8 Facts about CV Raman You Didn’t Know

The impact of Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman or CV Raman on our country and the world of science is well-known. His Nobel prize-winning work continues to inspire scientists even today. On his 134th birth anniversary, let’s learn some lesser-known facts about the physicist. 

• Raman was the first Indian director of the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru in 1933, a post previously held by Englishmen only. 
• Raman joined the Indian Finance Department in 1907 due to fewer opportunities for scientists in India. He would conduct independent research to fulfil his passion for science. 

• Raman’s nephew, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, was an Indian-American physicist who also won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983. 
• Raman rarely discussed religion and identified as an agnostic – someone who is not committed to believing that God does or doesn’t exist.

• Raman was intrigued by music and sound. He studied the vibrations and acoustics of many instruments like the violin, drums, and even published papers on them. 
• Raman had an extensive collection of rocks, fossils and minerals from all over the world to study scattered light structures that produce colours. 

• He always carried a small spectroscope, an instrument that studies the properties of light, in his pocket to study objects he may come across. 
• Raman’s first big discovery about the physics of light started with him wondering why the sea was blue while on a sea voyage in the Mediterranean. 

Do you know any interesting facts about CV Raman? Share your favourite in the comments below.