barrister, he grew up in a privileged environment. In Mumbai he attended the
Cathedral & John Connon School and then Elphinstone College, followed by
the Royal Institute of Science. After passing the Senior Cambridge Examination
at the age of sixteen, he joined the Gonvile and Caius College in Cambridge
with an intention to pursue mechanical engineering. His mathematics tutor
was Paul Dirac, and Bhabha became fascinated with mathematics andtheoretical physics. He earned his engineering degree in 1930 and Ph.D. in
1934.
In 1937, together with W. Heitler, a German physicist, Bhabha solved
the riddle about cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are fast moving, extremely small
particles coming from outer space. When these particles enter the earth’s
atmosphere, they collide with the atoms of air and create a shower of electrons.
Bhabha’s discovery of the presence of nuclear particles (which he called
mesons) in these showers was used to validate Einstein’s theory of relativity
making him world famous.
When the war broke out in Europe, Bhabha was on a holiday in India.
In 1940, C.V. Raman, then head of the Physics Department, Indian Institute
of Science, Bangalore, persuaded Bhabha to join the institute as a Reader in
Physics and Bhabha decided to stay back in India. In 1941, Homi Bhabha was
elected Fellow of the Royal Society, London, in recognition of his contributions
to the field of cosmic rays, elementary particles and quantum mechanics.
Bhabha soon realized the need for an institute fully devoted to
fundamental research, and wrote to J.R.D. Tata for funding. This resulted in
the establishment of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in
Mumbai in 1945, with Bhabha as the Director, a position he held until his
death. In 1948, Homi Bhabha was appointed the Chairman of the International
Atomic Energy Commission. Under his guidance, nuclear reactors like the
Apsara, Cirus and Zerlina were built. He gained international recognition for
his excellent work and served as the President of the first United Nations
Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, which was held in Geneva
in 1955. He was the President of the International Union of Pure and Applied
Physics from 1960 to 1963.
A multi-faceted personality, Bhabha was immensely fond of music,
painting and writing. Some of his paintings are displayed in the British Art
Galleries and the TIFR art collection today is rated as one of the best collections
of contemporary Indian art in the country.
He is the recipient of the Adam’s Award, Padma Bhushan, an Honorary
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Foreign Associate
of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States.







