My Science School

              He was the man who first proved that air contains two gases: oxygen and nitrogen. Also he established that when a substance is burnt it combines with oxygen in the air. This really moved chemistry into the modern age, because it explained for the first time what really happens during the important chemical process of burning. This great scientist, Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, was born on August 26, 1746 in Paris and is called the ‘Father of Modern Chemistry’. After completing his education, he first became a lawyer and worked as a tax collector. In his spare time he conducted research work.

              In 1766, he won a gold medal for his suggestions on how to light the streets of Paris. He was later given the job of a Gunpowder Officer. Lavoisier did a great deal of research on combustion. In 1772, he proved through an experiment that the ash from burnt metals is heavier than the original metals. Earlier people believed that when such things are burnt, they give off a substance called phlogiston. Lavoisier proved that during the process of burning something was added to the substance. 

Continue reading "Who is called the Father of Modern Chemistry? "

Morse code is a system of sounds that telegraphers and radio operators use to send messages through wire or radio. This involves a system of dots or short signals, dashes or long signals and spaces. Each letter of the alphabet, plus numbers and other symbols, are represented by groups of dots and dashes. The Morse code is named after Samuel Morse of USA who developed it in 1938. He also patented the telegraph in 1840 and was credited with the invention of telegraph.

The first message in Morse code was taped out in the United States over a telegraph line from Baltimore to Washington by Samuel Morse on May 24, 1844. The message was, ‘What hath God wrought’. Morse code can also be signalled by lights.

In 1837 Morse exhibited his first successful telegraph instrument. By 1838 he had developed the Morse code. But it was not until 1843 that Morse built the first telegraph line in the United States from Baltimore to Washington. In the following year, i.e. 1844, he succeeded in sending the first message. 

Telegraph messages are sent by pressing down a telegraph key. The dot is made by pressing down the key and releasing it quickly. This produces a rapid ‘click-clack’ sound in the receiver at the other end of the wire or the radio receiver. In the case of radio telegraph, the sound is more like a musical note. A short dash is held twice as long as a dot. A long dash is equal to four dots. The space between letters is sounded by ‘three dots’. A space that is part of a letter combination equals two dots.

Even today, in many countries, all telegraph messages and many new items are being transmitted by Morse code. Today most of the telegraph messages are sent by automatic printing telegraph machines called teleprinters, and by automatic facsimile like fax or electronic mail.

 

             A synthesis of the Quantum theory of Neils Bohr and the Field theory of Albert Einstein was evolved from a new theory of a great Indian scientist — Satyendra Nath Bose. The theory put forward by Bose explained the behaviour of subatomic particles. He showed that photons—the packets of energy, could behave quite differently from the assumptions of that time. Later Einstein further developed Bose’s ideas into a set of calculations which later came to be known as the ‘Bose-Einstein’ statistics. Though Bose and Einstein never worked together yet their long association was maintained through correspondence.

            A student of mathematics knows about Bose- Einstein statistics. This was a new type of quantum statistics and the particles to which this statistics is applicable are called Bosons, after the name of Bose.

           S.N. Bose was born in Calcutta on January 1, 1894. His father Surendranath Bose was a railway official. He went to Hindu School, Calcutta, for his primary education. There is an interesting episode which offers a glimpse into his genius. In school he once got 110 marks out of 100 in the mathematics paper because he had solved some problems in more than one way. His teacher predicted that one day he would become a great mathematician.

           After school he went to the Presidency College, Calcutta, in 1909. He became favourite with most professors for his brilliancy. He always stood first in all his exams—Intermediate, B.Sc. and M.Sc. 

Continue reading "How is S.N. Bose associated with Einstein? "

               The first gyroscope was devised by a German, G.C. Bohmenberger, in about 1810. But it was named thus by a French Physicist Leon Foucault in 1852, when he used the device to demonstrate the rotation of Earth. Its name has its origin from two Greek words: gyros mean turn or revolution; and skopein means ‘to view’. Therefore, gyroscope means, “to view the turning”. 

                This instrument is based on the same principle as that of a spinning top. We know that as long as the top keeps rotating, it remains upright and resists the force of gravitation. Similarly in a gyroscope, a wheel is mounted at such an angle to the rest of the apparatus that it is free to revolve around any axis.

                 According to the basic principles of motion — any spinning object resists an attempt to change the direction of its axis — the imaginary straight line around which it revolves. Thus you can move a gyroscope up, down, forward, sideways or backwards, and feel no resistance. But the moment you try to turn it through an angle you will meet opposition.

                A gyroscope basically has a heavy wheel. Most of its weight is concentrated in the rim. This gives the wheel a large moment of inertia. It resists attempts to change its position. If an attempt is made to tilt its axis, it will start moving in another direction, in a circle. This is known as precession. 

Continue reading "What is gyroscope and who invented it? "

               Homi Jehangir Bhabha a name considered synonymous with India’s atomic energy programme, was a great son of India. His contributions in the field of nuclear science gave India a giant leap in the field of science and technology. Consequently this led to the growth and progress in other fields. Indian atomic research has attained great heights today only due to the efforts of Homi Bhabha.

               Dr Bhabha was born on October 30, 1909 in Bombay in a wealthy Parsi family. He had his early education in Bombay. After graduating from the Elphinstone College and the Royal Institute of Science in Bombay, he went to Cambridge University for further studies. From there he got his engineering degree in 1930 and a Ph.D. degree in 1934.

During his stay at Cambridge University, he worked with Niels Bohr on Quantum Theory. Later Bhabha worked with Walter Heitler in the field of cosmic rays. He became well-known for his theoretical explanation of the phenomenon of Cascade showers in cosmic rays. He did significant work in identifying the elementary particles called mesons. 

Continue reading "Who is called the Father of Indian Nuclear Science? "

            Dr Vikram Sarabhai was not only an imaginative and creative scientist but also a pioneering industrialist and an astute planner. He made significant contribution in the field of cosmic ray physics and in the development of nuclear power and space programmes. When Dr Bhabha died suddenly in 1966 in a plane crash, it seemed almost impossible to fill the vacuum but fortunately a worthy successor could be found in Dr Sarabhai. He took up the nuclear programmes with a challenge and also added fresh dimensions to the space research programmes.

            Dr Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919 at Ahmadabad in a rich industrialist family. His early education was in a private school in Gujarat College at Ahmadabad. He then went to Cambridge, England, and obtained his tripos in 1939 from St. John’s College. He then came back to India and staled research work in the field of cosmic rays with Sir C.V. Raman at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In 1945 he went back to Cambridge to carry out further research on cosmic rays. There in 1947 he obtained a Ph.D. degree in the same field.

Continue reading "Who is known as the Father of Indian Space Research? "

               Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Memorial Award is given every year for outstanding research by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It was instituted in 1958 in the honour of its first Director General Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. The awards are given in the fields of Physical Sciences; Chemical Sciences; Biological Sciences; Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean, and Planetary Sciences; Engineering; Medical Sciences and Mathematics (alternate years). Each award carries a cash prize of Rupees one lakh and a certificate.

               Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar was a renowned Indian chemist. He was born on Feb. 21, 1894, at Bhera in West Punjab. He obtained his M.Sc. from the Punjab University in 1919. After taking his D.Sc. from London University under Prof. Donan, he worked under Prof. Haber at Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, Berlin, and later under Prof. Freundlich, an expert on colloids. 

               He was a Professor of Chemistry at Banaras Hindu University from 1921-24. From 1924 to 1940 he worked as Director of the University Chemical Laboratories, Lahore. There he made significant contributions in the field of physical chemistry, especially in magneto-chemical studies. He also wrote a book on magneto-chemistry.

               He became the first Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1940 and held this post till his death. In 1943 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. In the same year the Secretary of the Royal Society Prof. A.V. Hill visited India to advise the government on the coordination of scientific research in India. Dr. Bhatnagar was one of the members in the meeting along with Hill, Saha and Bhabha.

               In 1946, when Pt. Nehru was the head of the Interim Government, Dr. Bhatnagar took up his views on the development of science in India to translate them into reality. He concentrated on applied sciences and managed to get substantial funds from industrialists for the building up of research laboratories. He opened a chain of National Research Laboratories in India.

               This great scientist died on Jan. 1, 1955. After his death, Bhatnagar Memorial Award was instituted in his honour. 

                In the 19th century when India was excelling in various fields like fine arts, literature and philosophy, her contribution in the field of science was almost negligible. It was Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, who with his inventions in the second-half of the 19th century, not only made a name for himself but also put India on the science map of the world. 

               Bose was born on November 30, 1858, in a village of Bengal. After studying physics at the Calcutta University he went to England for further studies. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1884, and after coming back to India he became a professor of physical sciences at Presidency College, Calcutta from 1885 to 1915. He was a doyen of Indian science; a pioneer in the field of physical and plant physiological researches.

               He had a deep interest in animal and plant life right from his boyhood. After becoming the professor, he got an opportunity to work in his cherished field. He was the first to realize that both animals and plants have a great deal in common, but he did not have any instrument to prove it. To begin with, he designed and built a very sensitive machine for the detection of minute responses of living organisms to external stimuli. This instrument was called crescograph. It magnified the movement of plant tissues to ten thousand times of their original size and could record the reaction of plants to manures, noise and other stimuli. He is also credited with inventing a wireless transmission system that went unrecognized, much before Marconi. 

Continue reading "What were Sir J. C. Bose’s contributions to science? "

            The first model of a ballpoint pen was patented in 1888 by an American John H. Loud for writing on rough surfaces. But a successful ballpoint-pen, like the modern one, could not be developed till 1943. In fact, the American Air Force is mainly responsible for its invention. The Air Force demanded a special type of pen which could be used by the aircraft crew during flights. They required a pen which would not spill ink due to the reduction in air pressure at high altitudes. Such a pen could only be a ballpoint pen and hence there was a very fast development of it after this demand. Later on it became so popular that even the common people began to use it.

            The ballpoint pen has a hollow body made up of some metal or plastic material. It has a cap, a spring and an ink-refill with a tiny brass ball (writing point) fitted at its one end. The cap controls the writing point. The spring helps the writing point to move up and down. The refill is generally made of polythene and is filled with different colours of ink. 

            The ink used in ballpoint pen is specially formulated to be thick so that it may not leak. Its flow, however, remains smooth and unbroken lines can be drawn with the help of these pens. The ink is drawn through internal ducts in the socket by capillary action (a phenomenon in which the surface of a liquid confined in a narrow-bore tube rises above level.)

            A ballpoint pen has many uses. No blotting paper or inkpot is needed when it is used. This pen writes fast. Its ink does not spill on paper. The words written by it are not affected by water. It has certain disadvantages also. Unlike a fountain pen it does not make broader or finer strokes. It tires the hand more quickly than an ordinary pen because more pressure has to be exerted which using it.

            In the 1960s, soft-tip pens were developed in Japan. In these pens, the ink flows through a pad when pad touches the writing surface. During 1980s ballpoint-pens with carbide tips became very popular.

          Invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison, the phonograph was a device meant for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.

          The significance of this device was that it was the first to reproduce a recorded sound. Till then, other inventors had produced devices that could only record sounds.

          Edison’s phonograph originally recorded sound on to a tinfoil sheet wrapped around a rotating cylinder. He patented it in 1878. The invention became popular across the globe very soon. Over the next two decades, the commercial recording, distribution, and sale of sound recordings became a new international industry.

          The next important invention was the gramophone disc. The waveform of sound vibrations were recorded as corresponding physical deviations of a spiral groove engraved into the surface of a rotating cylinder called the ‘record’.

          To recreate the sound, the surface was similarly rotated. Then, the playback stylus would trace the groove, and start vibrating. As a result, the recorded sound would be faintly reproduced.