Meghnad Saha was an Indian astrophysicist born in 1893 in present-day Bangladesh who made significant contributions to astrophysics. He is best known for formulating the Saha ionization equation, which is a basic tool for interpreting stellar spectra and determining the ionization states of elements in stars based on their temperature. Saha helped establish several scientific institutions in India and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in physics. He died in 1956 after a distinguished career advancing science in India.

3. Indian Astrophysicist
(1893- 1956)

4. IN A NUTSHELL………………….
Born October 6 1893 Dhaka Bangaladesh
Residence India
Nationality Indian
Fields Physics and Mathematics
Institution Allahabad University
university of Calcutta
Imperial college London
Indian Association for cultivation of Science
Almamater Dhaka College
University of Calcutta
Known For Thermal Ionization
Saha Ionization Equation
Spouse Radha Rani Saha
Died February 16 1956 Delhi

5. Meghnad Saha's best-known
work concerned the thermal
ionisation of elements, and it
led him to formulate what is
known as the Saha equation.
This equation
is one of the basic tools for
interpretation of the spectra of
stars in astrophysics. By
studying the spectra of various
stars, one can find their
temperature and
from that, using Saha's
equation, determine the
ionisation state of the various
elements making up the star.

6. scientific institution formed by M N Saha
 Physics Department In Allahabad University
 Institute Of Nuclear Physics In Calcutta
 National Academy Of Science (1930)
 The Indian Physical Society (1934)
 Indian Institute Of Science (1935)
 Indian Association For The Cultivation Of Science (1944)

7. SAHA INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS

9. SAHA INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS

10. Receiving M N Saha award from Dr. Murali Manohar
Joshi (Minister of HRD)

11. PRESIDENCY COLLEGE KOLKATTA

12. POINTS ABOUT SAHA………………….
 MEGHNAD SAHA was a great Indian scientist.
 He made remarkable contribution to the field of Astrophysics.
He put forward an “ionization formula” which explained the
presence of the spectral lines
He was born in Seoratali, Dacca district, now in Bangladesh, on
.
October 6, 1893.
He was the fifth child of his parents, Sri Jagannath Saha and Smt.
Bhubneshwari Devi.
 Meghnad Saha took admission in the Kishorilal Jubilee School and
passed the Entrance examination of the Calcutta University in 1909,
standing first among the student from East Bengal obtaining the
highest marks in languages (English, Bengali and Sanskrit combined)
and in Mathematics. .
 He was only taught by eminent teachers like J. C. Bose and P. C.
Ray but had brilliant contemporaries like S. N. Bose and P. C.
Mahalanobis, who, like him, became noted scientists in due course.

13. In 1913, he graduated from Presidency College with Mathematics
major and got the second rank in the first one. In 1915, Meghnad Saha
ranked first in M.Sc. Applied Mathematics exam, .
 In 1927, Meghnad Saha was elected as a fellow of ‘London’s Royal
Society’.
 He invented an instrument to measure the weight and pressure of
solar rays.
 He produced the famous equation, which he called ‘equation of the
reaction-isobar for ionization’, which later became known as Saha’s
“Thermo-Ionization Equation”.
 In 1952 he stood as an independent candidate for Parliament and
was elected by a wide margin.
 He not only tried to raise the status of science in independent India,
but also served the cause of the poor
 He was the chief architect of river planning in India. He prepared the
original plan for Damodar Valley Project.
Meghnad Saha was an Indian astrophysicist who nominated for the
‘Nobel prize’ in physics in 1935-36.
He died on february 16, 1956 due to a heart attack.

14. BOOKS WRITTEN BY M N SAHA
•The Principles of Relativity (with S.N. Bose) Calcutta
University, Calcutta, 1920. (It was a translation of
Einstein’s papers on theory of relativity).
•Treatise on Heat (with B.N. Srivastava), Indian Press,
Allahabad, 1931.
•Junior Text-Book on Heat (with B.N. Srivastava),
Indian Press, Allahabad, 1932.
•Treatise on Modern Physics, Vol-1 (with N.K. Saha)
Indian Press, Allahabad, 1934.
•My Experience in Soviet Russia, Bookman Inc,
Calcutta, 1947.

15. SAHA IONIZATION EQUATION
For a gas composed of simple atomic species, the Saha equation is
written as
.
Where
ni is the density of atom in the i- th state of ionization
gi is the degeneracy of states for the i-ions
£i is the energy required to remove i-electrons from a neutral atom
ne is the electron density
is the thermal De Brogli wavelength of an electron
me is the mass of electron
T is the temperature
KB is the Boltzman constant
h is Planck’s constant