Bose, Satyendra Nath

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{{epname|Bose, Satyendra Nath}}
 
{{Infobox_Scientist  
 
{{Infobox_Scientist  
|name = Satyendra Nath Bose
+
|name = Satyendra Nath Bose
 
|image = AatyenBose1925.jpg
 
|image = AatyenBose1925.jpg
|caption = Satyendra Nath Bose
+
|caption = Satyendra Nath Bose
 
|birth_date = January 1,1894
 
|birth_date = January 1,1894
 
|birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[India]]
 
|birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[India]]
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|doctoral_advisor = [[Jagdish Chandra Bose]]
 
|doctoral_advisor = [[Jagdish Chandra Bose]]
 
|doctoral_students =  
 
|doctoral_students =  
|known_for = [[Bose-Einstein statistics]]
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|known_for = [[Bose-Einstein statistics]]
 
|prizes =  
 
|prizes =  
 
|religion =  
 
|religion =  
 
|footnotes = Note that Bose did not have a doctorate, but obtained an MSc in 1915 and therefore did not have a doctoral advisor. However his equivalent mentor was [[Jagdish Chandra Bose]].
 
|footnotes = Note that Bose did not have a doctorate, but obtained an MSc in 1915 and therefore did not have a doctoral advisor. However his equivalent mentor was [[Jagdish Chandra Bose]].
 
}}
 
}}
<!Image with questionable fair-use claim removed: [[Image:Satyendra Nath Bose stamp.jpg|frame|right|Satyendra Nath Bose on an Indian stamp]] —>
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'''Satyendra Nath Bose''' ({{Unicode|/sɐθ.jin.ðrɐ nɑθ bos/}} {{lang-bn|সত্যেন্দ্র নাথ বসু}}) (January 1, 1894 &ndash; February 4, 1974) was a [[Bengali]] [[Indian]] [[physicist]], specializing in [[mathematical physics]]. He is best known for his work on [[quantum mechanics]] in the early 1920s, providing the foundation for [[Bose-Einstein statistics]] and the theory of the [[Bose-Einstein condensate]]. He is honored as the namesake of the [[boson]]. Although he was not awarded the [[Nobel Prize]], more than one such prize was awarded for research related to the concepts of the boson, Bose-Einstein statistics and Bose-Einstein condensate&mdash;the latest being the 2001 Nobel Prize in [[Physics]], which was given for advancing the theory of Bose-Einstein condensates. Among his other talents, Bose knew many languages and also could play ''[[Esraj]]'' (a musical instrument similar to a [[violin]]) very well.
  
'''Satyendra Nath Bose''' ({{Unicode|/sɐθ.jin.ðrɐ nɑθ bos/}} {{lang-bn|সত্যেন্দ্র নাথ বসু}}) (January 1, 1894 &ndash; February 4, 1974) was a [[Bengali people|Bengali]] [[India|Indian]] [[physicist]], specializing in [[mathematical physics]]. He is best known for his work on [[quantum mechanics]] in the early 1920s, providing the foundation for [[Bose-Einstein statistics]] and the theory of the [[Bose-Einstein condensate]]. He is honored as the namesake of the [[boson]].
+
In his book, ''The Scientific Edge'', noted physicist [[Jayant Narlikar]] observed:
  
Although more than one [[Nobel Prize]] was awarded for research related to the concepts of the [[boson]], [[Bose-Einstein statistics]] and [[Bose-Einstein condensate]] &mdash; the latest being the 2001 Nobel Prize in [[Physics]], which was given for advancing the theory of Bose-Einstein condensates, Bose himself was never awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]]. Among his other talents, Bose knew many languages and also could play ''[[Esraj]]'' (a musical instrument similar to a [[violin]]) very well.
+
"S.N. Bose’s work on particle statistics (c. 1922), which clarified the behaviour of [[photon]]s (the [[particle (physics)|particles]] of [[light]] in an enclosure) and opened the door to new ideas on statistics of Microsystems that obey the rules of quantum theory, was one of the top ten achievements of twentieth-century Indian science and could be considered in the Nobel Prize class."<ref> Jayant V. Narlikar, ''The Scientific Edge'', Penguin Books, 2003, 127. The work of other twentieth-century Indian scientists who Narlikar considered to be of Nobel Prize class were [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]], [[Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman]], and [[Meghnad Saha]]. </ref>
 +
{{toc}}
 +
==Early life and Career==
  
In his book, ''The Scientific Edge'', the noted physicist [[Jayant Narlikar]] observed:
+
Bose was born in [[Kolkata]] (Calcutta), [[West Bengal]], [[India]], the eldest of seven children and only son. Bose became known as S.N. Bose in the scientific community, but was called Satyen Bose in his native Bengal. His father, Surendranath Bose, worked as an accountant in the [[Engineering]] Department of the [[East India Railway]]. Surendranath was inclined towards mathematics, and was interested in several branches of science. He even founded a small chemical and pharmaceutical company. Apart from science and mathematics, S.N. Bose’s father was also involved with philosophical studies, including the Hindu scriptures like [[Bhagwad-gita]]. In 1964, Surendranath Bose died at the age of ninety-six, after having witnessed Satyen Bose’s seventieth birthday.
  
"S.N. Bose’s work on particle statistics (c. 1922), which clarified the behaviour of [[photon]]s (the [[particle (physics)|particles]] of [[light]] in an enclosure) and opened the door to new ideas on statistics of Microsystems that obey the rules of quantum theory, was one of the top ten achievements of 20th century Indian science and could be considered in the Nobel Prize class." <ref> ''The Scientific Edge'' by Jayant V. Narlikar, Penguin Books, 2003, page 127. The work of other twentieth-century Indian scientists who Narlikar considered to be of Nobel Prize class were [[Srinivasa Ramanujan]], [[Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman]], and [[Meghnad Saha]]. </ref>
+
Bose started to attend [[Hindu School]] in Calcutta when he was only 13 years of age, and later attended [[Presidency College, Kolkata|Presidency College]], also in Calcutta, earning the highest marks at each institution. At Presidency College Bose met other contemporary scholars, including Meghnad Saha, with whom he became a close friend. Bose finished studies here with first rank in both B.S. (Bachelors in Science) and M.S. (Masters in Science). During his final year, he was wed (in an arranged marriage) to 11-year-old Ushabala Ghosh. They had two sons and five daughters (apart from two other who died in infancy).  
  
==Early life and Career==
+
It was a time of great political unrest, and career outlook was not good. Ioan James of “Remarkable Physicists: From Galileo to Yukawa” stated, “…the Indianization of education was creating opportunities for able youngsters like Bose and Saha. The University of Calcutta, founded in 1857, was being transformed into a national institution, free of British influence. The Vice-Chancellor and moving spirit behind this development, Sir Asutosh Mookerji, was himself a mathematician. The two friends decided to devote themselves to study and research in physics. Unfortunately, modern physics, such as relativity and quantum theory, was not treated in the textbooks available to them, and they had no access to scientific journals. Moreover, laboratories did not exist. Planck, Einstein, and Bohr were just names to them. However, Sir Asutosh was impressed by the willingness and enthusiasm of the aspiring young scientists and agreed to help them prepare to teach postgraduate courses in physics and mathematics. He granted them scholarships and arranged facilities for procuring scientific journals and working in laboratories.”
  
Bose was born in [[Kolkata]] (Calcutta), [[West Bengal]], [[India]], the eldest of seven children. His father, Surendranath Bose, worked in the [[Engineering]] Department of the [[East India Railway]].
+
Eventual paths took Bose to study [[electromagnetism]] and relativity. He came in contact with brilliant teachers such as [[Jagadish Chandra Bose]] (no relation) and [[Prafulla Chandra Roy]] who provided inspiration to aim high in life. From 1916 to 1921 he and Saha became [[lecturer]]s in the [[physics]] [[academic department]] of the [[University of Calcutta]]. Later, Bose and Saha began research in statistical mechanics, publishing their first paper in 1918. After getting Einstein’s permission, they published (in translation) an anthology of Einstein’s papers on relativity and quantum theory. Bose then secured a non-tenure position (similar to assistant professor) at Dacca University, where he led the postgraduate work of the department.
 +
In 1921, he joined the department of Physics of the then recently founded Dacca University (now in [[Bangladesh]] and called [[University of Dhaka]]), again as a lecturer.  
  
Bose attended [[Hindu School]] in Calcutta, and later attended [[Presidency College, Kolkata|Presidency College]], also in Calcutta, earning the highest marks at each institution. He came in contact with brilliant teachers such as [[Jagadish Chandra Bose]] (no relation) and [[Prafulla Chandra Roy]] who  provided inspiration to aim high in life. From 1916 to 1921 he was a [[lecturer]] in the physics [[academic department|department]] of the [[University of Calcutta]].  In 1921, he joined the department of Physics of the then recently founded Dacca University (now in [[Bangladesh]] and called [[University of Dhaka]]), again as a lecturer.
+
In 1924 Bose wrote a paper deriving [[Max Planck|Planck's]] [[Planck's law of black body radiation|quantum radiation law]] without any reference to [[classical physics]]. After initial setbacks to his efforts to publish, he sent the article directly to [[Albert Einstein]] in [[Germany]]. Einstein, recognizing the importance of the paper, translated it into German himself and submitted it on Bose's behalf to the prestigious ''[[Zeitschrift für Physik]]''. As a result of this recognition, Bose was able to leave India for the first time and spent two years in [[Europe]], during which he worked with [[Louis, 7th duc de Broglie|Louis de Broglie]], [[Marie Curie]], and Einstein.  
  
In 1924 Bose wrote a paper deriving [[Max Planck|Planck's]] [[Planck's law of black body radiation|quantum radiation law]] without any reference to [[classical physics]]. After initial setbacks to his efforts to publish, he sent the article directly to [[Albert Einstein]] in [[Germany]]. Einstein, recognizing the importance of the paper, translated it into German himself and submitted it on Bose's behalf to the prestigious ''[[Zeitschrift für Physik]]''. As a result of this recognition, Bose was able to leave India for the first time and spent two years in [[Europe]], during which he worked with [[Louis, 7th duc de Broglie|Louis de Broglie]], [[Marie Curie]], and Einstein.
+
Bose returned to Dacca in 1926. He became a [[professor]] and was made [[chair (official)|head]] of the Department of Physics, and continued teaching at [[Dhaka University]] until 1945. At that time he returned to Calcutta, as successor to Venkata Raman as professor of physics. After teaching at Calcutta University until 1956, he retired and was made professor [[emeritus]].
  
Bose returned to Dacca in 1926. He became a [[professor]] and was made [[chair (official)|head]] of the Department of Physics, and continued teaching at [[Dhaka University]] until 1945. At that time he returned to Calcutta, and taught at Calcutta University until 1956, when he retired and was made professor [[emeritus]].
+
In the interim, the year 1954, as James states, “he was given a seat in the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the national parliament, but did not play a very active role in Delhi. Two years later, after retiring from Calcutta University, he became Vice-Chancellor of the new central university of Visva-Bharati, which was closely associated with the ideas of the poet Rabindranath Tagore.
  
 
==The error that wasn't==
 
==The error that wasn't==
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|}
 
|}
 
<div style="thumbcaption">
 
<div style="thumbcaption">
There are three outcomes. What is the probability of producing two heads?
+
There are three outcomes. What is the probability of producing two heads?
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
</div>
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|}
 
|}
 
<div style="thumbcaption">
 
<div style="thumbcaption">
Since the coins are distinct, there are two outcomes which produce a head and a tail. The probability of two heads is one-fourth.
+
Since the coins are distinct, there are two outcomes which produce a head and a tail. The probability of two heads is one-fourth.
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
</div>
 
</div>
The error was a simple mistake that would appear obviously wrong to anyone with a basic understanding of [[statistics]], and similar to arguing that flipping two [[coin flipping|fair coin]]s will produce two heads one-third of the time. However, it produced correct results, and Bose realized it might not be a mistake at all. He for the first time held that the [[Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution]] would not be true for microscopic particles where fluctuations due to [[Heisenberg's uncertainty principle]] will be significant. Thus he stressed in the probability of finding particles in the [[phase space]] each having volumes '''h<sup>3</sup>''' and discarding the distinct position and [[momentum]] of the particles.  
+
The error was a simple mistake that would appear obviously wrong to anyone with a basic understanding of [[statistics]], and similar to arguing that flipping two [[coin flipping|fair coin]]s will produce two heads one-third of the time. However, it produced correct results, and Bose realized it might not be a mistake at all. He for the first time held that the [[Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution]] would not be true for microscopic particles where fluctuations due to [[Heisenberg's uncertainty principle]] will be significant. Thus he stressed in the probability of finding particles in the [[phase space]] each having volumes '''h<sup>3</sup>''' and discarding the distinct position and [[momentum]] of the particles.  
  
[[Physics]] [[Scientific journal|journal]]s refused to publish Bose's paper. It was their contention that he had presented to them a simple mistake, and Bose's findings were ignored. Discouraged, he wrote to [[Albert Einstein]], who immediately agreed with him. [[Physicist]]s stopped laughing when Einstein sent ''[[Zeitschrift für Physik]]'' his own paper to accompany Bose's, which were published in 1924. Bose had earlier translated Einstein's theory of [[General relativity|General Relativity]] from [[German language|German]] to [[English language|English]]. It is said that Bose had taken Albert Einstein as his ''[[Guru]]'' (mentor).
+
[[Physics]] [[Scientific journal|journal]]s refused to publish Bose's paper. It was their contention that he had presented to them a simple mistake, and Bose's findings were ignored. Discouraged, he wrote to [[Albert Einstein]], who immediately agreed with him. [[Physicist]]s stopped laughing when Einstein sent ''[[Zeitschrift für Physik]]'' his own paper to accompany Bose's, which were published in 1924. Bose had earlier translated Einstein's theory of [[General relativity|General Relativity]] from [[German language|German]] to [[English language|English]]. It is said that Bose had taken Albert Einstein as his ''[[Guru]]'' (mentor).
  
Because photons are indistinguishable from each other, one cannot treat any two photons having equal energy as being different from each other. By analogy, if the coins in the above example behaved like photons and other [[boson]]s, the probability of producing two heads would indeed be one-third (tail-head = head-tail). Bose's "error" is now called [[Bose-Einstein statistics]].
+
Because photons are indistinguishable from each other, one cannot treat any two photons having equal energy as being different from each other. By analogy, if the coins in the above example behaved like photons and other [[boson]]s, the probability of producing two heads would indeed be one-third (tail-head = head-tail). Bose's "error" is now called [[Bose-Einstein statistics]].
  
Einstein adopted the idea and extended it to atoms. This led to the prediction of the existence of phenomena which became known as [[Bose-Einstein condensate]], a dense collection of [[boson]]s (which are particles with integer [[spin (physics)|spin]], named after Bose), which was proven to exist by experiment in 1995.
+
Einstein adopted the idea and extended it to [[atom]]s. This led to the prediction of the existence of phenomena which became known as [[Bose-Einstein condensate]], a dense collection of [[boson]]s (which are particles with integer [[spin (physics)|spin]], named after Bose), which was proven to exist by experiment in 1995.
  
 
==Later work==
 
==Later work==
  
Bose's ideas were afterward well received in the world of physics, and he was granted leave from the [[University of Dhaka]] to travel to [[Europe]] in 1924. He spent a year in [[France]] and worked with [[Maria Sklodowska-Curie|Marie Curie]], and met several other well-known [[scientist]]s. He then spent another year abroad, working with Einstein in [[Berlin]]. Upon his return to Dhaka, he was made a professor in 1926. He did not have a [[doctorate]], and so ordinarily he would not be qualified for the post, but Einstein recommended him. His work ranged from [[X-ray crystallography]] to [[grand unified theories]]. He together with [[Meghnad Saha]] published an [[equation of state]] for [[real gas]]es.
+
Bose's ideas were afterward well received in the world of physics, and he was granted leave from the [[University of Dhaka]] to travel to [[Europe]] in 1924. He spent a year in [[France]], where he worked with [[Maria Sklodowska-Curie|Marie Curie]] and met several other well-known [[scientist]]s. He then spent another year abroad, working with Einstein in [[Berlin]]. Upon his return to Dhaka, he was made a professor in 1926. He did not have a [[doctorate]], and so ordinarily he would not be qualified for the post, but Einstein recommended him. His work ranged from [[X-ray crystallography]] to [[grand unified theories]]. Together with [[Meghnad Saha]], he published an [[equation of state]] for [[real gas]]es.
  
Apart from physics he did some research in [[biochemistry]] and [[literature]] ([[Bengali language|Bengali]], English). He made deep studies in [[chemistry]], [[geology]], [[zoology]], [[anthropology]], [[engineering]] and other [[science]]s. Being of [[Bengal|Bengali]] origin, he devoted a lot of time to promoting Bengali as a teaching language, transliterating scientific papers into it, and promoting the development of the region.
+
In addition to physics, he did some research in [[biochemistry]] and [[literature]] ([[Bengali language|Bengali]], English). He studied other [[science]]s—[[chemistry]], [[geology]], [[zoology]], [[anthropology]]—and [[engineering]] in depth. Being of [[Bengal|Bengali]] origin, he devoted a lot of time to promoting Bengali as a teaching language, transliterating scientific papers into it, and promoting the development of the region.
  
 
In 1944, Bose was elected General President of the [[Indian Science Congress]].
 
In 1944, Bose was elected General President of the [[Indian Science Congress]].
Line 100: Line 103:
 
In 1958, he became a Fellow of the [[Royal Society]].
 
In 1958, he became a Fellow of the [[Royal Society]].
  
==Anecdote==
+
In 1959, as James stated, “he was appointed to one of the prestigious national professorships, which left him free to work as he pleased, and he held this for the rest of his life.
''Once the great scientist, [[Niels Bohr]], was delivering a lecture. Bose presided. At one stage the lecturer had some difficulty in explaining a point. He had been writing on the blackboard; he stopped and, turning to Bose, said, "Can Professor Bose help me?" All the while Satyendranath had been sitting with his eyes shut. The audience could not help smiling at Professor Bohr's words. But to their great surprise, Bose opened his eyes; in an instant he solved the lecturer's difficulty. Then he sat down and once again closed his eyes!'' &mdash; biography at [http://calcuttaweb.com Calcuttaweb]
+
 
 +
Satyendra Nath Bose died on February 4, 1974, shortly after his eightieth birthday (only ten years after her father’s passing).
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==
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* [[Bose-Einstein condensate]]
 
* [[Bose-Einstein condensate]]
 
* [[Jagdish Chandra Bose]]
 
* [[Jagdish Chandra Bose]]
 +
* [[Photon]]
 +
* [[Quantum mechanics]]
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
Line 112: Line 118:
  
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
 
+
* Bose, S.N. 1924. Plancks Gesetz und Lichtquantenhypothese ''Zeitschrift für Physik'' 26:178-181. (The German translation of Bose's paper on Planck's law.)
* S.N. Bose. "Plancks Gesetz und Lichtquantenhypothese," ''Zeitschrift für Physik'' 26:178-181 (1924). ''(The German translation of Bose's paper on Planck's law)''
+
* James, Ioan. ''Remarkable Physicists: From Galileo to Yukawa.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
* Abraham Pais. ''"Subtle is the Lord...": The Science and Life of Albert Einstein''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. (pp. 423-434). ISBN 0-19-853907-X.
+
* Pais, Abraham. 1982. ''"Subtle is the Lord...": The Science and Life of Albert Einstein''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-853907-X
*"Heat and thermodynamics" Saha and Srivasthava.
 
  
 
== External links ==
 
== External links ==
 +
All links retrieved December 23, 2022.
  
*[http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Bose.html Scienceworld's] biography of Satyendra Nath Bose
+
*[http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Bose.html Scienceworld's] biography of Satyendra Nath Bose.
*[http://www.calcuttaweb.com/people/snbose.shtml Satyendra Nath Bose] ''(biography at [http://calcuttaweb.com Calcuttaweb])''
 
*{{MacTutor Biography|id=Bose|title=Satyendra Nath Bose}}
 
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/rams/wed1102.ram The Indian Particle Man] ''(audio biography at [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 BBC Radio 4])''
 
*[http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/dream/jan2002/article1.htm Bosons - The Birds That Flock and Sing Together] ''(biography of Bose and Bose-Einstein Condensation)''
 
  
<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] —>
 
{{Persondata
 
|NAME= Bose, Satyendra Nath
 
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
 
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= [[Physics|Physicist]]
 
|DATE OF BIRTH= January 1,1894
 
|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Calcutta]], [[India]]
 
|DATE OF DEATH= February 4, 1974
 
|PLACE OF DEATH= [[Calcutta]], [[India]]
 
}}
 
  
 
[[Category:Physical sciences]]
 
[[Category:Physical sciences]]
[[Category:Biographies of Scientists]]
+
[[Category:Biography]]
[[Category:Biography]]
 
  
 
{{credit|118468255}}
 
{{credit|118468255}}

Latest revision as of 17:03, 23 December 2022

Satyendra Nath Bose

AatyenBose1925.jpg
Satyendra Nath Bose
Born

January 1,1894
Calcutta, India

Died February 4, 1974

Calcutta, India

Residence Flag of India.svg.png India
Nationality Flag of India.svg.png Indian
Field Physics
Institutions Calcutta University
University of Dhaka
Alma mater Presidency College
Academic advisor  Jagdish Chandra Bose
Known for Bose-Einstein statistics
Note that Bose did not have a doctorate, but obtained an MSc in 1915 and therefore did not have a doctoral advisor. However his equivalent mentor was Jagdish Chandra Bose.

Satyendra Nath Bose (/sɐθ.jin.ðrɐ nɑθ bos/ Bengali: সত্যেন্দ্র নাথ বসু) (January 1, 1894 – February 4, 1974) was a Bengali Indian physicist, specializing in mathematical physics. He is best known for his work on quantum mechanics in the early 1920s, providing the foundation for Bose-Einstein statistics and the theory of the Bose-Einstein condensate. He is honored as the namesake of the boson. Although he was not awarded the Nobel Prize, more than one such prize was awarded for research related to the concepts of the boson, Bose-Einstein statistics and Bose-Einstein condensate—the latest being the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics, which was given for advancing the theory of Bose-Einstein condensates. Among his other talents, Bose knew many languages and also could play Esraj (a musical instrument similar to a violin) very well.

In his book, The Scientific Edge, noted physicist Jayant Narlikar observed:

"S.N. Bose’s work on particle statistics (c. 1922), which clarified the behaviour of photons (the particles of light in an enclosure) and opened the door to new ideas on statistics of Microsystems that obey the rules of quantum theory, was one of the top ten achievements of twentieth-century Indian science and could be considered in the Nobel Prize class."[1]

Early life and Career

Bose was born in Kolkata (Calcutta), West Bengal, India, the eldest of seven children and only son. Bose became known as S.N. Bose in the scientific community, but was called Satyen Bose in his native Bengal. His father, Surendranath Bose, worked as an accountant in the Engineering Department of the East India Railway. Surendranath was inclined towards mathematics, and was interested in several branches of science. He even founded a small chemical and pharmaceutical company. Apart from science and mathematics, S.N. Bose’s father was also involved with philosophical studies, including the Hindu scriptures like Bhagwad-gita. In 1964, Surendranath Bose died at the age of ninety-six, after having witnessed Satyen Bose’s seventieth birthday.

Bose started to attend Hindu School in Calcutta when he was only 13 years of age, and later attended Presidency College, also in Calcutta, earning the highest marks at each institution. At Presidency College Bose met other contemporary scholars, including Meghnad Saha, with whom he became a close friend. Bose finished studies here with first rank in both B.S. (Bachelors in Science) and M.S. (Masters in Science). During his final year, he was wed (in an arranged marriage) to 11-year-old Ushabala Ghosh. They had two sons and five daughters (apart from two other who died in infancy).

It was a time of great political unrest, and career outlook was not good. Ioan James of “Remarkable Physicists: From Galileo to Yukawa” stated, “…the Indianization of education was creating opportunities for able youngsters like Bose and Saha. The University of Calcutta, founded in 1857, was being transformed into a national institution, free of British influence. The Vice-Chancellor and moving spirit behind this development, Sir Asutosh Mookerji, was himself a mathematician. The two friends decided to devote themselves to study and research in physics. Unfortunately, modern physics, such as relativity and quantum theory, was not treated in the textbooks available to them, and they had no access to scientific journals. Moreover, laboratories did not exist. Planck, Einstein, and Bohr were just names to them. However, Sir Asutosh was impressed by the willingness and enthusiasm of the aspiring young scientists and agreed to help them prepare to teach postgraduate courses in physics and mathematics. He granted them scholarships and arranged facilities for procuring scientific journals and working in laboratories.”

Eventual paths took Bose to study electromagnetism and relativity. He came in contact with brilliant teachers such as Jagadish Chandra Bose (no relation) and Prafulla Chandra Roy who provided inspiration to aim high in life. From 1916 to 1921 he and Saha became lecturers in the physics academic department of the University of Calcutta. Later, Bose and Saha began research in statistical mechanics, publishing their first paper in 1918. After getting Einstein’s permission, they published (in translation) an anthology of Einstein’s papers on relativity and quantum theory. Bose then secured a non-tenure position (similar to assistant professor) at Dacca University, where he led the postgraduate work of the department. In 1921, he joined the department of Physics of the then recently founded Dacca University (now in Bangladesh and called University of Dhaka), again as a lecturer.

In 1924 Bose wrote a paper deriving Planck's quantum radiation law without any reference to classical physics. After initial setbacks to his efforts to publish, he sent the article directly to Albert Einstein in Germany. Einstein, recognizing the importance of the paper, translated it into German himself and submitted it on Bose's behalf to the prestigious Zeitschrift für Physik. As a result of this recognition, Bose was able to leave India for the first time and spent two years in Europe, during which he worked with Louis de Broglie, Marie Curie, and Einstein.

Bose returned to Dacca in 1926. He became a professor and was made head of the Department of Physics, and continued teaching at Dhaka University until 1945. At that time he returned to Calcutta, as successor to Venkata Raman as professor of physics. After teaching at Calcutta University until 1956, he retired and was made professor emeritus.

In the interim, the year 1954, as James states, “he was given a seat in the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the national parliament, but did not play a very active role in Delhi. Two years later, after retiring from Calcutta University, he became Vice-Chancellor of the new central university of Visva-Bharati, which was closely associated with the ideas of the poet Rabindranath Tagore.”

The error that wasn't

Possible outcomes of flipping two coins
Two heads Two tails One of each

There are three outcomes. What is the probability of producing two heads?

While at the University of Dhaka, Bose wrote a short article called Planck's Law and the Hypothesis of Light Quanta, describing the photoelectric effect and based on a lecture he had given on the ultraviolet catastrophe. During this lecture, in which he had intended to show his students that theory predicted outcomes not in accordance with experimental results, Bose made an embarrassing statistical error that gave a prediction that agreed with observations, a contradiction.

Outcome probabilities
  Coin 1
Head Tail
Coin 2 Head HH HT
Tail TH TT

Since the coins are distinct, there are two outcomes which produce a head and a tail. The probability of two heads is one-fourth.

The error was a simple mistake that would appear obviously wrong to anyone with a basic understanding of statistics, and similar to arguing that flipping two fair coins will produce two heads one-third of the time. However, it produced correct results, and Bose realized it might not be a mistake at all. He for the first time held that the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution would not be true for microscopic particles where fluctuations due to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle will be significant. Thus he stressed in the probability of finding particles in the phase space each having volumes h3 and discarding the distinct position and momentum of the particles.

Physics journals refused to publish Bose's paper. It was their contention that he had presented to them a simple mistake, and Bose's findings were ignored. Discouraged, he wrote to Albert Einstein, who immediately agreed with him. Physicists stopped laughing when Einstein sent Zeitschrift für Physik his own paper to accompany Bose's, which were published in 1924. Bose had earlier translated Einstein's theory of General Relativity from German to English. It is said that Bose had taken Albert Einstein as his Guru (mentor).

Because photons are indistinguishable from each other, one cannot treat any two photons having equal energy as being different from each other. By analogy, if the coins in the above example behaved like photons and other bosons, the probability of producing two heads would indeed be one-third (tail-head = head-tail). Bose's "error" is now called Bose-Einstein statistics.

Einstein adopted the idea and extended it to atoms. This led to the prediction of the existence of phenomena which became known as Bose-Einstein condensate, a dense collection of bosons (which are particles with integer spin, named after Bose), which was proven to exist by experiment in 1995.

Later work

Bose's ideas were afterward well received in the world of physics, and he was granted leave from the University of Dhaka to travel to Europe in 1924. He spent a year in France, where he worked with Marie Curie and met several other well-known scientists. He then spent another year abroad, working with Einstein in Berlin. Upon his return to Dhaka, he was made a professor in 1926. He did not have a doctorate, and so ordinarily he would not be qualified for the post, but Einstein recommended him. His work ranged from X-ray crystallography to grand unified theories. Together with Meghnad Saha, he published an equation of state for real gases.

In addition to physics, he did some research in biochemistry and literature (Bengali, English). He studied other scienceschemistry, geology, zoology, anthropology—and engineering in depth. Being of Bengali origin, he devoted a lot of time to promoting Bengali as a teaching language, transliterating scientific papers into it, and promoting the development of the region.

In 1944, Bose was elected General President of the Indian Science Congress.

In 1958, he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1959, as James stated, “he was appointed to one of the prestigious national professorships, which left him free to work as he pleased, and he held this for the rest of his life.”

Satyendra Nath Bose died on February 4, 1974, shortly after his eightieth birthday (only ten years after her father’s passing).

See also

Notes

  1. Jayant V. Narlikar, The Scientific Edge, Penguin Books, 2003, 127. The work of other twentieth-century Indian scientists who Narlikar considered to be of Nobel Prize class were Srinivasa Ramanujan, Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, and Meghnad Saha.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Bose, S.N. 1924. Plancks Gesetz und Lichtquantenhypothese Zeitschrift für Physik 26:178-181. (The German translation of Bose's paper on Planck's law.)
  • James, Ioan. Remarkable Physicists: From Galileo to Yukawa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
  • Pais, Abraham. 1982. "Subtle is the Lord...": The Science and Life of Albert Einstein. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-853907-X

External links

All links retrieved December 23, 2022.

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