Category Science

Srinivasa Ramanujan was, without doubt, a mathematical genius. Without any formal training in the subject, he made significant contributions to the theory of numbers, investigation of elliptical functions, infinite series, continued fractions, and Mock theta functions.

    Ramanujan showed a natural inclination towards mathematics when he was ten years old. By age 11 he had more mathematical knowledge than two college students who were lodgers at his home. He completely mastered advanced trigonometry by the age of 13, and discovered sophisticated theorems on his own.

   His memory for mathematical formulae and constants seems to have been boundless- he amazed classmates with his ability to recite the values of irrational numbers to as many decimal places as they asked for.

   Ramanujan went to Cambridge in April 1914, thanks to the help of Prof. G. H. Hardy. Two years later, he was awarded the equivalent of a PhD. for his work. The notebooks he had brought from India were filled with thousands of identities, equations and theorems which he had discovered for himself.

   In 1918 Ramanujan became the first Indian Mathematician to be elected a Fellow of the British Royal Society.

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose is one of the most famous among Indian scientists. He was a physicist, biologist, biophysicist, botanist and archaeologist, as well as a writer of science fiction.

  Bose proved by experimentation that both animals and plants share much in common. He demonstrated that plants are also sensitive to heat, cold, light, noise and various other external stimuli.

   Bose built a very sophisticated instrument called Crescograph which could record and observe the minute responses of plants to external stimulants. He authored two illustrious books and extensively researched the behavior of radio waves.

       Bose devised another instrument called ‘Coherer’. In 1917, he founded the Bose Institute, and dedicated it to the promotion of scientific studies in India.

Aryabhata was a great mathematician and astronomer in Ancient India. He wrote many mathematical and astronomical treatises. His chief work was the ‘Ayrabhatiya’ which was a compilation of mathematics and astronomy.

   Ayrabhatiya covers several branches of mathematics such as algebra, arithmetic, plane and spherical trigonometry. Included in it are theories on continued fractions, sum of power series, sine tables, and quadratic equations.

  Aryabhata also did a considerable amount of work in astronomy. He knew that the Earth is rotating on an axis around it. He discovered the position of nine planets and stated that these also revolved around the sun.

    Aryabhata stated that the correct number of days in a year is 365. He was the first person to mention that the Earth was not flat but, in fact spherical shape. This great man has been honored in many ways. The first Indian satellite was named ‘Aryabhata’. A lunar crater and Indian research centre also bear his name.

Sushruta, who lived in the 7th century BC, was an ancient Indian surgeon who was famous for his pioneering operations and techniques. His book the’ Sushruta Samhita’, is an advanced collection of the surgical, as well as information on other specialties, geriatrics, diseases of the ear, nose, throat and eye, toxicology, aphrodisiacs and psychiatry.

   Examples of some of Sushruta’s groundbreaking operations include rhinoplasty which involves repairing or restructuring the nose, removal of a dead foetus, and surgical removal of stones in organs like the urinary bladder.

      Sushruta used wine to dull the pain during operations. He encouraged his students to practice surgical techniques by operating on objects like watermelons and reeds.

    Sushruta took surgery in ancient India to admirable heights and because of his numerous contributions to the science and art surgery in India; he is regarded as the ‘father of surgery’ and ‘father of plastic surgery’.

Stephen Hawking, theoretical physicist and cosmologist, is remarkable in many ways. Despite challenging physical impairments, he has contributed hugely to he world of science.

   Hawking suffers from a type of motor neuron disease that has left him almost completely Paralyzed. This did not stop him from working on the subject of black holes and providing theories for their behavior, including the idea that they emit radiation.

    Hawking believed black holes to be celestial death traps that swallowed up all energy. However, he determined there was room for this phenomenon, through the merging of quantum theory, general relativity and thermodynamics, distilling it all into one path breaking formula in 1974.

      Hawking wanted to write a book about the mysteries of the universe that would connect with the public. This task seemed impossible after he lost the abilities to write and speak. But Hawking did not give up, and his vision was finally realized when finally realized when his ‘A Brief History of Time’ became a best-seller. 

James Watson, an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist shared the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering the structure of DNA in 1953. He gained worldwide fame and prominence as the joint author of the scientific papers between 1953 and 1954 which he co-wrote with fellow scientist Francis Crick. Their work laid down the double helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA.

    The DNA molecule is a mega molecule that is the process of genetic  replication. One of the most celebrated science writers, Watson published his textbook ‘Molecular Biology of the Gene’ in 1965 and his best-selling autobiographical book ‘The Double Helix,’ in 1968.

    Watson helped to establish and direct the Human Genome Project at the National Institute of Health, where he oversaw the mapping of the genes in human chromosomes. His own genome was sequenced in 2007, making him the second person to have this done.