Famous Indian Physicists: The inventions and contributions of our Indian physicists have changed the face of science for the country and for the world. They are celebrated internationally and are acclaimed for their research works, findings, and innovations that are being studied and taught all over the globe. Here we will talk about the top 10 Indian physicists who had major contributions to how we witness Science and its development these days.
List of Top 10 Indian Physicists
Sir C.V. Raman (1888-1970)
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman FRS was an Indian physicist and a household name, known for research and findings in the field of light scattering. He along with his student discovered that when light traverses a transparent material, the deflected light changes its wavelength and frequency. The invention was named after his name and is known as the ‘Raman Effect.’
Satyendranath Bose (1894-1974)
Satyendra Nath Bose FRS was a physicist who specialized in theoretical physics. Apart from that, he was also a renowned mathematician and is majorly known for his contribution to the field of Quantum Mechanics. He was the man behind the ‘Bose-Einstein Condensate’ invention. His research work also led to the formation of the Large Hadron Collider.
Meghnad Saha (1893-1956)
Meghnad Saha FRS was a prominent Indian astrophysicist and was also famous for his other notable scientific works. Meghnad Saha FRS developed the Saha ionization equation duringhis professional life. His research and findings were really helpful for astronomers to accurately relate the spectral classes of stars to their actual temperatures.
Homi J. Bhabha (1909-1966)
Regarded as the ‘Father of Indian Nuclear Programme’, Homi Jehangir Bhabha is celebrated for his unfathomable contribution to Nuclear Physics. He also founded the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and the Trombay Atomic Energy Establishment, which was later renamed as Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). He was honoured by the University of Cambridge with the Adams Prize in 1942 and the Padma Bhushan later in 1954.
Subrahmanyam Chandrashekhar (1910-1995)
Subrahmanyam Chandrashekhar was a celebrated astrophysicist who got famous for his theory of the ‘Chandrashekhar Limit’. During his tenure, he did research work in various fields like quantum theory on the hydrogen anion, radiative transfers, theory of white dwarfs and stellar dynamics. He spent most of his professional life in the United States as he was basically an Indian-American theoretical physicist. He was recognised with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983.
Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971)
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai gained recognition as the father of India’s space program. Apart from being a physicist, he was also an astronomer who initiated space research and helped develop nuclear power in India. In 1996, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan and was later honoured by the Padma Vibhushan in 1972.
G.N Ramachandran (1922-2001)
Gopalasamudram Narayanan Ramachandran, or G.N. Ramachandran, FRS was an acclaimed Indian physicist known for his research work in X-ray microscope and crystal physics. His findings also led to the creation of the Ramachandran plot which was created to understand the peptide structure. G.N. Ramachandran was also the first physicist to propose the triple-helical model for the structure of collagen.
Jayant Narlikar (1938)
Jayant Vishnu Narlikar is a renowned Indian astrophysicist. He is also an emeritus professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics. He is majorly known to develop the conformal gravity theory along with Sir Fred Hoyle. The finding is also known as Hoyle–Narlikar theory and it synthesises Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and Mach’s principle.
Harish Chandra (1923-1983)
Harish-Chandra FRS was an Indian American mathematician and physicist who was known for his fundamental research and findings in representation theory, especially harmonic analysis on semisimple Lie groups. During this tenure, he patented many of his formulas and theories under his name.
Sandip Chakrabarti (1958)
Sandip Chakrabarti is known as one of India’s renowned astrophysicists. He chose IIT-Kanpur to complete his M.Sc degree and went on to do a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Sandip Chakrabarti is known for the research work he did in astrophysics and planetary motions. He was the first physicist at the 3rd Hunsville, Alabama Conference on Gamma Ray Bursts to suggest in 1995 that Gamma Ray Bursts are the birth cry of black holes.