Abstract
ON August 7 the distinguished Indian chemist, Sir P. C. Rây, will celebrate his eightieth birthday. As a young student, Sir Prafulla was fortunate in coming under the influence of the late Sir Alexander Pedler, then professor of chemistry at the Presidency College, Calcutta, and on his recommendation Sir Prafulla proceeded to work under the late Prof. Cram Brown at Edinburgh, where in due course he graduated with the degree of D.Sc. Returning to India he became professor of chemistry at the Presidency College, Calcutta, and he remained in this post until his retirement under the age limit in 1916. He was then appointed Palit professor of chemistry at the University College of Science, retiring owing to failing eyesight in 1937. Valuable as have been Sir Prafulla's personal investigations, mainly in the field of nitrite chemistry, his outstanding contribution has been the foundation of an Indian school of chemistry. A true ‘guru’, devoting much of his income to the support of poor students, he sent forth from his laboratories a constant stream of young chemists fired with a zeal for original research. These young chemists now occupy most of the chairs of chemistry in Indian universities.
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Sir Prafulla Chandra Rây, C.I.E. Nature 148, 135 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/148135b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/148135b0