Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose was an Indian biologist, physicist, botanist and an early writer of science fiction.

He was born in a Bengali Kayastha family in Munsiganj, bengal presidency on 30 November 1858. He married Abala Bose, a renowned feminist and social worker.

Bose wanted to go to England to compete for the Indian Civil Service. However, his father, a civil servant himself, cancelled the plan. He wished his son to be a scholar, who would “rule nobody but himself.”

He went to the University of London, England to study medicine, but could not pursue studies in medicine because of health problems. Instead, he conducted his research with the Nobel Laureate Lord Rayleigh at Cambridge and returned to India.

He was a pioneer in the field of wireless telecommunication – a field which would eventually lead to invention of the radio, TV, wifi and even cell phones! IEEE named him one of the fathers of radio science

IEEE – The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Bose also invented the crescograph, a device for measuring the growth of plants. His work showed that plants could feel pleasure and they could feel pain.

(The idea is not yet accepted by the scientific community, as plants lack nervous systems)

A crater on the moon(located on the far side of the Moon) has been named in his honour.

He founded Bose Institute, a premier research institute of India and also one of its oldest. Established in 1917, the Institute was the first interdisciplinary research centre in Asia. He served as the Director of Bose Institute from its inception until his death.

Bose is also considered the father of Bengali science fiction. His books include Response in the Living and Non-Living (1902) and The Nervous Mechanism of Plants (1926).

In a 2004 BBC poll, Bose was voted seventh Greatest Bengali of all time.

One of the important influences on Bose was Sister Nivedita who supported him by organizing financial support and editing his manuscripts; she made sure that Bose was able to continue with and share his work.

His wife Abala Bose served as Secretary of Brahmo Balika Shikshalaya from 1910 to 1936.