Forwarding what I received from a friend Sri Chittanandam and my reply to him.
N Sekar Thanks for this informative post. I know brief details of the father of India's atomic energy that is Sri Homi Bhaba but not all the details covered in this write up. May his soul rest in peace. We as a country owe a lot to him as also his successor Vikaram Sarabhai, who launched India into the space era. People like them are the builders of modern India. Our pranams and gratitude to them. The 1966 crash is rumored to be (and is considered a truism) the handiwork of the CIA as they believed India was very close to developing an atomic bomb and wanted to thwart it; Bhaba's death delayed our progress considerably in this field. It is good there are still some in our country who remember the likes of Sri Homi Bhaba. Thank you. N Sekar Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android <https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=Global_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100000604&af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_> On Mon, Nov 13, 2023 at 7:51 AM, Chittanandam V R <[email protected]> wrote: [image: image.png] *Homi Bhabha by Bakhtiar Dadabhoy ; Published by Rupa ; Pages 723 ;Price Rs.995/-; 2023.* ************************************ *The foremost biographer of the 21st Century is Walter Isaacson who is famous for his biographies of Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.* *The equivalent achiever in the East is who has brought out biographies of J.R.D.Tata, Zubin Mehta,Sir Salar Jung I and “ Barons of Banking”. His latest work is the book under review—a biography of Homi Bhabha.* *Dadabhai has also written the script for “Nani—the Crusader”--a documentary on the legal luminary Nani Palkhivala.* *All of us know that Bhabha was a distinguished physicist who was a pioneer in the fields of fundamental research and atomic energy in India. Not many are aware that he was also an ardent lover of music, an accomplished painter and a budding poet—a Renaissance Man in the true sense. He had profound knowledge of Science, History and English Literature.* *Bhabha was equally at home in the world of science and of the arts. He was at once a visionary and a doer—a man of thought as well as action.* *The Tata Institute of Research (TIFR) and the Atomic Energy Establishment (AEE) renamed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in his honour were institutions founded by Bhabha. He inspired a pool of scientists who embraced his vision of a New India.* *Bhabha organised the nuclear scientists as the avant garde of India’s scientific elite, leading India on its path to modernity.* *Although he is remembered for his work on cosmic rays he is better recognised as the Founder of TIFR and the architect of India’ s atomic energy programme.* *The book is divided into four Sections and has 36 chapters. The First Section is titled “Scientist as Researcher” and deals with Bhabha’s background, education and initial research. The reader is enlightened about C.V.Raman, Meghnad Saha and Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar---three scientists with whom Bhabha was closely associated.* *One chapter here gives the background of the Parsi community and Bhabha’s roots---which played an important role in giving shape and substance to his endeavours.* *The second Section “Scientist as an Institution Builder” traces the history of the TIFR and recounts how Bhabha nurtured it into a world class institution. Bhaktiar lucidly covers the research carried out in the Institute. Bhabha combined science with art and appropriate aesthetics incorporating his own skill as an artist.* *The third Section “Scientist as an Administrator” traces the arc of the atomic energy programmes and institutions like TIFR, AEE and reactors like Apsara and Cirus. Bhabha’s sterling role at the Geneva Conference in 1955 is thoroughly analysed in one chapter.* *The fourth and final Section called “ Coda” is devoted to the scientist’s premature demise in an aircrash in 1966 in Mont Blanc in Swiss Alps.* *The three stages in Bhabha’s life—Student, Scientist and Science Administrator represent not only the trajectory of his personal journey but also the arc of India’s nuclear programmes.* *In 1927, when eighteen-year-old Homi Jehangir Bhabha enrolled with the Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge University, for a BA in mechanical engineering, both his father and uncle nursed the prospect of his joining the house of Tatas following the completion of his course and his subsequent return to India. “it was by no means an unrealistic expectation, since a career in the pure sciences held little promise, at least in the colonies....Engineering was the more pragmatic choice, and the steel works at Jamshedpur beckoned, but Bhabha had other plans.” In less than a year’s time, following his arrival at Cambridge, Bhabha’s correspondence affirmed his clear preference for theoretical physics to mechanical engineering.* *Dadabhoy explores multiple, erstwhile neglected, facets of the scientist’s unique personality. “The story of his life also provides a good vehicle for telling the story of Indian science and of the foundations of India’s atomic energy programme.” We are privy to a host of interesting anecdotes pertaining to the luminaries in the world of science: Mahendra Lal Sircar, Father Eugene Lafont, Jagadish Chandra Bose, Ram Chandra Dutta, Pramatha Nath Bose, Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee, C.V. Raman, Meghnad Saha, S.N. Bose and Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, to name a few. Along with these Indian scientists, Dadabhoy also scrupulously reconstructs Bhabha’s research engagement in the West. His association with leading theorists like Ralph Howard Fowler, Enrico Fermi, Otto Robert Frisch and Hendrik Casimir, among several other pioneering researchers of the time are covered.* *With the unwavering support of political leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhabha’s scientific credentials bore fruit in independent India accelerating research in numerous allied fields like space science, radio astronomy, microbiology and electronics.* *Through the use of personal letters and interviews with family members and colleagues, the reader gains insight into Bhabha's character and personality.* *Praiseworthy is the author’s ability to draw pointed attention to the rather lesser-known aspects of the physicist’s life: Bhabha’s Parsi lineage; his brilliance as an artist coupled with his prolific knowledge of classical European painters; his fascination with cosmopolitan aesthetics which culminated in TIFR’s astounding collection of paintings and sculptures; his profound interest in Western classical, Hindustani and Carnatic music and, finally, his intimacy with the world of nature.* *This book is a spectacular tribute to one of India’s outstanding scientists and science administrators.* *Dadabhoy writes with clarity and precision, making complex scientific concepts understandable to the layperson. He also weaves together personal stories, scientific discoveries, and historical events in a way that keeps the reader engaged throughout the entire book.* *Bhabha would acquire paintings and sculptures made by leading contemporary artists and even tried to get Pablo Picasso to paint a mural at TIFR. Eventually, M.F.Husain did the mural.* *Meticulously researched and narrated in rich, human, political and scientific detail, this biography tells the story of one of twentieth-century India’s greatest scientists and the country’s greatest-ever science administrator.* *A 13 pages bibliography is of great use to those who seek more information on this great scientist.* *P.P.Ramachandran.* *12/11/2023.* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iyer123" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/1165177537.2213843.1699846738282%40mail.yahoo.com <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/1165177537.2213843.1699846738282%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> . -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CABC81ZctbhWVP4k%2BW3qU%2BmskfT%3Dxk7sO450QttXN9qVT6DA7Sw%40mail.gmail.com.
