The S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences isn’t only one of the premiere research institutes of the city, but also a celebration of the life of Professor Satyendra Nath Bose, the theoretical physicist, in whose honour the institute was set up
Pictures: Amit DattaInaugurated on January 1, 2018, the 125th birth anniversary of Bose, the Bose Archive & Museum is a detailed documentation of the scientist’s life. It is a mammoth effort by the institute to preserve his legacy through pictures and souvenirs
This space chronicles Bose’s life in its entirety. The first section focusses on his childhood in Kolkata, with a picture of the Bose family’s Iswar Mill Lane house where he was born. The section also sheds light on his prodigious academic beginnings in school
The education section extends to Bose’s years as a standout student at Presidency College and Calcutta University Science College, and the archive shows his degrees from the institutes, along with his academic chart. Interestingly, it was during his time at Presidency College where he was first introduced to Meghnad Saha, who would go on to become an integral part of his life
Bose’s transition to teaching, with University College of Science, Calcutta University and later at University of Dhaka have also been documented. This section has copies of his first scientific works, and his first correspondence with Albert Einstein
This leads to the next big phase of Bose’s career, when he lived in Europe from 1924 to 1926 after making acquaintance with Einstein. It also exhibits his revolutionary reorganisation of University of Dhaka’s Physics Department
A video shows a documentary on the Bose-Einstein condensate, one of the highlights of Bose’s career. His diverse interests as a polymath are also explored, through copies of his work in statistics and general relativity
The archives go much beyond exploring Bose’s life as an academician. A wall of frames shows his relationships with people from diverse fields. The photos show Bose with singer Dilip Kumar Ray, poet Bishnu Dey, painter Jamini Roy and actor Bhanu Bandopadhyay. An entire wall is dedicated to the relationship between Bose and Rabindranath Tagore, with copies of their letters in Bengali
The archives also comprise souvenirs from Bose’s life, carefully collected from his family and close ones. Among the most iconic items are his spectacles and pen, which he used till his last days
Bose’s German tape recorder is prominently displayed
The final wall of the archives documents the recognition bestowed upon the physicist, both during and after his life. His Esraj stands proudly among the plaques, as a testament to his love for music. The most intimate touch though, is the inclusion of headphones here, with which people can hear recordings of the music played by Bose