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Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was
born at Trichinopoly in Southern India on November 7th,
1888. His father was a lecturer in mathematics and
physics so that from the first he was immersed in an
academic atmosphere. He entered Presidency College,
Madras, in 1902, and in 1904 passed his B.A.
examination, winning the first place and the gold medal
in physics; in 1907 he gained his M.A. degree, obtaining
the highest distinctions.
His earliest researches in
optics and acoustics - the two fields of investigation
to which he has dedicated his entire career - were
carried out while he was a student.
Since at that time a
scientific career did not appear to present the best
possibilities, Raman joined the Indian Finance
Department in 1907; though the duties of his office took
most of his time, Raman found opportunities for carrying
on experimental research in the laboratory of the Indian
Association for the Cultivation of Science at Calcutta
(of which he became Honorary Secretary in 1919).
From Nobel Lectures, Physics
1922-1941, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam
Sir Venkata Raman died in
1970.
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