Books and writing

The Scattering of Positrons by Electrons with Exchange on Dirac’s Theory of the Positron: Paper, Proceedings of the Royal Society A (1936)

The Royal Society. His calculation of how positrons and electrons scatter in quantum electrodynamics. The process is now called Bhabha scattering. It built on his 1935 doctoral work on the creation and annihilation of electron pairs. The Bhabha scattering rate is still used to monitor luminosity at electron–positron colliders such as Belle and BaBar.

Wikipedia: Bhabha scattering · Wikipedia: Homi J. Bhabha

The Passage of Fast Electrons and the Theory of Cosmic Showers: Paper with Walter Heitler, Proceedings of the Royal Society A (1937)

The Royal Society. The cascade theory of cosmic-ray showers. Fast electrons radiate photons and photons make electron pairs until the shower dies out. It followed a short letter in Nature in 1936. Its hint of “heavy electrons” in cosmic rays was later linked to the muon.

Wikipedia: Homi J. Bhabha

Proposal for an Institute of Fundamental Research: Letter to the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (1944)

Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. Written on 12 March 1944 to the trust’s chairman Sir Sorab Saklatvala. He argued that India needed its own school of fundamental physics and that he should stay to build it. The trustees accepted it in April. TIFR opened in 1945. BARC and the DAE both quote its line about not having to look abroad for experts.

Virendra Singh (TIFR): Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Architect of Modern Science and Technology in India (2009) · Department of Atomic Energy: A brief history · Bhabha Atomic Research Centre: About BARC

Presidential Address to the Geneva Conference: Speech, UN Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (1955)

United Nations. His opening address in August 1955 surveyed world energy supply and the role atomic power could play. He was 45. Lord Penney praised it. Virendra Singh of TIFR calls it masterly but unduly optimistic about fusion.

Virendra Singh (TIFR): Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Architect of Modern Science and Technology in India (2009) · Britannica: Homi Bhabha

A Masterful Spirit: Homi J. Bhabha 1909–1966, by Indira Chowdhury and Ananya Dasgupta (a book about him) (2010)

Penguin India. Not written by Bhabha. An archival portrait from the TIFR Archives built on unpublished letters, photographs, paintings and sketches. It has sections on his ties with Nehru and J. R. D. Tata and his years at IISc. Its authors call it more archival than a biography. Each chapter opens with a quote by or about him.

IMSc Library: A Masterful Spirit (Penguin India, 2010) · DNA: Seeking the Renaissance Man

Growing the Tree of Science: Homi Bhabha and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, by Indira Chowdhury (a book about him) (2016)

Oxford University Press. Not written by Bhabha. A history of how he built TIFR. It shows him hiring people before buildings and designing the institute on the model of Princeton and Cambridge. Bhāvanā’s reviewer notes the book’s case that his selectivity looked elitist but served research quality.

Bhāvanā: Review of Growing the Tree of Science (April 2018)

Homi J. Bhabha: A Life: By Bakhtiar K. Dadabhoy (a book about him) (2023)

Rupa. Not written by Bhabha. A 723-page life that covers his science, his institutions, Nehru and his art. The Tribune’s reviewer calls it possibly the most comprehensive book on him. Business Standard calls it closer to a history of India’s research establishment. It portrays “a man with great gifts, and some jagged edges”.

Business Standard: Anglophile scientist, ardent nationalist (31 May 2023) · The Tribune: Review of Homi J Bhabha: A Life (June 2023) · The Wire: Homi Bhabha, Jawaharlal Nehru and the bomb (25 April 2023)

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