A monograph follows the life and times of Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the father of India’s nuclear power project, as well as his rich scientific legacy and vision, as well as his passionate interest in art, architecture, and classical music.
Astrophysicist Biman Nath describes how Homi J Bhabha’s rare combination of calibre and confidence made him the icon that he was in “Homi J Bhabha: A Renaissance Man Among Scientists.”
The monograph, which is part of Niyogi Books ‘Pioneers of Modern India’ series, explores Bhabha’s close friendship with Jawaharlal Nehru as well as his tumultuous working relationship with renowned astrophysicist Meghnad Saha.
Nath begins by recounting Bhabha’s family history and the influences that shaped his upbringing.
“What is interesting is that Bhabha’s fascination with fundamental physics and, in particular, the special theory of relativity and its effect on time, goes back to his childhood. It is said that he had studied the theory of relativity by the time he was sixteen,” he writes.
Young Bhabha’s house was the centre of the Parsi community’s business meetings, giving him the rare opportunity to see up close and personal figures from the Indian nationalist movement, including Mahatma Gandhi.
In the recently released SonyLIV series “Rocket Boys,” Bhabha’s life and contributions to science, as well as those of Vikram Sarabhai, the “Father of Indian Space Programme,” were dramatized.
In his book, Nath tries to show how Bhabha’s education at prestigious Indian and international institutions helped to ensure the path he would take.
Moreover, his work on Compton scattering and the R-process, as well as his advancement of nuclear physics, made him a force to be reckoned with in the global scientific community. He was a member of the Royal Society. When he derived a correct expression for the probability of positrons being scattered by electrons, now known as Bhabha scattering, he gained international recognition.
Bhabha also presided over the United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva in 1955 and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics from 1960 to 1963.
What distinguished Bhabha, according to Nath, was his ambition, foresight, and enterprise, which were instrumental in the development of modern science in India.
He understood early on newly independent India’s need for achieving self-reliance in the field of scientific research. To this end, he worked tirelessly, laying the framework for nuclear research in India by founding the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET), later renamed Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in his honour.
Bhabha, a multifaceted genius, found solace and an outlet for his creative mind through his lifelong interest in classical music, art and architecture, and painting.
In fact, Bhabha was particularly interested in the history of Indian art and architecture.
In his own words, “Art, music, poetry, and everything else that I do have this one purpose – increasing the intensity of my consciousness and life.”
Bhabha, according to Nath, is one of the last Renaissance men the world has seen.
“Bhabha was driven by an inner aesthetic that encompassed his visions, that ranged from his mathematical theories of particles, architectural design of his institutions, to the ambience of scientific research in India that he knew,” he writes.
According to Nath, the first day cover of the government’s postage stamp honouring Bhabha summed up his persona.
“The cover showed him gently brooding over Trombay, where he built his nuclear city, and beside him was an artist’s palette, and below him, the ‘Ode to Joy’ theme from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony,” he says.
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