It was an event that surprised the scientific world. It was an undreamt of thing. Here was a man who had built a unique instrument -- an instrument that could measure the growth of plants. Here was a man who had proved with this wonderful machine that plants have hearts and can feel The machine showed that plants have sight and a sense which tells them that a stranger is approaching.
"Your instrument is a wonderful thing,” said the great men who had come to the Paris Congress of Science, 1900.They were amazed as the inventor showed them how to use the machine.
What do you call this instrument ?” they asked. “A crescograph, ” replied Jagdish Chandra Bose, the great scientist, who had built this wonderful machine.
“And where was it made ?” the scientists asked.
“In India,” was the answer. The reply caused greater surprise India 111 the nineteenth century was well known for its greatness in the fields of fme arts, literature and philosophy. But in the field of science it had not progressed much. Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose with his invention made a name for himself and his country in the scientific world.
Bose was born in l858 in a village in Bengal. After studying physics at Calcutta University he went to England for further studies. He graduated from Cambridge, then returned to India and was appointed Professor of Physics Presidency College in Calcutta.
A three-year struggle began between Bose and the government, in which he was victorious. An Indian, in those days of British rule, usually received two-thirds of the salary paid to a Eumpean professor. Bose’s appointment was a temporary one, so he was given only half the rate for a European. Bose was not the man to take this quietly. He felt that people who did the same amount and same kind of work should be paid the same salary. whatever race or nation they belonged to. It is worth remembering that discoveries do not come from the faithful followers and the yes-men of science ; they come from the doubters and the rebels. Bose was, by nature, a rebel.
He refused to touch any part of his Salary for three years. It was a question of his self-respect and he was not ready to give . up his principles. In the end victory was his.
Bose now began the work which has made him famous . all over the world. He had,‘ from boyhbod, been interested in ‘ animal and plant life, and now his work in. physics led him back ' to his old love. He had noticed that his wireless receiver showed , signs of ‘tiredness’ after it had been in use for some time, but in , some strange way got back its power after being ‘rested’. Here was food for thought, the kind of thought from which great discoveries come.
Until the end of the Middle Ages, the world was looked on as one beautiful unity, created by God Man believed that everything in the world, from man to rocks ahd stones, had its place and purpose The discoveries of Galileo and Newton changed the world-picture. Man began to study each branch of science separately with greater detail and there developed several different kinds of sciences Bose, however, recognised a unity all these different branches of science.
He realized that there was a similarity in the behaviour of lifeless and living things. It was, however, not easy to convince others. People hold on to their old beliefs and do not like to change them. Bose suggested that the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms were one and had a great deal in common. He said that plants and metals had a life of their own and could become‘ tired’, ‘depressed’ or ‘happy’ People laughed at him. They did not take him seriously.
Bose knew he was right and he proved it. To begin with, he designed and built a machine which recorded his findings with maximum exactness. This was the ‘crescograph’, the amazing instrument which records thegrowth of plants. It magnifies the movement of plant tissues ten thousand times and can record the reaction of plants to manures, noise and other stimuli. The crescograph proved that Bose had not been wrong. It showed that plants have hearts and are capable of feeling. The crescograph indicated that plants have a keen sight and react to rays of light and wireless waves. The machine proved that plants have a special sense which tells them of the approach of a stranger.
The story of this great scientist will not be complete without some mention of his concern for India and her people. He had a deep faith in the intelligence of his courihyrhen. Bose was certain that they were as capable of doing great things today as their ancestors had done in the past. In an address at a convocation of the University of Mysore 1n November 1927, Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose Spoke about India’s glory in the past and declared that it was action and not idleness that was responsible for that glory. He believed that there oculd be no happiness for a Single person unless it had been won for all. And this great scientist wanted his countrymen to have undying hope and faith in the future.
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