Jayant Vishnu Narlikar

Jayant Vishnu Narlikar

Born: 19th July 1938

Shri Jayant Vishnu Narlikar was born on 19th July 1938, Kolhapur. He pursued his B.Sc from BHU in 1957 and Cambridge University for higher studies, and there he received a BA (Tripos) degree (mathematics) in 1959. He won the Tyson Medal for astronomy, in 1960. During his PhD, he also won the Smith’s Prize at Cambridge. </p

After obtaining his PhD degree under the guidance of Fred Hoyle, he served as a Berry Ramsey Fellow at King’s College in Cambridge and earned a Master’s degree in astronomy and astrophysics in 1964 and continued to work as a Fellow there until 1972. Fred Hoyle, in 1966 established the ‘Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, Cambridge and Narlikar served as its founding staff member (1966–1972). In 1972, Narlikar joined as a Professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai, where he was in charge of the Theoretical Astrophysics Group. In 1988, the UGC set up the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) in Pune, of which Narlikar became the Founder-Director. He is known for his work in cosmology, especially in championing models alternative to the popular Big Bang model. He also served as the President of the Cosmology Commission of the International Astronomical Union during 1994–1997. He is a Fellow of the three Indian National Science Academies and the Third World Academy of Sciences and an Associate of the Royal Astronomical Society of London. Apart from his scientific research, he has written novels, science fiction, and short stories (English, Hindi, and Marathi). He is also the consultant for the NCERT Books.

Shri Jayant Vishnu Narlikar has been honoured by several national and international awards and honorary doctorates.

  • In 1965, he was awarded Padma Bhushan.
  • In 2004, he was awarded Padma Vibhushan (India’s second-highest civilian honour) for his research work.
  • In 1981, FIE Foundation awarded Narlikar with ‘Rashtra Bhushan’.
  • In 2010, he received the Maharashtra Bhushan Award.
  • In 1996, he was honoured by UNESCO with the Kalinga Prize.
  • In the late 1980s, he has featured on Carl Sagan’s TV show Cosmos: A Personal Voyage.
  • In 1989, he received the Atmaram Award from the Central Hindi Directorate.
  • In 1990, he received the Indira Gandhi Award of the Indian National Science Academy.
  • In 2014, he received a Sahitya Akademi Award for his autobiography in Marathi, Chaar Nagarantale Maze Vishwa, etc.

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