Hosur Narasimhaiah
Nadoja | |
---|---|
Scientific career | |
Fields | Physics |
Institutions | National College, Bangalore Southern Illinois University Bangalore University |
Thesis | The Radioactive Decay of Hafnium and Thulium Isotopes (1960) |
H. (Hanumanthappa) Narasimhaiah (more popularly Hale Upparahalli Narasimhaiah; 6 June 1920 – 31 January 2005) was an Indian
As there was no formal school in
He finished his bachelor's degree with physics honours in 1944, and master's degree in 1946. He was immediately recruited to the faculty of physics at the National College, Bangalore, where he taught until 1957. He went for doctoral research in the United States and earned a PhD in 1960 in nuclear physics from Ohio State University. From 1961 he was Principal of the National College, Basavanagudi. He became the Vice-Chancellor of the Bangalore University in 1972, the post he held until his resignation in 1977. He went on to serve in the Karnataka Legislative Council.[5]
A self-proclaimed rationalist,[4] he was a renowned sceptic. While in office, he constituted and chaired the "Committee to Investigate Miracles and Other Verifiable Superstitions" that led to public challenges of the miraculous claims of Hindu godmen, including Sathya Sai Baba and Sai Krishna. As a leader of the Karnataka legislators to investigate a black-magic curse called banamathi, he disproved the existence of such claims. He was the founder of the Bangalore Science Forum. He is so far the only Indian to become elected Fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.[2]
Life
Narasimhaiah was born in
After teaching for over ten years, in 1957, he went to Columbus, Ohio, for further degree. He received his PhD degree in nuclear physics from the Ohio State University in 1960. His thesis was The Radioactive Decay of Hafnium and Thulium Isotopes.[8] From 1961 to 1972 he was Principal of the National College, Basavanagudi, in Bangalore.[2]
He became the fourth
Narasimhiah was a connoisseur of Carnatic Music and had close association with the renowned Carnatic Musician R K Padmanabha. R K Padmanabha led a 1000 people goshti in remembrance of Dr H Narasimhiah as a mark of respect.
Narasimhaiah remained a confirmed bachelor.[7] He quipped,
Marriage is a gamble, a lottery: I have told many people the reason I have not got married is that I forgot! ... Now sometimes I do feel lonely. only momentarily. I miss companionship, not just in the sense of having a wife.[4]
He was considered as champion of humanism and atheism in India.[9] But he described himself as rationalist, and added,
I'm not an atheist: I don't go to a temple because God is everywhere. A temple is like a jail for God. I don't believe in religious practices or commercial Gods either.[4]
In his later years, he suffered from prolonged septicaemia and died on 31 January 2005 in an intensive care unit of Maiya Multi-speciality Hospital in Bangalore.[10] His body was kept in the National High School for public viewing.[11] He was cremated, as he had willed (he had reserved INR 2,000 for it), at Hossur with a state official funeral the same day evening.[12]
Contributions
Narasimhaiah wrote a collection of essays titled Tereda Mana ('ತೆರೆದ ಮನ', Open Mind) and an autobiography named Horaatada Haadi ('ಹೋರಾಟದ ಹಾದಿ', The Path of Struggle).[13]
In 1962, he founded the Bangalore Science Forum, which conducts a weekly series of public lectures on science topics. This non-profit organisation has conducted almost 2,000 popular science lectures by eminent scientists and over 500 popular science films.[10] He was also responsible for establishing the Bangalore Lalithakala Parishat and B.V. Jagadeesh Science Centre.[14][15]
As a Vice-Chancellor, he constituted and chaired the "Committee to Investigate Miracles and Other Verifiable Superstitions" in 1976. Members of the committee included scientists, academics and rationalists such as A.R. Vasudeva Murthy,
In 1985, Narasimhaiah challenged a godman, Shivabalayogi, who claimed that he could let down rain by praying. To test the claim, Shivabalayogi was to specifically fill up the T.G. Halli reservoir by rain to feed Bangalore. It never rained.[18]
Although a
His famous quote is: A poor teacher complains, an average teacher explains, a good teacher teaches, a great teacher inspires.[19]
Awards and honours
Narasimhaiah was conferred the
There is a school named in his honour, H. Narasimhaiah Memorial High School in Hossur, established in 1991.[24]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Jayaram, A (1 February 2005). "He scaled the heights of fame in education". The Hindu. Retrieved 22 March 2015.[dead link]
- ^ a b c Balaram, P. (2005). "Popularizing science: Memories of an icon" (PDF). Current Science. 88 (3): 329–330.
- ^ a b "Padma Bhushan Awardees". india.gov.in. NIC. Archived from the original on 7 December 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Narasimhaiah, H (23 February 2003). "I love life and I want to work, work and work..." Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c Menon, Parvathi (2005). "An unconventional citizen: H. Narasimhaiah, 1920-2005". Frontline. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ Madur (30 September 2011). "Educationist Beyond Compare – H Narasimhaiah". karnataka.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ a b Parthasarathy, Shruti (17 February 2005). "Remembering Dr H Narasimhaiah". GoodNewsIndia. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- Bibcode:1960PhDT........16N. Retrieved 29 October 2015.)
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help - ^ a b "Dr. H. Narasimhaiah (1921-2005)". atheistcentre.in. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ a b "H Narasimhaiah passes into history". Deccan Herald. 1 February 2005. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ "Renowned educationist Dr HN no more". Deccan Herald. 31 January 2005. Retrieved 29 October 2015.[dead link]
- ^ "H. Narasimhaiah passes away". The Hindu. 1 February 2005. Retrieved 29 October 2015.[dead link]
- ^ a b c "Dr. H. NARASIMHAIAH". National College Bagepalli. Archived from the original on 27 December 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Dr. H.N : Our Source of Inspiration". National College Jayanagar. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ a b "Dr.H.Narasimhaiah: Our Source of Inspiration". National College Gauribidanur. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ "Satya Sai Baba". 108 MEDIA LTD. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ "SATYA SAI BABA Retelling The Story". Prakash Arumugam. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ "H. Narasimhaiah : Rationalist". Outlook. 23 October 1996. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ "Hosur Narasimhaiah quotes". azquotes.com. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
- ^ Nayak, Narendra (2007). "BHANAMATHI: The scourge of Hyderabad Karnataka". Indian Skeptic. 20 (6): (online).
- ^ "Goruru award for H Narasimhaiah". The Times of India. 20 November 2001. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ^ "Progress in science should benefit poor". The Hindu. 4 January 2003. Retrieved 30 October 2015.[dead link]
- ^ "The Pantheon of Skeptics". CSI. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ "School Wise Report". Government of Karnataka. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
Further reading
- Haraldsson, Erlendur, Miracles are my visiting cards Prashanthi Nilayam(1997) chapter 21 The Critics
- Narasimhaiah, H. (editor) Science, Nonscience and Paranormal, Bangalore Science Forum (1987)
External links
- Champion of pure sciences in an IT hub[usurped] by A. Narayana Article in the newspaper The Hindu 4 April 2004
- Biography at Rationalist International
- Tributes to H.Narasimhaiah
- H.Narasimhaiah passes into history
- Past & Present Rationalist and nationalist article by Ramachandra Guha in The Hindu 27 February 2005
- The Blitz interview Sathya Sai Baba's September 1976 interview with editor R. K. Karanjiaof Blitz News Magazine, containing a rebuttal to Narasimhaiah
- Dr. HN's Room at National college Hostel on YouTube