‘Anna Mani – The Uncut Diamond’
The book ‘Anna Mani – an Uncut diamond’ a biography by Asha Gopinathan is a very interesting read; immersive, educating and certainly motivating for the aspiring young generation to soar high. The life of Anna Mani was exemplary as an outstanding woman scientist who grew up in pre-independence India.
Born in 1918, Anna with deep passion for physics, graduated from Presidency college in Chennai and joined research at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in the year 1940 with the Noble Laureate Sir C.V. Raman. She worked on optical properties of Ruby and diamond in the Raman Research laboratory, published several papers in prestigious journals and though submitted her doctoral thesis but was not awarded a Ph.D. degree, apparently, due to a technicality.
This however, never deterred Ms Mani to continue her passion for research with perseverance and dedication. She was one of the first few in the country to obtain scholarship to study at Imperial College in London specialising in meteorological instrumentation and on her return, joined India Meteorological Department (IMD) in 1948. In IMD, she rose to the position of Deputy Director General of Meteorology in 1969 and continued till she retired in 1976.
Post retirement she continued as a visiting professor, at Raman Research Institute for three years and subsequently continued her scientific and mentorship contributions up to mid – nineties, till the time she was in sound health. The book describes Mani’s exemplary contributions in the field of meteorology covering wide range of areas including wind energy, solar radiation, cloud physics, atmospheric electricity, meteorological instrumentation. Her research not only received immense international recognition but created strong foundations for these fields in India.
Asha Gopinathan’s book is rewarding as an inspiring biography written after painstaking research and interviews. It narrates in a highly engaging manner every aspect of Ms. Mani’s life as an administrator, scientist and the multifaceted personality. Minutest details of her personal and professional life as a scientist and administrator are well covered in a captivating manner. The author describes all the prestigious laboratories and organisations where Ms. Mani worked, the lives of luminaries with whom she worked, her mentors and co-workers in a very absorbing manner.
In her unique style, Gopinathan covers the fascinating scientific research conducted by Ms Mani and her co-workers while describing the fundamentals of science for each of the topics so that readers from all walks of life could very well understand and appreciate the work. Gopinathan also analyses all the scientific issues addressed by Ms Mani during her professional journey, followed up with the current status and subsequently recommended the way forward.
The life of Ms Mani is an inspiring journey and shall be aspirational for all future women scientists in the making and is also a captivating read for the rest. Over and above, Asha Gopinathan includes the gender perspective with reference to female scientists supported with a great deal of data and statistics. Hence, immerse yourself in the story of an uncut diamond – i.e. Anna Mani. Indeed, a fascinating read and a great learning experience.
