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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bidyendu Mohan Deb | 1/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidyendu_Mohan_Deb | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T17:42:33.199521+00:00 | kb-cron |
Bidyendu Mohan Deb (born 27 September 1942) is an Indian theoretical chemist, chemical physicist and a professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata (IISER). he is known for his studies in theoretical chemistry and chemical physics. He is an elected fellow of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, The World Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1981, for his contributions to chemical sciences.
== Biography == B. M. Deb, born on 27 September 1942 in the Indian state of Bengal when the pre-independent India was going through the Quit India movement, graduated in chemistry (BSc hons) from Presidency College, Kolkata (present-day Presidency University) and completed his master's degree from the Rajabazar Science College, with physical chemistry as the principal subject. Subsequently, he joined S. R. Palit at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) and after a year, he moved to the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford on a Commonwealth scholarship from where he passed the Diploma in Advanced Mathematics. Continuing at the institution, he did his doctoral research under Charles Coulson, a pioneer of quantum theory of matter, to secure a DPhil in mathematics. Deb started his career which spanned across several institutions at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science as a CSIR pool officer in 1969 but a year later, moved to the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai as a member of faculty. In 1971, he was appointed as an assistant professor at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani but after a brief stint of one year, he returned to IIT Mumbai where he spent the next 12 years, serving as an assistant professor (1973–78) and as a professor (1978–84). His next move was to Panjab University as the professor of theoretical chemistry in 1984 and after a service of two decades he superannuated from there in 2004. Post-retirement, he moved to S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata as ISRO Vikram Sarabhai Research Professor under the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. In 2007, he took up an Adjunct/Visiting Professorship at the newly established Indian Institute for Science Education and Research, Kolkata. Currently, he serves as an INSA Senior Scientist and Honorary Scholar-in-Residence at Visva-Bharati University.
== Legacy == Deb's main contributions are in the field of theoretical chemistry and the molecular geometry model he developed to demonstrate the influence of electronuclear attractive force and the highest occupied molecular orbital in the determination of molecular shapes is reported to be a notable one. His work on the applicability of the concept of internal stresses of molecules and solids revealed their relation to the density-functional theory and quantum fluid dynamics. He developed methodologies for predicting new molecules using quantum chemistry and for combining cellular automata with Thomas-Fermi-Dirac theory. One of the early pioneers of the electron density theory in chemistry, Deb's main focus was on developing the foundations for a possible density-based alternative quantum mechanics bypassing the Schrödinger equation and the many-electron wave-function. He emphasized the general interpretative aspects of the electron density in chemistry. For both these ends, he concentrated on developing a single time-dependent equation (the Deb-Chattaraj or DC equation) for the direct calculation of electron density, which is different from the usual density functional theory. His researches have been documented in many articles published in journals of repute and he has published two books, The Force Concept in Chemistry and The Single-Particle Density in Physics and Chemistry. Besides, he has also written about holistic education as well as on Satyajit Ray, one of the pioneers of modern Indian cinema. His writings have been cited by many authors and has guided seventeen doctoral and post-doctoral scholars in their studies. He was also involved with curriculum designing programs and seminars and has been associated with science journals as a member of their editorial boards. Prof. Deb is widely acknowledged as a scholar of arts and literature of both eastern and western worlds. Recently, his lifelong enthusiasm and passion for Indology and its connection to the world heritage is culminated in the book "The peacock in splendour: Science, literature and arts in ancient and medieval India".