In 2004 BBC Bangla held a listeners' poll on the question: who is the greatest Bengali of all time? In the poll, run over 30 days, listeners voted for the top 20, and BBC Bangla broadcast radio programmes on their lives from 26 March to 15 April 2004.

Jagadish Chandra Bose came seventh in that list of the top 20 Bengalis chosen by listeners. This is the story of his life.

The contribution of the scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose played an important role in the progress of human civilisation. With outstanding work in both physics and botany, he wrote his name in golden letters not only in the history of the Bengalis but in the history of the world.

A timeless talent of science, Jagadish Chandra Bose was the first to carry out successful research on microwave technology, work that led, the programme says, to the invention of radio.

His notable inventions include the development of the microwave receiver and transmitter, and the crescograph, an instrument that measures the growth of plants precisely. He demonstrated the life cycle of plants.

Jagadish Chandra Bose was born on 30 November 1858 in Mymensingh. His family's ancestral home was at Rarhikhal in Bikrampur, about 50 kilometres from Dhaka.

He began his schooling at a school in Faridpur. At the age of 11 he moved to Kolkata, where he passed the Entrance examination from St Xavier's School and College in 1875.

He graduated in science in 1879 and then went to England for higher studies. He passed the BA in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge, and in 1884 received a BSc degree from the University of London.

After returning home from England he joined Presidency College in Kolkata as a professor of physics.

He began his research on electric waves in 1894. As a result, in 1896 he received the title of Doctor of Science from London University.

Source: BBC Bangla. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.