Top 10 Greatest Indian Scientists and their Inventions
Invention – when we think about this word the first thing strike in our mind is a method or an innovative ideology in fields like physics, medicine, mathematics, chemistry, and biology. Invention is basically a process of creating something that has never been created before (whether for self-knowledge or for the benefit of the society). An individual who uses a scientific method (with the expertise in one or more areas of science) by conducting experiments, defines as a scientist. Scientists are our pride whether we say it for our nation or in the world of any area, scientists are honored and recognize till date through our studies for their great research works and inventions.
There are more than 100 renowned scientists from India but below we have listed top 10 greatest scientists of our nation, who devoted their lives in researches and inventions and made our India a proud nation. Whether it’s C.V Raman or Salim Ali, these scientists have proved, established themselves and are count amongst the GREATEST SCIENTISTS OF INDIA.
1.) Prafulla Chandra Ray (2nd August 1861 -16th June 1944)
Salim Ali is a scientist known for his contributions towards the chemistry stream, born on 2nd August 1861 in Khulna, Bangladesh. Born to a rich landowner, he was younger of two brothers. Despite the illness during his childhood days forced him to discontinue studies for a while but he made the best use of that time too and pursued higher education from the ‘University of Edinburgh‘ and done his further research for a year there.
He got famous for his works on nitrites and hyponitrites of metals, especially mercury does work for him worldwide. This Bengali chemist educator and entrepreneur, in another word he was hailed as the ‘Father of Indian pharmaceuticals’. He knew for his work of starting the first-ever Chemical Landmark Plaque outside Europe, for which he got honored by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
2.) Salim Ali (12th November 1896 – 20th June 1987)
Know as “Birdman of India”, was a great scientist of birds although we can say an ornithologist and naturalist. He was born into a large family in Mumbai and the ninth-youngest child of Moizuddin and Zeenat–un-Nissa. He was an orphaned at the age of three as he lost his father at the age of a year old. He was taken by his middle-class uncle and aunt and received an upbringing at their home.
His interest was seen in birds so he was introduced to W.S Millard, the secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society when he needed help in identifying a bird he had shot. Later Millard kindled in his desire to learn about birds and the young Salim Ali ventured into ornithology.
He was the renowned ornithologist despite having any formal training in the subject. The popular Salim Ali was among the first Indians to conduct systematic bird surveys across India. In 1947 he became a key figure at Bombay Natural History Society where he was actively involved in the creation of Bharatpur bird sanctuary. He also was honored for his life’s work which includes Padma Bhushan and Padam Vibhushan.
3.) Srinivasa Ramanujan (22nd December 1887- 26th April 1920)
We saw a lot of scientists, in them the greatest Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan got fame at the age of twenty-six. He was born in Erode town in Tamil Nadu on 22nd December 1887. The surprising fact we get to know about his life that even his college education was not completed due to his illness.
He was keen on mathematics at that level where he started learning on his own, with the theory of learning he found the new formulas for solving out mathematical problems and also wrote articles. One of the articles when saw by the professor hardy (a scientist at Cambridge University) he was impressed and got an invitation towards England.
He was also considered as the master of the theory of numbers. In 1914 the formula for p (n), the number of partitions of ‘n’ was his outstanding contribution. And also known for his one of the valuable contribution which he developed while working in Trinity College the ‘Number Theory’ and also elected a fellow of Trinity College on 18th October 1917. He passed away on 26th April 1920. Not only the Government of India had issued a commemorative stamp of honor but also the Indian National Science Academy and other scientific institutions giving awards in memory of this brilliant scientist.
4.) C.V. Raman (7th Nov 1888- 21st Nov 1970)
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman born on 7th November 1888 near a small village in Tiruchirapalli was the genius of Physics. His father was initially a teacher and later became a lecturer in mathematics and physics in one of Vishakhapatnam college.
Throughout, from the age of 11, he passed the matriculation examination as a brilliant student even though at age 13 he also passed his F.A examination with the scholarship. In 1902in Madras he joined Presidency College and received his B.A physics in 1904. He was honored at this age only and won the gold medal in his examination. 1907 he earned his M.A degree. His whole life he was an achiever and throughout the years.
In 1907 he topped in financial civil service and later in 1907 he went to Calcutta and joined Indian Finance Department as Assistant Accountant.
Majorly the greatest invention he did for our nation and made us proud by his discovering the “Raman Effect” or we can say the inelastic scattering of the photon. The experimentation was based on that when light traverses a transparent material, some of the deflected light changes in wavelength. From this invention early in the 20th century he got a count the greatest scientist of India. He won the 1930 Nobel Prize in physics for the “Raman Effect” and become the first Indian to win Nobel Prize in sciences, and in 1954 he was also honored with Bharat Ratna.
5.) Homi Jehangir Bhabha (30th Oct 1909- 24th Jan 1966)
He was born to a well-known Parsi lawyer. Belongs to a well prominent family and also related to Dorabji Tata. His primary study was at Bombay’s Cathedral and John Connon School and later he went to Elphinstone College and Royal Institute of science till 1927. Not everyone knows Homi firstly did mechanical engineering in first-class from Cambridge University, whereas the keen interest of the young was into science later his father stick and keeping his promise let him continue for further studies where he received a doctorate in nuclear physics.
His first published work was ‘The Absorption of Cosmic radiation’ through which he wins the Isaac Newton Studentship in 1934 which he held for the next three years. Invention for he enlisted as the greatest scientist the nuclear power where he conducts research for the country. He envisioned the three-stage nuclear power program which focused on extracting power from thorium instead of uranium reserves. He honored with Padma Bhushan in 1954 and also the third-highest civilian award in India.
6.) Jagadish Chandra Bose (30th Nov 1858- 23rd Nov)
J. C. Bose proved that plant feels the same pain and affection as animal does. He was born in Bikrampur, Bengal Presidency, British India. Although all factors majorly his keen interest was seeing towards natural sciences from his schooling days only. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Calcutta in 1879. During this phase, he quit two options for pursuing further studies into Indian Civil Services and medicine. Later, finally, he decided to study Natural Science and secured admission to Christ’s College, Cambridge.
During his career, he does great inventions but the invention he got famous was who proved by the experimentation that both animals and plants share much in common. Through his experiment, he shows that plants also are sensitive to heat, cold, noise, and various other external Stimuli.
A personality who considered as being the modern scientist of India for the recognition he received from the Royal Institution, London. He was known as Polymath who discovers and extensively contributed to fields like botany, archeology and radio science. Apart from he was also a talented writer who set the precedence for Bengali science fiction writing.
7.) A.P.J Abdul Kalam (Oct 1931 to 27 July 2015)
He has known also as Avul Pakir Jainlabdeen Abdul Kalam into a Muslim Family in Rameshwaram (lived from Oct 1931 to 27 July 2015). His father was a boat owner while his mother was a housewife and had four elder siblings. As in young age, sir had sell newspaper because of the financial issues at home. But the atmosphere was filled up with love all around. One of his school teachers plays a role in kindled him to do something for aircraft.
He traveled to Madras for pursuing his dream and study aerospace engineering in Madras Institute of Technology. He not only served as the greatest scientist but also as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007. He made his significant contributions as both in nation’s civilian space program and military missile development and also in India’s Pokhran-II nuclear tests in 1998 which established him as a national hero.
He was also transferred to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) where he served as the project director of India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV-III). He was also famous for his quotes too. His achievements are uncountable; throughout he was Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna from the Government of India.
8.) Satyendra Nath Bose
Among all his brother-sister he was the eldest son of Surendranath Bose, a former accountant who worked East Indian Railways (1st Jan 1894- 4th Feb 1974). From his young age, he does have a deep interest in mathematics and science. Later he joined the University of Calcutta as the research scholar in 1916. This was the most amazing time in the annals of science as new discoveries were made.
He got famous for giving the concepts of ‘Boson’ which refers to one or two classes of particles. Bose-Einstein the theory got named when bose work in quantum physics was further developed by Albert Einstein.
Our Government honored him with Padma Vibhushan as the bestowed and eminent physic in 1954. He was also a polyglot and also had interests in diversified fields like philosophy, art, and music.
9.) Birbal Sahni (14th Nov 1891- 10th April 1949)
He was born Shahpur District, West Punjab. He received his early education from the Mission and Central Model Schools. Later he joined Government College University, Lahore, where his father worked. After attending Government College from where he pursued his studies with Botany, he moved to England for his further studies. He also had briefly worked in Germany before returning to India. With his great knowledge, he became the head of the Botany Department of the Lucknow.
His major work where he got recognized as he was the founder of Palaeobotany which later renamed as Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany. He was the pioneer in Palaeobotanical research in India but also took place in geologist as he had an interest in archeology. He was elected to the Royal Society of London in 1936, which demonstrate as the highest British scientific honor, it was a record for our nation, becoming the first Indian botanist. He was also honored with Nelson Wright Medal of the Numismatic Society of India in 1945 and also Sir C.R Reddy National Prize in 1947.
10.) Raj Reddy – (13th June 1937 – Till Date)
Raj Reddy born 13th June 1937, an Indian-American Computer Scientist. He is also known as Dabbala Rajgopal Reddy, his father was an agricultural landlord whereas his mother was a homemaker. He received a Bachelor degree in civil engineering in Madras (now Anna University, Chennai) India in 1958.
In Australia 1960, he pursues his master’s degree in technology from the University of New South Whales. He also got a doctorate degree in computer science from Stanford University in 1966. He was best known for his one invention work which relates to large-scale artificial systems. He is the early pioneers of Artificial Intelligence and has served on the faculty of Stanford and Carnegie Mellon University for over 40 years.
Above from different the list, we have marked for the Top Ten Greatest Scientists who achieved miles with their Inventions in different sectors.
Popular Indian Scientist Question Series