Category Great Indian Scientists

Ganapathi Thanikaimoni (1 January 1938 – 5 September 1986), often referred to as Thani was an Indian palynologist.

Known for

• Contributions to the science of palynology

Scientific career

Thani took a position of scientist in the newly founded (1960) Palynology Laboratory of the French Institute of Pondicherry (French: Institut Français de Pondichéry) under the direction of Dr. Prof. Guinet. In a few years Thani’s scientific and administrative abilities were recognized by his promotion to the directorship of the laboratory.

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Biman Bagchi (born in 1954) is an Indian biophysical chemist, theoretical chemist and an Amrut Mody Professor at the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit of the Indian Institute of Science. He is known for his studies on statistical mechanics; particularly in the study of phase transition and nucleation, solvation dynamics, mode-coupling theory of electrolyte transport, dynamics of biological macromolecules (proteins, DNA etc.), protein folding, enzyme kinetics, supercooled liquids and protein hydration layer.

Known for

• Statistical Mechanics
• Solvation Dynamics
• Biological Water
• Mode Coupling Theory

Awards

• 1986 INSA Medal for Young Scientists
• 1990 INSA A. K. Bose Memorial Medal
• 1991 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
• 1997 G. D. Birla Award
• 1998 TWAS Prize
• 2002 Indian Institute of Science Alumni Excellence Award
• 2003 Goyal Prize in Chemistry

Fields

• Biophysical Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Statistical Mechanics

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Salim Yusuf (born November 26, 1952) is an Indian-born Canadian physician, the Marion W. Burke Chair in Cardiovascular Disease at McMaster University Medical School and currently the President of the World Heart Federation, a world-renowned cardiologist and epidemiologist. In 2001, he published a landmark study that proved the benefits of clopidogrel in acute coronary syndrome without ST elevation.

Known for

• President of the World Heart Federation

Awards

•   Rhodes Scholarship
• Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
• Canada Gairdner Wightman Award

Fields

• Medicine
•  Cardiology
• Epidemiology

Institutions

• Population Health Research Institute
•  McMaster University Medical School
• National Institutes of Health

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        Salim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the “birdman of India”, Salim Ali was among the first Indians to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrote several bird books that popularised ornithology in India.

        He became a key figure behind the Bombay Natural History Society after 1947 and used his personal influence to garner government support for the organisation, create the Bharatpur bird sanctuary (Keoladeo National Park) and prevent the destruction of what is now the Silent Valley National Park. Along with Sidney Dillon Ripley he wrote the landmark ten volume Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan, a second edition of which was completed after his death.

         He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1958 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1976, India’s third and second highest civilian honours respectively. Several species of birds, a couple of bird sanctuaries and institutions have been named after him.

Fields

• Ornithology
• Natural history

Awards

• Padma Bhushan (1958)
•  Padma Vibhushan (1976)

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            Anil Kakodkar (born 11 November 1943) is an Indian nuclear scientist and mechanical engineer. He was the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India and the Secretary to the Government of India, he was the Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay from 1996–2000. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honour, on 26 January 2009.

            Apart from playing a major role in India’s nuclear tests asserting sovereignty, Kakodkar champions India’s self-reliance on thorium as a fuel for nuclear energy.

Known for

• Smiling Buddha
• Pokhran-II
• Indian nuclear program

Awards

• Padma Shri (1998)
• Padma Bhushan (1999)
• Padma Vibhushan (2009)

Fields

• Mechanical Engineering

Institutions

• Atomic Energy Commission of India
• Department of Atomic Energy
• Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)

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Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje

                Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje (7 November 1884 – 22 January 1967) was an Indian revolutionary, scholar, agricultural scientist and historian who was among the founding fathers of the Ghadar Party.

                Khankhoje was born in November 1884 to a Marathi family at Wardha, where his father worked as a petition-writer. Young Khankhoje spent his childhood in Wardha, where he completed his primary and middle school education before moving to Nagpur for higher education. He was at the time inspired by the nationalist work of Bal Gangadhar Tilak.

               At some time in the first decade of the 1900s, Khankhoje left India on a voyage that ultimately saw him settle in the United States. Here he enrolled in the Washington State College (now called Washington State University), graduating in 1913. His earliest nationalist work abroad dates back to the time around 1908 when he, along with Pandit Kanshi Ram founded the Indian Independence League in Portland, Oregon. His works also brought him close to other Indian nationalists in United States at the time, including Taraknath Das.

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C. V. Raman

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970) was an Indian physicist born in the former Madras Province in India presently the state of Tamil Nadu, who carried out ground-breaking work in the field of light scattering, which earned him the 1930 Nobel Prize for Physics. He discovered that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the deflected light changes wavelength. This phenomenon, subsequently known as Raman scattering, results from the Raman effect.  In 1954, India honoured him with its highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

Known for

• Raman effect

Fields 

• Physics

Awards

• Knight Bachelor (1929)
• Hughes Medal (1930)
• Nobel Prize in Physics (1930)
• Bharat Ratna Ribbon.svg Bharat Ratna (1954)
• Lenin Peace Prize (1957)
• Fellow of the Royal Society

Institutions

• Indian Finance Department
• University of Calcutta
• Banaras Hindu University
• Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
• Indian Institute of Science
• Raman Research Institute

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G. Madhavan Nair

G. Madhavan Nair (born October 31, 1943, erstwhile Travancore, presently Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala) is the former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and Secretary to the Department of Space, Government of India since September 2003 and was also the Chairman, Space Commission. He was succeeded by K. Radhakrishnan. He was also the Chairman of Governing Body of the Antrix Corporation, Bangalore. Madhavan Nair was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian honour, on January 26, 2009. He also served as the Chairman, Board of Governors, Indian Institute of Technology Patna until he stepped down voluntarily due to his alleged involvement in Antrix-Devas deal.

Known for

• Indian Space Program

Awards

• Padma Bhushan (1998)
• Padma Vibhushan (2009)

Fields

• Rocket Technology
• Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Institutions

• Indian Space Research Organisation
• Bhabha Atomic Research Center

To read more about G. Madhavan Nair click G. Madhavan Nair

 

Narinder Singh Kapany

Narinder Singh Kapany (born 31 October 1926) is an Indian-born American Sikh physicist known for his work in fibre optics. He was named as one of the seven ‘Unsung Heroes’ by Fortune in their ‘Businessmen of the Century’ issue (1999-11-22).[4][5][6] He is also known as “Father of Fiber Optics”. The term fibre optics was coined by Singh Kapany in 1956. He is a former IOFS officer.

Known for

• Pioneering work on Fiber optics

Awards

• Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
• The Excellence 2000 Award
• FREng (1998)

Fields

• Physics

Institutions

• Agra University
• Ordnance Factories Board
• Imperial College of Science
• British Royal Academy of Engineering
• Optical Society of America
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Professor at the University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
• University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC)
• Stanford University

To read more about N. S. Kapany  Click  Narinder Singh Kapany

Homi Jehangir Bhabha (30 October 1909 – 24 January 1966) was an Indian nuclear physicist, founding director, and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Colloquially known as “father of the Indian nuclear programme”, Bhabha was also the founding director of the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) which is now named the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in his honor. TIFR and AEET were the cornerstone of Indian development of nuclear weapons which Bhabha also supervised as director.

Known for

• Indian nuclear programme
• Cascade process of Cosmic radiations
• point particles
• Bhabha Scattering
• Theoretical prediction of Muon

Awards

• Adams Prize (1942)
• Padma Bhushan (1954)
• Fellow of the Royal Society

Fields

• Nuclear Physics

Institutions

• Atomic Energy Commission of India
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
• Cavendish Laboratory
• Indian Institute of Science
• Trombay Atomic Energy Establishment

To read more about Homi Jehangir Bhabha click H. J. Bhabha