The pinnacle in Chandrasekhar ’ s scientific career came in 1977, when he and his co-workers discovered the columnar phase of liquid crystals made of disc-shaped molecules, rather than the well-studied rods. Through supramolecular assembly, the discs exhibit a mesophase which has a two-dimensional, periodic order. The paper announcing the discovery of this state of matter was published in the Indian physics journal Pramana, and is one of the most highly cited papers in the field of liquid crystals. Subsequently, a few thousand compounds with disc-like molecules were synthesized. The columnar liquid crystals are noted for their highly anisotropic conducting properties, which is exploited in device applications. The year 1977 also saw the publication of Chandrasekhar ’ s book on liquid crystals by the Cambridge University Press. The book is popular amongst workers in the field, and has been translated into Russian and Japanese. An enlarged second edition of the book was published in 1992. Chandrasekhar also organized several international conferences, including the one in 1973 on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of the founding of the RRI. Many stalwarts in the field of liquid crystals like Glen H. Brown, George William Gray, Alfred Saupe and Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (who was to receive the Nobel Prize in 1991, partly for his work on liquid crystals) participated in this conference. He was awarded A. Cemal Eringen Medal in 1996. Some major conferences Chandrasekhar organized include the Ninth International Liquid Crystals Conference in 1982 and the Second Asia-Pacific Physics Conference in 1986. After retiring from RRI in 1990, Chandrasekhar started the Centre for Liquid Crystal URL in a building made available by BEL. Chandrasekhar ’ s scientific achievements brought him many honours. He was elected Fellow of all the three scientific academies in India, including the Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc, 1962) and the Indian National Science Academy (FNA, 1978). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1983, and was also a fellow of the Institute of Physics (London) and of the Third World Academy of Sciences. He was a member of several international and national committees on science and education. He was the founder president of the International Liquid Crystal Society for 1990–92, and was an editor of the journal Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals for 20 years. He was the recipient of the Bhatnagar Award (1972), Homi Bhabha (1987) and Meghnad Saha (1992) medals of the Indian National Science Academy, C.V. Raman Centenary Medal of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (1988), the Royal Medal of Royal Society (1994), Niels Bohr International Gold Medal of UNESCO (1998), and the Freedericksz Medal of the Russian Liquid Crystal Society (2000). He was also the recipient of the Karnataka Rajyotsava award (1986), Padma Bhushan (1998) and the honour of Knight of the Order of Academic Palms by the French Government (1999). Chandrasekhar was largely responsible for placing India on the international map in the field of liquid crystals. Chandrasekhar hailed from the most illustrious family of physicists in India.
The pinnacle in Chandrasekhar ' s scientific career came in 1977, when he and his co-workers discovered the columnar phase of liquid crystals made of disc-shaped molecules, rather than the well-studied rods. Through supramolecular assembly, the discs exhibit a mesophase which has a two-dimensional, periodic order. The paper announcing the discovery of this state of matter was published in the Indian physics journal Pramana, and is one of the most highly cited papers in the field of liquid crystals. Subsequently, a few thousand compounds with disc-like molecules were synthesized. The columnar liquid crystals are noted for their highly anisotropic conducting properties, which is exploited in device applications. The year 1977 also saw the publication of Chandrasekhar ' s book on liquid crystals by the Cambridge University Press. The book is popular amongst workers in the field, and has been translated into Russian and Japanese. An enlarged second edition of the book was published in 1992. Chandrasekhar also organized several international conferences, including the one in 1973 on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of the founding of the RRI. Many stalwarts in the field of liquid crystals like Glen H. Brown, George William Gray, Alfred Saupe and Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (who was to receive the Nobel Prize in 1991, partly for his work on liquid crystals) participated in this conference. He was awarded A. Cemal Eringen Medal in 1996. Some major conferences Chandrasekhar organized include the Ninth International Liquid Crystals Conference in 1982 and the Second Asia-Pacific Physics Conference in 1986. After retiring from RRI in 1990, Chandrasekhar started the Centre for Liquid Crystal URL in a building made available by BEL. Chandrasekhar ' s scientific achievements brought him many honours. He was elected Fellow of all the three scientific academies in India, including the Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc, 1962) and the Indian National Science Academy (FNA, 1978). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1983, and was also a fellow of the Institute of Physics (London) and of the Third World Academy of Sciences. He was a member of several international and national committees on science and education. He was the founder president of the International Liquid Crystal Society for 1990–92, and was an editor of the journal Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals for 20 years. He was the recipient of the Bhatnagar Award (1972), Homi Bhabha (1987) and Meghnad Saha (1992) medals of the Indian National Science Academy, C.V. Raman Centenary Medal of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (1988), the Royal Medal of Royal Society (1994), Niels Bohr International Gold Medal of UNESCO (1998), and the Freedericksz Medal of the Russian Liquid Crystal Society (2000). He was also the recipient of the Karnataka Rajyotsava award (1986), Padma Bhushan (1998) and the honour of Knight of the Order of Academic Palms by the French Government (1999). Chandrasekhar was largely responsible for placing India on the international map in the field of liquid crystals. Chandrasekhar hailed from the most illustrious family of physicists in India.
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