Sir C. V.

Raman
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, FRS (7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970)
was an Indian physicist and Nobel laureate in physics recognised for his work on the molecular
scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect, which is named after him.

Born: 7thNovember 1888(1888-11-07)

Thiruvanaikoil, Tiruchirappalli,
Tamil Nadu, British India
Died: 21 November 1970 (aged 82)
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Nationality: India
Fields :Physics
Institutions: Indian Finance Department
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
Indian Institute of Science
Alma mater :Presidency College
Doctoral students: G. N. Ramachandran
Known for: Raman effect
Notable awards: Knight Bachelor (1929)
Nobel Prize in Physics (1930)
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, FRS Bharat Ratna
Lenin Peace Prize

Early years
Born to R. Chandrasekhara Iyer[1] in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. His mother tongue was
Tamil. At an early age Raman moved to the city of Vizag, Andhra Pradesh. Studied in St.Aloysius
Anglo-Indian High School. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and physics, so he grew up in
an academic atmosphere.
Raman entered Presidency College, Chennai, in 1902, and in 1904 gained his B.A., winning
the first place and the gold medal in physics. In 1907 he gained his M.A., obtaining the highest
distinctions. He joined the Indian Finance Department as an Assistant Accountant General

Career
In 1917 Raman resigned from his government service and took up the newly created Palit
Professorship in Physics at the University of Calcutta. At the same time, he continued doing
research at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Calcutta, where he became the
Honorary Secretary. Raman used to refer to this period as the golden era of his career. Many
talented students gathered around him at the IACS and the University of Calcutta.
 Energy level diagram showing the states involved in Raman signal.
On February 28, 1928, through his experiments on the scattering of light, he discovered the
Raman effect. It was instantly clear that this discovery was an important one. It gave further proof
of the quantum nature of light. Raman spectroscopy came to be based on this phenomenon, and
Ernest Rutherford referred to it in his presidential address to the Royal Society in 1929. Raman was
president of the 16th session of the Indian Science Congress in 1929. He was conferred a
knighthood, and medals and honorary doctorates by various universities. Raman was confident of
winning the Nobel Prize in Physics as well, and was disappointed when the Nobel Prize went to
Richardson in 1928 and to de Broglie in 1929. He was so confident of winning the prize in 1930
that he booked tickets in July, even though the awards were to be announced in November, and
would scan each day's newspaper for announcement of the prize, tossing it away if it did not carry
the news. He did eventually win the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his work on the scattering of
light and for the discovery of the effect named after him. He was the first Asian and first non-White
to get any Nobel Prize in the sciences. Before him Rabindranath Tagore (also Indian) had received
the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Raman also worked on the acoustics of musical instruments. He worked out the theory of
transverse vibration of bowed strings, on the basis of superposition velocities. He was also the first
to investigate the harmonic nature of the sound of the Indian drums such as the tabla and the
mridangam.
In 1934 Raman became the director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, where
two years later he continued as a professor of physics. Other investigations carried out by Raman
were experimental and theoretical studies on the diffraction of light by acoustic waves of ultrasonic
and hypersonic frequencies (published 1934-1942), and those on the effects produced by X-rays on
infrared vibrations in crystals exposed to ordinary light.
He also started a company called Travancore Chemical and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in 1943
along with Dr. Krishnamurthy. The Company during its 60 year history, established four factories in
Southern India. In 1947, he was appointed as the first National Professor by the new government of
Independent India.
In 1948 Raman, through studying the spectroscopic behavior of crystals, approached in a
new manner fundamental problems of crystal dynamics. He dealt with the structure and properties
of diamond, the structure and optical behavior of numerous iridescent substances (labradorite,
pearly feldspar, agate, opal, and pearls). Among his other interests were the optics of colloids,
electrical and magnetic anisotropy, and the physiology of human vision.

Personal life
Raman retired from the Indian Institute of Science in 1948 and established the Raman
Research Institute in Bangalore, Karnataka a year later. He served as its director and remained
active there until his death in 1970, in Bangalore, at the age of 82..
He was married on 6 May 1907 to Lokasundari Ammal with whom he had a son, Radhakrishnan.

Honours and awards

Raman was honoured with a large number of honorary doctorates and memberships of
scientific societies. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society early in his career (1924) and
knighted in 1929. In 1930 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1954 he was awarded the Bharat
Ratna. He was also awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1957.
India celebrates National Science Day on 28 February of every year to commemorate the
discovery of the Raman effect in 1928.

Vikram Sarabhai
Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai (August 12, 1919 – December 31, 1971) was an Indian physicist. He is
considered to be the father of the Indian space program.

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai

Born 12 August 1919(1919-08-12)
Ahmedabad, India
Died 30 December 1971 (aged 52)
 Halcyon Castle, Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Residence India
Nationality Indian
Fields Physics
Institutions Indian Space Research Organisation
Physical Research Laboratory
Alma mater Gujarat College
St. John's College,
Cambridge University
Doctoral advisor Sir C. V. Raman
Known for Indian space program
Notable awards Padma Bhushan (1966)
Padma Vibhushan (posthumously) (1972)
Early years and education
Vikram Sarabhai was born on 12 August 1919 in the city of Ahmedabad , Gujarat State in
western India. The Sarabhai family was an important and rich Jain business family. His father
Ambalal Sarabhai was an affluent industrialist and owned many mills in Gujarat. Vikram Sarabhai
was one of the eight children of Ambalal and Sarla Devi.
To educate her eight children, Sarla Devi established a private school on the lines of the
Montessori method, propounded by Maria Montessori, which was gaining fame at that time. As the
Sarabhai family was involved in the Indian freedom struggle, many leaders of the freedom struggle
like Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore and Jawaharlal Nehru used to frequent
the Sarabhai house. This is said to have greatly influenced the young Vikram Sarabhai and played
an important role in the growth of his personality.
Sarabhai matriculated from the Gujarat College in Ahmedabad after passing the Intermediate
Science examination. After that he moved to England and joined the St. John's College, University
of Cambridge. He received the Tripos in Natural Sciences from Cambridge in 1940. With the
escalation of the Second World War, Sarabhai returned to India and joined the Indian Institute of
Science in Bangalore and began research in cosmic rays under the guidance of Sir C. V. Raman, a
Nobel Prize winner. He returned to Cambridge after the war in 1945 and was awarded a PhD degree
in 1947 for his thesis titled Cosmic Ray investigation in Tropical Latitudes.

Marriage and children

In September, 1942, Vikram Sarabhai married Mrinalini Sarabhai, a celebrated classical
dancer of India. The wedding was held in Chennai without anyone from Vikram's side of the family
attending the wedding ceremony because of the ongoing Quit India movement led by Mahatma
Gandhi. Vikram and Mrinalini had two children - Kartikeya and Mallika. Vikram Sarabhai allowed
considerable freedom to Mrinalini to develop her own potential. Reportedly, they had a troubled
marriage relationship[1]. According to biographer Amrita Shah, Vikram Sarabhai had void in his
personal life he sought to fill it by dedicating himself to applying science for social good.
His daughter Mallika Sarabhai is winner of Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian
honour for the year 2010. She is also a renowned dancer herself and has been awarded the Palme
d'Or.

Physical Research Laboratory

Vikram returned to an independent India in 1947. Looking at the needs of the country, he
persuaded charitable trusts controlled by his family and friends to endow a research institution near
home in Ahmedabad. Thus, Vikram Sarabhai founded the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in
Ahmedabad on November 11, 1947. He was only 28 at that time. Sarabhai was a creator and
cultivator of institutions and PRL was the first step in that direction. Vikram Sarabhai served of PRL
from 1966-1971.

Death
Vikram Sarabhai died on 31 December 1971 at Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He
was visiting Thiruvananthapuram to attend the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Thumba
railway station being built to service Thumba launch center which would become one of ISRO's
most important sites given its proximity to the equator, thus a convenient location to launch
equatorial orbit satellites. During his last days, he was under a great amount of stress due to
excessive travelling and a huge work-load which adversely affected his health. He did not wake up
to celebrate the New Year. He died in his sleep at Halcyon Castle and was apparently a victim of a
silent heart attack.

Indian Space Program

The establishment of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was one of his
greatest achievements. He successfully convinced the government of the importance of a space
programme for a developing country like India after the Russian Sputnik launch. Dr. Sarabhai
emphasized the importance of a space program in his quote:
"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To
us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the
economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-
flight."
"But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the
community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to
the real problems of man and society."
Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha, widely regarded as the father of India's nuclear science program,
supported Dr. Sarabhai in setting up the first rocket launching station in India. This center was
established at Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram on the coast of the Arabian Sea, primarily because
of its proximity to the equator. After a remarkable effort in setting up the infrastructure, personnel,
communication links, and launch pads, the inaugural flight was launched on November 21, 1963
with a sodium vapour payload.
As a result of Dr. Sarabhai's dialogue with NASA in 1966, the Satellite Instructional
Television Experiment (SITE) was launched during July 1975 - July 1976 (when Dr.Sarabhai was
no more).
Dr. Sarabhai started a project for the fabrication and launch of an Indian Satellite. As a
result, the first Indian satellite, Aryabhata, was put in orbit in 1975 from a Russian Cosmodrome.
Dr. Sarabhai was very interested in science education and founded a Community Science
Centre at Ahmedabad in 1966. Today, the Centre is called the Vikram A Sarabhai Community
Science Centre.
He led the family's 'Sarabhai' diversified business group.
His interests varied from science to sports to statistics. He set up Operations Research Group
(ORG), the first market research organization in the country.
Dr Vikram Sarabhai established many institutes which are of international repute. Most
notable among them are IIMs (Indian Institute Of Management) which are considered world class
for their management studies. Also he helped establishing PRL (Physical Research Laboratory)
which is doing commendable job in R&D in Physics. Dr Vikram Sarabhai setup ATIRA
(Ahmedabad Textiles Industrial Research Association) which helped the booming textiles business
in Ahmedabad. He also setup CEPT (Center for Environmental Planning and Technology). Not
stopping with all these he went ahead and setup BMA (Blind Men Association) which helps visually
challenged people with necessary skills and support.

Awards
 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1962)
 Padma Bhushan (1966)
 Padma Vibhushan, posthumous (after-death) (1972)

Distinguished Positions
 President of the Physics section, Indian Science Congress (1962),
 President of the General Conference of the I.A.E.A., Verína (1970),
 Vice-President, Fourth U.N. Conference on 'Peaceful uses of Atomic Energy' (1971)

Honors
The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, (VSSC), which is the Indian Space Research
Organization's lead facility for launch vehicle development located in Thiruvananthapuram
(Trivandrum), capital of Kerala state, is named in his memory.
Along with other Ahmedabad-based industrialists, he played a major role in the creation of
the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam (Tamil: அவுல் பகீ ர் ஜைனுலாப்தீன் அப்துல்
கலாம்) born 15 October 1931 in Rameshwaram, Madras Presidency, British India (now Tamil
Nadu, India), usually referred to as Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam^, was the 11th President of India,
serving from 2002 to 2007,[2] he was elected during the tenure of the National Democratic Alliance
(India) coalition government, under prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.[3] During his term as
President, he was popularly known as the People's President.[4][5]

11th President of India

In office
25 July 2002 – 24 July 2007
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh
Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Preceded by
K. R. Narayanan Succeeded by Pratibha Patil

Born 15 October 1931 (1931-10-15) (age 78)[1]

Rameshwaram, Madras Presidency, British India
Spouse(s) Never married
Alma mater Madras Institute of Technology
Profession Aerospace Engineering
Religion Islam
Before his term as India's president, he worked as an aeronautical engineer with DRDO and ISRO.
He is popularly known as the Missile Man of India for his work on development of ballistic missile
and space rocket technology.[6] In India he is highly respected as a scientist and as an engineer.
Kalam played a pivotal organisational, technical and political role in India's Pokhran-II nuclear test
in 1998, the first since the original nuclear test by India in 1974.[7] He is chancellor of Indian
Institute of Space Science and Technology(Thiruvanthapuram), a professor at Anna University
(Chennai) and adjunct/visiting faculty at many other academic and research institutions across
India.
With the death of R. Venkataraman on 27 January 2009, Kalam became the only surviving former
President of India.[2]

Political views
In his book India 2020 APJ Abdul Kalam strongly advocates an action plan to develop India
into a knowledge superpower and into a developed nation by the year 2020. He regards his work on
India's nuclear weapons program as a way to assert India's place as a future superpower.
It has been reported that there is considerable demand in South Korea for translated versions
of books authored by him [8].
Kalam continues to take an active interest in other developments in the field of science and
technology. He has proposed a research programme for developing bio-implants. He is a supporter
of Open source software over proprietary solutions and believes that the use of open source
software on a large scale will bring the benefits of information technology to more people [9].

As an aerospace engineer
After graduating in Science from St. Joseph's College in Tiruchirapalli, Abdul Kalam
graduated with a diploma in the mid-1950s from Madras Institute of Technology specializing in
Aeronautical Engineering [10]. As the Project Director, he was heavily involved in the development
of India's first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). As Chief Executive of Integrated
Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), he also played a major part in developing
many missiles of India including Agni and Prithvi. Although the entire project has been criticised
for being overrun and mismanaged[11]. He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to Prime Minister and
Secretary, Department of Defence Research & Development from July 1992 to December 1999.
Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted during this period, led by him.

Honours
On Wednesday April 29, 2009, he became the first Asian to be bestowed the 2008 Hoover
Medal, America's top engineering prize, for his outstanding contribution to public service. The
citation said that he is being recognised for making state-of-the-art healthcare available to the
common man at affordable prices, bringing quality medical care to rural areas by establishing a link
between doctors and technocrats, using spin-offs of defence technology to create state-of-the-art
medical equipment and launching tele-medicine projects connecting remote rural-based hospitals to
the super-specialty hospital. A pre-eminent scientist, a gifted engineer, and a true visionary, he is
also a humble humanitarian in every sense of the word, it added. [12]
On September 13, 2009, he was a recipient of the International von Kármán Wings Award
[13].
 The Government of India has honoured him with the nation's highest civilian honours: the
Padma Bhushan in 1981; Padma Vibhushan in 1990; and the Bharat Ratna in 1997 for his work
with ISRO and DRDO and his role as a scientific advisor to the Indian government..
Kalam is the third President of India to have been honoured with a Bharat Ratna before
being elected to the highest office, the other two being Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Zakir Hussain.
He is also the first scientist and first bachelor to occupy Rashtrapati Bhavan.
After his tenure as the president he is now a visiting guest professor at JSS university,
Mysore. He has agreed to deliver a minimum of four lectures every year.

Books and documentaries

Kalam's writings

 Wings of Fire: An Autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam by A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Arun Tiwari;
by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal; A.P.j. Pub. Corp, 2002.
 Scientist to President by Abdul A.P.J. Kalam; Gyan Publishing House, 2003.
 Ignited Minds: Unleashing the Power Within India by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Penguin Books,
2003.
 India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Y.S. Rajan; Penguin
Books India, 2003.
 India-my-dream by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; Excel Books, 2004.
 Envisioning an Empowered Nation: Technology for Societal Transformation by A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam; TATA McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd, 2004.
 Guiding Souls: Dialogues on the Purpose of Life by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Arun K Tiwari;
Ocean Books, 2005.
 Children Ask Kalam by A.P.J Abdul Kalam; Pearson Education, ISBN 81-7758-245-3
Biographies
 Eternal Quest: Life and Times of Dr. Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam by S. Chandra;
Pentagon Publishers, 2002.
 President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam by R. K. Pruthi; Anmol Publications, 2002.
 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam: The Visionary of India' by K. Bhushan, G. Katyal; A.P.H. Pub. Corp,
2002.
 A little Dream (documentary film) by P. Dhanapal; Minveli Media Works Private Limited,
2008.[14]
The Kalam Effect: My Years with the President by P.M. Nair; Harper Collins, 2008.