Known as the ‘father of the Indian
nuclear programme’, Homi Jehangir Bhabha passed away on 24 January 1966.
Born
into a rich aristocratic family, Bhabha went to the University of Cambridge,
England, in 1927, originally to study mechanical engineering, but once there he
developed a strong interest in physics. Armed with an honours degree, he
started his research in 1930 at the Cavendish Laboratories in Cambridge and in
1935 obtained a doctorate. When World War II broke out in 1939,
Bhabha was in India on a holiday. With Europe in turmoil, he decided to stay, and at the behest of
physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, director of the Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore (Bengaluru), he joined the institute as a
reader in physics in 1940.
A visionary, Bhabha realized that the development of
nuclear energy was crucial for the future industrial growth of the country, as
the available sources of power and energy were limited. Funded by
businessman J.R.D. Tata, Indian nuclear research began with the inception
of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in 1945, with Bhabha at
the helm. Appointed chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission instituted by the
government of India in 1948, Bhabha was instrumental in setting up the Atomic
Energy Establishment in Trombay. All the scientists conducting research in nuclear
power and related areas were transferred from TIFR to this institute. After the
death of Bhabha in an air crash on Mont Blanc in 1966, the institute was
renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) by Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi in his memory.
Bhabha’s contribution to the development of atomic energy made
him a significant figure in international scientific circles. He served as
president of the United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic
Energy in 1955 and as president of the International Union of Pure and Applied
Physics from 1960 to 1963.
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