Sisir Kumar Mitra
S.K. Mitra | |
|---|---|
| শিশির কুমার মিত্র | |
 S.K. Mitra, from the January 1916 issue of The Hindusthanee Student | |
| Born | Sisir Kumar Mitra 24 October 1890 |
| Died | 13 August 1963 (aged 72) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | University of Calcutta |
| Known for | Work on the ionosphere |
| Spouse | Lilavati Biswas (1914-1939) |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Radiophysics Atmospheric physics |
| Institutions | Bankura Christian College University of Paris University of Nancy University of Calcutta Curie Institute (Paris) |
| Doctoral advisor | C.V. Raman Charles Fabry |
| Other academic advisors | Jagadish Chandra Bose Marie Curie |
Sisir Kumar Mitra (or Shishirkumar Mitra) MBE, FNA, FRS (October 24, 1890 – August 13, 1963) was an Indian Bengali physicist.[3]
Early life and education
Mitra was born in his father's hometown of Konnagar, a suburb of Kolkata (then Calcutta) located in the Hooghly District in the Bengal Presidency (present-day West Bengal).[4] He was the third son of Joykrishna Mitra, who was a schoolteacher at the time of Mitra's birth, and Saratkumari, a medical student whose family came from Midnapore.[4][5] While Mitra's paternal family were orthodox Bengali Hindus, his mother's family were adherents of the progressive Brahmo Samaj, and were noted in Midnapore for their advanced outlook.[5] In 1878, Joykrishna Mitra had joined the Brahmo Samaj and married his wife, against the wishes of his family, who responded by severing ties with him. As a consequence, the newly wed couple moved to Saratkumari's hometown of Midnapore, where Joykrishna and his wife had two sons - Satish Kumar and Santosh Kumar - and a daughter before Joykrishna moved his family to Kolkata in 1889; there, he became a schoolteacher. Mitra was born the following year.[5]
While in Kolkata, Joykrishna became acquainted with several distinguished scholars, notably Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Bipin Chandra Pal. Sharing Saratkumari's progressive outlook, Joykrishna secured his wife's admission as a student at Campbell Medical College. In 1892, Saratkumari qualified as a physician and received an appointment at the Lady Dufferin Hospital in the city of Bhagalpur, then in the Bengal Presidency (now in Bihar). The family thus moved to Bhagalpur, where Saratkumari began her new career, with Joykrishna securing a position as a municipal clerk. A third son, Mitra's younger brother Sarat Kumar, was born at Bhagalpur shortly after.[5]
In Bhagalpur, Mitra began school at the Bhagalpore Zilla School. Around 1897-1898, when aged six or seven, his interest in atomospheric science began upon hearing the story of Ramchandra Chatterjee, a Bengali aeronaut who a year before Mitra's birth, on 4 May 1889, had become the first Indian to make a solo balloon flight.[5][6] The story prompted Mitra to ask his elder brother Satish Kumar about the principles of lighter-than-air flight; his brother explained as best as he could. A few years afterwards, both of Mitra's elder brothers, Satish Kumar and Santosh Kumar, died; as a result of this harsh blow, Joykrishna soon suffered a paralytic attack and became an invalid. Despite the family's increasing financial burdens, Saratkumari managed to educate her two surviving sons.[5] After passing his examinations from the Bhagalpore Zilla school, Mitra was admitted to the FA (intermediate-level) program at the T.N.J. College; his father Joykrishna died shortly after.[5]
During his childhood and adolescence, Mitra had nurtured his interest in science through reading popular scientific articles by leading Bengali scientists, including articles by Jagadish Chandra Bose. After passing his FA examinations in 1908, Mitra was admitted as a student in Presidency College of the University of Calcutta where he earned a B.Sc.. He continued to develop a passion for physics and scientific research, and was accepted by Jagadish Bose as a research scholar upon completing his master's degree in 1912 with the highest honours. He worked under Professor Bose for a few months before being forced to end his studies due to his family's financial difficulties.[5]
Career
After leaving the University of Calcutta, Mitra secured an appointment as a lecturer at his former college, T. N. J. College.[5] Following a brief period there, he was appointed a lecturer at Bankura Christian College. Frustrated by the lack of research opportunities at both institutions, Mitra channelled his energy into developing innovative experiments to demonstrate to his students and writing popular scientific articles in Bengali.[4] He married in 1914, and two years later was invited by Ashutosh Mukherjee to return to Calcutta University as a post-graduate physics scholar in the new University Science College. There he conducted research into the diffraction and interference of light under C. V. Raman; for this work, Mitra gained a D.Sc. degree in 1919, also publishing three papers in the Philosophical Magazine.[5][4]
After receiving his doctorate, Mitra left for France to continue his studies at the University of Paris. There he earned a second doctorate under Charles Fabry, with a thesis on the determination of wavelength standards in the 2000-2300 Å region of copper.[5] and would join Marie Curie at her laboratory. He developed an interest in the new science of radio communication, and went to the University of Nancy to research this field.
In 1923 he returned to India where he was appointed Khaira Professor of physics, at the University of Calcutta. There, in addition to teaching, he established a laboratory to investigate wireless. He also initiated a new department at the University of Calcutta that later became the Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics.
In 1955 he retired from the university, becoming emeritus professor. He was given charge of the West Bengal Secondary Education Board, and spent six years organizing this administrative body.
He died following a short illness.
Among his accomplishments were his investigations into the ionosphere. Dr. Mitra proposed that ultraviolet light from the sun created the middle, or E layer, of the ionosphere. He also determined that ions in the ionosphere's F layer were what caused luminescence of the night sky, giving it a dusty hue rather than pitch black. In 1947 he published a reference treatise titled "The Upper Atmosphere" on atmospheric research.
Awards and honors
- Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), 1938[7]
- Fellowship of the Royal Society, 1958[1]
- Presidency of The Asiatic Society, 1951-53.[8]
- Presidency of the Indian National Science Academy, 1959-60.
- National Professorship, 1962.
- Padma Bhushan, 1962.[2]
- S. K. Mitra Center for Research in Space Environment of the University of Calcutta is named for him.
- The crater Mitra on the Moon is named after him.
References
- ^ a b Ratcliffe, J. A. (1964). "Sisir Kumar Mitra 1890-1963". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 10: 221–226. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1964.0013.
- ^ a b "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ S. K. Mitra, "The Upper Atmosphere", Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1947.
- ^ a b c d "Professor S. K. Mitra: his pioneering work on radio science" (PDF). Current Science. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Bhar, J. N. (1964). "Sisir Kumar Mitra 1890-1963" (PDF). Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy. 1: 106–127.
- ^ "The First Indian Aeronaut" (PDF). Indian Journal of the History of Science. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
- ^ "No. 34518". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 June 1938. p. 3704.
- ^ "Sisir Kumar Mitra". Ideas of India. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
5. Rajinder Singh, Nobel Prize Nominator Sisir Kumar Mitra F.R.S. - His scientific work in international context, Shaker Publisher, Aachen 2016. http://www.shaker.de/de/content/catalogue/index.asp?lang=de&ID=8&ISBN=978-3-8440-2654-2</
External links
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
- 1890 births
- 1963 deaths
- Brahmos
- Bengali physicists
- 19th-century Indian physicists
- People from Bhagalpur
- Fellows of the Royal Society
- Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy
- University of Calcutta alumni
- University of Calcutta faculty
- Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Nancy-Université faculty
- 20th-century Indian physicists
- Scientists from Kolkata
- Presidents of The Asiatic Society