Remembering Sir CV Raman, born this day in 1888. Known for discovering the eponymous Raman Effect, his genius was reflected in diverse fields. He had the child's eye.

Here he is explaining sand patterns on a mridangam to the legend Palakkad Mani Iyer: http://dspace.rri.res.in/bitstream/2289/2047/1/1935%20Proc%20Indian%20Acad%20Sci-A%20V1%20p179-188.pdf

And here Sir CV Raman struts into @StPaulsLondon and emerges with the now iconic Nature paper, explaining the real reason behind the whispering-gallery phenomena, thereby disproving Lord Rayleigh.

Genius is that spark in the child's eye, nothing more. http://dspace.rri.res.in/bitstream/2289/2049/1/1921%20Nature%20V108%20p42.pdf

And here is Sir CV Raman doing what he loved most - dress up as a magician on weekends and have children gather round him. His magic shows were all the rage.

He holds in his hand a quartz crystal. (From the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, @iiscbangalore.)

Incidentally, the Russians don't like Raman much. Landsberg discovered Raman Effect (Feb 21) a week before Raman (Feb 28) but by the time he published it (July), Raman had 16 papers on it.

Russians still don't use the phrase 'Raman Effect'. They call it Combinatorial Scattering.