Background
Bhabha was born on October 30, 1909 in Bombay, British India (nowadays Mumbai, Maharashtra, India); the son of Jehangir Hormusji Bhabha and Meheren Bhabha.
Bhabha (right) at the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, Switzerland, 20 August 1955.
Bhabha (right) at the International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in Geneva, Switzerland, 20 August 1955.
Bhabha was born on October 30, 1909 in Bombay, British India (nowadays Mumbai, Maharashtra, India); the son of Jehangir Hormusji Bhabha and Meheren Bhabha.
Bhabha attended Cathedral and John Connon School. In 1924, he entered Elphinstone College after passing his Senior Cambridge Examination with Honors. In 1927, Homi graduated from the Royal Institute of Science (nowadays Institute of Science). Also in 1927, he began his studies at Cambridge University, studying mechanical engineering. In June 1930, he passed the Mechanical Engineering Tripos with first class and remained at Cambridge and began studying theoretical physics.
Bhabha was awarded the Salomons Studentship in Engineering during the 1931-1932 academic year. In 1932, he passed the Mathematics Tripos with first class and was awarded the Rouse Ball traveling studentship in mathematics.
Homi received a Doctor of Philosophy in nuclear physics from Cambridge University in January 1933, after publishing his first scientific paper "The Absorption of Cosmic radiation". It helped him win the Isaac Newton Studentship in 1934, which he held for the next three years.
Bhabha worked at Cambridge Univesity until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. During his work there he published a paper "Proceedings of the Royal Society, Series A" in 1935, performing the first calculation to determine the cross section of electron-positron scattering. Also Bhabha conducted research with Walter Heitler and in 1936 they made a breakthrough in the cosmic radiation’s understanding by working on the cascade theory of electron showers to describe how primary cosmic rays from outer space interact with the upper atmosphere to produce particles observed at the ground level.
In 1939, Homi returned to India accepting a position of reader of physics in the Physics Department of the Indian Institute of Science. He received a special research grant from the Sir Dorab Tata Trust, which he used to establish the Cosmic Ray Research Unit at the Institute. Bhabha also established the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, becoming their director in 1945.
He refused a post in the Indian Cabinet but was scientific adviser to Nehru and to his successor, Lal Bahadur Shastri. Under Homi`s guidance Indian scientists worked on the development of atomic energy, and the first atomic reactor in Asia went into operation at Trombay in 1956.
Bhabha died in an air crash on Mont Blanc on 24 January 1966 on his way to a meeting of the scientific advisory committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
Bhabha was a pioneer in the Indian nuclear research programme. He was a visionary who foresaw the need for high quality facilities in the country to conduct research on nuclear power. Homi envisioned the three stage nuclear power programme which focused on extracting power from thorium instead of uranium reserves.
He was the founding director of the Atomic Energy Establishment in Trombay, which is now named the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in his honor. Also Bhabha was the author of many articles on quantum theory and cosmic rays.
Bhabha played a key role in convincing the Congress Party's senior leaders, most notably Jawaharlal Nehru who later served as India's first Prime Minister, to start the ambitious nuclear programme. He advocated international control of nuclear energy and the outlawing of atomic bombs by all countries. Bhabha was strongly opposed to the production of an atomic bomb by India, even though the country had the resources to build one, arguing that nuclear energy should be used instead to relieve the poverty and misery of India's people.
Bhabha was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1941. He was the first chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India in 1948. Homi was a chairman of the first United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, held in Geneva in 1955. Also he was a member of the Indian Cabinet's Scientific Advisory Committee.
