primary...jagadis chandra bose (1858 - 1937)
Jagadis Chandra Bose was a great scientist whose work and inventions put India on the science map of the world.
Jagadis Chandra Bose was born on 30th November 1858, in a Bengali village, India. Both his mother and father were kind people who used their own money to help the poor in the village. Jagadis was a curious child. He would listen to the local farmers and fishermen and would ask lots of questions about the world around him. He also loved playing games and cricket was his favourite sport.
There was a very interesting person in Jagadis’ life. He was a servant who walked Jagadis to school each day. He had been a criminal in the past and had just come out of jail. He would tell Jagadis stories of his adventures, which made a lasting impression on the young boy.
At the age of 9, Jagadis moved away to Calcutta to study. All the other boys in his school spoke English and Jagadis was teased. He was very lonely so he would spend his time studying frogs and fishes and watching how plants and flowers grow. He did well in his studies and his teachers liked him. Jagadis then went on to study physics at Calcutta University. He was still really interested in biology and botany, the study of plants.
When he completed his degree he travelled to London to study further. He graduated in natural sciences at Cambridge University in 1884.
Dear Father: "Now that I am back in India I thought I would write to you. I have become a Professor of physical science at the Presidency College in Calcutta. I enjoy my job but feel rather insulted. Did you know that an Indian Professor is paid considerably less than an English Professor? I am protesting and won't collect any of my wages until they pay me in full. Give my love to Mother.
Jagadis
After three years, the college paid Jagadis a full salary and the money he was owed.
Jagadis believed that plants were alive and felt pain like any other living thing, but he didn’t have any equipment to prove it.
He was very skilled in electricity so he invented his own instruments and did indeed prove that plants were living beings. The most amazing instrument he invented was the crescograph, used to measure the rate of growth of a plant. It was very sensitive and could measure plant growth that was 20 000 times less than a snail's speed!
Jagadis also knew that water is essential to plants. He discovered that even though the root of a plant absorbs water, when the root is cut, the plant stem continues to take in water. See the Celery Experiment at the foot of this page.
quick story...
Once upon a time in a far away place called Faridpur, there was a magical palm tree that would bend towards the ground every evening. Local people thought the palm tree contained the spirit of the holy man who bowed whenever he heard the temple bells in the evening.
But one day, along came a great scientist called Jagadis Chandra Bose. He took a look at the palm tree and explained it was not magical at all. The scientist said the reason the tree bowed down in the evening and raised itself in the morning was because of the fall and rise in the tempreature.
the end...
Jagadis found the answers to many questions concerning plants.
Jagadis travelled all over the world giving lectures and demonstrations of his discoveries. He wrote a number of books and received many great honours.
In 1917, Jagadis opened the Bose Research Institute in Calcutta where scientists came from all over the world to train. Even now it is still a famous centre of research. Jagadis worked in this laboratory for 20 years, up to the very end of his life.
Jagadis Chandra Bose died on 23rd November 1937. He believed that "Knowledge is never the exclusive possession of any particular race, nor does it recognise geographical limitations." His work lives on and his words should inspire us all.
QUICK SCIENCE NOTE...
The invention of wireless technology (this made radio possible) is accredited to Guglielmo Marconi but many argue that Jagadis invented it first.
CELERY EXPERIMENT:
all you need is
• A stalk of fresh celery with leaves
• A table knife
• Coloured ink, paint powder or food colouring
• A glass
• Chopping Board
1. Ask an adult to help you slice a bit from the end of the celery stick with the table knife.
2. Fill your glass with about 2 cm of water and add a couple of drops of ink, paint powder or food colouring. Mix the water and stand your celery stalk in the glass.
3. Put the glass somewhere warm and light, like a windowsill, and leave it for a day.
4. After a day, take the celery out of the glass and wash the end of it under a running tap. Lay the celery on the chopping board and ask an adult to help you slice the stalk into six pieces.
You’ll notice that the celery stalk has changed colour! Look at the pieces of celery you have sliced. Can you see dots of colour inside? These dots have appeared because the coloured water has been sucked up by the stalk and has travelled to the leaves. You have just discovered how water travels through the stalk of a plant and to its leaves!
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