| Vishnu Narlikar | |
| Office: | Chairman, Rajasthan Public Service Commission[1] |
| Term Start: | 1 August 1960 |
| Term End: | 31 July 1966 |
| Predecessor: | L. L. Joshi |
| Successor: | R. C. Choudhary |
| Birth Name: | Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar |
| Birth Date: | 26 September 1908[2] |
| Birth Place: | Kolhapur, Bombay Presidency, British India |
| 1Blankname: | Field |
| 1Namedata: | Physics, astronomy |
| 2Blankname: | Institutions |
| 2Namedata: | Banaras Hindu University University of Poona |
| Alma Mater: | University of Mumbai Cambridge University |
| Nationality: | British Indian Indian |
Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar (26 September 1908 – 1 April 1991) was an Indian physicist specializing in general relativity. He is considered "the doyen of General Relativity in India." The Centre for Theoretical Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia has instituted the annual "V. V. Narikar Memorial Lecture" in memory of him.[3]
Narlikar was born in Kolhapur, India on 26 September 1908. His father Vasudevshastri Narlikar was a pandit in Sanskrit and delivered pravachans. Vishnu was the youngest among three brothers. He studied at the Vidyapeeth High School and Rajaram College in Kolhapur.[4] Vishnu continued with his education despite his father's demise and secured the fourth rank in the Matriculation exam. He won scholarships and studied at the Elphinstone College and Royal Institute of Science in Mumbai. He stood first in the B.Sc. exam.[4] Upon receiving his B.Sc. degree from the University of Mumbai in 1928, Narlikar continued studies at the Cambridge University in England, where he passed the Mathematics Tripos in 1930.
His studies at Cambridge were sponsored by the J. N. Tata Endowment Scholarship. He also received a loan from the Kolhapur State, with a condition that he would be employed with the Kolhapur State upon his return to India.[5] Vishnu Narlikar became a Star Wrangler after completing the Mathematical Tripos at Cambridge University. He was also a recipient of the Isaac Newton Studentship and the Rayleigh Prize.[5]
In 1932, Narlikar married Shridevi Navare of Mumbai, but she died due to illness within few years. He then married Krishna Huzurbazar, sister of V. S. Huzurbazar,[6] in 1937.[7]
Vishnu and Sumati had two sons, the astrophysicist Jayant and scientist Anant.[8]
He returned to India in 1932 as a professor of Mathematics and Head of the Department of Mathematics at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi at the age of 24. Madan Mohan Malaviya, the founder of the Banaras Hindu University, repaid the debt which Narlikar owed to the Kolhapur State, thereby making it possible for Narlikar to work at the university.[5] He became a professor of mathematics at the University of Poona in 1966 and retired in 1973. From 1960 to 1966, he served as the chairman of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1931. He served as the president of the Indian Mathematical Society from 1981 to 1982.
He trained the first generation of general relativists in India. His Ph.D. students include Prahalad Chunnilal Vaidya, Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri, Naresh Dadhich, and Aragam R. Prasanna.