Harish Chandra Verma (born 3 April 1952), popularly known as HCV, is an Indian

experimental physicist Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and o ...

, author and

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

of the

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT- Kanpur or IIT-K) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. As an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), it was declared an Institute of National Importance by ...

. In 2021, he was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

, the fourth highest civilian award, by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

for his contribution to Physics Education. His field of research is

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

. He has authored several school, undergraduate and graduate level textbooks, including but not limited to the most popular and most notably the two-volume ''Concepts of Physics'', extensively used by students appearing for various high-level competitive examinations. He has co-founded ''Shiksha Sopan'', a social upliftment organization for economically weaker children living near the campus of

IIT Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT- Kanpur or IIT-K) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. As an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), it was declared an Institute of National Importance by th ...

. He has dedicated himself in training young minds in the field of Physics. He has immensely contributed to popularising Physics education among Indian students and teachers by conducting lectures and experimental demonstrations. He has been awarded the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puruskar by the

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

Early life and study

Verma was born on 3 April 1952 in a Chitraguptavanshi Kayastha family to Ganesh Prasad Verma, a teacher and Ramvati Verma in

Darbhanga Darbhanga is the fifth largest city and municipal corporation in the state of Bihar in India, and is considered an important city in North Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Darbhanga district and the Darbhanga division. Darbhanga ...

. He obtained his B.Sc. degree at the Patna Science College. Then he obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. at the

Career

Patna Science College

In early 1980, Verma joined Patna Science College as a lecturer. He remained at the college as a lecturer and reader for 15 years before resigning from the college and joining IIT Kanpur.

IIT Kanpur

Verma joined IIT Kanpur in 1994 as an assistant professor. Here he pursued research in experimental

. He has published 139 research papers. He retired on 30 June 2017.

Physics outreach

President Kovind presents Padma Shri to Dr Harish Chandra Verma for Science and Engineering

Verma has developed more than six hundred ‘low cost’ physics experiments that teachers can employ in their classrooms. In 2011, he set up the National Anveshika Network of India (NANI), a flagship program of the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT). He is the national coordinator for this program. There are currently 22 Anveshikas in the country.

Bibliography

* ''Concepts of Physics Part-1'', Bharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors, 1992, * ''Concepts of Physics Part-2'', Bharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors, 1992, * ''Quantum Physics'', Surya Publication, * ''Foundation Science Physics for class 9'', Bharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors, * ''Foundation Science Physics for class 10'', Bharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors, * ''Bhautiki Ki Samajh Part-1'', Bharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors, * ''Classical Electromagnetism'', Bharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors,

Online courses

*''Nuclear Physics: Fundamentals and Applications'' (organized by National Program for Technology Enhanced Learning, NPTEL) *''Learning Physics through Simple Experiments'' ( Massive Online Open Course in 2016) *''Physics of Semiconductors'' (Massive Online Open Course in 2017) *''B.Sc. courses in Hindi - Basics of Special Theory of Relativity'' (2018) *''Basics of Quantum Mechanics'' (2019) *''Advanced Course on the Special Theory of Relativity'' (2020) *''Classical Electromagnetism - Electrostatics'' (2020) *''Classical Mechanics'' (2021) *''The Story of Photoelectric Effect'' (2021)

Awards

(2021) * Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Shiksha Purashkar (2017)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Verma, H. C. Recipients of the Padma Shri Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Academic staff of IIT Kanpur Physics educators 1952 births Living people People from Darbhanga IIT Kanpur alumni Experimental physicists Indian nuclear physicists Patna University alumni