THE RAMAN-NATH EFFECT

VIJAY A. SINGH
RAJA RAMANA FELLOW*
MUMBAI, INDIA

ABSTRACT

Prof. Vijay Singh ex-Natiinal Coordinator, Science Olympiads, has assembled a Raman Nath experimental kit at one tenth the cost of the setup sold by European firms. He has used his own funds and time to do this. In a talk at Science College Patna where Prof. Nagendra Nath worked for 20 years he handed this equipment to the College as a gesture of his respect for this phycisit and his commitment to experimental work at the undergraduate level. Prof. U K Sinha, Principal received it on behalf of the college on February 2 2016. This gesture of Prof. Singh gives real meaning to the term “Science Educationist”.

The discovery of diffraction some two hundred years ago sealed the debate on the nature of light in favour of it being a wave. An important development was the work of Sir C V Raman and Prof. N. Nath who showed that light could be diffracted by a unique grating set up in a liquid by means of ultra-sonic waves. Thus a solid grating was not mandatory. 50 years later scientists showed that since matter could be considered as a (de-Broglie) wave it could be diffracted by grating made of light! This talk and this gesture of the Raman Nath equipment at Patna by Prof. Vijay Singh will hopefully make us aware of the work of Prof. Nath who spent 20 years at Science College, Patna in the post independence period. It may help give a fillip to undergraduate experimental work.

*Professor, Centre for Exccellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai University.

Formerly (i) IIT Kanpur (1984-2004); (ii) HBCSE (Tata Institute of Fundamental Reseaerch;

Reference:

C V Raman and N S Nath , “Diffraction of Light by Ultrasonic Waves”, Nature Vol. 138, 616 (1936).