Jayant Narlikar is an Indian astrophysicist, cosmologist and professor emeritus at the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Pune, Maharashtra, India. He is known for his contributions to the theory of gravity, black holes, and steady-state cosmological models. Jayant assisted Sir Fred Hoyle and developed with him the conformal theory of gravity, known as the Hoyle-Nalika theory. It is based on a fusion of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and Mach’s principle.
Wiki/Biography
Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was born on Tuesday, July 19, 1938, in Kolhapur, Bombay District, British India (now Maharashtra, India) (age 85; as of 2023). His zodiac sign is Cancer. Jayant completed his school education from Central Hindu Boys School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Banaras Hindu University in 1957. In 1959 he went on to study at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA in Mathematics and served as a Senior Wrangler, a prestigious award given to those at Cambridge considered to be among the great British of intellectuals. In 1962, while studying for his PhD at Cambridge University, Jayant was awarded the Smith Prize under the supervision of Fred Hoyle. He subsequently won a scholarship at King’s College, where he studied for a Master’s degree in astronomy and astrophysics in 1964.
Jayant Narlikar’s childhood photos
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′7″
Weight (approximately): 65kg
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
Jayant Narlikar at an event held at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
family
parents
Jayant’s father, Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar, is a mathematician and theoretical physicist who served as professor and head of the Department of Mathematics at Benares Hindu University, Varanasi, and later as chairman of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission. , Sumati Narlikar, herself a Sanskrit scholar with a keen interest in British literature
Jayant Narlikar with his mother Sumati Narlikar and father Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar
wife and children
Jayant is married to Mathematics researcher, PhD and professor Mangala Narlikar. She died of cancer on July 17, 2023, in Pune, Maharashtra.
Jayant Narlikar and Dr. Mangala Narlikar
They have three daughters: Geeta, Girija and Leelavati. Geeta works in the field of science as a biomedical researcher at the University of California, San Francisco; Girija serves as Director of Engineering at Google; and Leelavati is a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune. Maharashtra. Jayant and Mangala are the grandparents of five children.
Dr. Lilavati Narika
Dr. Geeta Narika
Dr. Girija Narika
other relatives
Amrita Narlikar, a social science scholar at the University of Cambridge, is Jayant’s niece.
Amrita Narika
Profession
Academics and Research
After completing his PhD, Jayant worked at the University of Cambridge on a Berry Ramsey Fellowship until 1972. He also served as a founding member of the Fred Hoyle Institute for Theoretical Astronomy at the University of Cambridge from 1966 to 1972. In 1972, Jayant became a professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, India, where he headed the Theoretical Astrophysics Group. Jayant was also a founding member of the World Cultural Council in 1981. Additionally, he was instrumental in establishing the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune in 1988 and served as its founder and director. He is known for his work in cosmology, particularly for providing alternative models to the widely accepted Big Bang theory, and served as chairman of the International Astronomical Union’s Cosmology Commission from 1994 to 1997. His research involves various fields including Mach Universe. Principles, quantum cosmology and physics of action at a distance. In addition, Jayant is involved in a study cultivating microorganisms from the stratosphere. He conducted biological studies on the collected samples, which resulted in the discovery of living cells and bacteria. This raises the possibility that Earth is being bombarded by microbes, some of which may have seeded life on Earth. He was also appointed chairman of the Science and Mathematics Textbook Advisory Group. The Textbook Development Committee develops science and mathematics textbooks and all textbooks are published under NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training).
Alternative theories to steady state theory or big bang theory
The Big Bang theory proposed by Lemaître is the most widely known and accepted theory about the origin of the universe. However, Jayant, along with other astrophysicists such as Fred Hoyle, Thomas Gold and Herman Bondi, refuted the Big Bang theory, proposing his own conclusions about the origin of the universe in the 1993 Steady State Theory and the Revised Quasi-Steady State Theory.
writing
In addition to his involvement and scholarship in science, Jayant has written stories and novels about science fiction. He wrote these stories in English, Hindi and Marathi. In addition, he serves as a consultant for NCERT in India in the preparation of science and mathematics textbooks. Some of his books are mentioned below.
non-fiction
in English:
- Fact and Speculation in Cosmology, with G. Burbridge, Cambridge University Press 2008
- Current Issues in Cosmology, 2006
- Different Approaches to Cosmology: From Static Universe to Big Bang to Reality, 2005
- Fred Hoyle’s Universe, 2003
- The Edge of Science: Indian Scientists from the Vedas to Modern Times, 2003
- Introduction to Cosmology, 2002
- Different approaches to cosmology, G. Burbridge and Fred Hoyle, Cambridge University Press 2000
- Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei: An Introduction, 1999
- From black cloud to black hole, 1996
- From Black Clouds to Black Holes (3rd Edition), 2012
- Seven Wonders of the Universe, 1995
- Philosophy of Science: Perspectives from the Natural and Social Sciences, 1992
- The Extragalactic Universe: Another View, with Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe, published August 30, 1990
- Essentials of Gravity and Cosmology, 1989
- Prime Universe, 1988
- Violence in the Universe, 1982
- The lighter side of gravity, 1982
- Frontiers in Physical Astronomy (co-author Sir Fred Hoyle), 1981
- The Structure of the Universe, 1977
- The Creation of Matter and Anomalous Redshifts, 2002
- Radiation Absorption Theory in the Expanding Universe, 2002
Marathi:
novel
in English:
- Varman Returns, 1990
Marathi:
Hindi:
- Vigyan, Manav Aur Brahmander.
- Romanchak Vigyan Katayan
dispute
Tolerance debate stage and return of awards
In 2015, Jayant Narlikar expressed his disagreement with the writer who returned the Sahitya Akademi Award after the murder of MM Kalburgi. He believes that maintaining law and order is the responsibility of the government and people’s anger should be directed at those responsible. He said,
Such incidents indicate that the ultimate responsibility for the law and order situation lies with the government and not the Sahitya Academy. Therefore, the main burden of public anger should be on those responsible for maintaining law and order and not on the Sahitya Academy. “
In his letter to Pranab Mukherjee, Narika stressed that the awards were prestigious and should not be mired in controversy. He also noted that it took the writers a while to react to Kalbuki’s murder, which led some of them to return their awards to express their disappointment at the institution’s lack of care. He wrote,
Of course, the Sahitya Academy should express its shock in strong terms over the above incident. Its fellows and laureates should put pressure on the academic community to strongly condemn the suppression of free thought. However, sacrificing academic awards in the above manner does not seem appropriate. These awards have a rare dignity that reflects their national character and should therefore be kept above the fray. ”
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- Rashtra Bhushan in 1981
- Maharashtra Bhushan Award 2010
- Jules Janssen Prize of the French Astronomical Society
- He is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, London.
- Jayant is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and Academy of India
- He is also a member of the Third World Academy of Sciences.
- In 1966 he received the Kalinga Prize from UNESCO for his contribution to his writings.
- Atmaram Award from Central Hindi Council, 1989
- 1990 Indira Gandhi Award from the National Academy of Sciences of India
- He also served as a member of the jury for the 2009 Infosys Prize in Physical Sciences
- In 2014, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his Marathi autobiography Chaar Nagarantale Maze Vishwa
- He presided over the 94th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Nashik in January 2021
Facts / Trivia
- Jayant mentioned in an interview that since air travel was quite expensive at the time, he had to take a boat trip for 18 days to reach Cambridge for higher education.
- Jayant completed a four-year research course at Cambridge University in three years.
- In 2019, to commemorate Jayant’s 80th birthday, as part of Sahitya Akademi’s documentary project on nationally renowned writers, the company announced that it would make a film on Jayant titled Vaidyanyanik Saraswat, directed by Anil Zankar.
- In an interview, Jayant recalled the time he spent playing tennis with Stephen Hawking in Cambridge. He said,
I remember participating in a table tennis tournament and beating Hawking in the final. It wasn’t until around 1963-64 that Hawking began to show signs of illness, requiring a stick and a wheelchair. “
- Jayant doesn’t like attending events where thousands of people gather. His best hope is an audience of 100 to 200 people.
- Reacting to the controversy during the ancient aircraft controversy at the Indian Science Congress 2015, Jayant said it was good to be proud of ancient Indian science, but scientists should not make assertions about things for which they have no evidence. In his words,
We can boast, but it should be limited to things for which we have evidence. “
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education