Dividends of scientific research to common people merit highest attention. Most of the modern devices in common use nowadays for both diagnosing diseases and their treatment owe a great deal to atomic and space research. Indian nuclear scientists are far ahead of their counterparts pursuing atomic research abroad, opined Prof. J. Shashidhara Prasad, Mysuru-based noted physicist and former VC of University of Mysore. Establishments with world-class facilities for research in the area of nuclear science such as the Mumbai-based Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) are in charge of scientists and mercifully not in the grip of bureaucrats, he added.
Elementary particles: Prof. Prasad was delivering a talk on ‘Nuclear Science Research in India’ on Mar. 4 here at the Institution of Engineers-India (IEI), Mysuru Centre. Tracing the birth and rapid progress of nuclear science both globally and in India, he recollected the names of many giants among the scientists of the past such as Satyendra Nath Bose, Rutherford, Rontgen, Niels Bohr, Oppenheimer, Homi Bhabha and others, highlighting the discovery of elementary particles more than a century ago, and later anti-particles.
