Radhanath Sikdar (Bengali: রাধানাথ শিকদার; 1813 – 17 May 1870)was an Indian mathematician who, among many other things, calculated the height ofPeak XV in theHimalaya and showed it to be the tallest mountain above sealevel. Peak XV was later named Mount Everest. Early life Radhanath was born as youngestchild of Tituram, a resident of Jorasanko in Calcutta. Radhanath Sikdar was educatedat Phiringi Kamal Boses School and Hindu School in Calcutta, India. Alone among the great Derozians he took to scienceas his lifes mainstay. He worked for the Surveyor General ofIndia, a division of the british Raj in India. He joined theGreat Trigonometric Survey in 1831. Great TrigonometricSurvey When in 1831 George Everest was searching for a brilliant young mathematician with particular proficiency in spherical trigonometry, the Hindu College maths teacher Dr.John Tytler superlatively recommendedhis pupil Radhanath, then only 19. Radhanath joined the Great Trigonometric Survey in 1831 Decemberas a computor ata salary of thirty rupeesper month. Soon he was sentto Sironj near Dehra Dun where he excelled in geodetic surveying. Apart frommasteringthe usual geodetic processes,he inventedquite a few of his own. Everest was extremely impressed by his performance, so muchso that when Sikdar wanted toleave GTS and be a DeputyCollector, Everest intervened, proclaiming that no governmentofficer can change over to another departmentwithout the approval of his boss. Everest retired in 1843 and Col. Waugh becamethe Director. After 20 years in the North, Sikdar was transferred to Calcutta in 1851 asthe Chief Computor. Hereapart from his duties of the GTS, he also served as the Superintendent of the Meteorological department.Here he introduced quite a fewinnovations that were to remain standard procedure for many decades to come. The most notable was the formula for conversion of barometric readings taken at different temperaturesto 32 degrees Fahrenheit.[1] At theorder of Col. Waugh he started measuring the snow-capped mountainsnear Darjeeling. Compiling data about Peak XV from six different observations, he eventually came tothe conclusion the Peak XV wasthe tallest in theworld. He gave a full report to Waugh who was cautious enough not to announce this discoverybeforechecking with otherdata. When aftersome years, he was convinced, only then did hepublicly announce thesame. The norm, strictly followed by Everest himself, was that while naming a peak, the local nameshould be preferred. Butin this case, Waugh madean exception. He paid a tribute to his ex-boss by proposing that the peak benamed after Everest. Everest agreed, and Sikdar was conveniently forgotten.[2][3] Other It appears that while Everest and Waugh both extolledhim for his exceptional mathematical abilities, his relations with the colonial administration were far from cordial. Two specific instancesare on record. In 1851a voluminous Survey Manual (Eds. Capt. H. L. Thullier and Capt. F. Smyth) was published by the Survey Department. The preface to theManual clearly and specifically mentioned that the more technical and mathematical chapters of the Manual were writtenby Babu Radhanath Sikdar. The Manual proved tobe immensely useful to surveyors. However, the third edition, published in 1875 (i.e., after Sikdar sdeath) did not contain that preface, so that Sikdar smemorablecontribution was de-recognized. The incident was condemned by a section of British surveyors. The paper Friend of India in 1876 called it robbery of thedead.[4] It is also on record that Sikdar was fined a sum of200 rupeesby theBritish courtin 1843 for having vehementlyprotested against the unlawful exploitation ofsurvey departmentworkers by the Magistrate Vansittart. The incident was reported in detail in The Bengal Spectator edited by another greatDerozian Ramgopal Ghosh.[4] In 1854, healong with his Derozian friend Peary Chand Mitra startedtheBengali journal Masik Patrika, for the education and empowerment of women. He used to write in a simple and uncluttered stylethat was rather atypical for the age.[5] Sikdar had retired fromservicein 1862, and was later appointed asteacher of mathematicsat theGeneral Assemblys Institution (now Scottish Church College).[6] He died on 17 May 1870 atGondalpara, Chandannagar in his villa by the side of the Ganga. Recognition It is said that in recognition of Sikdars mathematical genius a Germanlearned society made him a Corresponding Member in 1864, a very rare honour thosedays.[7] The Departmentof Posts, Governmentof India, launched a postal stampon 27 June 2004, commemorating the establishmentof the Great Trigonometric Survey in Chennai, India on 10 April 1802.The stamps feature Radhanath Sikdar and Nain Singh, two significant contributors to society. The Great Arc refersto thesystematicexploration and recording of theentire topography ofthe Indian subcontinentwhich was spearheaded by the Great Trigonometric Survey. from English Wikipedia
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 02:38:55 +0000