PROFESSOR YASH PAL

摘要

Professor Yash Pal was born at Jhang (now in Pakistan) on 26 November, 1926. The Nobel Prize Winner Physicist Abdus Salam was also born in the same place on 29 January, 1926. Professor Yash Pal was known as a Cosmic ray physicist, institution builder, educationist and an outstanding science communicator. He spent his early days in Quetta (Balochistan). A massive earthquake took place in the year 1935 when his paternal home was entirely demolished. In fact, people rescued Yash Pal and his younger brother from under mud bricks. Then all the family members moved to the house of his maternal grandfather. Just before partition of India, he was stuck in Delhi and not allowed to go back to Pakistan. Ultimately, Yash Pal and his friends from Pakistan stayed at Delhi. Receiving immense help from Professor D. S. Kothari, Yash completed his M.Sc. degree from Punjab University in 1949. By this time, he got an offer from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research and joined there. First he completed his thesis for M.Sc. degree and then joined in cosmic ray studies. Though the beginning was not exciting, the situation afterwards became quite different as Bernard Peters, a well known cosmic ray researcher, a research student of Robert Oppenheimer, joined TIFR on invitation by H. J. Bhabha. Peters spent about eight years in TIFR. Yash Pal had his close associate Devendra Lal and few other close associates who shaped up the cosmic ray research in India during 1950s. Their baloons expedition with newer innovations at almost every point has become an everlasting memory in the history of cosmic ray research in India.