Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose

150th Birth Anniversary Commemorative Symposium

BEYOND BOUNDARIES: FROM PHYSICS TO PLANT SCIENCES

December 6, 2008, Christ’s College, Cambridge, UK

Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose, a distinguished alumnus of Christ’s College, Cambridge, is widely regarded as the founder of modern Indian science. Born on November 30, 1858, Bose began as a pioneering experimental physicist, who demonstrated wireless transmission of electromagnetic waves publicly for the first time anywhere in the world, in 1895. A scientific visionary committed to an unified explanation of life and matter, he moved from physics to plant physiology, presaging the move from physics to biology that happened in the second half of the 20th century.

The scientific programme of the symposium organized by Christ’s College Cambridge in collaboration with the World Institute for Advanced Study, CPFS New Delhi, comprised 8 invited lectures of 30 minutes’ duration by scientists on cutting-edge research in plant physiology and related topics. The Welcome Address given by Master Frank Kelly FRS, was followed by a lecture on J. C. Bose’s pioneering contributions to wireles transmission by Prof. E.C.G. Sudarshan. A bust of J. C. Bose commissioned by Bose Institute Kolkata was unveiled by High Commissioner Shiv Shankar Mukherjee at a ceremony followed by lunch. The symposium underlined the importance of Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose as a remarkable early instance of scientific and scholarly cooperation between the U.K. and India, which can play a key role n the global knowledge economy of the 21st century. The symposium concluded with a Vote of Thanks delivered by Prof. Ranjit Nair, Director CPFS, himself a Christ's alumnus.

Invited Symposium Speakers:

Julia Davies (Plant Sciences, Cambridge): How plants cope with salt

Ray Goldstein (DAMTP, Cambridge): Propulsion and evolution of algae

Howard Griffiths (Plant Sciences, Cambridge): What plants teach us about climate change

Jim Haseloff (Plant Sciences, Cambridge): Generation of plant shapes

David Klenerman (Christ's College, Cambridge): New ways to watch living cells in action

Ulli Steiner (Cavendish Laboratory): How butterflies get their colour

M.S. Swaminathan (MSSRF, Chennai): Green genes to manage global warming

Simon Tavaré (Christ's College, Cambridge): Genes and flowering times