Homi J. Bhabha

Indian nuclear physicist

Born: October 30, 1909 · Died: January 24, 1966

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Who was Homi J. Bhabha?

Homi Jehangir Bhabha (30 October 1909 – 24 January 1966) was an Indian nuclear theoretical physicist who is widely credited as the "father of the Indian nuclear programme". By supporting space science projects which initially derived their funding from the AEC, he played an important role in the birth of the Indian space programme. TIFR and AEET served as the cornerstone to the Indian nuclear energy and weapons programme. He died in the crash of Air India Flight 101 in 1966, at the age of 56.

Historical significance

He was the founding director and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), as well as the founding director of the Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay (AEET) which was renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in his honour. He was the first chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Bhabha was awarded the Adams Prize (1942) and Padma Bhushan (1954), and nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1951 and 1953–1956.

Bust of Bhabha at Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Kolkata

Sources and further reading

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