Meghnad Saha : His Science and Persona through Selected Letters and Writings

This book is a selected collection of letters of, to and about Meghnad Saha and his writings to commemorate his 125th birth anniversary, supplemented by an overview of him as a scientist,
social worker, activist, organizer, father and family man. The letters convey
the huge impact of Meghnad Saha’s scientific contributions, the respect that he commanded among his peers, his persona and undaunted spirit, and a sense of time that should be of great interest and also inspirational to the modern readers. Some of the letters contain Meghnad Saha’s own narrative of the development of his famous contribution to astrophysics, the Saha Equation, and his struggles to find very modest financial resource to support his research and publications and how he got deprived of the credit for another landmark discovery of Selective Radiation Pressure. There is also a valuable collection of pictures showing Meghnad Saha with many of the stalwarts in the field of physics and astrophysics in the 20th century, many
of whom he invited to India, political leaders of India, his family members and academic colleagues, and in his organizational activities. A final section contains brief summaries of the careers and scientific contributions of the letter writers.