An Unsung Hero…
Thanks to Mohit who first alerted me to this arcticle by Varun Aggarwal on Sir J C Bose – the unsung hero of Indian Science.
Varun’s site details Sir J C Bose‘s contribution to the field of physics and demonstrates beyond any doubt that he was the inventor of the radio which is mistakenly credited to Marconi (see also this wikipedia entry on Sir J C Bose).
The wikiepdia entry mentions, so spectacular were Bose’s achievements that Neville Francis Mott, Nobel Laureate in 1977 for his own contributions to solid-state electronics, remarked that “J.C. Bose was at least 60 years ahead of his time”
I am partly ashamed and partly embarrassed by my own ignorance of Sir Bose’s amazing inventions and discoveries. But I suspect I am part of a large majority of Indians.
Please forward this post to your friends and colleagues –This is the least we can do for this great unsung hero.
Continued below…
Image Courtesy: Setileague.org via Wikipedia
Below are some excerpts from Varun’s site* on “Achievements of Sir J. C. Bose in the field of communication“:
Sir J. C. Bose invented the Mercury Coherer (together with the telephone receiver) used by Guglielmo Marconi to receive the radio signal in his first transatlantic radio communication over a distance of 2000 miles from Poldhu, UK to Newfoundland, St. Johns in December 1901.
Guglielmo Marconi was celebrated worldwide for this achievement, but the fact that the receiver was invented by Bose was totally concealed.
In 1895, Sir J. C. Bose gave his first public demonstration of electromagnetic waves, using them to ring a bell remotely and to explode some gunpowder. He sent an electromagnetic wave across 75 feet passing through walls and body of the Chairman, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal.
Sir J. C. Bose holds the first patent worldwide to invent a solid-state diode detector to detect EM waves. The detector was built using a galena crystal. Have a look at Bose’s patent and wait for an interesting article on the same soon.
Sir J. C. Bose was a pioneer in the field of microwave devices. His contribution remains distinguished in the field and was acknowledged by the likes of Lord Kelvin, Lord Rayleigh, etc. Read what people thought about J. C. Bose. Refer to [1,2] to study the work of J. C. Bose in the field of microwave.
On his site, Varun appeals to young engineers to consider doing more research on the missing links regarding the contribution of Sir J. C. Bose towards the invention of radio.
As he writes, “Though this page would probably have a variety of audience, I believe that every electronics/electrical engineer graduating out of India should know about the distinguished contribution of Sir J. C. Bose to the field of communication. Hopefully, this page will initiate interest in people to study the works of Bose and interesting discussions will ensue”.
Below are some more references for the more curious amongst you (from Varun’s site):
Dr. Probir K. Bondyopadhyay’s paper: “Sir J. C. Bose’s Diode Detector Received Marconi’s First Transatlantic Wireless Signal Of December 1901 (The “Italian Navy Coherer” Scandal Revisited).” [ 3, Proc. IEEE, Vol. 86, No. 1, January 1998.]
The Works of Jagadis Chandra Bose: 100 years of MM-wave Research. (Excellent description and photographs of devices built by Bose some 100 years back.)
Bose Institute : The Bose Institute.
And don’t miss “The Unsung Hero: Part II”
* N.B. Varun’s site is no longer available although his paper (cited above) is. I have kept the excepts as they are although they may not match his research paper.
Shanthanu, I remember an IEEE article on this almost a decade ago (may be it was Varun’s article). It’s fairly common knowledge that Marconi usurped Bose’s invention, at least in engineering and electronic circuits.
Chandra: Thats interesting. If you have the link to the IEEE article, please can you post it here? Thanks.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.
Shantanu,
No history of wireless is complete without Tom Lee (Dr. Thomas Lee is a leading researcher in RF/Microwave circuit design and his books on RF/microwave are text books in grad classes on this topic).
Here is what he says in his book:
Planar microwave engineering
This is link for IEEE Paper:
The Work of Jagadis Chandra Bose: 100 Years of Millimeter-Wave Research
Conclusion of the paper says:
—–
Research into the generation and detection of millimeter
waves and the properties of substances at these wavelengths
was being undertaken in some detail 100 years ago in Calcutta, India, by Bose.
Many of the microwave components familiar today—waveguide, horn antennas, polarizers, dielectric lenses and prisms, and even semiconductor detectors of electromagnetic radiation—were invented and used in the last decade of the 19th century. At about the end of the 19th century, many of the workers in this area simply became interested in other topics. Attention of the wireless experimenters of the time became focused on much longer wavelengths, which eventually, with the help of the then unknown ionosphere, were able to support signaling at very much greater distances.
Although it appears that Bose’s demonstration of remote
wireless signaling has priority over Marconi, that he was the first to use a semiconductor junction to detect radio waves and invent various now commonplace microwave components, outside of India, he is rarely given the deserved recognition.
Further work at millimeter wavelengths was almost nonexis-
tent for nearly 50 years. Bose was at least this much ahead
of his time.
——
JC Bose did some amazing stuff – ahead of his time. No doubt. But it would be foolish of us to constantly parrot our past glory as we often tend to do.
IEEE finally recognizes the pioneer of wireless communication: http://web.mit.edu/varun_ag/www/bose_real_inventor.pdf
There is a dedicated chapter to bose in the autobiography of a yogi. Do read that.
More on the eminent Bose from two recent tweets:
https://twitter.com/sandipanthedeb/status/1675077484750962688 and
https://twitter.com/Paperclip_In/status/1674624191562403845
I will try and post excerpts here.
As promised, excepts from Paperclip’s thread:
…In his seminal paper titled “American Racism and the Lost Legacy of Sir J.C. Bose,” Peter V. Minorsky compellingly brings to our notice the instances where Bose’s contributions were undermined due to his Indian heritage, highlighting a possible case of racial discrimination.
With meticulous research and captivating examples, Dr. Minorsky sheds light on a disheartening reality that warrants our attention and reflection. And the person who led the anti-Bose campaign was Daniel T. MacDougal, director of the Desert Laboratory, Arizona.
…
But Bose was no stranger to racial discrimination, having endured unfair treatment throughout his academic career. Despite being equally qualified, he received only two-thirds of the salary that his European counterpart received for the same position.
…
and Sandipan’s thread:
….
So why were his accomplishments forgotten? IEEE, the world’s apex body of electronic engineers, named him as one of the “fathers of radio science” more than 60 years after his death. How did that happen?
…
Against all advice from friends, Bose refused to patent his inventions. He believed that his work was for humanity, not money. He shunned offers from British firms, writing to his friend Tagore that he was sickened by the “greed of Westerners”.
…
A young Italian Guglielmo Marconi arrived in London a few months before Bose. He was working on the same tech but he also wanted to be rich. He had high connections in Britain—his mother was an heiress of the Jameson whisky family.
…
Thru connections, Marconi got a contract from the British General Post Office (GPO) even though he did not yet have a working device. He also applied for a patent for that non-existent device. And he built up hype in the media.
…
Marconi may have met Bose in London in 1896. But it is almost certain that he took Bose’s design of the world’s first precise radio wave receiver, made 1 tiny change in the design and patented it. Proof: Marconi was never able to fully explain how and why his device worked!
…
The British couldn’t believe that an Indian could teach Physics. Presidency College grudgingly appointed him reluctantly (because he had a recco from Viceroy Lord Lytton) as a temp professor. Indian professors were paid 2/3rd of equally qualified Europeans. +
…
But temp. So his salary was 1/2 of the Europeans. As an act of satyagraha, much before Gandhiji coined the term, he refused to take his salary but performed all his duties. The college gave him an inhuman workload, hoping that he would crumble and run away. +
…
It was the college that finally caved in. Soon, Bose was the most popular teacher in the college. After two and a half years, the authorities gave him all his arrears and made him permanent (though of course at 2/3rd salary of the European salary). +
…
The he asked for a lab. The college had accepted that an Indian could be a good Physics teacher, but research!! No way. Ultimately they gave him a 24sqft space next to a toilet, but he would have to fund his own research. In that hell-hole, he invented microwave transmission.