Originally posted on sciy.org by Rich Carlson on Tue 24 Jun 2008 12:46 PM PDT
A CHANCE ENCOUNTER GAVE BIRTH TO A GREAT INSTITUTION
The birth of the country's foremost scientific research institute – the Indian Institute of Science – can be traced to a chance encounter between two of the leading lights of 19th century India. The "Empress of India" was sailing from Yokohama in Japan to Vancouver in Canada in 1893.
Aboard the vessel were Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata and Swami Vivekananda, the eminent philosopher: both were headed to Chicago. The former to attend the World's Columbian Exposition (also called Chicago World's Fair), to mark the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus, and the latter to participate in the World's Parliament of Religions, where he made his historic speech.
Conversation veered around to Tata's proposed steel mill. Vivekananda pointed out to him that there were two aspects to the challenge of putting up a mill – manufacturing technology and the science of steel. The former could be imported, but the latter had to be researched at home, the philosopher told the Industrialist.
About five years later, Tata wrote to Vivekananda, "I trust, you remember me as a fellow-traveller on your voyage from Japan to Chicago. I very much recall at this moment your views on the growth of the ascetic spirit in India… I recall these ideas in connection with my scheme of Research Institute of Science for India."
Tata noted that, "If such a crusade in favor of asceticism of this kind were undertaken by a competent leader, it would greatly help asceticism, science and the good name of our common country; and I know not who would make a mote fitting General of such a campaign than Vivekananda."
The renowned thinker and philosopher heartily endorsed Tata's proposal. Soon a provisional committee was set up to establish an institute of research and higher education, which presented its proposal to Lord Curzon, the viceroy-designate on the last day of 1898. Nobel Laureate Sir William Ramsay's help was sought by the Royal Society of London and Bangalore was selected as the site. The Maharaja of Mysore offered 372 acres of land free of cost (the Karnataka Government enhanced this to 443 acres during the Goldern and Platinum Jubilee of IISC).
The constitution was approved by Lord Minto on May 27th 1909. The first batch of students was admitted in July 1911 to the departments of general and applied chemistry and electro technology. The Institute is today ranked among the top research universities in the world. Some of India's topmost scientists and researchers have studied or taught at this Institute. Nobel Laureate C.V.Raman was a professor and later a director, while eminent nuclear scientists including Homi J.Bhabha and Raja Ramanna, and renowned Space scientist Vikram Sarabhai and Satish Dhawan have also been associated with it.
While earlier IISC was focused on pure research, it has increasingly been opening its doors to interaction with industry. Nearly a score of international and Indian companies have set up research laboratories at the IISC and over a hundred projects have been taken up by scientists there. IISC is increasingly getting involved in research along with international auto and aircraft manufacturers. The Centre of Scientific and Industrial Consultancy (CSIC) and the Society for Innovation and Development (SID), two divisions within the institute, coordinate the interaction with industry.
China's Jiao Tong University, in its Academic Ranking of World Universities, 2007 has placed the IISC (along with the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, the only other Indian varsity in the listing) in the 305-402 world rank and 43-64 in Asia.
For the IISC, the centenary year marks the opening of a new chapter as it gears to meet the challenges of the future.
Source: INDIA NOW - Volume 4, Issue 1 dated April-May 2008
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