While pondering on the amazing coincidence of several students of a single batch going on to become world-class scientists of great repute, one is struck by the magic created by the coming together of illustrious teachers, brilliant students and an ambient institution. That, it took place in the stifling environment of imperial governance makes the story much more profound and inspiring. It can be a case study to understand how students like Satyendra Nath Bose, Jnan Chandra Ghosh, Meghnad Saha, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Pran Krishna Parija and Jnanendra Nath Mukherjee, studying at the Presidency College in Calcutta taught by the greats like Jagadis Chandra Bose and Prafulla Chandra Roy founded, established and nurtured the scientific research traditions in pre-independence India.
The life of each of these scientists is worthy of deep attention and serious study so that we can catch hold of the pattern which carved out not only sharp scientific minds but also visionaries, nation-builders, pioneers and courageous personalities much needed by the colonized country whose confidence was brutally bruised.
NATIONALIST LEANINGS IN EARLY DAYS
Jnanendra Nath Mukherjee, born on 23 April 1893 in Rajshahi (presently in Bangladesh) was one among this shining galaxy who carved his path and left an indelible impression on the country’s and world’s science. Right from his childhood, we can see the factors contributing to the building of a disciplined personality of Jnanendra Nath. When his father died, Jnanendra Nath was twelve years old, and he and his younger brother were brought up by their mother, a woman of ‘strong character, intelligence, courage, business ability and determination’ as he portrays her in his biography, ‘About Myself’. His schooling in Dinajpur High School and later in Municipal High School, Burdwan, nurtured nationalist feelings in him as he was a member of the Anushilan Samiti, an Indian fitness club, which was used as an underground society for anti-British revolutionaries. Insulting comments by Christian missionaries about Indian civilization pained Janendra Nath and filled him with an abhorrence towards British rule and he became a nationalist for life.
After attaining his BSc and MSc degrees from Presidency College, Calcutta, Jnanendra Nath was appointed a lecturer in the University College of Science where Principal Ashutosh Mukherjee had created a vibrant atmosphere of knowledge and scholarship. Jnanendra Nath got his teaching assignment along with some rudimentary research facilities there. In 1919, he joined the University College, London, to work under the mentorship of Professor FG Donnan, who was Fellow of the Royal Society.
IARI is now known as Indian Agricultural Research Institute
BRILLIANCE & WESTERN APATHY
Jnanendra Nath’s journey towards scientific eminence started from his MSc years with the publication of his research paper on colloids in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 1915. Colloids, a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance, was to be his area of life-long research. In the Physical Chemistry laboratory of Prof Donnan, Jnanendra Nath worked on the origin and neutralization of the charge of Colloids. Upon presentation, his work was appreciated for the lucid interpretation of the behavior of the complex colloid particles in suspension and their chemical reactions. His next groundbreaking achievement was the development of the boundary method for the determination of the cataphoretic speed of colloidal particles, i.e., the movement of charged particles in a fluid medium in response to an electric field. He published a research paper in 1928, describing the apparatus for using this method and its working. However, another scientist, Dr Arne Tiselius further developed a refined apparatus and was awarded the Nobel Prize for it. In the Indian history of science, this is another opportunity missed by a whisker in claiming international recognition.
The scientific community of the Western world did not give due recognition to the findings of Dr Mukherjee and N N Sen on coagulation and the effects of dilution, and these were not included in the textbooks on colloids. Similarly, despite being more complete in explanation and the first one to publish it, the Mukherjee-Sen rule was bypassed and the Burton-Bishop rule, which was of a later date and was less thorough, got mentioned in the scientific literature on colloids, reflecting the biased perception about scientific work of Indians. However, the brilliance of Dr Mukherjee’s research work attracted the attention of colloid chemists from all over the world because his theory shone a light on the vaguely understood complexities of colloids and brought a clear understanding of their behavior. The international science journal Nature feted Mukherjee as, ‘…the exponent of colloid chemistry in India, having established his reputation throughout the scientific world as an eminent worker in his field.’
Seated (from left): Meghnad Saha, Acharya Jagadis Chandra Bose and J C Ghosh. Standing (from left): Snehamoy Dutt, Satyendra Nath Bose, D M Bose, N R Sen, Jnanendra Nath Mukherjee and N C Nag
All Images Courtesy: Shutterstock
A NEW VISTA IN SOIL SCIENCE
With his sound investigations and creative scientific vision, Dr Mukherjee brought his research on colloids into the study of soil thus opening up a new vista in the domain of soil science, which was at that time considered to be an area of elite research. Dr Mukherjee’s tools, techniques and methods along with the original ideas and insights gained through his patient research and his application of physical and colloid chemistry to problems of soil health and fertility helped in devising novel solutions in this virgin area.
Due to Dr Mukherjee’s pioneering work, soil science ultimately became an area of significance in agricultural studies. How he methodically developed the domain is a study of strategic research. He first started detailed investigations with the colloidal sols of silica and alumina- the major constituents of soil. Then he studied clay fractions isolated from different soils of India, and subsequently the clay minerals which constitute the major portion of soil clays. His exhaustive research was published in a series of more than a hundred papers, written individually or in collaboration with his students. In doing these investigations, he created from his students a dedicated group of scientists trained in the field who constituted the ‘Calcutta School of Soil Science’, as named by Professor C E Marshall. These scientists later spread across the country occupying responsible positions in institutions dealing with soil health. Thus, Dr Mukherjee contributed to nation-building through teaching and research as if he were paying back the debt of gratitude that he owed to his illustrious teachers.
SHOWING THE LIGHT
Based on such rich experience, Dr Mukherjee was appointed as Director of the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, in 1945 which was named as Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) after independence. For Dr Mukherjee, this was the apt opportunity to initiate and press forward soil study research by creating advanced study departments such as Soil Physics, Agricultural Chemistry, Soil Fertility, Soil Microbiology Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry and Spectroscopy.
Dr Mukerjee is especially remembered for drawing the soil map of India along with two of his colleagues in the year 1944, which portrayed different soil types in different regions of the country. He later revised it in 1954. His classification of Indian soils into twenty different types based on climate, topography, vegetation, etc., still holds significance in Indian soil studies.
Left: A picture of Dr Mukherjee from Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences Archive; Right: His potrait from Indian Society of Soil Science
The directorship of the IARI was the first of several significant administrative positions that he held in his long career. In each of his administrative stints, we can see his indelible pattern of vibrant development, organizational expansion, consolidation and creative visionary strategies. It was fortunate for a new country that a person of the calibre of Dr Mukherjee was at the helm of affairs immediately after independence when Indian processes and procedures needed to be established afresh and firmed up at the end of imperial governance.
He worked as a professor, director, scientific advisor, founder, trustee and member of several high-powered committees. He worked in the departments of education, agriculture, animal husbandry, community development, education, forestry, irrigation, and land utility. He was associated with eminent national institutions like the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee, Union Public Service Commission, and Indian Statistical Institute.
In addition to governmental positions, Dr Mukherjee continued nurturing science associations and institutions. The first society that he founded along with Acharya P C Ray was the Indian Chemical Society in 1924 which functioned as an indigenous forum for the ‘community of chemists and members of allied disciplines in the country’. Though it was the brainchild of Acharya Ray, Dr Mukherjee’s driving force of nationalistic fervour too worked behind it; it was lovingly nurtured by all those Indian scientists who had studied in London. Dr Mukherjee was an office bearer in many other societies such as the Indian Society of Soil Science, Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Indian Science News Association, Indian Society of Soil and Water Conservation, Indian National Science Academy, Asiatic Society, etc., showing how popular an expert he was due to his collaborative, hardworking and trustworthy approach. Not only in the country but he was also sought after by several international bodies too.
In 1952, Dr Mukherjee was elected the president of the Indian Science Congress, thus carrying on the legacy of many of his class fellows who too led the country through scientific frontiers. His presidential address was titled, ‘Science and our problems’ in which, true to his ideology-based scientific training, he highlighted the moral responsibility of the Indian scientists to decide the direction of scientific research. The award of Padma Bhushan by the government of India was a recognition of his dedication to the nation.
On the family front, Dr Mukherjee remained a dedicated father to his only son whom he brought up single-handedly since he was two years old, after the early death of his wife. Though not much has been written about his personality or personal traits, his extremely successful professional life where he justified each position he held with deep commitment and farsightedness, indicates him to be a man of high principles. Two weeks after his colleagues and juniors celebrated his 90th birthday, Dr Mukherjee passed away peacefully on 10May 1983, and left a career trail in science which has remained unmatched to date.
In his life, we can find an unbroken pattern of high moral value; scientific rigour of international standard; a pragmatic approach; creative, innovative, farsighted vision for the future of science in the country; grounded personality; nation-first attitude and single-minded dedication, just like his mentors Acharya P C Ray and Acharya J C Bose. Jnanendra Nath Mukherjee proved to be a worthy successor of his teachers.
*The writer teaches at Panjab University, Chandigarh.
