Brief excerpts of Lecture by Prof. C.N.R. Rao`s Lecture: "Celebration of Science" delivered at Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi on the eve of culmination of International Year of Chemistry 2011.
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"Lavosier (1743-1794) is great great grandfather of
Chemistry. He contributed immensely to the field to leave no doubt in any one`s
mind that how the research in this area will move ahead. His work in
conservation of mass, composition of matter, description about the composition
of air and thus process of combustion were far more fundamental later to be
consolidated by Michael Faradey (1791-1867) who changed the history by
discovering electrolysis, magnetism, electricity, liquification of gas,
benzene, catalysis and many other ideas. During the mean time, Dalton
(1766-1844) nurtured the idea of structure of atom. Faradey who had schooling
only three years in formal education system published around 450 research
papers is doyen of modern times. He was such a humble man that after being
offered chair of President of Royal Society, he just refused by
saying that he was the man in the laboratory and did not feel
comfortable in the office of authority.
Rutherford came with a model of atom in 1911. Today
exactly 100 years after that, we can firmly say by reminding what great
Physicist Richard Feynman has said, "If we forget all the discoveries and
inventions, one discovery we will be happy to live with is that of structure of
atom." That was the time when Chemistry was ridiculed as a profession
like that of collecting stamps. Not a surprise that Rutherford got Nobel prize “for his investigations into the disintegration of
the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances" in 1908 in the Chemistry and not in Physics.
When in 1897 J.J. Thomson
discovered electron, the staggering penetration of human mind into the
mysterious secrets of the universe has already began. Two Dutch scientists
shattered the status quo of Chemistry and Physics. Heike Kamerlingh
Onnes`s pioneering work on superconductivity and liquid helium was great step
ahead. Then came Vander Waals who became legend by his work on
an equation of state for gases
and liquids. The grand gathering of Solvay Conference in 1911 and 1927 show us
the great amount of affinity great scientists had across the spectrum of
scientific disciplines. The International Solvay Institutes for
Physics and Chemistry, located in Brussels, were founded by the Belgian industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912,
following the historic invitation-only 1911 Conseil Solvay, the
turning point in world physics. The
Institutes coordinate conferences, workshops, seminars, and
colloquia. Following the initial success of 1911, the Solvay
Conferences (Conseils Solvay) have been devoted to outstanding preeminent
open problems in both physics and chemistry. Another such conference
is very popular called Lindau Meeting. The annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings provide a globally
recognised forum for the transfer of knowledge between generations of scientists.
They inspire and motivate Nobel Laureates and international Best Talents.
Lectures of Nobel Laureates reflect current scientific topics and present
relevant fields of research of the future. In panel discussions, seminars and
during the various events of the social programe young researchers
nominated by a worldwide network of Academic Partners interact with Nobel
Laureates.
Those were
the times where Marie Curie (7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934) was
a physicist and chemist famous for her research
on radioactivity. She was the first person honoured with two Nobel
Prizes—in physics and chemistry. She was the first female professor at
the University of Paris, and in 1995 became the first woman to
be entombed on her own merits in
the Panthéon in Paris. But discrimination about her continued in
her lifetimes and she was not given honorary membership of French Academy of
Sciences.
Its all
about uncertainty during the times of two world wars world witnessed.
Uncertainty principle, Schrodinger Equation and Wave-Particle Duality
were the glamorous phrases in those times just like Michael Jackson, Madonna
and Beatles are of the post war times. Those phrases changed everything. In
1912 came W.L. Bragg who invented X-Ray diffraction crystallography. Then came
the chemical bond. This was the beginning of new era in
chemistry. A chemical bond is an attraction
between atoms that allows the formation of chemical
substances that contain two or more atoms. The bond is caused by
the electromagnetic force attraction between opposite charges, either
between electrons and nuclei, or as the result of a dipole attraction.
The strength of chemical bonds varies considerably; there are "strong
bonds" such as covalent or ionic bonds and "weak
bonds" such as dipole-dipole interactions, the London dispersion
force and hydrogen bonding. Godfather of this mother of all
discoveries in Chemistry in future was Gilbert
Lewis(1875-1946). In 1927, valence bond theory was formulated and it
argues that a chemical bond forms when two valence electrons, in their
respective atomic orbitals, work or function to hold two nuclei together,
by virtue of effects of lowering system energies. Building on this theory, the
chemist Linus Pauling published in 1931 what some consider one of the
most important papers in the history of chemistry: "On the Nature
of the Chemical Bond". Many students of
Lewis received Nobel but prize escaped him.
Chemistry
after Lewis was never like before. During 1930-1970, research in Chemistry was
dominated by work in molecular structure, reaction mechanisms, new methods by
having structural approached to Chemistry leading towards birth of molecular
biology and alpha-helix structure. Chemistry after 1970s
was revolutionized by serious progress on the front of structure,
synthesis and dynamics of the science. 1986 saw birth of high-temperature
superconductivity, 1990 gave us synthesis of new carbon forms, in 1992 we
witnessed arrival of mesoporous solids and thereafter research in
carbon nano tubes, graffines, high quality materials. Challenges
for chemical sciences in 21st century are to go beyond molecular frontier. To
develop the work on living systems, material and design, computational
chemistry, simulation of experiment, new algorithms, new hydrogen batteries,
fuel cells etc. As Pencroft has predicted long back in 1874 that Water
as fuel of
future. (The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: Chapter 33) When we realize the potential of the
research in chemistry, this dream is not
exaggeration.
All these decades Chemistry was Queen and servant of biology.
In 21st Century, Chemistry will be Queen and
Servant of Material Sciences which
will be used from kitchen frying pan to wings of
rockets, aero-planes in the sky.
Looking
back at this snapshot of history, one thing is clear. Great discoveries have
come by intuition and not by mere technical appliances and grant.
Today researchers in India are more busy with laptops and mobile rather than
engagement with creative ideas and constructive discussions. We need
to take a careful look at history. When Lavoisier was busy in
thinking about founding principles of Chemistry amidst the heydays of French
revolution, Tipu Sultan was fighting the war with British at Seringapatam (5
April – 4 May 1799). That war changed
the history of subcontinent, British arrived contributing to the advancement of
colonialism, and derailment of what could have been rocket-science being
used by Tipu against British infantry.
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