So much has been written about Bharat Ratna Prof C.N.R Rao. Such is the grandeur of the legend, the champion of science – the name tells it all. No matter who you are, a researcher or not, an ardent follower of science or just an unbothered soul wondering what all that is about, you just cannot miss the vision and the integrity of this man for the pursuit of learning and doing works that inspire awe. As a matter of fact, we can learn a lot ¬ from him. We can learn the spirit of incessantly chasing goals, of meeting the challenges head-on and the qualities of self-restraint and discipline that works wonders. As I write, I have the knowledge of how lucid and effervescent depictions of him have been given by people who met him up close or were his students or colleagues. If you just count how many people around him Prof. Rao has inspired, mentored and advised during his career, you might as well be looking at quite large a list of people. And keep in mind that apart from all these people who met him personally or worked with him, he certainly has inspired a lot morepeople from within the country and abroad. His contribution to the field of Chemistry is immense and conferring of Bharat Ratna upon him was a due accolade.
Bharat Ratna Prof C.N.R Rao
To have him come to the campus and talk to us was a huge event. It is perhaps the motivation that is an essential ingredient to all ¬ research work and it was present in everything Prof. Rao shared with us. As I write this piece, I am pleasantly amazed by the strong bond his students have had with him throughout their course of work and, as a matter of fact, he still remains their idol _. The article by Prof. T. Pradeep of IIT Madras in The Week’s December 1 edition reveals a great deal indeed about this great man and terms him a ‘Perfect Scientist”.
This Lecture was the first in what is termed as the Institute Lecture Series – his being the inaugural one – scheduled once every year. Prof. Rao emphasised crucially on the idea of “Science is a way of life.” He went on to narrate stories and incidents of his family and his wife. What he considered one of the most important facets of education is the teacher-student relationship. He was critical of the way in which science is headed, expressing concern that it is losing its value, how it has become a tool fornurturing and developing the industry and a matter of grades for the students. He puts forth examples of eminent scholars such as Newton and Faraday and stressed upon the fact that they worked without grants and privileges that we have so usually come to expect in return. Science, according to him, is an irrepressible conviction of man to create something new. As we move forward as a nation, our destiny is closely tied with the advancement of science.
Prof. Rao went on to shed light on the great achievements in science in the last century, with Ernest Rutherford’s work bearing a special mention. He exclaimed that even if all the knowledge of the world is wiped out, one truth will remain that all matter is composed of atoms. He also mentioned the importance of the discoveries of superconductivity and of the works of J C Bose, with 2011 being the centenary year for the discovery of superconductivity. He also had quite a few quips fromthe field of scientific research to share with us. Werner Heisenberg, who happened to be working as a project associate under Niels Bohr actually made a discovery in 3 weeks and sent it for publication without even informing his guide about it! There was a special mention of scientists such as Lavoisier and Dalton for their immense contribution to science as well. Prof. Rao brought forth the importance of theSolvay Conference, the inaugural one taking place in 1911 and the year 2011 marking the centenary year for this effort which saw the participation of arguably 25 of the world’s greatest scientists of that time. In the sequence of centenary events followed the ones of X- Ray crystallography (W. L Bragg) in 2011.. Prof. Rao considers Faraday to be the greatest scientist because of his 450 papers which he wrote single-handedly. He narrated the hardships faced by Faraday and recounted the famous note which perhaps inspired many of scientists thereafter. Faraday worked as a book-binder and coincidentally got hold of a book by Volta. Faraday read the book in almost no time at all and this remarkable interest of his in science got him a job as the chief bottle washer in a lab and he soon became an assistant to Humphry Davy. Such was the grandeur of Michael Faraday that he even rejected the Knighthood and also turned down offers to the presidentship of the Royal Society.
Another great scientist who was mentioned in the lecture was Mendeleev and in the year 1906 his name was proposed for the Nobel Prize. He prepared the greatest man-made table, i.e., the periodic table. Then there was Woodward, who synthesized the first man-made molecule Urea in 1828. The phase of modern chemistry began with the works on chemical bonding by Linus and Pauling. Gilbert N Lewis was nominated 35 times for the Nobel Prize but he couldnot win it even though many of his students did.
Science keeps changing but, as Prof. Rao believes, India doesnot recognise it. We have to keep up with time. He encouraged scholars to pick up problems that are relevant and which fit the time we are working in, rather than simple ones. According to him, science requires a mind full of exploratory intellect and if someone’s work involves a new area of research, patience is a must. The future, as he said, lies in the Energy and Environment fields of research. He condemned the Indian way of working easy and safe to get published. He believes in the notion that we must look ahead and there are no holidays in science. The work in science can definitely provoke a sense of being a part of the great and enchanted history. Prof. Rao narrated one example of a saint and his wife. The wife asked the saint, her husband how could she become immortal. The saint replied that only an idea that never dies can make you immortal.
To conclude the lecture, he focused his attention on the youth and how and where should we proceed in our quests. He holds the view, and rather fair one at that, that no generation has ever been fair to the youth- one has to make his own way by dint of sheer hard work and determination. It is good to be selfish to get good results but it is not good not to let others achieve success. To sum up, he quoted Faraday, stating, “No human has the right to talk for more than an hour.”
Author: Bajwa Roodra Pratap Singh
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