Satyendra Nath Bose Biography PDF in English

Step into the captivating world of one of the greatest scientific minds of the 20th century, Satyendra Nath Bose. From his groundbreaking contributions to quantum mechanics to his profound impact on the development of Bose-Einstein statistics, Bose’s life is an enchanting tale of intellectual brilliance and unwavering passion. In this riveting biography, delve into the extraordinary life of Satyendra Nath Bose and discover the man behind the equations. Like APJ Abdul Kalam download the Satyendra Nath Bose Biography PDF today and embark on a mesmerizing journey through the life of a true scientific legend.

Satyendra Nath Bose Biography in English PDF

Discover the fascinating journey of Satyendra Nath Bose through the captivating pages of his biography. Unveil the rich tapestry of his life, from his humble beginnings to the shaping of his extraordinary intellect. Embark on a vivid exploration as you delve into his transformative early years, his encounters with brilliant young minds, and his ventures across the European continent. Experience his enlightening sojourns in Dacca and Calcutta, his immersion in the vibrant atmosphere of Santiniketan, and his embodiment of an unconventional scientific spirit. Witness his groundbreaking work, driven by the power of his mother tongue, and follow him through the final chapters of his remarkable existence. Uncover the story of a truly complete man, whose legacy continues to inspire generations.

Whether you are a student of physics or simply interested in the life of a remarkable man, this PDF is a must-read. It is a fascinating and inspiring story that will stay with you long after you finish reading.

Satyendra Nath Bose: A Brilliant Indian Physicist

Satyendra Nath Bose was born on January 1, 1894, in Calcutta. He was known as Satyen among his friends and S.N. Bose in the world of science. His father, Surendra Nath Bose, worked in the Railway Department.

Bose was always good in studies, especially in math. He was a topper in his school, and his math teacher once gave him 110 marks out of 100 because he solved all the problems and also solved some problems in more than one way.

After completing his schooling at the Hindu High School in Calcutta, Satyendra Nath Bose joined Presidency College, where he studied under great teachers like Jagdish Chandra Bose and Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy. He graduated with a B.A. in mixed mathematics in 1913 and an M.Sc. in mixed mathematics in 1915, both with first-class honors. His classmates included Meghnad Saha and Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.

Satyendra Nath Bose’s early education

Satyendra Nath Bose and Meghnad Saha studied together for their M.Sc. degrees. Bose always stood first in class and Saha stood second. At that time, there were very few universities and colleges in India, so the future of science-educated students was not very certain. Many students chose other subjects instead of science. However, some students did not do this, and they are the ones who added new chapters to Indian science.

One such example is CV Raman, who started a government job after getting his science education. However, due to his attachment to science, he engaged in research work for ten years alongside his job. When he got the opportunity, he left his secure government job and completely immersed himself in the practice of science.

The person who gave this opportunity to Raman and helped Bose and Saha was Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee. Mukherjee was a lawyer by profession who later became a judge of the Calcutta High Court. At that time, very few Indians could reach such high positions. Mukherjee was knowledgeable about his subject and was also very interested in science. In his spare time, he used to give lectures on physics and mathematics.

Bose chose his own path

Satyendranath Bose was one of those people who chose science as his field of work. When Bose and Saha were teaching at Calcutta University, Bose thought that something new should also be done in science. Bose and Saha decided that along with teaching, they would also spend some time in research work. Research required new ideas, so Bose started reading books by Gibbs and Planck. Most of the science material at that time was in French or German. Therefore, it was necessary for a person to have knowledge of these languages. Bose not only learned these languages very quickly, but he also started translating poems written in these languages into Bengali.

There were no books written on new subjects of science in the library of Calcutta University. Bose and Saha came to know about Dr. Bruhl who had these books. Dr. Bruhl was an Austrian biologist who came to India to study Indian plants due to poor health in Austria. Dr. Bruhl became a teacher in the Bengal College and taught physics even though his subject was Botany. Dr. Bruhl had many good books which Bose and Saha got from him to read.

Bose believed that if a subject is to be studied, it is necessary to go to its core. That is, to study the work done by subject experts. Bose was able to read these books himself because most of the research work at that time was available in German and French languages only. But for the benefit of others who did not know these languages, Bose decided to translate some important research papers into English. It was a good way to learn the subject and the language.

Bose started the translation of the papers on the theory of relativity, which were later published by the University of Calcutta. Einstein, who wrote these papers in German, had given the right to translate them in English to Methuen of England. When Methuen came to know about this, he tried to stop this publication. Fortunately, Einstein intervened and said that he did not mind if Bose’s book was distributed only in India.

Apart from reading and translating, Bose kept busy finding solutions to unsolved problems. Within a year, Bose and Saha wrote a research paper which was published in England’s famous journal ‘Philosophical Magazine’. In 1919, two research papers of Bose were published in ‘Bulletin of the Calcutta Mathematical Society’ and in 1920 in ‘Philosophical Magazine’. There is no doubt that all this was a good deed, but it was not such that the whole world was astonished.

In 1921, Dhaka University was established. Vice-Chancellor Dr. Hartog wanted to establish good departments in Dhaka University. He selected Bose for Reader in the Physics Department.

In 1924, Saha came to Dacca, which was his hometown, and met his friend Bose. Bose told Saha that he was teaching Planck’s radiation law in the class, but he did not agree with the derivation given in the books for this law. Saha drew Bose’s attention to the recent work done by Einstein and Planck. Now Bose gave a new derivation of Planck’s law in his own way. This method of Bose introduced physics to a completely new concept.

Bose sent this paper for publication in the Philosophical Magazine, but it was rejected. Bose was discouraged, as he believed that this derivation was more logical than his earlier works. Then he took a bold decision. He sent this paper to Einstein in Berlin, with the request that he should read and comment on this paper and if he considered it worthy of publication, arrange for publication in the German journal Zeitschrift für Physik.

Einstein himself translated this paper into German and published it with his commentary in Zeitschrift für Physik in August 1924. Einstein had also sent a postcard regarding this research paper, which proved to be very useful for Bose.

Bose applied for a two-year leave at the University of Dhaka in early 1924 so that he could go to Europe to learn about the latest developments. However, there was no response from the University of Dhaka for months. During this time, Bose wrote his most famous research paper, which he sent to Einstein and received a letter of appreciation from him. To receive a letter of appreciation from a great scientist like Einstein was a big deal in itself. When Bose showed this testimonial to the Vice-Chancellor of the University, he was finally allowed a leave of two years.

Satyendra Nath reached Europe in October 1924. He lived in Paris for the first year. While in France, he thought why not learn something about radioactivity from Madame Curie and X-rays from Maurice de Broglie (Louis de Broglie’s brother). Bose did some complex mathematical calculations in Madame Curie’s laboratory, but the dream of studying radioactivity remained unfulfilled. He had a good experience with Maurice de Broglie. From Broglie, he learned about new techniques of X-rays.

Bose and his ‘Master’

In October 1925, Bose traveled to Berlin to meet his “Master,” Albert Einstein. Bose addressed Einstein as “Master” because he was a great admirer of Einstein’s work. Bose hoped to work with Einstein, but Einstein was out of town when Bose arrived. After some time, Einstein returned and met with Bose. In Bose’s words, “It was an interesting meeting. He asked all kinds of questions, like how you came up with the idea of a new statistic and what is its significance.” Bose did not get the opportunity to work with Einstein, but he benefited greatly from their many meetings. Einstein also gave Bose a letter of introduction, which opened many doors for Bose.

Bose returned to Dhaka in 1926 after living in Europe for about two years. After returning to Dhaka, Bose was encouraged by some of his colleagues to apply for the post of professor at Dhaka University. However, there was a problem: a PhD was required for the position, and Bose only had a master’s degree. His friends told him not to worry, as he was now famous and knew Einstein. They suggested that he get a testimonial from Einstein. Einstein immediately agreed, but he was surprised that in India, a person could get a job based on their degree rather than their work.

Research Papers of Satyendra Nath Bose

Bose lived in Dhaka from 1926 to 1945, but the publication of research papers was not as frequent as before. This was probably because Bose’s interests kept changing from one problem to another. In 1945, Bose returned to Calcutta and was appointed Professor of Physics at the University of Calcutta. He retired from Calcutta University in 1956 and moved to Santiniketan, which was founded by the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore was well acquainted with Satyendra Nath Bose and had even dedicated his book Vishwa Parichay to Bose. However, the older people there did not take to Bose, which disappointed him greatly. In 1958, he had to return to Calcutta. In the same year, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and was also appointed National Professor. He remained in this post for the next 16 years (until his death).

Satyendra Nath Bose was a lover of fine arts and music. His friends used to say that apart from books and pictures of scientists like Einstein and Raman, a musical instrument called the yashraj was always present in his room. Bose used to play the yashraj and the flute. He was an expert at playing the yashraj. Bose’s love of music ranged from folk music, Indian music to Western music. Dhurjati Das was a friend of Bose. When Das was writing a book on Indian music, Bose gave him many suggestions. According to Das, if Bose had not been a scientist, he would have been a music teacher.

Undoubtedly, Einstein was the inspiration of Bose’s life. It is said that when Bose got the news of Einstein’s death, he cried emotionally. Einstein was like a superhero in the field of science and Bose revered him like a god.

If you want to learn more about Satyendra Nath Bose’s great contributions to the fields of mathematics and physics, please download the PDF “Satyendra Nath Bose’s Contribution to Mathematics and Physics.”

Awards

In 1974, Calcutta University organized an international seminar in honor of Bose. Many scientists from India and abroad participated. On this occasion, he said, “If a person spends many years of his life in struggle and at the end he feels that his work is being appreciated, then that person thinks that now he does not need to live any more.” A few days later, on February 4, 1974, Satyendra Nath Bose passed away.

Conclusion

Download the PDF of Satyendra Nath Bose Biography in English to delve deeper into the extraordinary life of this brilliant physicist.

Satyendra Nath Bose’s life and contributions have left an indelible mark on the world of physics. His collaboration with Albert Einstein led to the groundbreaking Bose-Einstein statistics, revolutionizing our understanding of matter and paving the way for the development of quantum mechanics. Bose’s dedication, intellect, and profound curiosity continue to inspire generations of scientists and serve as a reminder that a single individual can have a profound impact on the world.