Sir Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar OBE, FNI, FASc, FRS, FRIC, FInstP (21 February 1894 – 1 January 1955) was an Indian colloid chemist, academic and scientific administrator. The first director-general of the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the l ...

(CSIR), he is revered as the "father of research laboratories" in India. He was also the first Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC). In 1958, to honour his name and legacy, the Indian

(CSIR) instituted the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for scientists who have made significant contributions in various branches of science.

Early life

Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was born in the Bhera,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

region of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, in a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

kayastha Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the ...

family. His father, Parmeshwari Sahai Bhatnagar, died when he was eight months old, and he spent his childhood in the house of his maternal grandfather, an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

, who helped him develop a liking for science and engineering. He enjoyed building mechanical toys, electronic batteries, and string telephones. From his maternal family he also inherited a gift of poetry. He completed his elementary education from the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic High School,

Sikandrabad Sikandrabad is a city and a municipal board, just outside of Bulandshahr city in Bulandshahr district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is part of the Delhi NCR region. Sikandrabad tehsil is now a part of Bulandshahr district which is s ...

( Bulandshahr). In 1911 he joined the newly established

Dayal Singh College, Lahore Government Dyal Singh Graduate College, Lahore is a college for graduate and post-graduate students affiliated to Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Lahore and University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. History The college was fo ...

(which was later moved to

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

after independence) where he became an active member of the Saraswati Stage Society and earned a good reputation as an actor. He wrote an

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' one-act play called ''Karamati'' (Wonder worker), the English translation of which earned him the Saraswati Stage Society prize and medal for the best play of the year in 1912. Bhatnagar passed the Intermediate Examination of the Punjab University in 1913 in first class and joined the Forman Christian College, where he obtained a BSc in physics in 1916, and an MSc in chemistry in 1919.

Education and early research

Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was awarded a scholarship by the Dayal Singh College Trust to study abroad, and he left for America via England. However, he could not find open berths on English ships, as they were all reserved for American troops, who were then being demobilised due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The Trustee permitted him to join the

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

under chemistry professor Frederick G. Donnan. He earned his

Doctorate in Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

in 1921. While in London, he was supported by the British

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, abbreviated DSIR was the name of several British Empire organisations founded after the 1923 Imperial Conference to foster intra-Empire trade and development. * Department of Scientific and Industria ...

with a fellowship of £250 a year. In August 1921, he returned to India and immediately joined the newly established Banaras Hindu University (BHU) as a professor of chemistry, where he remained for three years. He wrote the ''‘ Kulgeet’, or'' University anthem. Justice N.H. Bhagwati, the then Vice-Chancellor of BHU said: "Many of you perhaps do not know that besides being an eminent scientist, Professor Bhatnagar was a Hindi poet of repute and that during his stay in

Banaras Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic tr ...

, he composed the ‘'' Kulgeet''’ of the University. Professor Bhatnagar is remembered with reverence in this University and will continue to be so until this University exists." He then moved to Lahore as a Professor of Physical Chemistry and Director of University Chemical Laboratories of the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (Urdu, pnb, ), also referred to as Punjab University, is a public, research, coeducational higher education institution located in Lahore, Pakistan. Punjab University is the oldest public university in Pakistan. ...

. This portion of his career was the most active period of his life in original scientific work. His research interests included

emulsions An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Althoug ...

, colloids, and industrial chemistry, but his fundamental contributions were in the field of magneto-chemistry, the use of magnetism for the study of chemical reactions. In 1928 he and K.N. Mathur jointly developed the Bhatnagar-Mathur Magnetic Interference Balance, which was one of the most sensitive instruments at the time for measuring magnetic properties. It was exhibited at the Royal Society Soiree in 1931 and it was marketed by Messers Adam Hilger and Co, London.

Professional career

Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar's first industrial problem was developing the process for converting

bagasse Bagasse ( ) is the dry pulpy fibrous material that remains after crushing sugarcane or sorghum stalks to extract their juice. It is used as a biofuel for the production of heat, energy, and electricity, and in the manufacture of pulp and building ...

(peelings of sugarcane) into food-cake for cattle. This was done for Sir

Ganga Ram Rai Bahadur Sir Ganga Ram (born Ganga Ram Agarwal; 13 April 1851 – 10 July 1927) was an Indian civil engineer and architect. His extensive contributions to the urban fabric of Lahore, then in colonial India and now in modern Pakistan, caus ...

, the Grand Old Man of Punjab. He also solved industrial problems for Delhi Cloth & General Mills, J.K. Mills Ltd. of Kanpur, Ganesh Flour Mills Ltd. of Layallapur, Tata Oil Mills Ltd. of Bombay, and Steel Brothers & Co. Ltd. of India. His major innovation was an improvement of the procedure for drilling

crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

. The Attock Oil Company at Rawalpindi (representative of Messers Steel Brothers & Co London) had confronted a peculiar problem, wherein the mud used for the drilling operation was hardened upon contact with

saline water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water ...

, thereby clogging the drill holes. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar realised that this problem could be solved by colloidal chemistry. He added an Indian gum, which had the remarkable property of lowering the

viscosity The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to deformation at a given rate. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal concept of "thickness": for example, syrup has a higher viscosity than water. Viscosity quantifies the int ...

of the mud suspension and of increasing at the same time its stability against the flocculating action of electrolytes. M/s Steel Brothers was so pleased that they offered Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar a sum of Rs. 1,500,000/- for research work on any subject related to

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

. The company placed the fund through the university and it was used to establish the Department of Petroleum Research under the guidance of Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar. Investigations carried out under this collaborative scheme included deodorisation of waxes, increasing flame height of

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning " wax", and was re ...

and utilisation of waste products in the

vegetable oil Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or f ...

and

mineral oil Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum, as distinct from usually edible vegetable oils. The name 'mineral oil' by itself is imprecise ...

industries. Recognizing the commercial success of the research, the company increased the fund, and extended the period from five years to ten. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar persistently refused any personal monetary benefit from his research fundings, and instead advocated for strengthening research facilities at the university. Meghnad Saha wrote to Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar in 1934 saying, "You have hereby raised the status of the university teachers in the estimation of public, not to speak of the benefit conferred on your Alma Mater". Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar wrote jointly with K.N. Mathur ''Physical Principles and Applications of Magnetochemistry'' which is considered a standard work on the subject.

Establishment of CSIR

The first industrial research organisation in India was created as an Industrial Intelligence and Research Bureau, which came into operation in April 1935 under the Indian Stores Department. With its limited budget of Rs. 1.2 lakhs per year, the bureau was virtually inactive. In 1939 there was a strong movement to abolish the bureau, and to replace it with a Board of Scientific and Industrial Research, similar to the British BSIR. Under the persuasive pressure of Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar, the Board of Scientific and Industrial Research (BSIR) was formed on 1 April 1940 for a period of two years. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar, as a leading scientist of the time, was appointed as the Director, and Mudaliar became the Chairman. The BSIR had an annual budget of Rs. 5 lakhs which was placed under the Department of Commerce. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar persuaded the government to set up an Industrial Research Utilisation Committee (IRUC) in early 1941 for further investment into industrial research. Mudaliar also won the demand for an establishment of Industrial Research Fund, and that it should have an annual grant of Rs 1 million for a period of five years, at the Central Assembly in Delhi at its session on 14 November 1941. These finally led to the constitution of the

(CSIR) as an autonomous body, which came into operation on 28 September 1942. The BSIR and IRUC became the advisory bodies to the governing body of the CSIR. In 1943 the governing body approved the proposal mooted by Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar to establish five national laboratories – the National Chemical Laboratory, the National Physical Laboratory, the Fuel Research Station, and the Glass and Ceramics Research Institute. This was the beginning of scientific laboratories in India.

Later years

Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar played a significant part along with Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Vikram Sarabhai and others in the building of India's post-independence science and technology infrastructure and policies. Prime Minister Nehru was a proponent of scientific development, and after India's independence in 1947, the

(CSIR) was set up under the chairmanship of Dr. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar. He became its first Director-General, and by his works he is largely remembered for having established various chemical laboratories in India. He established a total of twelve national laboratories such as Central Food Processing Technological Institute,

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...

, National Chemical Laboratory,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, the National Physical Laboratory,

, the National Metallurgical Laboratory,

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (, ) or Tatanagar is the largest and most populous city in Jharkhand and the first planned industrial city in India. It is a Notified Area Council and Municipal corporation, Municipal Corporation and also the headquarter of the East ...

, the Central Fuel Institute, Dhanbad, in addition to numerous other laboratories. While at CSIR, he mentored a number young scientists of the time who were working at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, including Syamadas Chatterjee, Santilal Banerjee (MSc Gold Medalist- Dacca University and a DSc from the US) who later moved to the National Physical Laboratory in Delhi at Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar's urging), and Asutosh Mookherjee. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar also closely followed the work of

C. V. Raman Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (; 7 November 188821 November 1970) was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering. Using a spectrograph that he developed, he and his student K. S. Krishnan discovered that when ...

and Kariamanickam Srinivasa Krishnan at IACS on the

Raman Effect Raman scattering or the Raman effect () is the inelastic scattering of photons by matter, meaning that there is both an exchange of energy and a change in the light's direction. Typically this effect involves vibrational energy being gained by ...

and in particular the work Krishnan and his partner, Santilal Banerjee, were doing on the magnetism of small crystals. He also served as Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Educational Adviser for the government. He played a role both in the constitution and deliberations of the Scientific Manpower Committee Report of 1948. "It may be pointed out that this was the first-ever systematic assessment of the scientific manpower needs of the country in all aspects which served as an important policy document for the government to plan the post-independent S&T infrastructure." Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was a university professor for nineteen years from 1921 until 1940. First at the Banaras Hindu University and then at the Punjab University and he had a reputation as a teacher. It was as a teacher that he himself was most happy. His research contribution in the areas of magnetochemistry and physical chemistry of emulsion were widely recognised. He also did considerable work in applied chemistry. He played an instrumental role in the establishment of the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) of India, which bridged the gap between research and development. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was responsible for the initiation of the Industrial Research Association movement in the country. He constituted the one-man Commission in 1951 to negotiate with oil companies for starting refineries and this ultimately led to the establishment of many oil refineries in different parts of the country. He induced many individuals and organisations to donate liberally for the cause of science and education. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

on 1 January 1955, at the age of 60.

Honours and recognition

Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was elected one of the first Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc) in 1934; he was appointed a Foundation Fellow of the National Institute of Sciences of India (FNI; now the Indian National Science Academy) the following year.Prior to 1970, the Indian National Science Academy was named the "National Institute of Sciences of India", and its fellows bore the post-nominal "FNI". The post-nominal became "FNA" in 1970 when the association adopted its present name. For his contributions to pure and applied chemistry, Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was appointed an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in the

1936 New Year Honours The 1936 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 31 December 1935. The recipients of honour ...

List. The British government

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

him in the

1941 New Year Honours The 1941 New Year Honours were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were announced on 31 December 1940.United Kingdom and Britis ...

List for his contributions to the advancement of science. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was appointed a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) in 1942, and was also appointed a Fellow of the

Royal Institute of Chemistry The Royal Institute of Chemistry was a British scientific organisation. Founded in 1877 as the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland (ICGBI), its role was to focus on qualifications and the professional status of chemists, and its aim ...

(FRIC) that year. In 1943 the

Society of Chemical Industry The Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) is a learned society set up in 1881 "to further the application of chemistry and related sciences for the public benefit". Offices The society's headquarters is in Belgrave Square, London. There are semi-i ...

, London, elected him as Honorary Member and later as Vice-President. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1943. In independent India, he was the President of the Indian Chemical Society, National Institute of Sciences of India and the Indian National Science Congress. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 1954. An Indian science award, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology was created in his honour.

Notes

References

External links

Biography at The Tribune
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20130906082344/http://www.imtech.res.in/ssbmt-2013/about.php Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Memorial Tournament (SSBMT)br>Biography at Scientific India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatnagar, Shanti 1894 births 1955 deaths People from Sargodha District 20th-century Indian chemists Indian physical chemists Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering Banaras Hindu University faculty Alumni of University College London Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Indian Knights Bachelor Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Institute of Chemistry Fellows of the Institute of Physics Brahmos Fellows of The National Academy of Sciences, India Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System alumni Indian Officers of the Order of the British Empire