Bose: Physicist with a passion for chemistry

The centenary of the discovery of the 'boson' (1924) by Bengali physicist Satyendranath Bose has been celebrated throughout the last year.

- DR. SHAMIM HAQUE MONDAL

His statistics, the Bose-Einstein condensation, and his role behind the mass-giving Higgs boson are known to all physics and science students around the world. But how many people are aware of his interest in chemistry? He was equally interested not only in chemistry as a subject but also in contemporary research on the subject.

His curiosity was immense. Despite being a leading researcher in theoretical physics, experimental physics, quantum mechanics, and organic chemistry were all his areas of interest. After publishing his groundbreaking research, Bose went to England. While in Germany, he visited the laboratory of the eminent chemist, Hermann Mark. From then on, he developed an inclination to work in experimental chemistry. After returning home, he rejoined the Physics Department of Dhaka University. At that time, he met Sushil Chandra Biswas, a professor of chemistry. He did some work in chemistry with him, which was published in a famous chemistry magazine in Germany in 1927. Two years later, a work on the spectrum of beryllium was published in the renowned Philosophical Magazine.