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 part of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, The World Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences.
In 1981, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for his contributions to chemical sciences.
Early life and education Bidyendu Deb was born on 27 September 1942 in Bengal province in British India. He obtained his Honours BSc in Chemistry from the Presidency College in Kolkata (now Presidency University) and completed his master's degree in physical chemistry at the Rajabazar Science College (now the University College of Science, Technology and Agriculture).
Subsequently, he joined S. R. Palit at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) for a year, before moving to the University of Oxford's Mathematical Institute. There, he completed a Diploma in Advanced Mathematics on a Commonwealth scholarship. Continuing at Oxford, he completed his doctoral research under the supervision of Charles Coulson, obtaining a DPhil in mathematics.
Professional career Deb started his early professional career in 1969 as a CSIR pool officer. In 1970, he moved to the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai (IIT Mumbai) as a faculty member. In 1971, he was appointed as an assistant professor at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani (BITS Pilani). He spent a year there before returning to IIT Mumbai, where he spent the next 12 years, serving as an assistant professor (1973–78) and as a professor (1978–84).
In 1984, Deb moved to Panjab University as a professor of theoretical chemistry and taught there until his retirement in 2004. After his retirement, he took up the position of ISRO Vikram Sarabhai Research Professor at the S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences in Kolkata. Not long after in 2007, he took up the position of Adjunct/Visiting Professorship at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in 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 one of the highest occupied molecular orbitals in the determination of molecular shapes. 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 research have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals and he has authored two books, The Force Concept in Chemistry and The Single-Particle Density in Physics and Chemistry. He has also written about holistic education as well as on Satyajit Ray, one of the pioneers of modern Indian cinema. He was also involved with curriculum designing programs and seminars and has been associated with science journals as a member of their editorial boards.
In 2015, he published the book "The peacock in splendour: Science, literature and arts in ancient and medieval India" which focuses on Indology. Awards and honors
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded Deb the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1981. A guest scholar of the Kyoto University in 1989 and an honorary professor of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research from 1992 to 2004, he received the Sir C. V. Raman Award in Physical Sciences of the University Grants Commission of India in 1988, Biennial Professor S. R. Palit Memorial Award of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in 1995 and the FICCI Award in Physical Sciences in 1996. He is also a recipient of the Silver Medal (2000) and the Gold Medal (2015) of the Chemical Research Society of India. The list of award orations he has delivered include Linus Pauling Memorial Lecture of Mahatma Gandhi University (1996), Professor Sadhan Basu Memorial Lecture of the Indian National Science Academy (1999), Mitra Memorial Lecture of Delhi University (2000), A. V. Rama Rao Foundation Lecture of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (2003), Distinguished Lectures and Institute/University colloquia at a number of national institutions including Panjab University Colloquium of 2016. The Indian Academy of Sciences elected him as a fellow in 1984 and he became a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1987. He is also an elected part of The World Academy of Sciences and the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. In 2019, Deb was conferred a Life-time Achievement Award from the Indian Chemical Society (estd. 1924) and received this at the Annual Convention of Chemists, Raipur, India.
Citations
Selected bibliography
Books
Articles
See also Charles Coulson
Notes
References
Further reading