S Chandrasekhar Man Of Science

'A must read for those interested in the great man'-The Times of India 'I discovered what true mathematical elegance is from Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar' - Carl Sagan, who studied under Professor Chandrasekhar at the University of Chicago The world knows S. Chandrasekhar as a Nobel laureate and an outstanding astrophysicist. But he was, at the same time, a caring uncle, a devoted husband and a compassionate brother, who made it a point to reach out to everyone around him despite his legendary status. This compilation brings out the various facets of the man and the scientist. It includes some of his more general essays and lectures in which he lucidly presents his thoughts on the pursuit of science, creativity, his work, and his abiding love for his motherland. There are also reminiscences by family members who interacted with him and grew to adore the man who, they remember, had as beautiful a heart as his handwriting. This collection strives to bring to the fore the person that was Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and the life he led: from his engagement with science to the little anecdotes that illuminated the lives of those around him.

'A must read for those interested in the great man'-The Times of India 'I discovered what true mathematical elegance is from Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar' - Carl Sagan, who studied under Professor Chandrasekhar at the University of Chicago The world knows S. Chandrasekhar as a Nobel laureate and an outstanding astrophysicist. But he was, at the same time, a caring uncle, a devoted husband and a compassionate brother, who made it a point to reach out to everyone around him despite his legendary status. This compilation brings out the various facets of the man and the scientist. It includes some of his more general essays and lectures in which he lucidly presents his thoughts on the pursuit of science, creativity, his work, and his abiding love for his motherland. There are also reminiscences by family members who interacted with him and grew to adore the man who, they remember, had as beautiful a heart as his handwriting. This collection strives to bring to the fore the person that was Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and the life he led: from his engagement with science to the little anecdotes that illuminated the lives of those around him.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar — known simply as Chandra throughout the scientific world — has become a legendary figure for his prolific contributions to physics, astrophysics, and applied mathematics. Before his death in 1995, Chandra had forbidden a memorial of the conventional sort, celebrating his life. This book, which contains some thirty articles by his former students, his associates, and his colleagues, is in a sense a memorial volume. It says little about Chandra's great scientific achievements, but shows his human side and the various facets of his brilliant personality, his incredible memory, his wit, and the breadth of his knowledge of art, music, literature, and the humanities in general. The contributors to this highly interesting book are among the few who broke the seemingly forbidden barrier surrounding the very private Chandra and came to know him well in one context or another. They include Lalitha Chandrasekhar, Roger Penrose, Richard H Dalitz, J W Cronin, Robert G Sachs, Abhay Ashtekar, and Robert Wald. Contents:“My Everlasting Flame” (L Chandrasekhar)S Chandrasekhar: A Personal Portrait (A Ashtekar)Exploring General Relativity with Chandra (V Ferrari)Chandrasekhar and the End of Time (R Penrose)Some Memories of Chandra (R M Wald)Chandra in Focus (S Kumar)Reminiscences of Chandra (J W Cronin)Some Personal Recollections of S Chandrasekhar at Chicago and Oxford (R H Dalitz)A Towering Figure: Reminiscences and Reflections (L Mestel)Reminiscences About Chandra (R G Sachs)and other papers Readership: General. Reviews:“Not a biography, this, but an album of verbal portraits of an austere, proud, cultured and deeply humane astrophysicist.”New Scientist “The present effort is a fine one, and I recommend the book with enthusiasm.”Physics World

Chandra is an intimate portrait of a highly private and brilliant man, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, a Nobel laureate in physics who has been a major contributor to the theories of white dwarfs and black holes. "Wali has given us a magnificent portrait of Chandra, full of life and color, with a deep understanding of the three cultures—Indian, British, and American—in which Chandra was successively immersed. . . . I wish I had the job of reviewing this book for the New York Times rather than for Physics Today. If the book is only read by physicists, then Wali's devoted labors were in vain."—Freeman Dyson, Physics Today "An enthralling human document."—William McCrea, Times Higher Education Supplement "A dramatic, exuberant biography of one of the century's great scientists."—Publishers Weekly

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Nobel Laureate in Physics, was a towering figure in 20th century physics, but remained a highly private man. The many letters and correspondence in this book reveal in Chandrasekhar's own words the depth of his pursuit of science as well as his personal struggles. This book is an important addition to the three previous volumes by Kameshwar C. Wali, including Chandra, A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar, S. Chandrasekhar: The Man Behind the Legend, and A Quest for Perspectives: Selected Works of S. Chandrasekhar (With Commentary), Volumes 1 & 2.Included in the correspondence are Chandra's thoughts and feelings about his student days in India and Cambridge, his trials and tribulations in the competitive world of British academia, his travels to Russia and Germany, and his unexpected and historic encounter with Sir Arthur Eddington. The book also includes rare correspondence and conversations with Lalitha, Chandrasekhar's wife of over sixty years. The letters and conversations with her reflect her own views of their life. She, a student of physics herself, eventually gave up her own work in science to become an integral part of Chandra's life. As Chandra wrote, 'The full measure of [of my indebtedness] cannot really be recorded; it is too deep and too all persuasive. Let me then record simply that Lalitha was the motivating source and strength of my life.'This new book adds a significant personal dimension to an extraordinary scientist and will give the public a deeper understanding of the man behind the legend.

S. Chandrasekhar, popularly known as Chandra, was one of the foremost scientists of the 20th century. The year 2010 marks the birth centenary of Chandra. His unique style of research, inward bound, seeking a personal perspective to master a particular field, and then pass on to another was so unique that it will draw considerable interest and attention among scholars. As Chandra elucidates in the preface, "The various installments describe in detail the evolution of my scientific work during the past forty years and records each investigation, describing the doubts and the successes, the trials and the tribulations. And the parts my various associates and assistants played in the completion of the different investigations are detailed." It is indeed a remarkable and rare document, fascinating to read and experience the joys, frustrations and struggles of a creative mind. In addition, a compilation of selected correspondence, which includes his correspondence with his father, some family members and other well-known scientists of the 20th century, will provide an interesting insight into the life of an extraordinary scientist.

"What a splendid book! Reading it is a joy, and for me, at least, continuing reading it became compulsive. . . . Chandrasekhar is a distinguished astrophysicist and every one of the lectures bears the hallmark of all his work: precision, thoroughness, lucidity."—Sir Hermann Bondi, Nature The late S. Chandrasekhar was best known for his discovery of the upper limit to the mass of a white dwarf star, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1983. He was the author of many books, including The Mathematical Theory of Black Holes and, most recently, Newton's Principia for the Common Reader.

The correspondence in Chandra's journals revealed in his own words the depth of his pursuit of science as well as his personal struggles, and such material is significant for the public to have a deeper understanding of the man behind the legend. The first part of the project was completed at the time of the Chandra birth centennial in 2010 with the publication of A Scientific Autobiography: Chandrasekhar. It provided a rare and personal insight into the joys and struggles of a brilliant scientist at work.There remained yet a wealth of correspondence that shed significant insight into Chandra's life, and this included the correspondence during his days as a student in India and Cambridge, his trials and tribulations in the competitive world of British academia, his travels to Russia and Germany, and his unexpected encounter with Sir Arthur Eddington. It also included selected correspondence and conversations with Lalitha, his wife of over sixty years. These letters and conversations with her reflect her own views of their life. She, a student of physics herself, eventually gave up her own work in science to become an integral part of Chandra's life. As Chandra wrote, 'The full measure of of my indebtedness] cannot really be recorded; it is too deep and too all persuasive. Let me then record simply that Lalitha was the motivating source and strength of my life ...'