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In this Indian name, the name "Chandrasekhara" is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, "Venkata Raman".

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman
Born	November 7, 1888(1888-11-07) Tiruchirapalli, Madras Presidency, British India
Died	November 21, 1970 (aged 82) Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Nationality	Indian
Fields	Physics
Institutions	Indian Finance Department Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science Indian Institute of Science
Alma mater	Presidency College
Doctoral students	G. N. Ramachandran
Known for	Raman effect
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Physics (1930) Bharat Ratna Lenin Peace Prize
Religious stance	Hindu

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, FRS (Tamil: சந்திரசேகர வெங்கடராமன) (7 November 1888 – 21 November 1970) was an Indian physicist who was awarded the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the molecular scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect, which is named after him.

Biography

Early years

Chandrashekhara Venkata Raman was born on November 7, 1888, in a Hindu family in Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. His mother tongue is Tamil. At an early age Raman moved to the city of Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and physics, so he grew up in an academic atmosphere. His nephew Subramanyan Chandrasekhar also won the Nobel Prize in Physics, in 1983.

Middle years

Raman entered Presidency College, Madras, in 1902, and in 1904 gained his Bsc, winning the first place and the gold medal in physics. In 1907 he gained his Msc, obtaining the highest distinctions. He joined the Indian Finance Department as an Assistant Accountant General in Calcutta. As the story goes, one evening while returning from work, he spotted the sign of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS). He started visiting the laboratory after office hours and did experiments, which culminated with his Nobel Prize winning work.^{citation needed}

In 1917 Raman resigned from his government service and took up the newly created Palit Professorship in Physics at the University of Calcutta. Simultaneously, he continued doing research at the IACS, where he became the Honorary Secretary. Raman used to refer to this period as the golden era of his career. Many talented students gathered around him at the IACS and the University of Calcutta. He was president of the 16th session of the Indian Science Congress in 1929.

Energy level diagram showing the states involved in Raman signal.

Raman won the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the Raman effect. Raman spectroscopy is based on this phenomenon. He was the first Asian and first non-White to get any Nobel Prize in Science. Before him Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore (also Indian) had received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Raman also worked on the acoustics of musical instruments. He worked out the theory of transverse vibration of bowed strings, on the basis of superposition velocities. He was also the first to investigate the harmonic nature of the sound of the Indian drums such as the tabla and the mridangam.

In 1934 Raman became the director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, where two years later he continued as a professor of physics. Other investigations carried out by Raman were: his experimental and theoretical studies on the diffraction of light by acoustic waves of ultrasonic and hypersonic frequencies (published 1934-1942), and those on the effects produced by X-rays on infrared vibrations in crystals exposed to ordinary light.

He also started a company called Travancore Chemical and Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in 1943 along with Dr. Krishnamurthy. The Company during its 60 year history, established 4 factories in Southern India. In 1947, he was appointed as the first National Professor by the new government of Independent India.

In 1948 Raman, through studying the spectroscopic behavior of crystals, approached in a new manner fundamental problems of crystal dynamics. He dealt with the structure and properties of diamond, the structure and optical behavior of numerous iridescent substances (labradorite, pearly felspar, agate, opal, and pearls). Among his other interests were the optics of colloids, electrical and magnetic anisotropy, and the physiology of human vision.

Old Age

He retired from the Indian Institute of Science in 1948 and a year later he established the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore Karnataka, serving as its director and remained active there until his death in 1970, in Bangalore, Karnataka, at the age of 82.

Awards & Recognition

Raman was honoured with a large number of honorary doctorates and memberships of scientific societies. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society early in his career (1924) and knighted in 1929. In 1954 he was awarded the Bharat Ratna. He was also awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1957.

India celebrates National Science Day on 28 February of every year to commemorate the discovery of the Raman effect in 1928.

Raman's Scientific Publications (A select list)

See also

• Raman laser
• Raman scattering
• Raman spectroscopy
• Raman amplification
• Resonance Raman spectroscopy
• Raman Research Institute
• Raman optical activity
• Raman (crater)
• List of Iyers

References

• Bhagavantam, S. (November 1971). "Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman. 1888-1970". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society (London: Royal Society) 17: 565–592. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1971.0022, http://www.jstor.org/stable/769720. 

• "Raman, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata". Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (2007). Retrieved on 2007-09-11.

Further reading

• Miller, Foil A.; Kauffman, George (1989). "C. V. Raman and the Discovery of the Raman effect". Journal of Chemical Education 66: 795 – 801. 
• Ramaseshan S: C.V.Raman. Journal of Madras University, section B, Sept.1983, 46(1): 1-16.
• Scientific Papers of CV Raman, Ed. S Ramaseshan, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore 1988.
• Sri Kantha S: The discovery of the Raman Effect and its impact in Biological Sciences. European Spectroscopy News, Aug/Sept. 1988, no.80, 20, 22, 24 & 26.
• Sri Kantha S: Raman's prize. Nature, 1989; 340: 672.
• Fabelinski I,L. Priority and the Raman Effect. Nature, 1990; 343: 686.

External links

• The Nobel Prize in Physics 1930 at the Nobel Foundation
• Nobel prize internet archive
• PATH CREATOR-C.V.RAMAN
• Nobel Lecture
• Archive of all scientific papers of C.V. Raman