The Indian atomic scientist Homi Jehangir Bhabha (1909-1966) made contributions of fundamental importance to quantum theory. He was the first chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission.

Homi Jehangir Bhabha was born on Oct. 30, 1909, in Bombay, where his family were wealthy Parsis, the tiny but influential Zoroastrian sect of western India. After graduating from Elphinstone College and the Royal Institute of Science in Bombay, he went to Cambridge University, receiving a doctorate in 1934. During this period he worked with Niels Bohr on the studies that led to quantum theory. Later, Bhabha worked with Walter Heitler on the cascade theory of electron showers, which was of great importance for the understanding of cosmic radiation, and he also did significant work in identifying the meson. Bhabha received early recognition for his work, being elected to the Royal Society in 1941.

Bhabha returned to India in 1940, doing research on cosmic rays at the...