Relentless efforts to promote research that resulted in the founding of IMSc

A dream come true: Alladi Ramakrishnan, theoretical physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, and Minister C. Subramaniam at the inauguration of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences on January 3, 1962.

This month marks 62 years since Alladi Ramakrishnan, the eminent mathematician and theoretical physicist, delivered his memorable lecture, ‘The miracle has happened’, at the inauguration of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc) that he founded in Chennai in January 1962. Ramakrishnan, whose birth centenary was observed late last year, made immense contributions in the fields of theoretical and mathematical physics.

Besides the 150-odd impact research papers he published, 24 Ph.D students he guided and the lectures he delivered at more than 200 institutions across the globe, his lasting contribution was the founding of IMSc, which has grown into an institution of repute in the last six decades.

Space for fundamental research

It was his quest for creating a space that would nurture fundamental research in the country that led to the establishment of the institution. However, as he mentioned in his inaugural speech, titled ‘The miracle has happened’, a fortuitous turn of events had resulted in the establishment of the institute. These included the smaller roles played by renowned physicists Niels Bohr and J. Robert Oppenheimer in driving Ramakrishnan towards establishing IMSc.

One of the first such “miracles” was, perhaps, a lecture of Homi J. Bhabha, the father of India’s nuclear programme, at the Presidency College in 1943 that Ramakrishnan happened to attend. Born to the legendary lawyer Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, who played an important role in drafting India’s Constitution, Ramakrishnan made law as the first career choice.

Switching to science

According to the account of Krishnaswami Alladi, Ramakrishnan’s son and a reputed mathematician himself, in the book The Legacy of Alladi Ramakrishnan in the Mathematical Sciences, it was this lecture of Homi Bhabha that kindled his father’s interest in switching to a career in science.

Four years later, Ramakrishnan was working closely with Bhabha himself at the then newly formed Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. With an inherent ability for original thinking, he made a breakthrough in a mathematical problem. When he travelled to England for a Ph.D in 1949, this breakthrough led to the completion of the work required for his doctoral thesis in a matter of two months.

While he continued his contributions in his fields of interest, another turning point happened when he got an opportunity to be at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey, at the invitation of none other than IAS Director Oppenheimer in 1957-58. Apart from the opportunity to visit IAS, which was once the home of Albert Einstein, Ramakrishnan was enthralled by the lectures of the new generation of physicists who would go on to transform the field.

Inspired by the experience at IAS, he returned to India with the aim of creating a similar intellectual space. Unperturbed by the lack of the opportunity to create such a space at the University of Madras, where he worked at that time, Ramakrishnan went on to create one at his family home, ‘Ekamra Nivas’. Named the ‘Theoretical Physics Seminar’, the home became the hub of a series of lectures delivered to a group of students not only by Ramakrishnan but also by eminent scientists from around the world, among them at least seven persons who had already won a Nobel or went on to win it later.

A word of appreciation

Among them was Bohr, who was on a visit to India in 1960. His visit to ‘Ekamra Nivas’ and his subsequent remarks that “wonderful work” was being done by Ramakrishnan in Madras was another “miracle”, which caught the attention of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who would become the patron of the IMSc in 1962.

C. Subramaniam, who was then a Minister in Madras, arranged for a meeting between Ramakrishnan, his students and Nehru during the latter’s visit to Madras. It was during this meeting that Ramakrishnan expressed his interest in starting an institute on the lines of IAS, and the IMSc was born in 1962.

Ramakrishnan’s reputation and relationship with scientists across the globe was evident from the numerous telegrams and letters sent by scientists from “California in the west to Sydney in the east”, wishing the institute a great success. The list included Nobel laureates Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Richard Feynman, T.D. Lee, and C.N. Yang.

“Followed with keen expectations indeed as an important asset to scientific research in India, the creation of the Madras Institute is eagerly welcomed in that worldwide cooperation in science which offers so great opportunities for promoting the understanding between all peoples,” Bohr said in his telegram.

A motto

Ramakrishnan, who retired after serving as the IMSc’s Director for more than two decades, continued his passion for research and remained intellectually curious until his death on June 7, 2008 at his son’s residence in Florida. “The pursuit of science is at its best when it is a part of a way of life,” was what he practised and gave as motto to the institute.

A passionate advocate for stopping the brain-drain and improving original research in India, he had strong concerns about the way many universities were functioning and the divide between teaching and research. On the completion of his birth centenary, a worthy tribute will be a sincere introspection into how far the country has tried to address these problems.