Satyendra Nath Bose

Satyendra Nath Bose was one of the greatest physicists born in India. He was greatly acknowledged for his work on quantum physics in the early 1920s. Moreover, he also collaborated with Albert Einstein and developed the foundation for Bose-Einstein statistics and the theory of Bose-Einstein condensate. His appreciable works in the field of physics and mathematics helped him earn India’s second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan.
Early Life

Satyendra Nath Bose was born on 1st January 1894 in Kolkata. He was the only brother of his six sisters. Satyendra Nath Bose was an excellent student from the beginning. His hard work and dedication to his studies helped him gain the fifth position in the order of merit in matriculation. After completing matriculation in 1909, Bose joined the Presidency College. He took admission to the science stream where he got a chance to study under the guidance of Jagadish Chandra Bose, Prafulla Chandra Ray, and Sarada Prasanna Das.

Satyendra Nath Bose completed his studies at the Presidency College and earned a degree in Bachelor of Science. He stood first in his batch. After completing his undergraduate education, Bose joined the Science College established by Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee. He took admission to the MSc course and gained the highest marks. His marks in the postgraduate program created a new record in the history of the University of Calcutta, which is yet to be surpassed.

Career and Research

After completing his postgraduate studies, Bose decided to join the University of Calcutta as a research scholar in 1916. He was extremely fond of the theory of relativity and served as a physics lecturer. His interest in the theory of relativity helped him write numerous papers on theoretical physics and mixed mathematics along with Meghnad Saha. His dedication to physics showed the result, and his first paper on quantum physics was published in the Philosophical Magazine.

After spending a few years at the University of Calcutta as a physics reader, Satyendra Nath Bose moved to Dhaka and joined Dhaka University’s physics department. While serving as a reader at Dhaka University, Bose wrote a paper on Planck’s quantum radiation law which was seminal in creating the field of quantum statistics. His work was recognized by the top physicists and Bose got an opportunity to work in Europe for two years at X-ray and crystallography laboratories. While working in the laboratory, Satyendra Nath Bose got an opportunity to meet Albert Einstein and Marie Curie. In addition, he also worked with other renowned scientists of that time.

Achievements

Satyendra Nath Bose was appointed as the President of the National Institute of Sciences in 1949. Also, he got a chance to serve India by working as a member of the Rajya Sabha for six years, from 1952 to 1958. In 1954, the Government of India nominated Satyendra Nath Bose for the Padma Vibhushan award for his contribution to the field of science. He was appointed as the vice-chancellor of Visva-Bharati University. Bose earned the highest honor for a scholar in the country and was given the title of India’s National Professor in 1959.

Interesting Facts on Satyendra Nath Bose

To commemorate Satyendra Nath Bose’s contribution to physics, a class of elementary subatomic particles was named after him. This elementary subatomic particle was named Boson.
Bose was well-versed in five languages. Apart from Bengali and English, he also knows other languages like French, German, and Sanskrit. Moreover, he was also interested in poetry.
Albert Einstein helped Satyendra Nath Bose in publishing his work on Planck’s Law. When Bose’s work was not published in a science journal, he sent it directly to Einstein, who recognized the value of his work and helped in its publication.
Bose was rejected from the post of a professor at Dhaka University because of a lack of a doctorate. However, he was made the head of the department after a recommendation from Einstein.
He was given the title of ‘Father of God Particle’ by the New York Times in their 2012 report.

Nobel Prize Nomination

Satyendra Nath Bose was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution to Bose-Einstein statistics and unified field theory. However, he could not win the prize as the experts at the Nobel Committee did not see his work as worthy of a Nobel Prize.

Satyendra Nath Bose was not an institution builder like Homi J. Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. He was a professor all his life and had a profound interest in poetry and learning new languages. However, his work in the field of physics cannot go unnoticed.

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