Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar

Infobox_Scientist
name = Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar


image_size = 150px
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1894|2|21|df=y
birth_place = Shahpur, British India
death_date = death date and age|1955|1|1|1894|2|21|df=y
death_place = New Delhi, India
residence =
nationality = n
field = Chemistry
work_institution = Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
alma_mater = Punjab University
University College London
doctoral_advisor = Frederick G. Donnan
doctoral_students =
known_for = Indian space program
prizes = Padma Vibhushan (1954), OBE (1936), Knighthood (1941)
religion = Hindu / Brahmo
footnotes =

Sir Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, OBE, FRS (February 21 1894 – January 1 1955) was a well-known Indian scientist.

Early life

Bhatnagar was born in Shahpur, now in Pakistan. His Brahmo father Parmeshwari Sahai Bhatnagar died when he was only eight months old and he spent his childhood in the house of his maternal grandfather, an engineer, where he developed a liking for science and engineering. He used to enjoy building mechanical toys, electronic batteries, string telephones. From his maternal family he also inherited a gift of poetry, and his Urdu one-act play "Karamati" won the first prize in a competition.

Education and early research

He went to England on a research fellowship after competing his Master's Degree in India. He received his DSc from the University College London in 1921, under the guidance of chemistry professor Frederick G. Donnan. [Seshadri, p4.] After returning to India, he was awarded a professorship at Benaras Hindu University. He was knighted in 1941 by the British Government as a reward for his research in science. On March 18 1943 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. His research interests included emulsions, colloids, and industrial chemistry, but his fundamental contributions were in the field of magneto-chemistry. He used magnetism as a tool to know more about chemical reactions. The Bhatnagar-Mathur interference balance, which he designed along with a physicist R.N. Mathur. This was later manufactured by a British firm. He also composed a beautiful kulgeet (University song) which sung with great reverence prior to functions held in the university.

Work in India

Prime Minister Nehru was a proponent of scientific development, and after India's independence in 1947, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) was set up under the chairmanship of Dr. Bhatnagar. He became the first director-general of the CSIR. He became known as "The Father of Research Laboratories" and is largely remembered for having established various chemical laboratories in India. He established a total twelve national laboratories such as Central Food Processing Technological Institute,Mysore, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, the National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, the National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur, the Central Fuel Institute, Dhanbad, just to name a few.

After his death, CSIR established the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award for eminent scientists in his honour.

References

*cite book |last=Richards |first=Norah |title= Sir Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar F. R. S.: A Biographical Study of India's Eminent Scientist |year= 1948 |publisher= New Book Society of India |location=New Delhi, India |isbn= | pages=
*cite journal |last=Seshadri |first=T. R. |authorlink= |year=1962 |month=November |title=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. 1894-1955|journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society | publisher=Royal Society | location=London |volume=8 |issue= |pages=1–17 |url=http://www.jstor.org/view/00804606/ap030010/03a00010/0 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1962.0001 |format=Dead link|date=May 2008

Notes

External links

* [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000319/spectrum/main2.htm Biography at The Tribune]
* [http://www.photonics.cusat.edu/Indian_scientists2.html Biography at the Insitiute of Photonics, Cochin]
* [http://www.bhu.ac.in/kulgeet.htm University Song "(kulgeet)" composed by Bhatnagar for Benares Hindu University]