(6 October 1893 – 16 February 1956) Great Indian Scientist
Meghnad Saha was an outstanding
Indian scientist. He made remarkable contribution in the field of
Astrophysics. Meghnad Saha was born on October 6, 1893 in Sheoratali, a
village in Daccadistrict, now in Bangladesh. He was the fifth child of his
parents, Sri Jagannath Saha and Smt. Bhubaneshwari Devi. His father was a
grocer in the village. He had his early education in the primary school of
the village.
As his family could hardly able to make both ends meet, Megbnad Saha
managed to pursue his schooling only due to the generosity of a local
medical practitioner, Ananta Kumar Das, who provided him with boarding and
lodging in his house.
In 1905 British government took the decision of partition of Bengal. There
was great political unrest in Bengal as popular opinion was against the
partition. Sir Bampfylde Fuller was governor of East Bengal at that time.
One day he came to visit the collegiate school, Meghnad Saha, along with
other students boycotted his visit. As a result he was suspended from the
school and his scholarship was terminated. He took admission in the
Kishorilal Jubilee School and passed the entrance examination of the
Calcutta University in 1909, standing first among the students from East
Bengal obtaining the highest marks in languages (English, Bengali,
Sanskrit) and in Mathematics.
In 1911, he ranked third in the ISC exam while the first position went to
another great scientist Satyend-anath Bose.
In 1917, Meghnad Saha joined as lecturer at the newly opened University
College of Science in Calcutta. He taught Quantum Physics. Along with S.
N. Bose he translated the papers published in German by Einstein and
Minkowski on relativity into English versions. In 1919, American
Astrophysical Journal published “On Selective Radiation Pressure and its
Application” -a research paper by Meghnad Saha. He put forward an "ionisation
formula" which explained the presence of the spectral lines. The formula
proved to be a breakthrough in astrophysics. He went abroad and stayed for
two years. He spent time in research at Imperial College, London and at a
research laboratory in Germany. In 1927, Meghand Saha was elected as a
fellow of London's Royal Society.
Meghnad Saha moved to Allahabad and in 1932 Uttar Pradesh Academy of
Science was established. He returned to Science College Calcutta, in 1938.
During this time Saha got interested in Nuclear Physics. In 1947, he
established Institute of Nuclear Physics which later was named after as
Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics. He took the first effort to include
Nuclear Physics in the curriculum of higher studies of science. Having
seen Cyclotrons used in research in nuclear physics abroad, he ordered one
to be installed in the institute. In 1950, India had its first cyclotron
in operation.
In 1952 he stood as an independent candidate for Parliament and was
elected by a large margin, he also got involved with Anushilan Samiti to
take part in freedom fighting movement. He also came in contact with
nationalists like Subhash Chandra Bose and Rajendra Prasad.
On February 16, 1956 this great, Indian scientist died due to a heart
attack leaving behind his unforgettable and great contribution in the
field of science.
