Meteoric Life of a Mathematician

About the Book

In British India during the 1920s, a brilliant student jumped from graduation directly into research in the subject of his passion, mathematics, rejecting lucrative career options. In the next 20 years with whirlwind speed he made exceptional achievements with his voluminous work in Legendre polynomials and his original work in Albert Einstein’s ‘Unified Field Theory’ at the Edinburgh University using a futuristic approach of ‘fifth dimension.’ His research was characterized not only by its originality and speed, but by the fact that it was done almost single-handedly without the luxury of working in a top tier university such as Harvard or Berkeley. His publications, including a book on ‘Unified Field Theory’ received highly favorable reviews from renowned mathematicians such as Bateman, Erde’lyi and McC of Caltech Pasadena, and Rainich of the University of Michigan. In 1947, at the age of 40, he became one of the top few mathematicians in India and he was in a position to reach greater heights by moving to a better known research institution in India or in the United States. Instead, he followed his second passion, education. With a desire to give back to India, he chose to contribute to higher education, which the newly independent India desperately needed if she was to make rapid progress in science and technology. Innocently unaware of hurdles he would face from the government he struggled through. With sheer drive and creativity he made phenomenal contributions to the colleges of his state. However being a man of research, he was working against his instincts in a politically driven system. Without recognition he fought for his dreams, causing an unseen impact on his health. This brilliant mathematician and devoted educator passed away at an early age of 54 before he was able to reach his goals, as if somebody took away Van Gogh’s paintbrush!

About the Author

Sunil N. Shabde received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Rice University in Houston Texas and a MSEE from Purdue University in Lafayette Indiana, after receiving his undergraduate degrees, B.E. from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, and BSc from Nagpur University, Nagpur. He has thirty years of experience in research and development in Silicon Valley as a semiconductor technologist and a device physicist. In addition, he holds numerous publications and patents in device physics. Dr. Shabde also has three years of academic experience as Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor Mich. During his college days in India he derived inspiration for research from Dr. N.G. Shabde, his father and role model.