Scientist born in August

Nuclear power and all the possibilities it opens is a booming field of research all over the world right now.

In India too, we have amassed an amazing amount of such scientific progress towards this field, especially in harnessing it for the betterment of the people.

One of the first people to spin the wheels of this was the late Vikram Sarabhai.

This is his story.

Introduction

Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai or in short Vikram Sarabhai was born on August 12, 1919, in Ahmedabad, India.

He was an Indian physicist and industrialist who pioneered and initiated space research.

He was also one of the leading minds in developing the nuclear power arsenal of India.

Family

Sarabhai was born into an influential house with his family being some of the leading industrialists of his time.

He attended Gujarat College, Ahmadabad, but later shifted to the University of Cambridge, England, Here he took his tripos in natural sciences in 1940.

The onset of World War 2 forced him to return to his homeland, India.

This is where he started researching things related to cosmic rays.

He worked under the great physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (Bengaluru).

Education

In 1945 he returned to Cambridge to pursue a doctorate and wrote a thesis.

The thesis was called “Cosmic Ray Investigations in Tropical Latitudes,” and was completed in 1947.

He also founded the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad on his return to India.

Range of knowledge

One exceptional quality of Sarabhai was the incredible range and breadth of his interests.

Despite his intense involvement with scientific research, he took an active interest in various fields.

These fields included industry, business, and development issues.

He also founded the Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association in 1947 and looked after its affairs until 1956.

Realizing the need for professional management education in India, Sarabhai was instrumental in setting up the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad in 1962.

Contributions to ISRO

One of the main contributions of Sarabhai was the establishment of the Indian National Committee for Space Research in 1962, which was later renamed the

Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). He also set up the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in southern India.

After the unfortunate demise of physicist Homi Bhabha in 1966, Sarabhai was appointed chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India.

He had a huge burden on his shoulders to carry forward the legacy of Bhabha's work.

He did so with utter care as he pushed forward nuclear research in India.

Sarabhai was largely responsible for the establishment and development of India’s nuclear power plants.

He laid the foundations for the indigenous development of nuclear technology for defense purposes.

Along with focusing on his specializations, Sarabhai broadened his horizons by dedicating the use of science and technology to a much more general and larger scale.

He used his knowledge to impart such education to space applications, especially in remote and developing villages through satellite communication, and called for the development of satellite-based remote sensing of natural resources.