Current Science

Rajaram Nityananda ¹

Affiliations
1 Azim Premji University, Bangalore 560 100, IN

Abstract

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Rajaram Nityananda ¹

Affiliations
1 Azim Premji University, PES South Campus, Electronics City, Bangalore 560 100, IN

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Rajaram Nityananda ¹

Affiliations
1 Azim Premji University, IN

Abstract

There is widely felt dissatisfaction with the standard of the undergraduate science degree - the average B Sc from a typical university. Entrance tests and interviews of B Sc candidates, even those with high marks, bring out gaps in understanding and skills. The creation of the IISERs was one response to such a situation. Many of the strong UG science programmes in the Central Universities and the five or four-year science degrees in the IITs predate the newer initiatives and have sent many students into research. The Indian Institute of Science started its undergraduate programme six years ago. All these programmes measure their success by the number going on to a Ph D - all the better if abroad. Against all odds, a few B Sc programmes in the universities have kept pace, with a significant fraction of their graduates going onto research. For a country of our size, there is room for even more such 'quality' programmes training potential researchers. However, these will always be a small fraction of undergraduate science degrees awarded in the country. This editorial is about the remainder.

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Rajaram Nityananda ¹

Affiliations
1 School of Liberal Studies, Azim Premji University, PES South Campus, Electronic City, Bengaluru 560 100, IN

Abstract

Four years after joining the University College of Science in Calcutta as a lecturer in 1916, Meghnad Saha submitted a paper entitled ‘Ionization in the solar chromosphere’ to the Philosophical Magazine. This was quickly followed by three more, the last of which, ‘A physical theory of stellar spectra’ appeared in 1921 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, forwarded by A. Fowler, Saha’s host at Imperial College, London. Fowler suggested many improvements on Saha’s original draft made in Calcutta. These papers were based on the concept of thermal ionization. At the high temperatures found in stars, some electrons can be removed from atoms. The precise ratio between the numbers of neutral atoms and the various ions is given by an equation which, ever since, has borne Saha’s name. This centenary provides an excuse to revisit the scientific background to this work, its immediate impact, and the aftermath.

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Andal Narayanan ¹, Rajaram Nityananda ²

Affiliations
1 Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru 560 080, IN
2 Azim Premji University, Bengaluru 562 125, IN

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Rajaram Nityananda ¹

Affiliations
1 Azim Premji University, Bengaluru 562 125, IN

Abstract

No Abstract.

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