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'''Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist''' (ISBN 9389136997) is a contemporary biography of the Indian polymath, [[Jagadish Chandra Bose|Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose]], modern India’s first scientist, an eclectic pioneer in [[radio]] science, and the father of [[Plant Neurobiology]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Sudipto |title=Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist |date=2023-11-29 |publisher=Niyogi Books Private Limited |isbn=978-93-89136-99-9 |language=English}}</ref> Written by the Indian author, [[Sudipto Das]], this marks Das's debut in non-fiction after three novels.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2023-12-04 |title=From interaction between Shashi and Smita Tharoor to book launches and discussions, Bangalore Literature Festival ends on a high note |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/bangalore-literature-festival-ends-shashi-tharoor-book-launches-discussion-9054394/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref> Published in November 2023 by Niyogi Books, it was launched in [[Bangalore]]<ref name=":1" /> at the Bangalore Literature Festival<ref>{{Cite web |title=Schedule 2023 - Bangalore Literature Festival 2023 |url=https://bangaloreliteraturefestival.org/archives/year-2023/schedule/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=bangaloreliteraturefestival.org}}</ref> on December 3, 2023, and in [[Calcutta]] on January 11, 2024.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |date=2024-01-12 |title=New book on Jagadish Chandra Bose looks beyond his scientific contribution |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/events/kolkata/new-book-on-jagadish-chandra-bose-looks-beyond-his-scientific-contribution/articleshow/106769683.cms |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Dey |first=Subhalakshmi |date=January 16, 2024 |title=Book launch of Sudipto Das's Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist at Quest |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/books/book-launch-of-sudipto-dass-jagadish-chandra-bose-the-reluctant-physicist-at-quest/cid/1994056 |access-date=April 26, 2024 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>
[[File:Reluctant Physicist.jpg|thumb|Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist]]
The book poignantly chronicles Bose's championing of India’s self-reliance through scientific research<ref name=":9" /> despite British racism and prejudice against Indian science.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |date=2024-04-13 |title=Book Review {{!}} 'Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist' who loved plants |url=https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/book-review-jagadish-chandra-bose-the-reluctant-physicist-who-loved-plants-13759208.html |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=Firstpost |language=en-us}}</ref> Bose indigenously designed innovative instruments for his experiments, prioritising [[Open source|open sharing]] over [[patent]]s—a forerunner of today’s [[open innovation]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} Already a poster boy of the [https://ism.gov.in/ India Semiconductor Mission], hailed as a trailblazer in the technology that was a precursor to [[semiconductor]]s,<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmSDBhxvDHc |title=SemiconIndia 2022 Day 1 |language=en |access-date=2024-04-28 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-19 |title=Paving the Way for India's Semiconductor Future – ScienceIndiamag |url=https://www.scienceindiamag.in/paving-the-way-for-indias-semiconductor-future/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |language=en-US}}</ref> Bose’s depiction in the book resonates well with the government’s emphasis on self-reliance in the [https://www.mygov.in/campaigns/stip-2020/ Science, Technology, and Innovation] (STI) ecosystems in the country.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

== Author ==
[[Sudipto Das]], an [[IIT Kharagpur]] alumnus and a veteran in the [[semiconductor industry]], is also an entrepreneur,<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Sudipto Das - Author Biography |url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-in/author/sudipto-das |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=Entrepreneur |language=en}}</ref> musician,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-02-20 |title=Musically apt |url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/music/200218/musically-apt.html |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=[[Deccan Chronicle]] |language=en}}</ref> social worker,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Datta |first=Sravasti |date=2020-04-02 |title=An apartment in Bengaluru is distributing groceries to daily wage earners |url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/an-apartment-in-bengaluru-is-distributing-groceries-to-daily-wage-earners/article31237291.ece |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> columnist,<ref name=":4" /> and speaker at TED events.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MJvuYohS9M |title=How my passion guided me towards the road not taken {{!}} Sudipto Das {{!}} TEDxBMSCE |language=en |access-date=2024-04-28 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>

Born in Calcutta in 1973 to a family that fled Bangladesh during the [[partition riots]] of 1947, Sudipto grew up listening to horrid stories of the partition, something he extensively used later in his debut novel, [[The Ekkos Clan]], published in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sudipto Das: books, biography, latest update |url=https://www.amazon.in/stores/author/B00K7Y2ZWA/about |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=Amazon.in |language=en-in}}</ref> A violinist trained in Western classical music, Sudipto debuted as a music composer in 2014 when he recreated Eastern European melodies of the 1940s for the war musical [[Schweik in the Second World War|Schweyk in the Second World War]] by [[Bertolt Brecht]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-03-25 |title=Stories of yore |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

== Elements ==

=== Summary ===
A forgotten genius, Sir J. C. Bose defied norms in science and life. A co-inventor of radio and pioneer in semiconductors and wireless communication, he fascinated [[Albert Einstein|Einstein]] yet faded from memory. Das's book delves into Bose's remarkable life, intertwined with [[Indian independence movement|India's struggle for freedom]], and explores his complex relationships, especially with [[Sister Nivedita]] and [[Sara Chapman Bull]], that defied easy definition.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Sudipto |url=https://www.amazon.in/Jagadish-Chandra-Bose-Reluctant-Physicist-ebook/dp/B0CPFXFB5P |title=Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist |date=2023-12-01 |publisher=Paper Missile |language=English}}</ref>

=== Narrative ===
Praised for its captivating narrative, the book transcends the boundaries of a conventional scientific chronicle by exploring India’s socio-political milieu.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Thakur |first=Ashutosh Kumar |title=At the crossroads of science and philosophy |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/features/books/at-the-crossroads-of-science-and-philosophy-2846435 |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=Deccan Herald |language=en}}</ref> The poetic eloquence that makes the book read more like a novelistic story<ref>{{Cite web |last=Purkayastha |first=Samir K |date=2024-03-12 |title=How Jagadish Chandra Bose, an unsung genius, fell into obscurity as a scientist |url=https://thefederal.com/category/features/how-jagadish-chandra-bose-an-unsung-genius-fell-into-obscurity-as-a-scientist-113381 |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=The Federal |language=en}}</ref> bridges the gap between science writing and a broader readership.<ref name=":11"/>
[[File:Calcutta Launch Reluctant Physicist.jpg|thumb|Calcutta launch of "The Reluctant Physicist"]]

=== Historical Context ===
Bose lived in the best of times and the worst of times, in many ways. It is the high noon of the [[British Empire]], a defining time for great science and innovation, yet major European powers battle for global dominance and hurtle unwittingly towards devastating wars.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Sudipto |title=Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist |date=December 1, 2023 |publisher=Niyogi Books |isbn=978-9389136999 |pages=227–228, 345–346}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCk6fTW307o |title=Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist |language=en |access-date=2024-04-28 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYSy4oBpB4g |title=The Reluctant Physicist |language=en |access-date=2024-04-28 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref> Bose’s story unfurls against this and the rising ferment of [[Swadeshi movement|Indian nationalism]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Sudipto |title=Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist |date=December 1, 2023 |publisher=Niyogi Books |isbn=978-9389136999 |pages=277–278, 322–323}}</ref> On the one hand, we see glimpses of a young [[Rabindranath Tagore]] leading the first non-violent mass resistance against the imperial decree of [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|partitioning Bengal]],<ref name=":7" /> and, on the other hand, the enigmatic figure of [[Sister Nivedita]], aka Margaret Noble, an Irish-Scottish who, inspired by the firebrand monk [[Swami Vivekananda]], converts to the cause of Hindu nationalism and sparks an armed revolution against [[British Raj|British rule]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Sudipto |title=Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist |date=December 1, 2023 |publisher=Niyogi Books |isbn=978-9389136999 |pages=292}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Datta |first=Devangshu |date=March 20, 2024 |title=The 'inner life' of a rational scientist |url=https://www.business-standard.com/book/the-inner-life-of-a-rational-scientist-124032001142_1.html |access-date=April 28, 2024 |website=Business Standard}}</ref> At the same time, Nivedita is liaising with the [[Unitarian Universalism|unitarian]] and [[Pacifism|pacifist]] Bose, often acting as his scientific secretary and editing his papers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Das |first=Sudipto |title=Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist |date=December 1, 2023 |publisher=Niyogi Books |isbn=978-9389136999 |pages=341}}</ref>

The book explores this odd partnership of very antipodal characters, collaborating and influencing each other in unseeming ways, not always in mutual agreement, yet in ways that, nevertheless, transcend their differences in a grand and unified vision to make India independent and self-reliant.

The book expertly contextualises Bose’s life within the broader canvas of India’s struggle for independence.<ref name=":5" />

=== Spirituality ===
The book is divided into four parts, each exploring the theme of unity.<ref name=":9">{{Cite news |last=Thakur |first=Ashutosh Kumar |date=2024-03-15 |title='Jagadish Chandra Bose's pursuit of unity leads him to find a commonality in life in a plant and human' |url=https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/scientist-jagadish-chandra-bose-india-research-pursuit-of-unity/article67938871.ece |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

Bose belonged to the Unitarian [[Brahmo]] fraternity, like Rabindranath Tagore, [[Raja Ram Mohan Roy|Raja Rammohan Roy]], and other eminent [[Bengalis]]. [[Brahmoism]] was founded on the principles of [[Advaita Vedanta]], the genesis of which is in these words from a verse in the [[Rigveda|Rig Veda]]: "Ekam sat, vipra vahudha vadanti,” there exists only One, the wise call it variously. Das gives vivid records of how, driven by this idea of universal unity, Bose explored similarities in plant and human life. He even predicted plant sentience, paving the way for [[Plant perception (physiology)|plant neurobiology]] and [[Plant cognition|cognition]].<ref name=":9" />

=== "Boseian" Myth ===
Das delves deep into the controversy surrounding the invention of radio or wireless, which, for a very long time, was attributed solely to the genius of Marconi, but not any more. [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers|IEEE]] has formally acknowledged that Bose is the father of wireless communication with millimetre-waves,<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1109/5.658778 | title=Sir J.C. Bose diode detector received Marconi's first transatlantic wireless signal of December 1901 (The "Italian Navy Coherer" Scandal Revisited) | date=1998 | last1=Bondyopadhyay | first1=P. K. | journal=Proceedings of the IEEE | volume=86 | pages=259–285 | url=https://zenodo.org/record/1232181 }}</ref> used again in [[5G]]. It is his work, done in the late 19th century, that forms the foundation of technologies that power devices ranging from cellphones to microwave ovens, radios to radar, satellite television to the world’s most powerful space telescopes.<ref name=":11"/>

=== Role in Bengal Renaissance ===
At a lit-fest,<ref name=":12" /> Das highlighted that Jagadish Bose embodied the pinnacle of [[Bengal Renaissance]], championing India's scientific revival and putting it on par with Western science. Culturally, the book suggests, Bose collaborated with [[Sister Nivedita]] in resurrecting ancient Indian art, organising the first [[Ajanta Caves|Ajanta painting]] exhibition at his home.<ref name=":2" />

== Reception ==
“An insightful and illuminating exploration of the life and thought of one of the greatest scientific minds that India has ever produced,” said [[Jug Suraiya]], senior journalist, [[The Times of India|Times of India]].<ref name=":0" /> “Truly delighted that Sudipto has resurrected an amazing character—a scientist and maverick—who personifies an important turn in Indian history when the likes of Vivekananda and Tagore were laying the intellectual foundations of modern India,” said eminent economist and writer [[Sanjeev Sanyal]].<ref name=":0" />

“[The] book on Jagadish Chandra Bose looks beyond his scientific contribution, providing a vivid portraiture of the legend’s life. Jagadish Bose comes alive in flesh and blood. [...] Reads like a novel,” reported [[The Times of India]].<ref name=":10" /> "More interesting was [Bose’s] personal relationship with [[Rabindranath Tagore]] and [[Sister Nivedita]], and how he helped resurrect literature and art while simultaneously indulging in science during the [[Bengal Renaissance]],” reported [[The Telegraph (India)|The Telegraph]] (Calcutta).<ref name=":2" />

[Getting] under the skin of the person... naturally brought out [Bose's] multiple facades, from a hunter chasing tigers in the Terai jungles to sculling in the freezing waters of the Cam River in Cambridge, [from] writing the first Himalayan travelogue in any language, [to] influencing Tagore to write poems inspired by stories of love and sacrifice from Indian history and mythologies, or even surreptitiously keeping quiet when, he perhaps knew, lab aides planted by Sister Nivedita in Presidency College were regularly taking out explosive materials from the laboratory to make bombs,” Das informed in a conversation with [[The Hindu]].<ref name=":9" /> “In the riveting biography,... readers are treated to a comprehensive exploration of the life and times of a man who stood at the crossroads of science, philosophy, and India’s history,... favoured and disfavoured by the English, loved and hated by his peers, and mythified and forgotten by his compatriots. The scientist emerges as a contronym, a figure whose identity is paradoxical and enigmatic," observed the [[Deccan Herald]]<ref name=":5" /> in a critique.

"Bose, much before Gandhi, had his own moment of ‘Satyagraha,’” said the [[Press Trust of India]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Press Trust Of India |url=https://www.ptinews.com/story/national/a-genius-bose-lived-life-blasting-through-cliches-sudipto-das-author-of-the-reluctant-physicist-/1324047 |access-date=2024-04-28 |website=www.ptinews.com}}</ref> “The book’s true worth lies in its exposition of Bose’s ‘inner life’," commented the [[Business Standard]]<ref name=":8" /> in a review of the book. “Sudipto Das bridges the gap between science writing and a broader readership to provide a very accessible story about one of the greatest sons of our nation," said the [[Firstpost]].<ref name=":11" /> "Sir JC Bose is being resurrected, [...] book after book," observed The Tribune.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Backflap |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/book-reviews/backflap-589703 |date=February 11, 2024 |access-date=May 1, 2024 |website=The Tribune}}</ref> "When the British found the idea of Indians engaging in science unacceptable, Bose stood firm, advocating that both Indian and Western science should progress together," said the Bangladeshi newspaper ''[[Daily Sun (Bangladesh)|Daily Sun]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 2024 |title=New book on Jagadish Chandra Bose looks beyond his scientific contribution |url=https://www.daily-sun.com/post/730792 |access-date=2024-05-01 |work=Daily Sun |language=en}}</ref> "Das digs deep into Bose’s life to demystify the 'Boseian' myth," reported financialsamachar.com.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-16 |title='Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Physicist' attempts to demystify the "Boseian" myth |url=https://financialsamachar.com/jagadish-chandra-bose-the-reluctant-physicist-attempts-to-demystify-the-boseian-myth/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Financial Samachar |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Scroll.in]] published an excerpt from the book with the title, "From the biography: When Jagadish Chandra Bose’s father put his young son under an ex-pirate’s care."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Das |first=Sudipto |date=2024-01-12 |title=From the biography: When Jagadish Chandra Bose's father put his young son under an ex-pirate's care |url=https://scroll.in/article/1061860/from-the-biography-when-jagadish-chandra-boses-father-put-his-young-son-under-an-ex-pirates-care |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}}</ref> [[ThePrint]] published another excerpt with the comment, "Sudipto... delves into the life of a reluctant, forgotten physicist."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Das |first=Sudipto |date=2024-03-13 |title=JC Bose didn't invent the radio. But Bengalis think he did way before Marconi |url=https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/jc-bose-didnt-invent-the-radio-but-bengalis-think-he-did-way-before-marconi/1997994/ |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref> It had an ambiguous title, though: "JC Bose didn’t invent the radio. But Bengalis think he did, way before Marconi."

=== Criticism ===
Some readers critique factual liberties in the book in the form of creative licence.<ref name=":11" /> Academics wish for more scientific references.<ref name=":10" />

== References ==
<references />
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2023 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Indian biographies]]

Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Reluctant Scientist - Revision history

SoftifyInsights: creating initial article basic info.