Multiple Intriguing Aspects of the Life of
Professor K Rangadhama Rao D.Sc. (Madras) D.Sc. (London).
Professor K Rangadhama Rao D.Sc. (Madras) D.Sc. (London).
9th September 1899(Birth at Morning time in Berhampur-ancient Kotcherlakota house, cantonment area, opposite ILP Press building) to 20th June 1972(demise at 9:09AM-Visakhapatnam at his residence)
By
Professor Dr. Kotcherlakota Lakshmi Narayana,
{Retd.prof of Phys.SU} 17-11-10,Narasimha Ashram, Official Colony, Maharanipeta.P.O,
Visakhaptnam-530002
Cell: 9491902867
Propriety Rights Held
There are many or multiple intriguing aspects of the life of late Professor K Rangadhama Rao D.Sc. (Madras) D.Sc. (London). Undoubtedly he just like Mahatma Gandhi was a firm believer and follower of the British precision and perfection of executing scientific and technological enterprises. They both wanted their followers to recognize the British superiority and adopt the commitment & purposefulness in human endeavour whether it is for achieving the Political Independence or the Educational Excellence.
Dr K Rangadhama Rao lost his father while in London, doing his post doctoral research at Imperial College in Prof A Fowler’s laboratories at University of London. He has religiously observed promptly the ritual Hindu Ceremony as a devote Hindu Brahmin and served, the cooked certain special food on the Tenth day of demise his beloved father, to his fellow Brahmin Indians in London at his residential place.
He was a vegetarian and while in Sweden he refused to have the food served with a round attractive blob of red meat in his dinner plate. He was told that it was served in the dinner plate, as being very ornamental in appearance. But Dr K R Rao was amazed to note that the country Swedish people so nice that he obtained separately cooked vegetarian food without an iota of non-vegetarian stuff.
Professor Dicke a spectroscopist from USA, during a visit to Andhra University in 1960s has said that Dr K R Rao was the person with whom he got acquainted in London and he was the first person even to give a taste of the Indian Food!
Observations of this kind didn’t deter Dr K R Rao, who always styled himself wearing a tip-top British suit with the collared tie and/or a Bow while in London. But like Sir C V Raman or Sir S Radhakrishanan and many other Indians, he has not become a torch bearer of Knight-Hood of British Christian tradition. He respected the British manners in toto and never refrained from expressing himself either as obediently or with respectful regards and was thankful profuse even for the little help he has received from the Academic Professionals and peers of the British Empire.
He often expressed and was very proud that he acquired the skill of handling precession equipment of sophisticated nature to obtain internationally accepted results of scientific and technological research.
He said that Dr Kapitza working in Lord Rutherford Laboratory at Oxford University was one of a great experimentalist and made very rich contributions to the Lord Rutherford laboratory progress. Later he observed that Dr Kapitz was invited to Russia and has been never allowed to return back to the Lord Rutherford laboratory.
Dr K Rangadhama Rao has become very easily available to his fellow researchers and budding youngsters to teach them and instruct them to carry out their studies and investigations. He was the first person in London to run a free private instruction and teaching centre to certain Indian students in London on subjects of Modern Physics and Quantum Mechanics.
He helped many a fellow researchers in his laboratory and especially in Sweden, while at Fysicum, University of Uppsala, to Professor B Edlen (later at University of Lund) and Professor E Mack (later at Wisconsin University, USA) and others like Bergmann & many not known to this author.
The uncanny abilities of Dr K Rangadhama Rao have been neatly summarized in the year1930 by no less a person than Prof. Manne Siegbahn of Fysicum, University of Uppsala, Sweden.
He not only worked at short wave lengths in Sweden but impressed Professor F Paschen at Berlin University, in the year 1931 with his work on a series of electronically significant metallic ions. Professor A Fowler himself admired the neat and comfortable way Dr K Rangadhama Rao carried his researches at the University of Berlin in Germany. Were already the world war signs have become apparent among the British and the German scientists? Has the trip to University of Berlin to work at Professor F. Paschen laboratories at Der Physikalisch-Technischen Reichsanstalt has it become an important ingredient of his oppression?
Was it the influence of the Lords at England and the noted Professor Sommerfeld? Has the many a spectroscopist from USA who was visiting the British Universities and on short summer visits to UK, Berlin and Paris was very influential?
As early as in 1924 in his D.Sc. Thesis of Madras University, India, Dr. K. Rangadhama Rao has expressed profound dismay that he was unable to get the paper published by Professor Sommerfeld on the relativistic corrections to the Atomic Term values being extensively experimentally being verified by him in Viziyanagaram and exact calculations of analysis of the Line Spectra being published by Dr K. Rangadhama Rao in reputed British Journals? The intriguing thing is that Dr S. Chandhrasekhar had an admonition of his work by Professor Sommerfeld! Were there any clandestine moves in the Scientist circles in Western Countries?
Professor A Fowler himself rose from a very low position at the Imperial College London and achieved great success as Father of Line Spectra and possibly he was not one of the Lords of England.
But why is that Prof A Fowler let him down, Dr K Rangadhama Rao D.Sc. (Madras) D.Sc. (London), by only recommending him to a post as an instructor or teaching assistant when he was about to return to India, having spoiled of his visit to USA? Was it not a fact that for twelve times Dr K Rangadhama Rao made his presentations at the dinner time round table prestigious Science Seminars of Royal Society and that the news splashed of the Indian Scientist extraordinary ability even in the Daily Newspapers of London?
After return from abroad the family members wanted Dr K Rangadhama Rao to perform a penance as a Brahmin for having crossed the seas to go abroad by paying a visit to Kasi Viswesvara Temple one of the several sacred the Hindu religious centres of India just like Mahatma Gandhi.
Why is that Prof. A. Fowler also has deliberately postponed the recommendation of Dr K Rangadhama Rao for F. R. S attributing that the time was not opportune for him so that the world-war began and things became upset? Has he been subject to undue pressure by certain other scientists who were aware of the leadership business attitude of Dr K Rangadhama Rao? Prof A. Fowler wrote sceptically about Prof M N Saha whether really he would support Dr K R Rao’s candidature for F R S? But agreed instinctively in the hearts of hearts, that the success of Dr K Rangadhama Rao as FRS is a credit to himself? It is the one of the intriguing aspects of life of Dr K Rangadhama Rao that he Dr Rao, maintained an admirably good relationship with him, in after return to India. What were the behind scenes and happenings in British Society among the British Scientists, Lords and otherwise of global intellectuals just before the world war broke out? Professor R S Mullikan also visited British University laboratories several times in summer times, though not quite clear he met Dr K Rangadhama Rao during the period of stay in London, but Professor R. S. Mullikan Nobel laureate has kindly graced a visit to Andhra University laboratories of Dr K Rangadhama Rao at JVD College of Science & Technology during 1960s.
In fact, Prof. M. N. Saha has been all through a firm supporter of Dr K Rangadhama Rao in his leadership business of educational excellence and endeavour at a global level. Has the single-minded devotion of Dr K Rangadhama Rao and his scholastic Royal Society appreciated research output has become an eyesore to many an Indian as well certain Foreign and American Foundation people who worked hideously or was it a just cause of their inability to grant a USA fellowship to Dr K R Rao? In spite of it, how come Dr KRRao decided to shift to USA and almost took the ship bound to USA (probably at his personal expense and savings) but for a captain of the ship plying between USA and UK? Dr K Rangadhama Rao was barred from boarding a ship bound to USA by the ship captain saying that he won’t allow blacks to board on his ship, while his friendly and jolly talking colleague Dr. Curtis was allowed to proceed on board! Dr K Rangadhama Rao contemplated research in the Infra Red spectroscopy at USA.
Was it really that the absence of a machinery in India the real cause and refusal to route the ambition of Dr K Rangadhama Rao to shift to USA and work in the University of Michigan Randall laboratories under “The Rockfeller Foundation Research Fellowship”? Why Professor A Fowler wanted the correspondence to be kept with him for a future reference?
As early as in 1924 in his D.Sc. Thesis of Madras University, India, Dr. K. Rangadhama Rao has expressed profound dismay that he was unable to get the paper published by Professor Sommerfeld on the relativistic corrections to the Atomic Term values being extensively experimentally being verified by him in Viziyanagaram and exact calculations of analysis of the Line Spectra being published by Dr K. Rangadhama Rao in reputed British Journals? The intriguing thing is that Dr S. Chandhrasekhar had an admonition of his work by Professor Sommerfeld! Were there any clandestine moves in the Scientist circles in Western Countries?
Professor A Fowler himself rose from a very low position at the Imperial College London and achieved great success as Father of Line Spectra and possibly he was not one of the Lords of England.
But why is that Prof A Fowler let him down, Dr K Rangadhama Rao D.Sc. (Madras) D.Sc. (London), by only recommending him to a post as an instructor or teaching assistant when he was about to return to India, having spoiled of his visit to USA? Was it not a fact that for twelve times Dr K Rangadhama Rao made his presentations at the dinner time round table prestigious Science Seminars of Royal Society and that the news splashed of the Indian Scientist extraordinary ability even in the Daily Newspapers of London?
After return from abroad the family members wanted Dr K Rangadhama Rao to perform a penance as a Brahmin for having crossed the seas to go abroad by paying a visit to Kasi Viswesvara Temple one of the several sacred the Hindu religious centres of India just like Mahatma Gandhi.
Why is that Prof. A. Fowler also has deliberately postponed the recommendation of Dr K Rangadhama Rao for F. R. S attributing that the time was not opportune for him so that the world-war began and things became upset? Has he been subject to undue pressure by certain other scientists who were aware of the leadership business attitude of Dr K Rangadhama Rao? Prof A. Fowler wrote sceptically about Prof M N Saha whether really he would support Dr K R Rao’s candidature for F R S? But agreed instinctively in the hearts of hearts, that the success of Dr K Rangadhama Rao as FRS is a credit to himself? It is the one of the intriguing aspects of life of Dr K Rangadhama Rao that he Dr Rao, maintained an admirably good relationship with him, in after return to India. What were the behind scenes and happenings in British Society among the British Scientists, Lords and otherwise of global intellectuals just before the world war broke out? Professor R S Mullikan also visited British University laboratories several times in summer times, though not quite clear he met Dr K Rangadhama Rao during the period of stay in London, but Professor R. S. Mullikan Nobel laureate has kindly graced a visit to Andhra University laboratories of Dr K Rangadhama Rao at JVD College of Science & Technology during 1960s.
In fact, Prof. M. N. Saha has been all through a firm supporter of Dr K Rangadhama Rao in his leadership business of educational excellence and endeavour at a global level. Has the single-minded devotion of Dr K Rangadhama Rao and his scholastic Royal Society appreciated research output has become an eyesore to many an Indian as well certain Foreign and American Foundation people who worked hideously or was it a just cause of their inability to grant a USA fellowship to Dr K R Rao? In spite of it, how come Dr KRRao decided to shift to USA and almost took the ship bound to USA (probably at his personal expense and savings) but for a captain of the ship plying between USA and UK? Dr K Rangadhama Rao was barred from boarding a ship bound to USA by the ship captain saying that he won’t allow blacks to board on his ship, while his friendly and jolly talking colleague Dr. Curtis was allowed to proceed on board! Dr K Rangadhama Rao contemplated research in the Infra Red spectroscopy at USA.
Was it really that the absence of a machinery in India the real cause and refusal to route the ambition of Dr K Rangadhama Rao to shift to USA and work in the University of Michigan Randall laboratories under “The Rockfeller Foundation Research Fellowship”? Why Professor A Fowler wanted the correspondence to be kept with him for a future reference?
The Nobel Prize was decided to be awarded to Sir C.V. Raman while Dr K Rangadhama Rao was very much with Prof. Manne Siegbahn and in fact Dr K Rangadhama Rao was the first person to wire Sir C V Raman congratulating him by a telegram as a Nobel laureate the same evening when the “Prize Diploma” to him was finalized, that was in fact six months before he received the prize from the Swedish Monarchy. (See the Dr Badami’s letters).
Why Prof A Fowler also wanted Dr Badami to be associated with the Andhra University? He wanted the duo Dr K R Rao and Dr Badami at Andhra University, Waltair, India also to continue his legacy in India as well?
Dr Icchapurupu Ramakrishna Rao was a close associate of Dr K R Rao and a friendly neighbour in Official Colony in Visakhapatnam undoubtedly was very much with Sir C V Raman having worked in Allahabad for his Ph. D. in Physics.
Why Prof. & Sir C V Raman of Calcutta was much against Dr K R Rao and harmed him not less than on four occasions in the promotion of professional career of Dr K R Rao? Was it the sinister oppressive attitude of his own science empire to survive in Andhra Pradesh the real cause or a hidden jealousy of the renowned person of his idiosyncrasies? Sir C V Raman’s father and mother have migrated to Visakhapatnam for their livelihood and stayed in Agraharam streets of Chengalaraopeta. Their residence was very near to the CBM church. They were also associated of the South Indian Association of the Agraharam with the office located in Sivalayam and the Kota veedhi. Sonti family people of Visakhapatnam knew about this association. Sir C V Raman’s father was a Mathematics lecturer in Mrs.A.V.N.College that was converted as earlier being a Hindu College with the help of a donation of an Estate Manager under the British Rule of India. They knew Kotcherlakota family (also living near to the Venkateswara Temple) of ILP publications of government gazetted proceedings. It’s not just that Dr K Rangadhama Rao who has acquired considerable skill in experimental work of Physics in Mrs A. V. N. College was a novice to Sir C V Raman’s father. Sir C V Raman’s father knew also Sir Aushtosh Mukherjee the Mathematician and the Vice Chancellor of a University in Calcutta. Sir CVRaman was appointed as a Palit Professor in a University by Sir Aushtosh Mukheerji. Its anybody guess what were the qualifications of Sir C V Raman when he became a Palit Professor? Why neither Mahatma Gandhi nor Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru accepted the honourable Knight-Hood Sir title? Mokshagudem Visweswarayya and Rabindranath Tagore returned away the honourable “SIR” title.
Even while purchasing a ticket for Madras, hurriedly to meet his beloved wife, during his lost visit to Vizag Sir C V Raman declared himself to the Ticket booth counter clerk in Waltair Railway station that “I am Sir C V Raman”? What is the secret of the proudness in his title as Sir? Or is it an inferior complex among the fellow youngsters!
The domination of South Indians was so much in those days of freedom movement that personalities like Sir S Radhakrishna and Shri A L Narayana have changed their names with the affix ‘n’ added at the end of their original names, so that they can claim to be more akin of Madras Tamilians rather than Andhras and survive in the political strong scenario of combined state of Andhra and Madras under British rule. Such was the power of the cult of Tamil Brahmins migrated to Andhra but fortunately, not all of them were alike in their attitude.
The certificates of merit issued to Dr K Rangadhama Rao by Prof A Fowler, at London and Prof. Manne Siegbahn, at Sweden were of diverse nature and very intriguing in the sense both agree that Dr K Rangadhama Rao possessed certain uncommon abilities and expertise of research investigations of a totally new trend and in regions which they themselves found not easily amenable for observations. In fact Dr K Rangadhama Rao achieved uncanny ability of Analysis of the spectral line data along with the attended band, polyatomic and nuclear spectral features. While Prof A Fowler could only be the Father of Line spectra Dr K Rangadhama Rao has become really the real Father of Analysis expertise of the observed spectra and the assignments of the term values. He acquired the skill of analysis while as a student both at Mrs A. V. N. College, Visakhapatnam and later at St Joseph’s college at Madras University, at Trichinopoly and later at the Research laboratories in Viziyanagaram, recognized by Madras University.
Dr K Rangadhama Rao chose the Prof F Paschen laboratories technical person Heinrich Lesche( letter of dispatch from Postdam, Berlin dt. 1st June 1932) to build his personally designed Vacuum Tube Spectrograph at a cost of RM1600/-. Bericht uber die Tatigkeit der Physikalisch-Technischen Reichsanstalt im Jahre 1932 reports promptly on Dr Wolfsohn aus Berlin mit dem Vakuum-Gitter-Spektrographen. A Germany publication on who is who in Germany has published of course, the name of Dr K Rangadhama Rao during the 1930s. Dr K R Rao had an ambition to shift to USA to work in The Infra Red region, may be like the Astrophysicist Dr S. Chandrasekhar (a lucky person to migrate) he would have contributed much to the progress of Science and Modern Physics.
Why Prof A Fowler also wanted Dr Badami to be associated with the Andhra University? He wanted the duo Dr K R Rao and Dr Badami at Andhra University, Waltair, India also to continue his legacy in India as well?
Dr Icchapurupu Ramakrishna Rao was a close associate of Dr K R Rao and a friendly neighbour in Official Colony in Visakhapatnam undoubtedly was very much with Sir C V Raman having worked in Allahabad for his Ph. D. in Physics.
Why Prof. & Sir C V Raman of Calcutta was much against Dr K R Rao and harmed him not less than on four occasions in the promotion of professional career of Dr K R Rao? Was it the sinister oppressive attitude of his own science empire to survive in Andhra Pradesh the real cause or a hidden jealousy of the renowned person of his idiosyncrasies? Sir C V Raman’s father and mother have migrated to Visakhapatnam for their livelihood and stayed in Agraharam streets of Chengalaraopeta. Their residence was very near to the CBM church. They were also associated of the South Indian Association of the Agraharam with the office located in Sivalayam and the Kota veedhi. Sonti family people of Visakhapatnam knew about this association. Sir C V Raman’s father was a Mathematics lecturer in Mrs.A.V.N.College that was converted as earlier being a Hindu College with the help of a donation of an Estate Manager under the British Rule of India. They knew Kotcherlakota family (also living near to the Venkateswara Temple) of ILP publications of government gazetted proceedings. It’s not just that Dr K Rangadhama Rao who has acquired considerable skill in experimental work of Physics in Mrs A. V. N. College was a novice to Sir C V Raman’s father. Sir C V Raman’s father knew also Sir Aushtosh Mukherjee the Mathematician and the Vice Chancellor of a University in Calcutta. Sir CVRaman was appointed as a Palit Professor in a University by Sir Aushtosh Mukheerji. Its anybody guess what were the qualifications of Sir C V Raman when he became a Palit Professor? Why neither Mahatma Gandhi nor Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru accepted the honourable Knight-Hood Sir title? Mokshagudem Visweswarayya and Rabindranath Tagore returned away the honourable “SIR” title.
Even while purchasing a ticket for Madras, hurriedly to meet his beloved wife, during his lost visit to Vizag Sir C V Raman declared himself to the Ticket booth counter clerk in Waltair Railway station that “I am Sir C V Raman”? What is the secret of the proudness in his title as Sir? Or is it an inferior complex among the fellow youngsters!
The domination of South Indians was so much in those days of freedom movement that personalities like Sir S Radhakrishna and Shri A L Narayana have changed their names with the affix ‘n’ added at the end of their original names, so that they can claim to be more akin of Madras Tamilians rather than Andhras and survive in the political strong scenario of combined state of Andhra and Madras under British rule. Such was the power of the cult of Tamil Brahmins migrated to Andhra but fortunately, not all of them were alike in their attitude.
The certificates of merit issued to Dr K Rangadhama Rao by Prof A Fowler, at London and Prof. Manne Siegbahn, at Sweden were of diverse nature and very intriguing in the sense both agree that Dr K Rangadhama Rao possessed certain uncommon abilities and expertise of research investigations of a totally new trend and in regions which they themselves found not easily amenable for observations. In fact Dr K Rangadhama Rao achieved uncanny ability of Analysis of the spectral line data along with the attended band, polyatomic and nuclear spectral features. While Prof A Fowler could only be the Father of Line spectra Dr K Rangadhama Rao has become really the real Father of Analysis expertise of the observed spectra and the assignments of the term values. He acquired the skill of analysis while as a student both at Mrs A. V. N. College, Visakhapatnam and later at St Joseph’s college at Madras University, at Trichinopoly and later at the Research laboratories in Viziyanagaram, recognized by Madras University.
Dr K Rangadhama Rao chose the Prof F Paschen laboratories technical person Heinrich Lesche( letter of dispatch from Postdam, Berlin dt. 1st June 1932) to build his personally designed Vacuum Tube Spectrograph at a cost of RM1600/-. Bericht uber die Tatigkeit der Physikalisch-Technischen Reichsanstalt im Jahre 1932 reports promptly on Dr Wolfsohn aus Berlin mit dem Vakuum-Gitter-Spektrographen. A Germany publication on who is who in Germany has published of course, the name of Dr K Rangadhama Rao during the 1930s. Dr K R Rao had an ambition to shift to USA to work in The Infra Red region, may be like the Astrophysicist Dr S. Chandrasekhar (a lucky person to migrate) he would have contributed much to the progress of Science and Modern Physics.
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