SAGE OF SCIENCE
Sage of science
By V. G. Rao
Op-Ed
The Pioneer
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
Subramanian Chandrasekhar is among the few Indian born
scientists to win the Nobel Prize in 1983 for his work in
stellar physics. Sir CV Raman, who won the Nobel in
Physics for the Raman Effect, was his paternal uncle.
Chandrasekhar was born in the Raj era on October 19,
1910, at Lahore to South Indian Tamil Brahmin parents.
His father, CV Iyer, was in the civil services and wanted
Chandrasekhar to follow suit. However, Chandrasekhar had
his mind elsewhere. He was deeply interested in the
intricacies of science and mathematics and wanted to
pursue a scholastic career in consonance with his desire.
He was an exceptionally bright student, always passing
his exams with flying colours, and completed his MA at
the young age of 15 from Madras Presidency College. While
still an undergraduate, he began contributing research
papers to international journals in physics.
After graduation, he won a scholarship to study at a
famous British university. During the lengthy voyage to
England, he worked out a formula limiting the mass of a
star for it to remain stable without collapsing into a
chaotic state. His discovery of the mass limit formula
was scoffed at by none other than AS Eddington,
Chandrasekhar's mentor and pioneer in the field of
stellar physics. Eddington was touted to be among the
only three persons in the world, then, who understood
Einstein's theory of relativity.
The budding scientist in Chandrasekhar was disappointed
and called it quits his research on stellar evolution.
Then he turned his attention to other problems of stellar
science, as the dynamics of stellar dust era. But before
embarking on the new lines of research he wrote an
authoritative book titled An Introduction to the Study of
Stellar Structure in which he set forth all his thoughts
on the Subject including the mass limiting principle. The
practice of working to the bone on a particular topic and
thereafter publishing the heuristic outcome of that
investigation in a book and never returning to that topic
again was to be become a hallmark of work for
Chandrasekhar the scientist. He thus contributed to
stellar structure, stellar dynamics, black holes, theory
of relativity, etc.
He was endearingly called Chandra by his compeers. That
Chandra was one who followed his own lights and could not
be cajoled into following someone else's advice is
brought home by his choice of life partner. For a spouse
he chose Lalitha, his college day's neighbour, despite
parental opposition. He also organised his own wedding;
something unheard off at that time. Unfortunately, he
didn't have any issue.
Chandra was not a boffin who resided in his ivory tower
oblivious of the charms of the outside world. He was very
fond of the English literature and took an avid interest
in its soothing ministrations. Anybody who samples his
writings will
His sartorial preferences spoke volumes about the
gentlemanliness and elegant streak that marked Chandra as
a person. He was a dapper man who always wore formal grey
suits. Chandra passed away in 1995. Work was worship, to
him. The search for truth guided the life and work of
this sage among scientists.
More at:
http://www.dailypioneer.com
Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
The terrorist mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:
"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send
peace, but a sword.
"For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
- Matthew 10:34-36.
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
.
|
