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SDM told me that he was a great fan of Dirac. (Who isn’t? Anyone with a keen sense of English prose, even if he is a novice in QM, would become a Dirac fan just for the charming first Chapter of his ‘Principles of QM’). So, he wished to collaborate with Dirac. A Fellowship was offered, but SDM had to scrape the barrel to buy ‘passage’. This must be in the early fifties, before he submitted his doctoral thesis.
SDM told me that this trip was an ‘unmitigated disaster’. The problem which Dirac gave SDM turned out to be ‘nonsensical’. And, his few attempts to talk to Dirac about it must have been futile, knowing the celebrated silences of Dirac (compare Feynman’s failed efforts to goad Dirac to converse). SDM got vexed soon enough and started working on his own problems. He disliked the English weather, felt depressed and was ‘not making any headway’. That was the context in which he made his famous pronouncement to one and all: ‘Dirac went senile in his forties’. I am sure that the problem which Dirac posed SDM never saw light of the day.
Meanwhile the HoD of Glasgow University (I hope my memory isn’t failing me here.) invited SDM to give a lecture to his colleagues. SDM went all the way and gave his ‘lecture’, which was a mere ploy by the HoD to drag him to Glasgow. The HoD invited SDM for a cup of tea at his home. SDM was pleased at this rare gesture. HoD put SDM at ease and made him talk about his work. After half an hour, listening quietly to SDM’s musings, the HoD pulled out an envelope from the pocket of his long coat, handed it to SDM and bade him good bye. SDM went to his lodgings, opened the envelope and found to his dismay that what he had over a cup of tea was an ‘interview’, and the enclosure in the envelope was an ‘official’ offer letter for SDM to join as a Senior Lecturer at Glasgow (SDM tells me that ‘it is a very honorable position’, lest I didn’t know).
He politely declined the offer without hesitation as he was already pining for Calcutta. As he told me, he ‘returned empty-handed’ to India in every sense.
His creativity peaked as soon as he hit the shores of Bengal, and in a few months his thesis was ready for submission. Many people suggested that he submit his thesis for a D.Phil. in one of the U.K. Universities, but SDM scoffed and declared that a D.Sc. from the University of Calcutta was ten times more ‘honorable’ than a D.Phil. of Oxford or Cambridge.
He showed me his ‘thesis’. It was just about 40 pages of typed matter followed by several ‘sumptuous’ reprints. It was in 3 parts: GR, Molecular Spectroscopy and Angular Momentum. Quite unrelated topics, apparently. I read his thesis (but not the reprints!) and as he used to brag, it truly deserved a Degree for English Literature.
Wheeler was one of his thesis referees. SDM told me that the ‘operative’ sentence in Wheeler’s Report was: ‘This is the first doctoral thesis in which I learned some new Physics’.
Noblesse Oblige!
SDM: India vs England
SDM told me that this trip was an ‘unmitigated disaster’. The problem which Dirac gave SDM turned out to be ‘nonsensical’. And, his few attempts to talk to Dirac about it must have been futile, knowing the celebrated silences of Dirac (compare Feynman’s failed efforts to goad Dirac to converse). SDM got vexed soon enough and started working on his own problems. He disliked the English weather, felt depressed and was ‘not making any headway’. That was the context in which he made his famous pronouncement to one and all: ‘Dirac went senile in his forties’. I am sure that the problem which Dirac posed SDM never saw light of the day.
Meanwhile the HoD of Glasgow University (I hope my memory isn’t failing me here.) invited SDM to give a lecture to his colleagues. SDM went all the way and gave his ‘lecture’, which was a mere ploy by the HoD to drag him to Glasgow. The HoD invited SDM for a cup of tea at his home. SDM was pleased at this rare gesture. HoD put SDM at ease and made him talk about his work. After half an hour, listening quietly to SDM’s musings, the HoD pulled out an envelope from the pocket of his long coat, handed it to SDM and bade him good bye. SDM went to his lodgings, opened the envelope and found to his dismay that what he had over a cup of tea was an ‘interview’, and the enclosure in the envelope was an ‘official’ offer letter for SDM to join as a Senior Lecturer at Glasgow (SDM tells me that ‘it is a very honorable position’, lest I didn’t know).
He politely declined the offer without hesitation as he was already pining for Calcutta. As he told me, he ‘returned empty-handed’ to India in every sense.
His creativity peaked as soon as he hit the shores of Bengal, and in a few months his thesis was ready for submission. Many people suggested that he submit his thesis for a D.Phil. in one of the U.K. Universities, but SDM scoffed and declared that a D.Sc. from the University of Calcutta was ten times more ‘honorable’ than a D.Phil. of Oxford or Cambridge.
He showed me his ‘thesis’. It was just about 40 pages of typed matter followed by several ‘sumptuous’ reprints. It was in 3 parts: GR, Molecular Spectroscopy and Angular Momentum. Quite unrelated topics, apparently. I read his thesis (but not the reprints!) and as he used to brag, it truly deserved a Degree for English Literature.
Wheeler was one of his thesis referees. SDM told me that the ‘operative’ sentence in Wheeler’s Report was: ‘This is the first doctoral thesis in which I learned some new Physics’.
Noblesse Oblige!
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