Homi Bhabha

Homi Jehnagir Bhabha, was a well-known Indian atomic scientist. In free India, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, with the support of Jawaharlal Nehru, laid the base of a scientific establishment and was responsible for the creation of two leading institutions, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. He was the first chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission.

He was born on October 30, 1909, in Bombay in a wealthy Parsi family. He did his graduation from Elphinstone College and the Royal Institute of Science in Bombay and later on went to Cambridge University. He received his doctorate in 1934. During this period, he worked with Niels Bohr on the studies that led to quantum theory. He also worked with Walter Heitler on the cascade theory of electron showers, which was significant for understanding the cosmic radiation.

In 1939, Due to the outbreak of the Second World War, Homi Bhabha, returned to India. Here, he set up the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore under C. V. Raman in 1939. With the assistance of J.R.D. Tata, he established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. In 1945, he became director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

He was a great scientist and also a skilled administrator After independence he got the blessings of Jawaharlal Nehru for the peaceful development of atomic energy. He established the Atomic Energy Commission of India in 1948. Under his supervision Indian scientists worked on the improvement of atomic energy and the first atomic reactor in Asia was set up at Trombay, near Bombay, in 1956.

He advocated international control of nuclear energy and prohibiting the use of atomic bombs by all countries. He wanted nuclear energy to be used for removing the poverty and misery of people.

Homi Bhabha received several honorary degrees from Indian and foreign universities and was a member of various scientific societies, including the National Academy of Sciences in the United States. He was a great person. He died in a plane crash on January 24, 1966, in Switzerland.