Jagadish Chandra Bose

Indian polymath who pioneered radio technology and plant neurobiology

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937) defied colonial-era scientific prejudices by making groundbreaking discoveries in both physics and botany. His millimeter-wave radio research (1894-1899) predated Marconi's work, though he refused patents stating 'knowledge should be free for all humanity'.

Bose invented the crescograph - a device that demonstrated plants' electrical responses to stimuli, establishing the foundations of plant neurobiology. His 1902 paper 'Response in the Living and Non-living' challenged the animal-plant dichotomy in biological sciences.

Despite British institutional racism, Bose built Asia's first modern research laboratory in Kolkata (1917). He designed precision instruments that combined Western technology with Indian metallurgical traditions, creating unique hybrid scientific tools still studied today.