Atharv Jain

9/22/13

Rating of the video: The Quantum Indians

I rated this video 5 out of 5 because how it described the 3 geniuses. Unlike the other video, I also enjoyed this topic because it had to do with science. The video described what each scientist did and how they contributed to the modern world of science.

Summary:

The video started talking about the first few moments after the big bang and then about bosons and the man who discovered them-Satyendra Nath Bose. The discovery of bosons is claimed in the world as the greatest scientific discovery of that generation. India is regretting the fact that they have forgotten one of their own. In fact, India’s government calls him a forgotten hero. When he was unknown he once sent Albert Einstein a letter in 1924 that would change physics forever. One of the speakers, Professor Partha Ghose, describes three great scientists: Planck who came up with the idea of Quantum, Einstein with his theory that light contains photons and travel in a wave, and Bohr in 1913 who developed the Bohr model of the atom and how electrons revolve around the nucleus. Ghose says that the 4th shot was Bose. At the same time Bose was counting photons; two other scientists named C.V. Raman and Meghnad Saha both had their own new theories about different subjects in physics. Raman gave us the Raman Effect and changed the way we see color today and Saha produced an equation that explained stellar radiation and is considered the father of modern Astrophysics. C.V. Raman was also the only “Indian” who was awarded a Nobel Prize for science. However, when he got on the stage, he cried because his country did not have a flag of his own therefore he won the prize as a British. Because of this, he dedicated his prize to the freedom fighters of India. When Bose discovered that the old statistics of light and photons didn’t add up, he made new stats called Bose statistics. He later sent this to Einstein and he was delighted to see this letter about the new stats. This was the paper he was looking for all along! Bose became a very famous name overnight in the world of physics. Einstein wrote back to him stating his work was a beautiful step forward and Bose was immediately granted permission to travel to Europe to meet Einstein. Bose has helped us in many ways today. Without him we wouldn’t have lasers or fiber optic communications. He passed away on February 4th, 1974.