the vibrational and rotational modes of molecules. The Raman Effect had profound implications for the understanding of molecular structure and paved the way for advancements in the field of spectroscopy.
Nobel Prize in Physics:
In 1930, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the Raman Effect. He became the first Asian and the first non-white scientist to receive a Nobel Prize in the field of physical sciences.
The Nobel Committee acknowledged the significance of Raman’s work, stating that the Raman Effect had opened up “new fields of research and led to the development of a new branch of science.”
Later Career and Legacy:
After receiving the Nobel Prize, Raman continued his research and made significant contributions to various branches of physics, including acoustics, optics, and magnetism. He served as the Director of the IACS from 1933 to 1970, where he played a crucial role in establishing it as a leading research institution.
In 1947, Raman was knighted by the British government, and in 1954, he was honored with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award. Throughout his career, Raman published numerous papers and received numerous awards and honors from scientific societies around the world.
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman passed away on November 21, 1970, in Bangalore, India. His contributions to the field of optics and spectroscopy left an indelible mark on the world of science. The Raman Effect remains a foundational concept in molecular spectroscopy, and C. V. Raman is remembered as one of India’s most illustrious scientists and a pioneering figure in the realm of physics.