SIR JAGADISH CHANDRA BOSE
the unsung Hero of Radio Communication
[Bose's Achievements][Bose:Inventor of Marconi's wireless Receiver] [Bose Detector] [The Bose Project] [Interesting Links]
This page is dedicated to highlight the contribution of Sir J. C. Bose to (primarily)
the invention of radio It celebrates and seeks to acquaint and enthuse
researchers, academicians and professionals about the works of Sir J. C. Bose, which
remained unnoticed till recently. Also, this information will be of interest to people
studying the history of radio communication. This page will be constantly updated and
contributions, interesting links and discussions are encouraged. Kindly mail me, if you
will like to know when this page is updated next, a g g a r w a l _ v a r u n @ h o t m a
i l . c o m
Achievements of Sir J. C. Bose in the field of
communication
(In a Nutshell)
- Sir J. C. Bose invented the Mercury Coherer (together with the telephone receiver) used
by Guglielmo Marconi to receive the radio signal in his first transatlantic radio
communication over a distance of 2000 miles from Poldhu, UK to Newfoundland, St.
Johns in December 1901. Guglielmo Marconi was celebrated worldwide for this achievement,
but the fact that the receiver was invented by Bose was totally concealed. Read Bose's original paper on the receiver device.
- In 1895, Sir J. C. Bose gave his first public demonstration of electromagnetic waves,
using them to ring a bell remotely and to explode some gunpowder. He sent an
electromagnetic wave across 75 feet passing through walls and body of the Chairman,
Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. (I am in process of ascertaining how this experiment is
placed in context of works by other scientists towards demonstrating remote transmission
of EM waves).
- Sir J. C. Bose holds the first patent worldwide to invent a solid-state diode detector
to detect EM waves. The detector was built using a galena crystal. Have a look at Bose's patent and wait for an interesting article on the same
soon.
- Sir J. C. Bose was a pioneer in the field of microwave devices. His contribution remains
distinguished in the field and was acknowledged by the likes of Lord Kelvin, Lord
Rayleigh, etc. Read what people thought about J. C. Bose.
Refer to [1,2] to study the work of J. C. Bose in the field of microwave.
Jagadish Chandra Bose: The Real Inventor of
Marconi's Wireless Receiver
-Varun Aggarwal
In the year 1998, Dr. Probir K. Bondyopadhyay found out that it was actually Sir J. C.
Bose who invented Marconi's Italian Navy Autocoherer. He explained the sequence of events
in great detail in his paper, "Sir J. C. Bose's Diode Detector Received Marconi's
First Transatlantic Wireless Signal Of December 1901 (The "Italian Navy Coherer"
Scandal Revisited)." [ 3, Proc. IEEE, Vol. 86, No. 1, January 1998.]
Read a complete article covering the technical
details of Marconi's experiment, the receiving device (coherer) and the chronology of
events that took place when the first transatlantic wave was successfully transmitted. The
article clearly proves that Sir J. C. Bose was the inventor of the Mercury Autocoherer.
The article goes into technical details and background to enable a person with no
knowledge of history of radio communication to understand the contribution of Sir J. C.
Bose clearly. You will definitely enjoy the concepts and devices used at a time when
modulation was not known and diode had not been invented!
Enjoy! [A pdf is available right now,
but a online version will soon come up]
Experiments with a Replica of the Bose Detector
- K. L. Groenhaug
The autocoherer invented by Bose was nearly a solid state diode, which was actually
invented some 50 years after the autocoherer was invented. Groenhaug built a replica of a
Bose detector and compared its characteristics with that of a diode. Have a look at this interesting paper. Groenhaug also plans to study
the performance of Bose's galena detector and I eagerly wait for the results of his study.
Sir J. C. Bose: Unsung Hero of Radio Communication
An Ongoing Project
The current findings solely focus on the fact that the receiver
for the first trans-atlantic radio communication was designed by Sir J. C. Bose. However,
there are several other interesting research aspects (missing links) in concern with the
contribution of Sir J. C. Bose towards the invention of radio. This is an appeal to young
engineers to take these as a research assignment! I would love to be a part of any such
activity.
Who did it first: Who was the first to demonstrate
remote transmission of EM waves? Was it Sir J. C. Bose? |
Demystifying J. C. Bose's patent: Bose's 1904 patent was invention of
a galena crystal detector, verily a diode. Is this 'the solid state detector', which was
later used as a receiver for demodulating continuous wave radio signals (voice
transmission) ? |
Home-made coherers: Coherers and Auto-coherers are
devices which are still not very clearly understood (in all the literature I have seen).
Surely, it will be intellectually stimulating to build them, experiment with them and
understand their operation! |
Did Popov invent radio: It is so claimed and believed
by some, that Popov, a Russian scientist was the first to transmit information over
wireless. Where does he fit in the history of radio communication? |
Interesting Links
http://www.tuc.nrao.edu/~demerson/bose/bose.html
: The Works of Jagadis Chandra Bose: 100 years of MM-wave Research.
(Excellent description and photographs of devices built by Bose some 100 years back.)
www.boseinstitute.org/
:
The Bose
Institute.
www.antentop.bel.ru/files/fam002.pdf
: Fessenden and the
Early History of Radio Science. (Fessenden is another unsung hero of Radio
Communication. His work was mainly in continuous wave radio communication.)
http://www.antiquewireless.org/otb/marconi1901.htm
and
/marconi1901a.htm : Did Marconi Receive
Transatlantic Radio Signals in 1901?, Parts 1 & 2. (A fresh look in Marconi's
experiment and an examination of its technicalities.)
Though this page would probably have a variety of audience, I believe that every
electronics/electrical engineer graduating out of India should know about the
distinguished contribution of Sir J. C. Bose to the field of communication. Hopefully,
this page will initiate interest in people to study the works of Bose and interesting
discussions will ensue.
There is more to come, keep visiting and leave your mail ID with me, if you want to be
informed with the latest updates.
References
1. Darrel T. Emerson, “The Work of Jagadis Chandra Bose: 100
Years of Millimeter-Wave Research,” IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and
Techniques, Vol. 45, No. 12, pp. 2267-2273, Dec. 1997
2. T. K. Sarkar, D. L. Sengupta, “An Appreciation of J. C. Bose’s Pioneering
Work in Millimeter Wave”, IEEE Antenna and Propagation Magazine, Vol. 39, No. 5, Oct.
1997
3. Probir K. Bondyopadhyay, "Sir J. C. Bose's Diode Detector Received Marconi's
First Transatlantic Wireless Signal Of December 1901 (The "Italian Navy Coherer"
Scandal Revisited)," Proc. IEEE, Vol. 86, No. 1, January 1998.
Maintained by Varun Aggarwal
Acknowledgement: Dr. Henry Bradford, during discussions with whom
the idea of this page cropped up.
I will like to thank IEEE for their cooperation.