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History
of Science
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Contemporary
Ahmed Rafiuddin (Dentist)
Dr. Rafiuddin was a pioneer in the field of Dental Surgery in India.
He was the founder of the first Dental College and Hospital in India
at Calcutta in 1920. He was the principal of this college till 1950.
He started the first Dental Journal in India in 1924
and founded the Bengal Dental Association in 1925. He was instrumental
in getting the Bengal Dental Act passed 1930. Later the Indian Dental
Act was passed by the Parliament in 1948 due to his effort.
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Benjamin,
P.V. (Physician)
Dr. Benjamin was the 'Father of Anti-TB Movement' in India.
He was responsible for introducing the TB seals sale campaign in India
for developing TB Hospital at Mehrauli in Delhi. He also introduced
BCG Vaccination in the country. He won Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal in
1945, Padma Shri in 1955, Sir Robert Philip Gold Medal in 1945 and
TAI Gold Medal in 1969. |
Bhabha,
Homi Jehangir (Atomic Scientist)
Dr. Bhabha was the key person behind the growth of atomic energy
establishments in India. He was the Chairman, Atomic Energy
Commission in India from 1947-66. He conducted extensive research
in quantum theory and cosmic radiation. He calculated the cross-section
of electron positions scattering, popularly known as 'Bhabha
Scattering'. He won many prestigious awards including Adams
Prize in 1942, Hopkins Prize in 1948 and Padma Bhushan in 1954.
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Bhatnagar,
Shanti Swarup (Chemist)
Dr. Bhatnagar was one of the pioneer builders of scientific
institutions in India. He was the first Director of the Council
of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India from
1940-55. He established 12 national laboratories during his
tenure to provide research facilities to young scientists. In
his memory, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
started awarding annually the 'Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize'
to outstanding young scientists for their research achievements
in seven disciplines of Science and Technology. He was an Elected
Fellow of Royal Society, London, 1943. |
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Bose,
Jagadish Chandra (Physicist)
Dr. Bose was a distinguished Indian scientist, who proved that
plants respond to pain and suffering much like humans even when
the plants are cut or transplanted. To prove his theory, he
invented an instrument called the 'Resonate Recorder',
it was so sensitive that it could record the subtlest of changes
inside a plant. He made outstanding research on electrophysiology
of excitation in plant and animal tissues. He was an Elected
Fellow of Royal Society, London, 1920. Sir, J.C. Bose did his
original research in the area of Microwaves. He produced extremely
short waves and has done considerable improvement upon Hertz's
Detector of electric waves. The Bose Institute was founded
in Calcutta to perpetuate his memory.
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Brahmachari,
Upendranath (Physician)
Dr. Brahmachari was considered as the 'Living Dictionary
of Medicine' of his time. He discovered the use of 'Urea
Stibamine' a potential remedy in the treatment of Kala-agar,
a dreaded killer in Bengal and Assam. He also made outstanding
contribution for the treatment of Quarantine Fever in India.
He established the First Blood Bank in India at Calcutta
and the second of its kind in the world in September 1939. |
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Chopra, Ram
Nath (Col. Sir) (Physician)
Dr. Chopra will be remembered as the 'Father of Indian Pharmacology'.
He was specially interested in chemotherapy of tropical diseases.
He authored most authentic pharameopaedias in India.
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Dhawan,
Satish (Aeronautical Engineer)
Professor Dhawan was a renowned space scientist who made indelible
mark in the development of space research in India. He was the
youngest and the longest serving Director of the Indian Institute
of Science, Bangalore. He was the first Secretary of the Department
of Space. He also worked as the Chairman of Space Commission
and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It was under
his leadership that India launched its first satellite "Aryabhata".
The launch of Bhaskara I, second experimental launch of SLV-3
which successfully placed the Rohini satellite in orbit, RS-D1,
APPLE Satellite, Bhaskara II, INSAT IA, RS-D2, INSAT-IB and
the Indo-Soviet space mission took place during his term. The
ambitious satellite instructional Television Experiment and
the Satellite Telecommunication Experiments were carried out
under his able guidance. Professor Dhawan stressed on development
of multipurpose satellite like INSAT, which is used for communication,
education, meteorology and broadcasting. He has received several
national and international awards, such as Padma Shri, 1966;
Padma Bhushan, 1971; Padma Vibhushan, 1981; Alumini distinguished
Service Award, California Institute of Technology in 1969 etc.
In September 2003, the premier Space Centre at Sriharikota,
was named in his honour as the 'Satish Dhawan Space
Centre'. |
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Hakim
Ajmal Khan (Unani)
Hakim Ajmal Khan was born in 1864 in Delhi. He excelled simultaneously
in diverse fields of politics, medicine and education. He was
the General Secretary of Hindu Mahasabha in 1911 session, Secretary
of Muslim League in 1917 and President of Indian National Congress
in 1921. He was the founder of Hindustani Dawakhana at Ballimaran
(Delhi), which is a perfect legacy of the Unani System of Medicine
in India. He started the Tibbia College at Karol Bagh which
was rechristened in 1924 as the Tibbia College of Ayurveda
and Unani. Hakim Ajmal Khan was awarded the title of 'Masih-ul-Mulk'
(Messiah of Masses); 'Qaiser-e-Hind' (the King of
Masses) and 'Haziq-ul-Mulk' (Helper of Masses). |
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Hameed,
Abdul (Unani)
Born on 14 September 1908. He was the son of Hafiz Abdul Majeed,
the founder of the famous Hamdard Dawakhana. Dr. Hameed took
charge of Hamdard Dawakhana at an early age. He made tireless
effort to raise Hamdard Dawakhana to one of the premier institutions
of Asia. He utilised his entire income and resources for the
promotion and growth of Unani System of Medicine in India. He
established several institutes including Hamdard National Foundation;
Institute of History of Medicine and Medical Research; Majeedia
Hospital; Indian Institute of Islamic Studies; Ghalib Academy;
Hamdard College of Pharmacy; Rabea Girls School; Hamdard Education
Society etc. Hameed Abdul was awarded Avicenna Award in 1983,
Padma Shri in 1965 and World's Best Hakim by the Government
of Iran in 1995. |
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Iyengar,
Malur Srinivasa Thirumale (Engineer-Civil)
Mr. Iyengar was closely associated with the planning and execution
of Mettur, Tungabhadra and Hirakund dam. The Mettur dam was the
first big dam project of India. He was the person behind the planning,
investigation and drawing of these dam projects, which earned great
admiration on completion from India and Abroad. He was awarded Padma
Bhushan in 1956.
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Kotnis, Dwarkanath
(Physician)
Dr. Kotnis was a legendary Indian doctor and social worker who did
China and his own country proud during the Japanese invasion of
China in 1930s. He went to China with an Indian Medical Team during
1938 to tend Mao Zedon's soldiers. During his tenure he became the
Director of the International Peace Hospital. He married Guo Quinlan,
a fellow medical worker in China. They named their only son 'Yin
Hua' (means India-China). He was held in high esteem by the people
of China and India for his selfless service. To perpetuate his memory,
V. Shantaram made a documentary on his life entitled 'Dr. Kotnis
ki Amar Kahani'. Government of India also issued a commemorative
postal stamp on 9-12-1993.
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Mahalanobis,
Prasanta Chandra (Statistician)
Professor Mahalanobis made valuable contributions to the development
of statistical science in India. He was the founder and builder
of the Indian Statistical Institute. He was the founder and
Editor of the Journal Sankhya of the Institute.
Under his able guidance the Cenral Statiscal Organisation and
the National Sample Survey came into being. He received many
national and international awards including Weldon Medal, Oxford
University, 1944; Gold Medal, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences,
1963, Padma Vibhushan, 1968 etc. |
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Mudaliar,
A. Ramaswami (Engineer)
The greatest contribution made by Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar was the
establishment of the Board of Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research. He succeeded in establishing contact between science and
industry in the country. He took initiative to start Journal
of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
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Mukherjee,
Ashutosh (Sir) (Mathematician)
Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee worked as the Vice-Chancellor of the
Calcutta University from 1906-1924. The Bengal Technical Institute
was founded by his initiative in 1906. He made tireless effort
to establish the University College of Science in 1914. He approached
different people to raise fund for the establishment of the
Calcutta University College of Science, which became the first
and foremost institute of scientific education and research
in the country. Hence in the history of the progress of science
education in India, Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee's name will always
be written in letters of gold. |
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Pal, Benjamin
Peary (Botanist)
Dr. Benjamin Peary Pal has done outstanding scientific work in the
breeding of disease-resistant varieties of wheat. He stressed the
value of inter-specific and inter genetic hybrids and the study
of the genetics of rust resistance and other desired characters.
One of the wheat bred by him i.e. NP809 is a landmark in the history
of wheat-breeding programme. He also made valuable research in potato
breeding. He won many prestigious awards including Rafi Ahmed Kidwai
Memorial Prize, 1957; Padma Shri, 1958; Padma Bhushan, 1968; Padma
Vibhushan, 1987 etc.
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Ramanujan,
Srinivasa (Mathematician)
Ramanujan
was a pure mathematician of the highest order who worked on
the theory of pure numbers, theory of partitions and theory
of continued fractions. Ramanujan introduced himself and his
work of about 100 theorems in his first letter to G H Hardy.
In 1914, Hardy brought Ramanujan to Trinity College, Cambridge.
In the Cambridge University he worked with Hardy who recorded
his astonishing capability of mental calculation of very large
numbers. To him mathematics was a game of numbers.
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Ray,
Prafulla Chandra (Chemist)
Dr. P.C. Ray was a pioneer who promoted chemical education,
research and chemical industries in India. He built a small
laboratory in his residence and conducted many experiments there.
He successfully prepared phosphate of soda crystals (used as
nerve tonics) from waste cattle bones and sulphuric acid. His
main contribution to chemistry was the discovery of mercurious
nitrite in 1896. His small experimental laboratory developed
into a biggest modern chemical firm the Bengal Chemicals
and Pharmaceutical Works. Today, he is recognized as the
'Father of India's Chemical Industry'. |
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Sarabhai,
Vikram Ambalal (Physicist)
Dr. Sarabhai contributed outstanding research work on the time
variations of cosmic rays. He was responsible for the foundation
of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. He was a pioneer
in space research in India. He planned the project of India's
first satellite, Aryabhata. Unfortunately he did not live to
see the launch of Aryabhata in 1975. He also planned the Satellite
Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), which came into
operation in 1975-76. He emphasized that India should make use
of space research in the field of communication, education,
meteorology, geodesy, remote sensing and other areas. He died
at an early age, on 31 December 1971, when he was only 52.
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Zaidi, Sibte
Hasan (Physician)
He was the founder Director of Industrial Toxicological Research
Centre, Lucknow which looks after various problems related to industrial
toxicology. He made tireless effort to introduce the subject industrial
toxicology in the academic courses and curriculum of various universities
for the first time in the country. He won Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar
Prize, 1963; Sir Ardeshir Dalal Memorial Gold Medal, 1925; William
P. Yant Memorial Award, American Industrial Hygiene Association;
Padma Shri, 1977 and Venezuelan Award of Honour.
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