National Science is observed every year on February 28 across India. It is celebrated to mark the contribution of scientists towards the development of the country. On this day, famous physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman discovered the Raman Effect in 1930. He was also awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering the Raman effect.

Here we are sharing the wishes, quotes, and messages that you can share to celebrate National Science day.

National Science Day 2022 Wishes

• Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also, one of romance and passion. Happy National Science Day!
• Science is that tool that has given us the power to change this world and therefore, we must use it wisely. Warm wishes on National Science Day to everyone.
• Science is a great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition. Happy National Science Day!
• Wishing you a very National Science Day. Science is the way to learn many new things in life and satisfy your questions with knowledge.
• The occasion of National Science Day reminds us all the way science has contributed to our life. Wishing a very Happy National Science Day to all.
• Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. Happy National Science Day!

National Science Day 2022 Quotes

• The essence of science is independent thinking, hard work, and not equipment. When I got my Nobel Prize, I had spent hardly 200 rupees on my equipment – C. V. Raman
• The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it ― Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science. ― Charles Darwin
•  In the first English class I attended, Prof. E H. Elliot, addressing me, asked if I belonged to the Junior B. A class and I had to answer him in the affirmative. He then proceeded to inquire how old I was. – C. V. Raman

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Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman is known as the most prominent scientist in the history of India. He is known for his acclaimed work in science and he has also won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1930. C.V. Raman was born on November 7, 1988, in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu.

C.V. Raman was a very sincere and intelligent student and he passed his matriculation at the age of 11. He completed his class 12 at the age of 13, that too with a scholarship.

For those who don’t know, C.V. Raman gave the examination of the Financial Civil Sevices (FCS) and he topped it with flying colors. In 1907, he joined as Assistant Accountant General in Kolkata. However, he never failed to do the science practice in laboratories which he used to do at night.

Later, he left the job of an accountant and joined as a Professor at the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore from 1933-1948, and after that, he became the director of the Raman Institute of Research at Bangalore.

C.V. Raman published his work on the Molecular Diffraction of Light in 1922 that led to his discovery of the radiation effect and on February 28, 1928, he earned the Nobel Prize in Physics.

He passed away in the year 1970 in Bangalore. At that time, he was 82.

Dr. C.V. Raman was awarded a number of awards including the Franklin Medal in 1941, Bharat Ratna in 1954, Lenin Peace Price in 1957.

People also commemorate the Raman Effect and it is celebrated as National Science Day. This day is observed on February 28, every year.

In other news, the Indian Oil Corporation has invited candidates for 527 vacancies among technical and non-technical apprentices at the Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s Eastern Region(MD). The recruitments will be made under the Apprentices Act, 1961.  

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~By Dr Hardev Singh Virk

It is a part of folklore about Indian science that Sir C V Raman made his Nobel-prize winning discovery in 1928 using instruments which cost just a few hundred rupees. A new book by a science historian has busted this myth.

Dr Rajinder Singh, a well-known historian of science, in his new book titled C.V. Raman’s Laboratory and Discovery of the Raman Effect, has brought to light certain hidden aspects of the Nobel laureate’s life and work. This is Singh’s third book on Raman.

The book provides full account of how Raman and his students created and perpetuated myth that Raman Effect was discovered by spending just 200 to 500 Indian Rupees. The myth was floated and publicized in national newspapers (The Bharat Joyti, National Herald, Indian News Chronicle) in 1940s and in the memoirs written by Raman’s students. It was projected that the facilities available at the Indian Association for Cultivation of Science (IACS), Calcutta, where Raman did his experimental work, were poor.

In newspaper interviews Raman himself spoke about poor facilities available for Indian scientists. The cost of equipment used by Raman, as mentioned in newspaper articles, ranged between Rs 200 and Rs 500. Raman’s biographer and one of his former students, A. Jayaraman, wrote that “the equipment which Raman employed for the discovery was very simple and amounted to a total cost of 500 Rupees at the time.”

The new book provides a detailed list of instruments used by Raman with their cost. Their total cost has been worked out to be Rupees 7630, excluding money spent on chemicals, which cost a handsome amount those days. It details the circumstances and instruments used during discovery of Raman Effect step by step on the basis of the diary of his co-scientist K S Krishnan from February 16, 1928 onwards. The chapter is a compendium of instruments such as mercury lamps, light filters, spectroscopes and other accessories required for Raman’s investigations leading to his discovery and the Nobel Prize.

Raman started his research activity in 1907 at IACS and it included areas as diverse as acoustics, optics, X-rays, and crystallography. His research team included the best talent available in India, as shown in the book. The library of IACS subscribed to 100 popular scientific journals from Europe. Thus the research facilities were not only adequate but almost ‘unlimited’, according to the author. It was Raman’s dream to make IACS an international centre of research in India.

“Raman had a huge team of 36 trained researchers; well-equipped laboratories and workshops, and his own journal. Thus under these circumstances, it is wrong to tell that Raman worked under ‘poor’ conditions,” the book has pointed out.

In the chapter titled “Instruments for the Discovery of Raman Effect”, Singh laments that “as far as India is concerned, the history of scientific instruments is relatively unknown. Even the instruments ‘made’ or bought by renowned physicists like C V Raman, M N Saha and S N Bose have not been properly preserved”.

The book points out that Raman was in the habit of complaining about poor conditions, especially after his visits to European laboratories. In a letter written to the Registrar of Calcutta University, he boasted: “From the experience I have gained in travelling in different parts of the world and visiting the great centres where experimental research in physics is carried on, I can assert without hesitation that the facilities available to the Palit Professor of Physics for the carrying on his duties at the College of Science are miserable in the extreme.”

Besides the instruments used by Raman, the book provides an account of Raman’s general activities as a faculty member, his opponents at the University of Calcutta and the international honours received by him as Palit Professor.

Asutosh Mookerjee, an educationist and judge who later became Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University, was a staunch supporter of the scientist. Raman was made Palit Professor of Physics even when he had no foreign research degree equivalent to D.Sc and that too on his own terms and conditions against the rules of the University. However, Raman proved his worth by winning a Nobel Prize in 1930.

Raman was provided “Ghose Travelling Fellowship” under which he could visit most of the research laboratories in Europe, USA and Canada. He wrote a proposal for expanding his research activities after such visits which was rejected by the university. He wanted to change rules for Ph.D. registration but the University Senate did not approve the idea. Raman fully participated in university administration and accepted assignments in various academic bodies of the university. He preferred Bengali as medium of instruction over Sanskrit.

The most interesting section in the book talks about Raman’s so-called opponents at the university. In one instance, Raman annoyed J C Bose by offering higher salary to his trustworthy mechanic to uproot him from the Bose Institute. Raman was highly critical of research work of J C Bose and did not spare a moment to criticise him even after his death. The other scientists of the Calcutta School who did not see eye to eye with Raman were M N Saha, B S Guha, U N Brahmachari and Ganesh Prasad. The author has revealed his acumen to bring to light the reasons for the conflict between the dons of Calcutta University and Raman.

Ultimately, all opposition to Raman fizzled out after he got international honours as Palit Professor. He was conferred the Fellowship of Royal Society London, Knighthood of British Empire, and the highest award in Physics, the Nobel Prize. I want to finish my review with brilliant but somewhat sarcastic remarks of Arnab Ray Choudhury: “Raman as a scientist possessed many extraordinary qualities – brilliance of mind, astute intuition, dogged determination, tenacity, an almost unbelievable capacity for hard work – certainly modesty was not one of his qualities”. (India Science Wire)

About the book

Author: Rajinder Singh, University of Oldenburg, Germany

Publisher: Shaker Verlag GmbH, Aachen, Germany

Year of Publication: 2018; Price: 21.90 Euro; Pages: xvi + 153.

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