SLC’S INSTITUTE OF

ENGINEERING AND
TECHNOLOGY
NAME: [Link]
BRANCH: ECE 1
ROLL NO. :418
SUBJECT: ENJOYING EVERY DAY
ENGLISH
 BIOGRAPHY

Sir C. V. Raman
By
SUBHASHREE DESIKAN
[Link]
 7 November 1888(1888-11-07)
Born Thiruvanaikoil, Tiruchirappalli, Madras Presidency,
British India
21 November 1970(1970-11-21) (aged 82)
Died
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Nationality Indian
Fields Physics
Indian Finance Department
Institutions Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
Indian Institute of Science
Alma mater Presidency College
Doctoral students G. N. Ramachandran
Known for Raman effect
Knight Bachelor (1929)
Nobel Prize in Physics (1930)
Notable awards
Bharat Ratna (1954)
Lenin Peace Prize (1957)
Franklin medal(1941)
Knight bachelor(1929)
Molecular diffraction of light(1922)
Childhood & Family details….
• Story begins in a village
near Tiruchirapalli
• Born on 8 Nov.1888
• Second child of
[Link] Iyer
& Parvathi Ammal
Tiruchirapalli….
 Raman’s father….
• Family moved to
vishakhapatnam
when he was 4
• Father was a lecturer
in [Link]
Rao College
• Taught Physics,
Mathematics &
physical geography
Raman…an intelligent
• Father was athletic
man & took active
interest in sports
• Raman was not
physically strong
• But was very
intelligent
• Preferred to read
books
 Raman – A great reader
• Voracious reader

• Books were like old friends

• He was mainly influenced by 3 books

Light of Asia by Edwin Arnold
The Elements of Euclid
The Sensations of Tone
 Raman’s Education….
• Completed schooling • Unimpressive in
by 11 years appearance
• Spent two years in his • In his first English
father’s college class Professor
• Went to Madras when [Link] enquiry
he was 13 • Stunned all sceptics
• Joined B.A. in • Stood university first
Presidency College. in [Link]
• Youngest in his class
[Link]…
 Education
• Teachers asked him • Civil surgeon
to prepare for ICS declared him unfit to
travel to England
• Very prestigious
exam • The only exam he
failed
• Undergo a medical
examination before • He felt grateful to the
the qualifying exam man who disqualified
him
Presidency college
 B.A. to M.A……
• Joined M.A. physics
• Teachers freedom
• Attended only one lecture during the
whole 2 years
• Original thinking developed
• Work on light waves
• Papers in philosophical Magazine
Light diffraction
Light diffraction
Expenditure on light
Philosophical Magazine
 Education @ Marriage @ Job
• Passed M.A. in
January 1907
• Stood first in the
university
• Married Lokasundari
• Decided to write FCS-
forerunner of IAAS
• Topped the exam
• Went to Calcutta to
work as AAG
FCS @ IAAS
 IACS….
• Raman spotted IACS
sign board
• Walked in to the
building
• Historic moment
• Performed the
legendary experiment
on light
IACS ASSOCIATION
 Raman’s double life…..
• Worked as a finance officer all day
• Moved to IACS and did research until
night
• Papers in international journals
• Communication with physicists around
world
• Gave lectures in Calcutta
• Introduced giving live demonstrations
 Raman @ waves and sound
• Fascinated by waves
and sound
• Carried the memory
of Helmholtz’s book
• Chose to study
musical instruments
• Explained the working
of Ektara
Waves &Sound…..
Raman’s Ektara…
Musical instruments…..
Ektara to Violin….
• Took up violin for
study
• First time a scientific
understanding was
established
• Raman’s studies on
the violin were
extensive
• Published a book
 Mechanical violin player…
• Its working were assembled from parts
brought from a cycle shop
• Did not resemble the instrument we know
• It had all the essential features of the violin
• Stretched string-resonant box-the bow-
stroke length
• First mechanical violin for research
 Acoustics to Optics…
• Until 1920 acoustics continued to interest him
• Besides the violin, he studied the veena,
tambura, mridangam, tabla…
• Interested in optics which led for discoveries…
 Raman @ Calcutta University..
• Got chance to move • Problem he had to
into physics career overcome
around 1917 • A person who is
• Ashutosh Mookerjee applying must have
offer as a Palit foreign experience
Professor of physics. • The rule was changed
• Raman had to give up • Important role in
his job and higher university activities
income
Calcutta University..
Ashutosh Mookerjee…
Ramanathan,[Link]&
Suri Bhagavantam
@brilliant students
 University Congress at Oxford
• In 1921 he got honorary doctorate from
Calcutta University
• Went overseas for the first time
• Visit to University Congress at Oxford
• During his voyage back to India he spent
hours watching the sea
• Struck by its colour
• Lord Rayleigh statement
Lord Rayleigh @ blue sky
@ Mediterranean sea
 Raman’s discovery….
• Water molecule could
scatter light just like air
molecules
• Important for Raman
effect
• In 1922 he wrote a
brilliant essay ‘The
Molecular Diffraction of
Light’
• He said light may exist in
quanta as massless
particles of energy.
 [Link] finding the
phenomenon in 1923
• Raman’s hunch • Raman’s hunch was
• His direction towards proved right
finding evidence for • [Link]
the corpuscular spotted the
theory phenomenon
• Discovery of the • They named the
Compton effect in phenomenon ‘feeble
1923 fluorescence’.
Raman’s research….
 Raman @ Nobel
• It took his team 4 more • The date is celebrated as
years national science day
• They were confident in • Booked tickets to Europe
1927 • He had to wait 2 years
• Discovery on 28th • Received Nobel prize for
February…. physics in 1930
• The famous Raman • His thought of India as a
effect….the light can British colony
undergo a scattering • His break down
through a liquid
resulting in a change in
its frequency….
Noble prize for physics in 1930
 Raman @IIS
• Took up directorship • Nurtured many good
of Indian Institute of students
Science@ Bangalore • Never had a
• He stayed there until temptation leaving the
he retired in 1948 country for a better
• Equal time to life…….
research and
organisational work
IIS DIRECTOR…
 Raman from 1946 to 1970…..
• Devoted final years to • Died on 21
set up of the Raman November,1970
Research Institute in • Funeral at the
Bangalore….. institute campus itself.
• Running of the Indian • A solitary tree is
Academy of Science. located……
• Edited Current
Science &
proceedings of the
Academy journals…
• The tree planted on
the site at the campus
of Raman Research
Institue where Raman
was cremated
Raman Research Institute….
Indian Academy of Sciences…
 Raman @ Inspiration……
• Raman. brilliant • In his youth…
• Raman original
thinker – India was not free
• Raman hardworking country

• Raman disciplined
– No institutions
• Deserves to be
admired for more than – No libraries
these qualities
 Raman the great….
• Contributed to Indian science with his
deep and genuine passion for physics
• He improvisation from scratch….
• His determination, spirit and contributions
will remain special in the practice of
science in India…….