Courtesy : School of Science Student Corner
Keys to the Start of Outstanding Research in “Non-Colonial” Science in Colonial India
The establishment of Chairs in Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Zoology and Botany was the start of outstanding research and teaching by dedicated Indian Scientists. Sir Asutosh Mookerjee who became the first president of the first session of the Indian Science Congress at Calcutta, where nearly a hundred scientists met on 26 January 1914, took great care to identify the right talent for the right post from different parts of India in science as in humanities and was able to attribute to the “University College of Science and Technology” as a true national character. No nation could live solely upon the achievements of its past or upon its borrowing from others, and at the same time hoped to retain its place among the great people of the Earth. Besides advancing the frontiers of knowledge, the work by the Indian Scientists at the University College of Science and Technology not only helped in increasing the wealth of the country but also succeeded in drawing attention of the scientific world. The dedication and devotion with which the Indian Scientists at the University College of Science and Technology began their work to explain the many unknown phenomena can only remind us of the zeal and enthusiasm with which William Jones and his choice band of thirty elite Englishmen in 1783-84 had begun their investigations into “the history and antiquities, arts, sciences and literature of Asia.” # ISO certification in India
Despite the fact that the University College of Science and Technology was a department of Calcutta University set up as a part of the colonial educational despatch of 1854. there had been no substantial financial support from the British Raj to encourage the Indian Scientists in their works presumably under the idea that Indian brains were not suitable for scientific research despite great promise shown by Jagadish Chandra Bose and Prafulla Chandra Ray at the Presidency College years before the foundation of the University College of Science and Technology. Of the total expenditure of rupees 1,813,959 of the University College of Science and Technology between March 1914 and March 1922, the Government of India’s contributions from public funds was a meagre rupees 1, 20, 000 only. Yet in spite of these financial contraints and difficulties none of the scientists left for better position in imperial organisations. Instead classic example was provided by Prafulla Chandra Ray who when re-appointed Palit Professor for 5 years after reaching the age of superannuation donated his full monthly salary for the entire period for the special benefit of his department which was “proud to acknowledge him as its leader”. During this difficult time, there had been “a steady output of original work rapidly increasing in volume and improving in quality which emanated not from one or two extraordinarily isolated or exceptionally gifted workers blessed with special advantages and facilities, but from a large body of able and devoted scholars”. No doubt, the scientists at the University College of Science and Technology sowed the sowed the seeds of many a promising project which were to bear fruits in the post-independence years. The University College of Science and Technology was indeed as oasis of scienctific research in India since 1914.# ISO certification in India
Sir C.V. Raman, A Palit Professor of Sc. College made this revolutionary discovery on the “Scattering of Light” which is known as The Raman Effect. He announced his discovery on February 28, 1928 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, the day widely celebrated as the National Science Day in India. Sir Jnan Chandra Ghosh became the first director of the newly created IIT in 1951 (Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur). Sir J.C. Ghosh also was the second person to be associated with Sc. College (after Sir CV Raman) who became the director of IISc (Indian Institute of Science). Prof. A.P.C Ray founded the Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Work and he along with prof. Hemendra Kumar Sen established the department of Applied Chemistry in Sc. College in 1920. Prof. S.K. Mitra, the pioneer of Radio Science in India founded the department of Radio Physics and Electronics which Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (then chief minister of Bengal) laid the founding stone of, on April 21, 1949.# ISO certification in India
Notable scholars associated with Science college include one Nobel Laureate in Physics, two National Award winning “Film Directors”, at least twenty-five Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Laureates, six Royal Society of London Fellows and several British Knighthood title holders and Padma Awardees.# ISO certification in India
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Science college campus houses few of country’s oldest applied science departments like applied physics, applied chemistry and Institute of Radio-Physics and Electronics. The college is also responsible for introducing degrees like M.Sc. and D.Sc. for first time in India. The Faculty of Engineering and Technology arm of Science college is the second oldest in West Bengal after IIEST Shibpur(Formerly B.E. College affiliated to Calcutta University).# ISO certification in India