Philadelphia: The former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, cited an example from the life of Nobel laureate Sir C.V. Raman to stress the dedication needed by teachers, especially in research institutions.

Raman was also in the first batch of Bharat Ratna winners.

At a meeting organised by the Wharton School here on Saturday, Mr. Kalam recalled an incident when the Bharat Ratna award ceremony was to take place in the last week of January after the Republic Day celebrations in 1954.

The then President, Rajendra Prasad, wrote to Raman inviting him to be the personal guest in the Rashtrapati Bhavan when Raman came to Delhi for the award ceremony. Raman wrote a polite letter, regretting his inability to go. He had a noble reason for his inability to attend the investiture ceremony, Mr. Kalam said.

“He explained to the President that he was guiding a Ph.D student and that thesis was positively due by the last day of January.

“The student was valiantly trying to wrap it all up and Raman felt, he had to be by the side of the research student, see that the thesis was finished, sign the thesis as the guide and then have it submitted,” Mr. Kalam said.

Here was a scientist who gave up the pomp of a glittering ceremony associated with the highest honour, because he felt that his duty required him to be by the side of the student, Mr. Kalam said. It was this unique trait of giving value to science that built science.

Mr. Kalam identified seven areas of research which he believed were most important and challenging.

These included increasing the efficiency of solar photovoltaic cell, which converts solar energy into electricity, from the current 15 per cent to 45 per cent using silicon as a base with carbon nanotube (CNT); developing thorium-based reactors to produce power: proteomic which studies of proteins; development of vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS; stem cell research; forecasting the occurrence of earthquakes; and more reliable meteorological forecasts. — PTI

 
http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/24/stories/2008032459771300.htm

CV Raman: Biography from Wikipedia

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was born on November 7, 1888 in an Iyer family in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. He was the second child of Chandrasekhar Iyer and Parvathi Amma. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and physics, so he had an academic atmosphere at home. His nephew Subramanyan Chandrasekhar, also won a Nobel prize in physics in 1983.

Raman entered Presidency College, Madras, in 1902, and in 1904 gained his BA, winning the first place and the gold medal in physics. In 1907 he gained his MA, obtaining the highest distinctions. He joined the Indian Finance Department as an Assistant Accountant General in Calcutta. As the story goes, one evening while returning from work, he spotted the sign of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS). He started visiting the laboratory after office hours and did experiments, which culminated with his Nobel Prize winning work.

[The Raman Effect was a demonstration of the Collision effect of light bullets (photons) passing through a transparent medium, whether solid, liquid or gaseous. Raman's publications include Molecular Diffraction of Light, Mechanical Theory of Bowed Strings and Diffraction of X-rays, Theories of Musical Instruments, etc. Raman conducted pioneering research in musical acoustics, particularly on Tambora, the well known Indian musical stringed instrument.]

In 1917, Raman resigned from his government service and took up the newly created Palit Professorship in Physics at the University of Calcutta. Simultaneously, he continued doing research at the IACS, where he became the Honorary Secretary. Raman used to refer to this period as the golden era of his career. Many talented students gathered around him at the IACS and the University of Calcutta. He was president of the 16th session of the Indian Science Congress in 1929.

Raman won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect. Raman spectroscopy is based on this phenomenon.

Raman also worked on the acoustics of musical instruments. He worked out the theory of transverse vibration of bowed strings, on the basis of superposition velocities. He was also the first to investigate the harmonic nature of the sound of the Indian drums such as the tabla and the mridangam.

In 1934, Raman became the director of the newly established Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, where two years later he continued as a professor of physics. In 1947, he was appointed as the first National Professor by the new government of Independent India.

He also started a company called Travancore Chemical and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in 1943 along with Dr. Krishnamurthy. The Company during its 60 year history, established 4 factories in Southern India.

He was knighted in 1929 and awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954. Raman was also awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1957.

India celebrates National Science Day on the 28th February of every year to commemorate Raman's discovery in 1928.

He retired from the Indian Institute of Science in 1948 and a year later established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore Karnataka, serving as its director. He remained active there until his death in 1970, in Bangalore, at the age of 82.