Question

Who is called the Father of Atomic Energy?

Answer 1

Hint: He was a professor of Physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and was also the founding director of the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET).

Complete answer:
Indian physicist ‘Homi Jehangir Bhabha’ is called The Father of Atomic Energy in India. He was also known as ‘father of the Indian nuclear program’. He was born in a wealthy Parsi family which was related to businessmen Dinshaw Maneckji Petit and Dorabji Tata. His father was a well-known lawyer. After completing his schooling and college in Bombay, he went to Cambridge to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering.

He worked at the Cavendish Laboratory and also worked towards his doctorate in theoretical physics. In 1932 he was awarded the Salomons Studentship in Engineering, obtained first class on his Mathematical Tripos and was awarded the Rouse Ball studentship in Mathematics. He published his first paper “The Absorption of Cosmic Radiation” and received his doctorate in nuclear physics in 1933. In this paper he explained the absorption features and electron shower production in cosmic rays.

He is known as the father of Indian nuclear power or atomic energy because he formulated a strategy focusing on extracting power from the country’s vast thorium reserves rather than its meagre uranium reserves.

Note: Homi J. Bhabha died in an airplane crash near Mont Blanc on January 24th 1966. There was some misunderstanding between the Airport of Geneva and the pilot of the plane, that caused the crash. After his death, the Atomic Energy Establishment of Mumbai was renamed to Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.