.

Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, CBE (November 7, 1888-November 21, 1970) was an Indian physicist, who was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect, which is named after him.

Raman was born in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. At an early age, Raman moved to the city of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. He completed his BA and MA in Physics and English from the Presidency College, Madras (now Chennai). He entered Presidency College, Madras, in 1902, and in 1904 passed his B.A. examination, winning the first place and the gold medal in physics; in 1907 he gained his M.A. degree, obtaining the highest distinctions. He joined the Indian Finance Department as an Assistant Accountant General in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Soon afterwards, Raman started doing experiments at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS). This is where Raman did his Nobel Prize winning work.

In 1917, Raman resigned from his government service and took up the newly created Palit Professorship in Physics at the University of Calcutta. Simultaneously, he continued doing research at the IACS, 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.

Raman won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect. Raman spectroscopy is based on this phenomenon. An interesting anecdote goes that he booked his tickets to Stockholm several months before the Nobel prizes were announced.

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. This does a better job in explaining bowed string vibration over Helmholtzs approach. 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 newly established Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, where two years later he continued as a professor of physics. In 1947, he was appointed as the first National Professor by the new government of Independent India. He retired from the Indian Institute in 1948 and a year later he established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore, serving as its director and remained active there until his death on 1970, in Bangalore, Karnataka, at the age of 82.

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 4 factories in Southern India. [1]

He was knighted in 1929 and awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1954. Raman was also awarded the Lenin Peace Prize (1957).

CV Raman is the uncle of Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar.

India celebrates National Science Day on the 28th February of every year to commemorate Raman's discovery in 1928.

Quotes

When he was offered a toast during the Nobel function: Being a strict teetotaller he responded, "Sir, you have seen the Raman effect on alcohol; please do not try to see the alcohol effect on Raman."

Work

1909

"The Small Motion at the Nodes of a Vibrating String", Nature, 1909
"The Maintenance of Forced Oscillations of a New Type", Nature, 1909
"The Ectara", J. Indian Math. Club, 1909

1910

"The Maintenance of Forced Oscillations", Nature, 1910
"Oscillations of the Stretched Strings", J. Indian Math. Club, 1910

1911

"Photographs of Vibrational Curves", Philos. Mag., 1911
"Remarks on a Paper by J.S. Stokes on 'Some Curious Phenomena Observed in Connection with Melde's Experiment'", Physics Rev., 1911
"The Small Motion at the Nodes of a Vibrating String", Phys. Rev,, 1911

1912

"The Maintenance of Forced Oscillations of a New Type", Philos. Mag, 1912
"Some Remarkable Cases of Resonance", Phys. Rev. 1912
"Experimental Investigations on the Maintenance of Vibrations", Bull. Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1912

1913

"Some Acoustical Observations", Bull. Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1913

1914

"The Dynamical Theory of the Motion of Bowed Strings", Bull. Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1914
"The Maintenance of Vibrations", Phys. Rev. 1914
"Dynamical Theory of the Motion of Bowed Strings", Bulletin, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1914
"On Motion in a Periodic Field of Force", Bull. Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1914

1915

"On the Maintenance of Combinational Vibrations by Two Simple Harmonic forces", Phys. Rev,, 1915
"On Motion in a Periodic Field of Force", Philos. Mag, 1915

1916

"On Discontinuous Wave-Motion - Part 1", Philos. Mag, 1916 (with S Appaswamair)
"On the 'Wolf-Note' of the Violin and Cello", Nature (London). 1916
"On the 'Wolf-Note' in the Bowed Stringed Instruments", Philos. Mag.. 1916

1917

"The Maintenance of Vibrations in a Periodic Field of Force", Philos. Mag, 1917 (with A. Dey)
"On Discontinuous Wave-Motion - Part 2", Philos. Mag, 1917 (with A Dey)
"On Discontinuous Wave-Motion - Part 3", Philos. Mag, 1917 (with A Dey)
"On the Alterations of Tone Produced by a Violin 'Mute'", Nature (London) 1917

1918

"On the 'Wolf-Note' in the Bowed Stringed Instruments", Philos. Mag.. 1918
"On the Wolf-Note in Pizzicato Playing", Nature (London), 1918
"On the Mechanical Theory of the Vibrations of Bowed Strings and of Musical Instruments of the Violin Family, with Experimental Verification of Results - Part 1", Bulletin, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1918
"The Theory of the Cyclical Vibrations of a Bowed String", Bulletin, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1918

1919

"An Experimental Method for the Production of Vibrations", Phys. Rev,, 1919
"A New Method for the Absolute Determination of Frequency", Proc. R. Soc. London, 1919
"On the Partial Tones of Bowed Stringed Instruments", Philos. Mag, 1919
"The Kinematics of Bowed Strings", J. Dept of Sci., Univ. Calcutta, 1919

1920

"On the Sound of Splashes", Philos. Mag, 1920
"On a Mechanical Violin-Player for Acoustical Experiments, Philos. Mag., 1920
"Experiments with Mechanically-Played Violins", Proc. Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1920
"On Kaufmann's Theory of the Impact of the Pianoforte Hammer", proc. S. Soc. London, 1920 (with B Banerji)
"Musical Drums with Harmonic Overtones", Nature (London), 1920 (with S. Kumar)

1921

"Whispering Gallery Phenomena at St. Paul's Cathedral", Nature (London) 1921 (with G.A. Sutherland)
"The Nature of Vowel Sounds", Nature (London) 1921
"On the Whispering Gallery Phenomenon", Proc. R. Soc. London, 1922 (with G.A. Sutherland)
"On Some Indian Stringed Instruments", Proc. Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, 1921

1922

"On Whispering Galleries", Indian Assoc. Cultiv. Sci., 1922
"On the Molecular Scattering of Light in Water and the Colour of the Sea", Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1922
"The Acoustical Knowledge of the Ancient Hindus", Asutosh Mookerjee Silver Jubilee - Vol 2, 1922

1926

"The Subjective Analysis of Musical Tones", Nature (London), 1926

1927

"Musical Instruments and Their Tones"

1928

"A new type of Secondary Radiation", Nature, 1928
"A new radiation", Indian Journal of Physics, 1928

1935

"The Indian Musical Drums", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1935
"The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part I", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1935 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
"The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part II", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1935 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
"Nature of Thermal Agitation in Liquids", Nature (London), 1935 (with B.V. Raghavendra Rao)

1936

"The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part III: Doppler Effect and Coherence Phenomena", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1936 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
"The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part IV: Generalised Theory", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1936 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
"The Diffraction of Light by High Frequency Sound Waves: Part V: General Considerations - Oblique Incidence and Amplitude Changes", Proc. Indian Acad. Sci., 1936 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)
"Diffraction of Light by Ultrasonic Waves", Nature (London), 1936 (with N. S. Nagendra Nath)

1937