AarohamResort at 16:48, 6 April 2026

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{{short description|Indian cosmic ray physicist (1913–1991)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Copy edit|date=March 2026}}
{{Unreliable sources|date=March 2026}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Bibha Chowdhuri
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Indian Scientist Bibha Chowdhuri.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1913|7|3|}}
| birth_place = [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]] (now [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]])
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1991|6|2|1913|7|3}}
| death_place = [[Calcutta]] (now [[Kolkata]]), West Bengal, India
| children =
| spouse =
| fields = [[Particle physics]], [[Cosmic rays]]
| workplaces = {{Plainlist|
* [[University of Calcutta]]
* [[Bose Institute]]
* [[University of Manchester]], England
* [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]]
* [[Physical Research Laboratory]]
* [[Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics]]
* [[University of Michigan]]
}}
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist| * [[Rajabazar Science College]]
* [[University of Calcutta]]
* [[University of Manchester]], (PhD)
}}
| doctoral_advisor = Sir [[Patrick Blackett]]
| thesis_title = Extensive air showers associated with penetrating particles
| thesis_year = 1949
| thesis_url = https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.601680
| academic_advisors = [[Debendra Mohan Bose]]
| influenced =
| known_for = {{Plainlist|
* First to discover mesons using [[nuclear emulsion]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/a-star-and-its-planet-get-indian-names-after-a-global-contest/article30336302.ece|title=A star and its planet get Indian names after a global contest|agency=India Science Wire|date=2019-12-18|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-12-22|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>
* Identifying new particles by studying their tracks in [[cloud chamber]]s and on [[photographic plate]]s<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/bibha-chowdhuri-donna-strickland-jocelyn-bell-burnell-the-invisible-women-in-science/cid/1687897|title=The invisible women in science|website=The Telegraph|language=en|access-date=2019-12-22}}</ref>
* KGF Experiments: Energetic muons (E<sub>mln</sub> ⋍ 150 GeV) experiments at [[Kolar Gold Fields]]<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.ias.ac.in/describe/article/pram/008/04/0371-0376|title=Pramana|journal=Journal of Physics|publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences|access-date=2020-02-03}}</ref>
}}
| awards =
| signature =
| influences =
}}

'''Bibha Chowdhuri''' (3 July<ref>The University of Manchester Library Archived Information.</ref> 1913 – 2 June 1991<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://feminisminindia.com/2019/06/19/bibha-chowdhuri-physicist/|title=Bibha Chowdhuri: The Invisibilised Physicist{{!}} #IndianWomenInHistory|last=Roy|first=Pragya|date=2019-06-18|website=Feminism In India|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-21}}</ref>) was an Indian [[Particle physics|particle physicist]] known for her investigations into cosmic rays. Working with [[Debendra Mohan Bose|D. M. Bose]], she was the first to discover [[meson|the meson]] and prove Hideki Yukawa's meson theory.

== Early life ==
Chowdhuri was born in [[Kolkata]]<ref name="Bhattacharya 2018">{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/science-tech/the-woman-who-could-have-won-a-nobel/cid/1676488|title=The woman who could have won a Nobel|website=The Telegraph|language=en|access-date=2018-11-28|first=Amitabha|last=Bhattacharya|year=2018}}</ref> to a family of [[Zamindars of Bengal|Zamindars]].<ref name="Roy 2018" /> Her father, Banku Behari Chowdhuri, was a doctor.<ref name="Roy 2018" /> Her mother, Urmila Devi, practised [[Brahmo Samaj]], which held the belief that young women should be allowed to go to school.<ref name = "Roy 2018">{{Cite journal|last1=Roy|first1=S. C.|last2=Singh|first2=Rajinder|date=2018|title=Historical Note: Bibha Chowdhuri – Her Cosmic Ray Studies in Manchester|journal=Indian Journal of History of Science|volume=53|issue=3|doi=10.16943/ijhs/2018/v53i3/49466|issn=0019-5235|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> By marrying Urmila, Banku was converted to Brahmo and ostracised from [[Hinduism|Hindu]] circles.<ref name="Roy 2018" /> Many of the Chowdhuri children (apart from the second daughter, who died early on<ref name="Roy 2018" />) went on to become highly educated.<ref name=":0" /> Chowdhuri was the middle child of her five siblings, with one brother.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Bibha Chowdhuri – A Forgotten Legend |url=https://podcasts.whastic.com/podcast/women-in-stem-bibha-chowdhuri-a-forgotten-legend/ |website=whastic.com |date=15 August 2020 |access-date=12 September 2020}}</ref> Her aunt, Nirmala Devi, was married to Sir [[Nilratan Sircar]].<ref name = "Roy 2018" /> Her sister, Roma Chowdhuri, went on to become a teacher at [[Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya]].

== Education ==
Bibha studied physics at [[Rajabazar Science College]] of [[Calcutta University]] and was the only woman to complete an M.Sc. degree in the year 1936. She joined the [[Bose Institute]] after graduating in 1939 and worked with [[Debendra Mohan Bose]].<ref name="Bhattacharya 2018" /> Together, they experimentally observed and published on mesotron showers, later called [[meson]]s.<ref name="Roy 2018" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bose |first1=D |last2=Chowdhry |first2=B |date=1940 |title=Photographic Plates as Detectors of Mesotron Showers |url=https://doi.org/10.1038/145894a0 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=145 |issue=3684 |pages=894–895 |doi=10.1038/145894a0 |bibcode=1940Natur.145..894B |url-access=subscription }}</ref> She studied batches of Ilford half-tone plates that were exposed to cosmic rays at two different altitudes, one in [[Darjeeling]] and a higher one at [[Sandakphu]].<ref name="Roy 2018" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bose |first1=D. M. |last2=Choudhuri |first2=Biva |title=A Photographic Method of Estimating the Mass of the Mesotron |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/148259a0 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |date=1941 |volume=148 |issue=3748 |pages=259–260|doi=10.1038/148259a0 |bibcode=1941Natur.148..259B |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The particles had decreased mass at lower altitudes, suggesting that they had decayed over time.<ref name="Roy 2018" /> She noticed that the decays were curved, likely due to multiple scattering of particles.<ref name="Roy 2018" /> They could not take the investigation further because there were no more sensitive emulsion plates available.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/165333/india-physicist-nobel-prize-bibha-chowdhuri-cosmic-rays-news/|title=This Brilliant Woman Could Have Won a Physics Nobel for India. Yet Few Indians Know Her Story|first=Pekshmi|last= Priya |date=2018|publisher=[[The Better India]]|access-date=2018-11-28|language=en-US}}</ref> Chowdhuri joined the laboratory of [[Patrick Blackett]] for her doctoral studies, working on cosmic rays at the [[University of Manchester]].<ref name="Bhattacharya 2018" /> Her [[PhD]] thesis investigated [[extensive air shower]]s.<ref name="bibphd">{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Manchester|url=https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/35205860?style=html|title=Extensive air showers associated with penetrating particles|first=Bibha|last=Chowdhuri|date=1949|id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.601680}}|website=jisc.ac.uk|oclc=643572452|access-date=2018-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206235038/https://copac.jisc.ac.uk/id/35205860?style=html|archive-date=2018-12-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> Her examiner was [[Lajos Jánossy]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Roy|first1=S. C.|last2=Singh|first2=Rajinder|date=2018-08-01|title=Historical Note: Bibha Chowdhuri – Her Cosmic Ray Studies in Manchester|url=http://insa.nic.in/writereaddata/UpLoadedFiles/IJHS/Vol53_3_2018__Art10.pdf|journal=Indian Journal of History of Science|volume=53|issue=3|doi=10.16943/ijhs/2018/v53i3/49466|issn=0019-5235|doi-access=free}}</ref> It is unclear how much of her work contributed to Blackett's [[Nobel Prize]].

==Career and research==

Chowdhuri demonstrated that the density of penetrating events is proportional to the total particle density of an [[extensive air shower]].<ref name = "Roy 2018" /> She was interviewed by ''The Manchester Herald'' in an article called "Meet India's New Woman Scientist – She has an eye for cosmic rays", saying that "it is a tragedy that we have so few women physicists today."<ref name = "Bhattacharya 2018" />
[[File:Bibha Chowdhuri at the International Conference in Pisa, Italy 1955.jpg|left|thumb|Chowdhuri at the International Conference in Pisa, Italy, in 1955]]
[[File:Statue of Bibha Chowdhuri.jpg|left|thumb|Statue of Bibha Chowdhuri, Birla Industrial & Technological Museum, Kolkata, West Bengal, India]]
Chowdhuri returned to India after her PhD, working at the [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] for eight years.<ref name = "Bhattacharya 2018" /> During her time at TIFR, Chowdhuri's cosmic ray studies contributed heavily to the discovery of [[Kaon|K mesons]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sreekantan |first=B. V. |date=10 April 2006 |title=Sixty years of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research 1945–2005: The role of young men in the creation and development of this institute |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24091966 |journal=Current Science |volume=90 |issue=7 |pages=1012–1025 |jstor=24091966 }}</ref> Bibha temporarily left TIFR in 1953 and subsequently joined cosmic ray physicist [[Louis Leprince-Ringuet|L. Leprince Ringuet]]’s lab under the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Paris). She studied and identified many new K mesons in cloud chambers on the Alps, publishing the research in the Nuovo Cimento in 1957.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mondal |first=Naba K |title=Bibha Chowdhuri and Her Remarkable Scientific Endeavours |url=https://doi.org/0.1007/s12045-023-1686-1. |journal=Resonance |volume=28 |issue=10 |pages=1494–1495}}</ref> In 1954, she was a visiting researcher at the [[University of Michigan]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Proceedings of the Board of Regents|date=1954|publisher=The University|language=en}} {{ISBN missing}}</ref> She was appointed because [[Homi Bhabha National Institute|Homi Bhabha]] was still establishing the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and contacted her thesis examiners for advice on outstanding graduate students. She joined the [[Physical Research Laboratory]] and became involved with the [[Kolar Gold Fields]] experiments. She moved to [[Kolkata]] to work at the [[Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics]].<ref name = "Bhattacharya 2018" /> She taught physics in French.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Her life was described in the book ''A Jewel Unearthed: Bibha Chowdhuri.''<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Jewel Unearthed: Bibha Chowdhuri: The Story of an Indian Woman Scientist|last1=Singh|first1=Rajinder|last2=Roy|first2=Suprakash C.|date=2018|publisher=Shaker|isbn=9783844061260|edition=1st|language=English}}</ref> und ''Bibha Chowdhuri, eine indische Hochenergiephysikerin, als "Star" am Himmel''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Rajinder Singh, Suprakash C. Roy – Bibha Chowdhuri, eine indische Hochenergiephysikerin als Star am Himmel|url=http://www.shaker.de/de/content/catalogue/index.asp?lang=de&ID=8&ISBN=978-3-8440-7296-9|access-date=2020-09-11|website=shaker.de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Bibha Chowdhuri, eine indische Hochenergiephysikerin als 'Star' am Himmel|last1=Singh|first1=Rajinder|last2=Roy|first2=Suprakash C.|date=2020|publisher=Shaker|isbn=9783844072969|edition=1|language=German}}</ref> She was described by ''[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]'' as a forgotten legend.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Amitabha |last=Bhattacharya|url=https://www.thestatesman.com/supplements/8th-day/a-forgotten-legend-1502688129.html|title=A forgotten legend |date=2018-09-23|work=The Statesman|access-date=2018-11-28|language=en-US}}</ref> She continued to publish until she died in 1991.

== Publications ==

* Bose, D.M.; Chowdhry, Biva (1940). [https://www.nature.com/articles/145894a0 Photographic Plates as Detectors of Mesotron Showers]. ''Nature''. 145: 894–895. https://doi.org/10.1038/145894a0.
* Bose, D.M.; Chowdhey, Biva (1941a). [https://www.nature.com/articles/147240a0 Origin and Nature of Heavy Ionisation Particles Detected on Photographic Plates Exposed to Cosmic Rays]. ''Nature''. 147: 240–241. https://doi.org/10.1038/147240a0.
* Bose, D.M.; Choudhuri, Biva (1941b). [https://www.nature.com/articles/148259a0 A PHOTOGRAPHIC METHOD OF ESTIMATING THE MASS OF THE MESOTRON]. ''Nature''. 148: 259–260. https://doi.org/10.1038/148259a0.
* Bose, D.M.; Choudhuri, Bibha (1942). [https://www.nature.com/articles/149302a0 A Photographic Method of Estimating the Mass of the Mesotron]. ''Nature''. 149: 302. https://doi.org/10.1038/149302a0.
* Chowdhuri, B (1949). [https://search.worldcat.org/title/643572452 Extensive air showers associated with penetrating particles]. (PhD thesis). Manchester: University of Manchester. [[OCLC#OCLC|OCLC]] [https://search.worldcat.org/title/643572452 643572452].
* Chowdhuri, B.; Saxena, R.C.; Subramanian, A. (1952). [https://search.worldcat.org/title/5656763472 On the penetrating component in air showers]. Indian Academy of Sciences. 36: 457. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172244.
* Chowdhuri, B.; Saxena, Y.C. (1973). [https://search.worldcat.org/title/5656762024 Large underground showers and multiple muons in association with E.A.S], Indian Academy of Sciences. 77: 212–225. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03050804

== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhuri, Bibha}}
[[Category:Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:Bengali physicists]]
[[Category:Indian particle physicists]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester]]
[[Category:Scientists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:Women scientists from West Bengal]]

Bibha Chowdhuri - Revision history

AarohamResort at 16:48, 6 April 2026