सत्येंद्र नाथ बसु राष्ट्रीय मौलिक विज्ञान केंद्र

सत्येंद्र नाथ बसु राष्ट्रीय मौलिक विज्ञान केंद्र

S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences

Prof. S. N. Bose Archive

1. Satyendra Nath Bose

It was the early nineteen twenties, Dhaka University had just started functioning. A young reader in the physics department decided to liven up the masters class by discussing a problem at the forefront of research in theoretical physics at that time. This was the issue of Planck's radiation law - a semi empirical fitting formula for the spectrum of black body radiation. Planck had come up with the formula in 1900 and twenty years later it still lacked a solid foundation. Meanwhile in 1905 Einstein had introduced the concept of photon to explain the photoelectric effect. To motivate the concept of photon, Einstein had made use of Planck's law, more precisely the high frequency part of it which was difficult to understand theoretically. By contrast the low frequency part of Planck's formula reduced to the well understood Rayleigh Jeans law.

The instructor had a bright idea for his lecture. He would try to reverse the Einstein path and use the photon picture to get the high frequency part of Planck's law. Photons were taken to be identical particles and what emerged was the entire Planck spectrum! The instructor was Satyendra Nath Bose and thus was born what was to become famous as Bose Einstein statistics. Bose wrote up his derivation of Planck's law and sent it for publication. It was rejected. In desperation, Bose sent the manuscript to Einstein who immediately realized the importance of what Bose had done. Einstein extended the calculation to particles of finite mass and was able to predict the phenomenon now known as Bose Einstein condensation (BEC). This was a phenomenon so strange that the experimentalists felt a compulsion to detect it in the laboratory. What followed was an intense struggle for seventy long years, opening up new vistas of research and finally led to the observation of BEC in 1995!

The life of Satyendra Nath Bose, thus makes some rather profound statements about the role of teaching and research in the development of science and the intimate relation between theory and experiment in the complete understanding of natural phenomena. As for the record, S. N. Bose was born in Calcutta in 1894. He studied in Presidency College where his batchmate was the other famous Indian physicist - Meghnad Saha. Bose joined the faculty of Calcutta University in 1916 and left for Dhaka in 1921. Later he became the Khaira professor of Calcutta University in 1945 and served for a while as the vice chancellor of Viswa Bharati in the fifties. He was made the national professor in 1958. Immensely interested in the languages and literature and different forms of art, S. N. Bose was the quintessential man of letters. His death in 1974 left a void in the intellectual world of the nation.

2. S. N. Bose: Biographical Resume

S. N. Bose: Biographical Resume

3. Bose Archive - Inaugural Ceremony4 July 2002 - Photographs

  1. Inauguration of Bose Archive - by General Sankar Roy Chowdhury [with Bose's daughter-in-law with a child from the Family, S Dattagupta, Director, SNBNCBS with spouse]
  2. Inauguration of Bose Archive - [Enakshi Chattopadhyay, V K Thomas, Librarian, SNBNCBS; Indrani Bhattacharyya, former Librarian, SNBNCBS; Gen Sankar Roy Chowdhury with Bose's daughter-in-law]
  3. Inauguration of Bose Archive - [Santimoy & Enakshi Chatterjee, Abhijit Mookerjee, Dean, SNBNCBS; Staff members]
  4. Inauguration of Bose Archive - [Santimoy Chatterjee, Staff and Guests]
  5. Inauguration of Bose Archive - [SNBNCBS Staff and Guests]
  6. Inauguration of Bose Archive - [Enakshi Chatterjee, Bose's daughter-in-law, Staff and Guests]
  7. Inauguration of Bose Archive - [SNBNCBS Staff and Guests of Honour]
  8. Archive Display - Close up view 1

4. Letters - from Bose

  1. [Dacca] To Mookerjee (Palit Trust, Calcutta)
  2. [Dacca] To P.C.Mahalanobis (Calcutta)
  3. [Presidency College] To P.C.Mahalanobis (New York)
  4. [Berlin] To Jacqueline Eisenmann (1904-1998)
  5. [London] To Jacqueline Eisenmann (1904-1998)
  6. [Bose as the Honorary Secretary, ISI, Kolkata] To the Assistant Secretary, Department of Education, Government. of India
  7. To Jacqueline Eisenmann on 50th anniversary of the Bose Statistics
  8. [Dacca] To Meghnad Saha [19.7.1921]
  9. To Professor Arun Kumar Biswas [on writing a foreword to his book "Science in India"]
  10. To Einstein [4 June 1924]
  11. To EInstein [27 January 1925]
  12. S. N. Bose's letter [Ref. Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem]

5. Letters - from others to Bose/on Bose

  1. Albert Einstein to S.N.Bose, New Jersey
  2. [In a Postcard] Einstein to Bose dated 2 July 1924 [In German] [Tr. in English]
  3. Jacqueline Eisenmann on Bose in Europe [in French] [Tr. in English]
  4. Dr Hermann Mark, Berlin.on Bose's talent and clear vision over scientific research
  5. Paul Langevin, Paris - a recommendation on Bose
  6. John Stachel to Enakshi Chatterjee and Santimoy Chatterjee on Bose

6. Documents

  1. Bose's calculations on eclipse
  2. Presidential address at the Indian Science Congress, Delhi,1944 [Current Science, Vol XIII, No. 1]
  3. Bose's calculations - MS-1
  4. Bose's calculations - MS-2
  5. Bose's calculations - MS-3
  6. Bose's calculations - MS-4
  7. Bose's calculations - MS-5
  8. Bose's calculations - MS-6
  9. Bose's calculations - MS-7 on 'Fluctuation in density'
  10. Bose as a National Professor - Envelope for office use
  11. Calculations on number theory during the last few years of his life
  12. Postal Stamp on Bose: First Day Cover - 1.1.1994 - Birth Centenary
  13. Brochure of the Postal Stamp released on Bose's Centenary
  14. Article on Bose-Einstein Statistics by Barry R. Masters [Optics & Photonics News, April 2013]

7. Photographs

  1. Dacca University building
  2. Dacca University building
  3. Living room of S N Bose
  4. Bose with Dilip Kumar Roy, son of Dwijendralal Roy, Music Composer, Vocalist, Playwright, and a multifaceted literati
  5. Bose and J.V.Narlikar
  6. Bose playing the esraj for the Mahalanabises on the occasion of a wedding anniversary
  7. Seated (L to R):M N Saha, J C Bose, J C Ghosh. Standing (L to R): Snehamoy Dutt, S N Bose, D M Bose, N R Sen, J N Mukherjee, N C Nag
  8. National Science Congress Association appoints S.N.Bose as a Member
  9. Bose delivering a speech
  10. Bose with Niels Bohr
  11. Bose with Bertrand Zadoc-Kahn in Paris (1924-25)
  12. Bose, Vice Chancellor, Visva-Bharati - Convocation at Santiniketan
  13. Bose inspecting telescope
  14. Bose: A facial view
  15. Bose receiving D.Sc (Hon.) from Dr. Zakir Husain, Delhi University, 1964
  16. Bose with academician K.N. Kolmogorov, P.C. Mahalanobis at ISI Convocation
  17. Bose, Vice Chancellor, Visva-Bharati - Convocation at Santiniketan 2
  18. Bose with ……. [Photograph]
  19. Bose, R.A.Fisher (left) and P.C.Mahalanobis (right)
  20. Bose and Vishnu Dey, the poet
  21. Bose playing the Esraj
  22. Bose with ……. [Photograph]
  23. Bose as Upacharya, Visva-Bharati with staff and students
  24. Bose: enjoying an artist's creation
  25. Bose with Zhou En-lai - conferral of Desikottam by Visva-Bharati
  26. Bose, Upacharya, Visva-Bharati with Jawaharlal Nehru, Chancellor, staff and students
  27. Bose, Upacharya, Visva-Bharati with Zhou-En-Lai conferring the Desikottam
  28. Bose at Santiniketan
  29. Bose, Upacharya, Visva-Bharati with Indiradevi Chaudhurani
  30. Bose, Upacharya, Visva-Bharati addressing a gathering
  31. Bose with Paul. A.M. Dirac
  32. Bose in an informal gathering 1
  33. Bose in an informal gathering 2
  34. Bose with Jamini Roy
  35. Bose playing the Esraj in a group [P C Mahalanabis's house??]
  36. Bose in a group
  37. Bose with a loving child
  38. Bose with S.C.Banerjee (3rd left) and others
  39. Bose chairing the meeting of Executive Council, National Physical Laboratory
  40. Acharya P C Ray with Bose (extreme right) and some of his pupils (1914-15)
  41. A jubilant Bose
  42. Bose with Neils Bohr
  43. Bose at Santiniketan with P C Mahalanabis
  44. Bose's house at 22, Iswar Mill Lane, Kolkata -700 006 (his living room at the front corner)
  45. Bose's photograph
  46. Bose: Saha Memorial Lecture at SINP
  47. Bose: Saha Memorial Lecture at SINP- D.M.Bose at his right
  48. Bose at a seminar in December 1973 [at CU?]
  49. Bose's photograph
  50. Khaira Laboratory 1 [5ac4b4b6e12a6271325e0430]
  51. Khaira Laboratory 2 [5ac4b4b6e12a6271325e0430]
  52. When Bose was a Student (1910-11)
  53. Bose- Marriage with Ushabati in 1914 at the age of 20 [B&W]
  54. Bose- Marriage with Ushabati in 1914 at the age of 20 [Colour]
  55. Bose's 70th birthday celebrations

8. Items of Bose's personal use

  1. Bose's Earphone
  2. Bose's Transistor
  3. Bose's Timepiece
  4. Bose's Wall clock
  5. Bose's Pens
  6. Bose's Specks (1st)
  7. Bose's Specks (2nd)

9. Bose Centenary Publications

  1. Collected Scientific Papers
  2. Life, Lectures and Addresses, Miscellaneous Pieces

10. Major Research by Bose

11. Bose Centenary - Bose & 20th Century Physics

  1. Satyendra Nath Bose Smriti Sangrahashala - by Bangiya Bijnan Parishad
  2. Webpage - S. N Bose - Retrospect - Vigyan Prasar.htm
  3. Links on Falguni Sarkar, Bose's Grandson [S N Bose Project]
  4. SN Bose Project - Google Sites
  5. BBC: Interview with Falguni Sarkar on 'Higgs Boson & Bose'
  6. Documentary titled 'Indian Scientist Satyendra Nath Bose'
  7. CERN Director on Nobel to Bose - The Hindu, Sept 4, 2012
  8. S N Bose - Biography, Santimoy & Enakshi Chatterjee
  9. Bose, Satyendranath - Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
  10. Homi Bhabha Centre for Scientific Education, TIFR, Mumbai
  11. Satyendranath Bose - Biography