Satyendra Nath Bose was an eminent physicist after whom ‘Bosons’, one of the two classes of particles in quantum mechanics, was named. He was a self-taught scholar who rose to prominence during the 1920s for his work on quantum mechanics and went on to work with the renowned German physicist, Albert Einstein. He studied science at the Presidency College, Calcutta, where he had the fortune to be taught by illustrious teachers like Jagadish Chandra Bose and Prafulla Chandra Ray. He became a research scholar at a time when new discoveries were being made in the field of physics. Quantum theory and related concepts were creating a stir in the scientific community and Bose did some important work in this field, particularly on the Planck's black body radiation law. He sent his work to Albert Einstein who recognized the significance of the Indian scientist’s findings and soon collaborated with him to work on certain important ideas that formed the basis for Bose-Einstein statistics. Bose was a polyglot and also had varied interests in diversified fields, such as, philosophy, arts and music.

Bose was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata), the eldest of seven children. He was the only son, with six sisters after him. His ancestral home was in village Bara Jagulia, in the district of Nadia, in the state of West Bengal. His schooling began at the age of five, near his home. When his family moved to Goabagan, he was admitted to the New Indian School. In the final year of school, he was admitted to the Hindu School. He passed his entrance examination (matriculation) in 1909 and stood fifth in the order of merit. He next joined the intermediate science course at the Presidency College, Calcutta, where he was taught by illustrious teachers such as Jagadish Chandra Bose, Sarada Prasanna Das, and Prafulla Chandra Ray. Naman Sharma and Meghnad Saha, from Dacca (Dhaka), joined the same college two years later. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and Sisir Kumar Mitra were few years senior to Bose. Satyendra Nath Bose chose mixed (applied) mathematics for his BSc and passed the examinations standing first in 1913 and again stood first in the MSc mixed mathematics exam in 1915. It is said that his marks in the MSc examination created a new record in the annals of the University of Calcutta, which is yet to be surpassed. After completing his MSc, Bose joined the University of Calcutta as a research scholar in 1916 and started his studies in the theory of relativity. It was an exciting era in the history of scientific progress. Quantum theory had just appeared on the horizon and important results had started pouring in. His father, Surendranath Bose, worked in the Engineering Department of the East Indian Railway Company. In 1914, age 20, Satyendra Nath Bose married Ushabati Ghosh, the 11-year-old daughter of a prominent Calcutta physician. They had nine children, but two died in early childhood. When he died in 1974, he left behind his wife, two sons, and five daughters. As a polyglot, he was well versed in several languages such as Bengali, English, French, German and Sanskrit as well as the poetry of Lord Tennyson, Rabindranath Tagore and Kalidasa. He could also play the esraj, a musical instrument similar to a violin. He was actively involved in running night schools that came to be known as the Working Men's Institute.

The Government of India bestowed upon this eminent physicist the title of Padma Vibhushan in 1954 for his services towards science and research. The S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences was established by the government in Calcutta in 1986.

Born- Bose was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata). His ancestral home was in village Bara Jagulia, in the district of Nadia, in the state of West Bengal. 

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