DIGITALBIRJESH at 17:31, 7 February 2026

2026-02-07T17:31:22Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian physicist (1906–1993)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox office holder
|image = Daulat Singh Kothari 2011 stamp of India.jpg
|image_size = 240px
|caption = Kothari on a 2011 stamp of India
|awards = [[Padma Bhushan]] (1962)<br/> [[Padma Vibhushan]] (1973)
|office = 1st Director General of [[ Defence research and development organisation ]]
|term = 1948-1961
|predecessor = Office Established
|successor = [[ Suri Bhagavantam ]]
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1906|07|06}}
|birth_place = [[Udaipur]], [[Rajasthan]], India
|death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1993|02|04|1906|07|06}}
|death_place = [[Delhi]], India
|known_for = {{Indented plainlist|
* [[Statistical_mechanics#Statistical_thermodynamics|Statistical thermodynamics]]
* Theory of [[White dwarf]]s
}}
}}
'''Daulat Singh Kothari''' (6 July 1906 – 4 February 1993) was an Indian scientist and educationist.<ref name=r1/>

== Early life and education ==
Daulat Singh Kothari was born in the [[princely state]] of [[Udaipur State|Udaipur]] in [[Rajputana Agency|Rajputana]] on 6 July 1906.<ref name=r1/> Kothari was the son of a [[Jain]] headmaster.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.insaindia.res.in/BM/BM21_9901.pdf |title=Daulat Singh Kothari, Biographical Memoirs, Indian National Science Academy (INSA) |access-date=14 April 2021 |archive-date=18 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418234652/https://www.insaindia.res.in/BM/BM21_9901.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> His father died in the plague epidemic of 1918 and he was raised by his mother. He had his early education at Udaipur and [[Indore]] and received a master's degree in physics from [[Allahabad University]] in 1928 under guidance of [[Meghnad Saha]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Meghnad Saha, 1893-1956|doi=10.1098/rsbm.1960.0017|doi-access=free|date=February 1, 1960|journal=[[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] |last1=Kothari |first1=D. S. |volume=5 |pages=216–236 }}</ref> D. S. Kothari "went to Cavendish Laboratory on a U.P. Government fellowship in 1930 and worked with Ernest Rutherford, P. Kapitza, and R. H. Fowler".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roy |first=Amit |date=2020 |title=Daulat Singh Kothari (1906–1993): Scientist, Teacher, Administrator and Humanist |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12045-020-1037-4 |journal=Resonance |language=en |volume=25 |issue=9 |pages=1179–1184 |doi=10.1007/s12045-020-1037-4 |issn=0971-8044|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He was awarded a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] from [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge University]] in May 1933 with a thesis entitled "The quantum statistics of dense matter"<ref>Cambridge University Library catelogue card with the text "Kothari (Daulat Singh)
Ph.D. 562
The applications of quantum statistics
to dense matter.
4°, 22 May 1933."</ref> and he published in the Proceeding of the Royal Society, London.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1937-10-15 |title=Neutrons, degeneracy and white dwarfs |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series A - Mathematical and Physical Sciences |language=en |volume=162 |issue=911 |pages=521–528 |doi=10.1098/rspa.1937.0200 |issn=0080-4630|doi-access=free |bibcode=1937RSPSA.162..521K |last1=Kothari |first1=D. S. }}</ref>

== Role as an educationist ==
After his return to India, he worked at the Delhi University from 1934 to 1961 in various capacities as reader, professor and Head of the Department of Physics. He was scientific advisor to [[Ministry of Defence (India)|Ministry of Defence]] from 1948 to 1961 and was then appointed as chairman of the [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grants Commission]] in 1961 where he worked till 1973.<ref name=r1/> He was the chairman of the Indian Education Commission of 1964–66, popularly known as [[Kothari Commission]], which was the first ad hoc commission set up in India for the modernization and standardization of education in India.<ref name="Landmarks In The History Of Modern Indian Education, 6E">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIzxOu57WgsC&pg=PA176 | title=Landmarks In The History Of Modern Indian Education, 6E | publisher=Vikas Publishing House | author=J C Aggarwal | year=2009 | page=626 | isbn=9788125924029}}</ref><ref name="Indian Education Commission 1964-66">{{cite web | url=http://mohitpuri.pbworks.com/w/page/11465802/Indian%20Education%20Commission%201964-66 | title=Indian Education Commission 1964-66 | publisher=PB Works | date=2015 | access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref>

Dr. D S Kothari<ref name=r1>{{cite web|last1=Kothari|first1=D S|title=Kothari Daulat Singh: The Architect of Defence Science in India|url=https://vigyanprasar.gov.in/kothari-daulat-singh/|access-date=27 May 2020|archive-date=7 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807063057/https://vigyanprasar.gov.in/kothari-daulat-singh/|url-status=dead}}</ref> (Padma Bushan & Padma Vibhushan), Scientific Advisor to Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India is an Outstanding Physicist, Educationalist and considered as the Architect of Defence Science in India. Founder of most of the DRDO labs in India i.e. Naval Dockyard Laboratory (later renamed Naval Chemical and Metallurgical Laboratory), Mumbai, Indian Naval Physical Laboratory, Kochi, Centre for Fire Research, Delhi, Solid State Physics Laboratory, Delhi, Defence Food Research Laboratory, Mysore, Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, Chennai, Directorate of Psychological Research, New Delhi, Defence Electronics and Research Laboratory, Hyderabad, Scientific Evaluation Group, Delhi, Technical Ballistic Research Laboratory, Chandigarh. D S Kothari Played a crucial role in setting up of UGC and NCERT. Dr. D S Kothari and Dr. P Blackett worked together in Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University under the guidance of Lord Ernst Rutherford, the Father of Nuclear physics, later together they paved the defence<ref>{{cite web |title=Defence institute of advanced technology |last1=DIAT |url=https://diat.ac.in/}}</ref> education<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kothari |first1=D S |title=Dr. D. S. Kothari Postdoc Fellowship Biological Science Scheme |date=19 December 2019 |url=https://www.biotecnika.org/2019/12/dr-d-s-kothari-postdoctoral-fellowship-scheme-for-biological-sciences/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Kothari |first1=D. S.|title=Guidelines of D. S. Kothari Post Doctoral Fellowships in Sciences |url=https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/1181594_revised-DSKPDF.pdf}}</ref> system in India.

== Achievements and honours ==
D. S. Kothari was president of the [[Indian Science Congress]] at its golden jubilee session in 1963. He was elected President of [[Indian National Science Academy]] in 1973. His research on statistical thermodynamics and his Theory of White Dwarf Stars gave him an international reputation.<ref name=r1/>

The [[Padma Bhushan]] was conferred on him in 1962, and the [[Padma Vibhushan]] in 1973.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=21 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015 }}</ref>
He was also listed as a "Proud Past Alumni" by the "Allahabad University Alumni Association.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://auaa.in/?page_id=31|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707073335/http://auaa.in/?page_id=31|url-status=dead|title=Allahbad University Alumni Association : Our Proud Past|date=7 July 2012|archive-date=7 July 2012}}</ref> In 2011, the [[India Post|Department of Posts]] issued a commemorative stamp in his honour. He was conferred [[Atmaram Award]] in 1990 by the [[Central Hindi Directorate]], [[Ministry of Human Resource Development]].<ref>{{cite web |title=List of Awardees |url=http://khsindia.org/india/en/awards/award-categories/atmaram-award.html |website=Khsindia |access-date=26 January 2019 |archive-date=30 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730003423/http://khsindia.org/india/en/awards/award-categories/atmaram-award.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> One of the postgraduate men's hostels at Delhi University (North Campus) bears his name.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}
{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1960–69}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kothari, Daulat Singh}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian physicists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in science & engineering]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service]]
[[Category:University of Allahabad alumni]]
[[Category:People from Udaipur]]
[[Category:Scientists from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences]]

Daulat Singh Kothari - Revision history

DIGITALBIRJESH at 17:31, 7 February 2026