Kedareswar Banerjee

Kedareswar Banerjee was an X-ray crystallographer and director of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata. He was born on 15 September 1900 in Sthal, Bikrampur, British India (now in Bangladesh). He completed his education at Jubilee School, Dacca, and Rajabazar Science College campus of University of Calcutta. He joined the research group of Sir C.V. Raman at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in 1923. He worked in various institutions including IACS, the India Meteorological Department, University of Dhaka and Allahabad University and finally retired as the Director of IACS, Calcutta in 1965. He was awarded the DSc degree of the University of Calcutta in 1930. He was one of the pioneers of X-ray crystallographic research in India and determined the structures of naphthalene and anthracene in 1924. In 1931, he worked with Sir William Henry Bragg and developed one of the first direct methods of crystal structure determination. His seminal paper on direct methods was cited in the Nobel Lecture of Dr. Jerome Karle in 1985. He also made significant contributions to various fields of crystal physics such as low angle scattering, thermal diffuse scattering, diffraction by liquids and polymers, structures of coal and glass, elastic constants of crystals, vibrational spectra of crystal lattices and crystal optics. He was a renowned teacher and mentor who created active schools of research wherever he went. He had close associations with many leading crystallographers of his time such as W.H. Bragg, W.L. Bragg, J.M. Robertson, P.P. Ewald, J.D. Bernal, K. Lonsdale, N.V. Belov and M. Avrami. He was elected a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Science and the National Academy of Science (N.A.Sc.). He was the sectional President for the Physical Science Group at the Indian Science Congress in 1947, Vice-President of the N.A.Sc. from 1958 to 1960 and General President of the N.A.Sc. in 1967. He was a member of the first National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO from 1947 to 1951, a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Planning Commission from 1953 to 1956 and a member of the review committees and advisory boards of several national laboratories. In 1948, he was invited as a 'Guest of Honour' to the Inaugural Conference and General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography. He died on 30 April 1975 at Barasat, a suburb of Calcutta.