Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937) was an Indian Physicist and plant physiologist, and a polymath who made fundamental contributions to radio science, botany, and biophysics. He invented the Crescograph, used to measure the rate of plant growth. Bose is regarded as the father of Bengali science fiction. 

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose Biography 

Name	Jagadish Chandra Bose
Date of Birth	30 November 1858
Place of Birth	Mymensingh, Bengal, British India (now in Bangladesh)
Date of Death	23 November 1937
Place of Death	Giridih, Jharkhand, India
Father	Bhagawan Chandra Bose
Mother	Bama Sundari Bose
Siblings	Shuborno Prabha Bose, Nivedita Bose
Spouse	Abala Bose (8 August 1864 – 26 April 1951)
Education	St. Xavier's College, University of Dhaka, University of London, University of Cambridge (1884)
Awards	Knight Bachelor (Knighthood), Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (1903), Companion of the Order of the Star of India (1911), U.S. Patent (No. 755840)
Also known as	Father of Radio Science Father of Bengali Science Fiction

Early Life and Education 

• Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on November 30, 1858, in Mymensingh, Bengal, British India (now in Bangladesh). His father, Bhagawan Chandra Bose, was a deputy magistrate, and his mother was a dedicated homemaker.
• He began his education at a local vernacular school, where he learned Bengali and got acquainted with ancient Indian epics. He went to St. Xavier’s College (Kolkata), where he studied a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Science in 1879. 
• His father urged him to pursue a career where he would be his own master. He went to England, enrolled in the University of England, to study medicine, but discontinued after falling sick. 
• When he attended St. Xavier’s College (Kolkata), he met with Jesuit Father Eugene Lafont, who ignited Bose’s interest in natural sciences. With the assistance of his brother-in-law, Anandamohan Bose, he got into Christ’s College, Cambridge, to study natural science. By 1884, he received a BA (natural sciences tripos) and BSc from the University of London. 

Career and Scientific Breakthroughs 

• Bose was appointed as the professor of physics at Presidency College in January 1885. He became the first indian to teach physics at the university. Principal Charles Henry Tawney and Director of Education Alfred Woodley Croft did not approve of him initially. 
• He was paid one-third of the salary received by European professors, and his post was considered temporary. He refused to accept any salary and continued to teach without any benefits for the first three years of his job at the Presidency College. 
• He was popular among his students and praised for his teaching style, which compelled the heads of the institution to make his post permanent after eight years of service, and he was paid the salary of three in a lump sum. 
• In 1894, he developed an interest in Radio and investigated radio microwave optics. In 1895, he demonstrated the wireless transmission of millimeter waves (up to 60 GHz) over a distance, showcasing transmission through air and walls. 
• He developed an improved version of the coherer (a form of radio wave detector) using mercury. His work on the "galena detector" (a semiconducting crystal) led to the world’s first patent on solid-state diode detectors in 1904, a pioneering work in the field of solid-state physics. He is also credited with the invention of horn antenna and waveguide. 

Work in the field of Botany 

Bose shifted in focus to Biophysics to explore how plants react to stimuli. He interdisciplinary research on plants from the perspective of Physics. He invented Crescograph, used to measure the rate of plant growth. It used clockwork gears and a smoked glass plate to measure plant growth. He discovers the plants possess a sensitive nervous system and respond to external stimuli in a similar manner to animal tissues. His research finds its place in the books  Response in the Living and Non-Living (1902) and The Nervous Mechanism of Plants (1926).

Personal life 

He married social reformer and feminist Abala Bose on 8 August 1864. His wife supported his career and accompanied him. They did not have any children. He spent his later life in Girigh, Jharkhand, and died on 23 November 1937 at the age of 78.