<p>But India’s association with helium goes back to more than a century, with the publication of a paper on helium at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).<br /><br />Publication of research papers has become a tradition at IISc and the author of the first paper published was Morris Williams Travers, the first director of IISc, whose paper ‘ The Condensation of Helium’ was published in international journal ‘Nature’ in 1908 on March 29. A copy of the paper, obtained from the Archives and Publication Centre, IISc by Deccan Herald is said to be one of the shortest scientific papers with a diagram on condensation of helium. The paper is a brief description of the process to condense helium with a diagram. <br /><br />The use of helium today is widespread. On the significance of the condensation of helium, R Karunanidhi, Assistant Professor, Centre for Cryogenic technology says that liquefied helium is used widely in medical application like MRI scanning. <br /><br />Helium is used as a propellant in cryogenic engines. It is also used in scuba diving. “The helium, being a light gas, can be condensed into liquid. Eight hundred litres of gas can be converted into one litre of liquid,” said Karunanidhi. Travers, a chemist from London was a student of Nobel prize winner William Ramsay at the University College London. According to an editorial by P Balaram, present Director IISc, published in a leading Scientific journal, Travers assisted Ramsay in the famous experiments, which led to the isolation of the inert gases neon, krypton and xenon. <br /><br />In his article ‘Morris Travers: Remembering an Institution Builder’ he says “Travers appears to have been a meticulous documenter of events and experiments and an author of uncommon talent. In 1901 he published an Experimental Study of Gases (Macmillan, London).” <br /><br /> Travers began the task of building an institution that has weathered the tumultuous century that followed. Travers is not a well-known name in India. Even at the IISc, a lecture in his memory, marking his research interests in Chemistry, was established only in 1990, over eight decades after he began the work of building an institution. <br />Travers became the youngest director of IISc in 1906 at a age of 34. However he resigned in the midst of a growing controversy between him and members of the governing council of the Institute in 1914.<br />DH News Service</p>
<p>But India’s association with helium goes back to more than a century, with the publication of a paper on helium at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).<br /><br />Publication of research papers has become a tradition at IISc and the author of the first paper published was Morris Williams Travers, the first director of IISc, whose paper ‘ The Condensation of Helium’ was published in international journal ‘Nature’ in 1908 on March 29. A copy of the paper, obtained from the Archives and Publication Centre, IISc by Deccan Herald is said to be one of the shortest scientific papers with a diagram on condensation of helium. The paper is a brief description of the process to condense helium with a diagram. <br /><br />The use of helium today is widespread. On the significance of the condensation of helium, R Karunanidhi, Assistant Professor, Centre for Cryogenic technology says that liquefied helium is used widely in medical application like MRI scanning. <br /><br />Helium is used as a propellant in cryogenic engines. It is also used in scuba diving. “The helium, being a light gas, can be condensed into liquid. Eight hundred litres of gas can be converted into one litre of liquid,” said Karunanidhi. Travers, a chemist from London was a student of Nobel prize winner William Ramsay at the University College London. According to an editorial by P Balaram, present Director IISc, published in a leading Scientific journal, Travers assisted Ramsay in the famous experiments, which led to the isolation of the inert gases neon, krypton and xenon. <br /><br />In his article ‘Morris Travers: Remembering an Institution Builder’ he says “Travers appears to have been a meticulous documenter of events and experiments and an author of uncommon talent. In 1901 he published an Experimental Study of Gases (Macmillan, London).” <br /><br /> Travers began the task of building an institution that has weathered the tumultuous century that followed. Travers is not a well-known name in India. Even at the IISc, a lecture in his memory, marking his research interests in Chemistry, was established only in 1990, over eight decades after he began the work of building an institution. <br />Travers became the youngest director of IISc in 1906 at a age of 34. However he resigned in the midst of a growing controversy between him and members of the governing council of the Institute in 1914.<br />DH News Service</p>
