S.K. Mitra | |
|---|---|
| শিশির কুমার মিত্র | |
 S.K. Mitra | |
| Born | Sisir Kumar Mitra (1890-10-24)24 October 1890 |
| Died | 13 August 1963(1963-08-13) (aged 72) |
| Alma mater | University of Calcutta |
| Known for | Work on theionosphere |
| Spouse | Lilavati Biswas (1914–1939) |
| Awards |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Radiophysics Atmospheric physics |
| Institutions | Bankura Christian College Rajabazar Science College University of Paris University of Nancy University of Calcutta Curie Institute (Paris) |
| Doctoral advisor | C.V. Raman Charles Fabry |
| Other academic advisors | Jagadish Chandra Bose Marie Curie Camille Gutton |
Sisir Kumar Mitra (orShishirkumar Mitra)MBE,FNI,FASB,FIAS,FRS (24 October 1890 – 13 August 1963) was an Indianphysicist.[3][4]
Mitra was born in his father's hometown ofKonnagar, a suburb ofKolkata (then Calcutta) located in theHooghly District in theBengal Presidency (present-dayWest Bengal).[5] He was the third son of Joykrishna Mitra, who was a schoolteacher at the time of Mitra's birth, and Saratkumari, a medical student whose family came fromMidnapore.[5][6] While Mitra's paternal family were orthodox Hindus, his mother's family were adherents of the progressiveBrahmo Samaj, and were noted in Midnapore for their advanced outlook.[6] In 1878, Joykrishna Mitra had joined the Brahmo Samaj and married his wife, against the wishes of his family, who responded by severing ties with him. As a consequence, the newly wed couple moved to Saratkumari's hometown of Midnapore, where Joykrishna and his wife had two sons – Satish Kumar and Santosh Kumar – and a daughter before Joykrishna moved his family to Kolkata in 1889; there, he became a schoolteacher. Mitra was born the following year.[6]
While in Kolkata, Joykrishna became acquainted with several distinguished scholars, notablyIshwar Chandra Vidyasagar andBipin Chandra Pal. Sharing Saratkumari's progressive outlook, Joykrishna secured his wife's admission as a student atCampbell Medical College. In 1892, Saratkumari qualified as a physician and received an appointment at the Lady Dufferin Hospital in the city ofBhagalpur, then in the Bengal Presidency (now inBihar). The family thus moved to Bhagalpur, where Saratkumari began her new career, with Joykrishna securing a position as a municipal clerk. A third son, Mitra's younger brother Sarat Kumar, was born at Bhagalpur shortly after.[6]
In Bhagalpur, Mitra began school at the Bhagalpore Zilla School. Around 1897–1898, when aged six or seven, his interest in atmospheric science began after hearing the story of Ramchandra Chatterjee, a Bengali aeronaut who a year before Mitra's birth, on 4 May 1889, had become the first Indian to make a solo balloon flight.[6][7] The story prompted Mitra to ask his elder brother Satish Kumar about the principles of lighter-than-air flight; his brother explained as best as he could. A few years afterwards, both of Mitra's elder brothers died; following this death, Joykrishna soon had a paralytic attack and became disabled. Despite the family's increasing financial burdens, Saratkumari managed to educate her two surviving sons.[6] During his childhood and adolescence, Mitra nurtured his interest in science through reading popular scientific articles by leading Bengali scientists, including some byJagadish Chandra Bose. After passing his examinations from the Bhagalpore Zilla school, Mitra was admitted to the FA (intermediate-level) program at theT.N.J. College; his father Joykrishna died shortly after.[6]
After passing his FA examinations in 1908, Mitra was admitted as a student inPresidency College of theUniversity of Calcutta where he earned aB.Sc. He continued to develop a passion for physics and scientific research, and was accepted by Jagadish Bose as a research scholar upon completing his master's degree in 1912 with the highest honours. He worked under Professor Bose for a few months before being forced to end his studies due to his family's financial difficulties.[6]
To support his family, after leaving the University of Calcutta, Mitra secured an appointment as a lecturer at his former college, T. N. J. College.[6] Following a brief period there, he was appointed a lecturer atBankura Christian College. Frustrated by the lack of research opportunities at both institutions, Mitra channelled his energy into developing innovative experiments to demonstrate to his students and writing popular scientific articles in Bengali.[5] In 1916, he was invited byAshutosh Mukherjee to return to Calcutta University as a post-graduate physics scholar in the newUniversity Science College. There he conducted research into the diffraction and interference of light underC. V. Raman, enhancing Raman's previous research on the diffraction ofmonochromatic light in an oblique single slit and also devising a better method for determining heliometer diffraction patterns.[8] For this work, which Raman greatly appreciated, Mitra gained aD.Sc. degree in 1919.[6] He also published three papers in thePhilosophical Magazine, including one on "Asymmetry of the Illumination Curves in Oblique Diffraction", and another onArnold Sommerfeld's approaches to diffraction.[8][6][5]
After receiving his doctorate, Mitra left forFrance in 1920 to continue his studies at theUniversity of Paris. There he earned a second doctorate underCharles Fabry in 1923, for a thesis on the determination of wavelength standards in the 2,000–2,300Å region of copper.[6] He subsequently worked briefly underMarie Curie at theCurie Institute. Made aware of continual developments in the new science ofradio communications, Mitra went to theUniversity of Nancy and joined the laboratory ofCamille Gutton. Under Gutton, Mitra conducted research onradio valve circuitry before returning to India in late 1923.[6]
Prior to returning to India, Mitra had corresponded with Ashutosh Mukherjee about the growing importance ofwireless science and the need to include it in the post-graduate physics curriculum at theRajabazar Science College, University of Calcutta.[6] Upon his return to Kolkata, he was appointed the university's Khaira Professor of Physics. With Mukherjee's support, in 1924 a "Wireless" course was introduced as an elective in the Physics MSc. curriculum and a Wireless Laboratory established for research in electron tubes and radio wave propagation.[6] He also initiated a new department at theUniversity of Calcutta that later became theInstitute of Radio Physics and Electronics. Mitra was the Guide to many Ph.D. students, prominent among them wasArun Kumar Choudhury.
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