7 Famous Indian Scientists whose Wonderful Inventions Changed the Course of History

India’s legacy in scientific enhancements stretches from groundbreaking ancient discoveries in mathematics and astronomy to new-age inventions in science and technology. We have produced a cadre of fascinating scientists who transform ed the world with their incredible innovations. Their contributions to nuclear physics, medicine, programming and several other domains got them global recognition. But, wait, do you know about them? If not, here are 7 notable Indian scientists and their remarkable inventions.

Jagadish Chandra Bose

Jagadish Chandra Bose was an exceptional Indian physicist, botanist and mathematician born in a Bengali Kayastha family on 30th November 1858. He investigated radio microwave optics and conducted revolutionary research on plant physiology with an instrument called Crescograph.

Born in a Bengali Kayastha family, he completed his graduation from the University of Kolkata in 1879. At the university, he met Father Eugene Lafont who played a vital role in developing his interest in the Natural sciences.

Bose researched radio waves to study the nature of the different phenomena and not for communication. However, his study influenced many scientists such as Marconi, Lodge and others who were conducting research on radio waves for communication. A remarkable thing about Bose was that he freely shared his work and inventions and was not interested in patenting his work.

He demonstrated in the town hall of Kolkata how radio waves could travel through walls, people's bodies and the air. Bose transmitted a wireless signal from one lecture hall to a room which was 23 meters away and there were three intervening walls in between. He conducted this experiment a year before Alexander S Popov and two years before Guglielmo Marconi demonstrated their respective experiments. Also, he was the first to use a semiconductor junction for radio wave detection.

Another significant invention of Jagadish Chandra Bose was a crescograph, which he used to measure the response of plants to different stimuli. His work in this field led to the hypothesis that plants could feel pain and they responded to sweet talks. From his analogies, one could estimate how emotionally and intellectually he was connected to them. One striking comparison he made was hitting a plant with a cane and a teacher pulling a schoolboy's ears, expecting growth in both cases. However, the opposite was true. Bose pointed out that just as the harsh treatment of the teacher hindered a child's development, it stunted the growth of plants as well. Jagadish Chandra Bose also wrote science fiction stories such as Niruddhesher Kahini and many more like this.

C. V Raman

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was an Indian physicist, who was born in the Madras Presidency of British India on 7 November 1888. He made his mark in the global community through his work in light scattering, known as Raman scattering or Raman effect. Chandrasekhara received the prestigious Nobel Prize in 1930 for his revolutionary discovery. He was the first Asian to receive a Nobel Prize in science.

Born in a Tamil Iyer Brahmin family, Chandrasekhara completed his graduation and post-graduation from the University of Madras. He published two scientific papers in a British journal during that time.

His brother was in the prestigious government service in India- the Indian Finance Service. Following his steps, he took the entrance examination of the service and got first rank. He served IFS for ten years, however; it became difficult for him to balance both the service and his drive to be a scientist. In 1917, he quit his job and devoted his life to conducting experiments at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS). But how Raman effect was discovered?

In 1921, he was invited to Europe to attend the Congress of Universities, where he met British physicists such as Ernest Rutherford. While he was returning to India from a voyage, he saw the deep blue colour of the sea and wondered why. Though he knew about Rayleigh's explana tion that the sea reflected the colour of the sky, he used a Nicol quartz prism to see the water and found it to be more blue, contradicting Rayleigh. On reaching Kolkata, he further conducted the research and concluded that the colour of the sea was blue because of the scattering of the sunlight by the water molecules of the sea. After this discovery, he focused on the phenomenon behind the light scattering, which led to the discovery of the Raman effect.

According to the Raman effect, when light is passed through a medium, a fraction of the light that scattered changes its wavelength (colour) because of its interaction with the molecules of the medium. This change in wavelength helps analyze the molecular structure of a material.

Homi J Bhabha

Homi J. Bhabha was a well-renowned Indian nuclear physicist who laid the foundation of the nation’s nuclear energy program. He was the founding director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Atomic Energy establishment, which was later renamed as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. He got the Padma Bhushan, Adams Prize and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951.

Born in a wealthy Parsi family, Bhabha completed his engineering at Cambridge University and worked at the renowned Cavendish Laboratory, which during that time was the hub of exceptional discoveries. He publishes several papers during his engineering and PHD on electromagnetic waves and more. Bhabha, for his thesis on “Cosmic radiation and annihilation of positrons and electrons,” received his doctrine in the year 1935. In the same year, he published a paper in which he estimated the cross-section of the electron-positron scattering. This scattering was later named after him and called Bhabha scattering.

During the Second World War, he returned to India and accepted a post at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. He met with many famous scientists, such as C. V. Raman, Vikram Sarabhai and many more during his time in Bengaluru. He was the one who convinced the then Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, to establish atomic energy institutions such as the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Bhabha Atomic Energy Centre.

Bhabha also helped reduce India’s dependency on uranium by focusing on extracting thorium reserves and using it for nuclear power generation. Moreover, he was against the use of India’s manufacturing atomic bombs, even when we had the essential resources for it.

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Srinivasa Ramanujan was an extraordinary Indian mathematician who made significant contributions to number theory, mathematical analysis, infinite series and more. Ramanujan had no formal training in mathematics and did all his research on his own. He was born in a Tamil Brahmin Iyengar family on 22 December 1887, and his birthday is marked as National Mathematics Day in India.

He was brilliant in mathematics from a very young age, but his great love for mathematics made him neglect other subjects such as English and Sanskrit as he grew up. Because of this, he couldn’t complete his college, but he kept doing his independent research on mathematics while fighting poverty. His work in mathematics got him recognition in the mathematical circles of the Madras (Now known as Chennai)

Srinivasa Ramanujan's life changed after some of his friends introduced his work to the district collector, R. Ramachandra Rao, who first doubted his work because of his academic integrity, but later get convinced when he listened to Srinivasa discussion on mathematical concepts such as elliptic integrals and many more. Ramanujan was in desperate need of a job and his mathematical skills and recommendations from people such as Rao helped him get a job as an accounting clerk with a good monthly salary. Ramanujan used to complete all the work given to him in no time and utilized the remaining time to solve mathematics problems. He got continuous encouragement from his colleagues, S. Narayana Iyer and Sir Francis, for his mathematical pursuits.

Iyer and Francis tried to show Ramanujan's work to British mathematicians such as M.J.M Hill. They, however, said that he had the ability but did not have the necessary educational background. After that, Ramanujan sent his papers to G.H. Hardy. Hardy was impressed by his work and showed it to Littlewood- His work also impressed him. Hardy invited Ramanujan to England for collaboration, gave him better resources and introduced him to other proficient mathematicians.

In England, he works extensively on various fields of mathematics, from number theory and infinite series to modular forms. He also collaborated with the mathematician G. H. Hardy, who helped solve many of his intrusive work. However, instead of all the mathematical success of Ramanujan, he faced several hardships in England such as he got ill because of the cold climate of England and his strict vegetarian diet.

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis was a well-renowned Indian mathematician and statistician who created Mahalanobis distance and played a prominent role in formulating India’s second five-year plan. Born in a Brahmin family in Kolkata on 29th June 1893, he completed his bachelor's degree in 1912.

It is said that when he was in Cambridge with his friend; he was introduced to the statistics journal Biometrika. It interested him so much that he took a set of it to India. During his trip back to India, he discovered that statistics can be used in various fields, such as anthropology and metrology.

He founded the Mahalanobis  distance, which helps measure the distance between a point and a distribution. One of the most common applications of Mahalanobis is finding an uncommon combination of one or two variables. For example, it is common to find a 5’8” tall student weighing 68 kg, but it is unusual to find a 5’8” tall student weight 138 kg. Prashant also introduced pilot surveys and pushed for sampling methods. A well-renowned American statistician Harold Hotelling once said that no technique for sampling that has been developed is as effective as Prasanta Mahalanobis.

Mahalanobis, along with his colleagues such as R.N. Mukherji, Nikhil Ranjan Sen, and Pramantha Nath Banerji, established the Indian Statistical Institute. Also, he made significant contributions to the second five-year plan by emphasizing India’s then government to focus on rapid industrialization on the two-sector model in which two variants of his mahanabolis distance were used. He received several awards for his work in statistics, such as Padma Vibhushan, Srinivasa Ramanujan Gold medal and many more.

Vikram Sarabhai

Vikram Sarabhai was a famous Indian astrophysicist who laid the foundation for Indian space research. He is also regarded as the father of the Indian space program and received numerous National Awards for his significant work in space, such as Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan.

Born in a Jain family in Gujurat, he completed his higher studies at Gujurat College and earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge. After completing his doctorate, he founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) at his residence in Ahmedabad. However, on 11th November 1947, the institute was formally founded at the M.G. Institute in Ahmedabad with the support of many educational foundations.

Sarabhai's interests were not only limited to space science- he laid the foundation for our nation's first research organizations, such as the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Textile Research Association, and more. He, along with his wife, Mrinalini Sarabhai, who was a classical dancer, established the Darpana Academy of Performing Arts.

One of the significant achievements of Vikram Sarabhai is the establishment of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). He is credited with convincing the newly formed government of India to invest money in a space program.

Under the leadership of Sarabhai, India launched its first space satellite, Aryabhata, in 1975. Also, he set the stage for the development of India’s first telecommunication satellite- the INSAT series. He also played a vital role in developing India’s first rocket launching station in Kerala. Some notable papers published by Vikram Sarabhai are the time variation of cosmic rays, the effect of latitude on cosmic rays intensity, cosmic rays intensity at high altitudes and more. 

A.P.J Abdul Kalam

Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was a well-renowned Indian aerospace scientist and the 11th president of India. He played a vital role in developing missiles and nuclear weapons for India. He was the chief coordinator of the second most prestigious nuclear test that India conducted in 1998- Pokhran II.

Kalam was born into a Muslim family in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, on 15th October 1931. He was bright in his studies from his early childhood and completed his school education at St. Joseph College in Tiruchirappalli. He moved to Madras (Present Chennai) to complete his studies in aerospace engineering at the Madras Institute of Technology. After completing his engineering, he joined the DRDO’s (Defence Research and Development Organisation) aeronautical development. The first director of the India launch station- Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, H.G.S. Murthy, recruited him into ISRO.

He oversaw the development of the Rohini satellite, which was launched into near-Earth orbit in 1980 by India’s first space satellite (SLV-III). The foundation of the Indian space programme PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and SLV were developed with major assistance from Dr. Kalam. He was the director of India’s two daring ballistic missile projects- Project Devil and Project Vaillant. He was the chief scientific advisor to Atal Bihari Vajpayee who was the prime minister of India from 1992 to 1999. During this time, India conducted the Pokhran-II test, which showcased India’s nuclear capability to the world.

In 1998, he and Soma Raju created a low-cost coronary stent, which was named the Kalam-Reju stent. These two created a tablet computer called Kalam-Raju in an attempt to provide healthcare to rural people. He won numerous awards for his extraordinary work, which includes our nation's highest honours, such as Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. Some of his popular works are Wings of Fire, India 2020: A Vision for the New Millenium and more.

The Bottom Line

These are the remarkable contributions of our great scientists, which transformed science, technology, our nation and the entire world. Being students, you should honour their legacy and put more effort into research to carry forward their spirit. So, next time when you open your science or maths book, remember these wonderful brains and strive to make your own mark in science and beyond.