| Citation | Distinguished for his wide-ranging contributions to solid state chemistry and to chemical spectroscopy, as related to molecular structure. He has contributed significantly to our knowledge of the electronic and magnetic properties of the important perovskite-type compounds, using a very wide range of experimental techniques. In particular, he has clarified the factors that determine the transition from localised d-electron states to band properties. He has contributed also to studies of the formation, interaction and migration of point defects in binary ionic solids, and of phase transitions, on which he has recently published an important book. In addition to about 120 papers on the solid state, he has published over 100 original papers and 5 books on vibrational, electronic, magnetic resonance and photoelectron spectroscopy, as applied to the determination of the structure of complex molecules. These studies, as well as those on electron-donor interactions, have been supported by several elegant theoretical papers, especially in relation to ion solvation and hydrogen bonding. He built up an excellent research school at Kanpur and has been a strong and invigorating influence on physical chemistry and chemical physics in India, in the development of solid state technology and in developments in chemical education in that country. He is an outstanding figure in Indian Chemistry and was Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow in 1972-75. In 1976 he was the recipient of the American Chemical Society Centennial Medal. Recipient of Marlow Medal 1967. |