Nobel laureate Sir C.V. Raman made national headlines on Tuesday with news of Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifting German Chancellor Angela Merkel reproductions of his manuscripts.
However, not many realise that before Raman became the celebrated physicist he is now remembered as, his genius was ‘discovered’ in Presidency College of the University of Madras.
As a student pursuing his Masters in physics, it was under the tutelage of Professor Jones that Raman flourished. During his time here, Raman mastered renowned Cambridge physicist Lord Rayleigh’s two-volume work, The Theory of Sound .
This was to be the foundation of much of his subsequent work in acoustics. The college, at the time, did not have scientific journals, so it was at Connemara Library in Egmore that he read the latest scientific papers put out by Lord Rayleigh and others.
In a revealing anecdote recorded in The Hindu , it is said that it was in a class of Professor Jones’ that Raman’s prodigal talent was unveiled for all to see. With the professor struggling to explain to a fellow student the reasons for the anomalous observation of his acoustic experiments, it was Raman who pitched in. Not only did Raman comprehend the causes for the anomaly, but also conceived of a new arrangement to perform Melde’s experiment.
It is said that when Lord Rayleigh heard of this, he immediately wrote to Raman in appreciation of its scientific value.
Raman, who was then all of 18, authored a paper with his findings in the prestigious Philosophical Magazine in London, which was published in November 1906.
For Presidency College, this was a first. Since it was essentially a teaching college with no tradition of research, this was the first research paper to come out of the institution.
While the Nobel Prize came knocking 24 years later, when Raman was based in Calcutta University, it was right here in Madras, in establishments such as Connemara Library and Presidency College, the prolific physicist’s excellence was truly nurtured.
It was in city establishments like Presidency College that physicist C.V. Raman’s excellence was first nurtured
