View source for Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya

{{Short description|Indian entomologist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix   = '''[[Rabindra Puraskar]]''' Awardee
|name             = Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya
|image            =
|caption          = Entomologist Gopal Chandra
|birth_date       = {{birth date|1895|08|01|df=y}}
|birth_place      = Lonesing, [[Naria Upazila|Naria]], [[Faridpur Division|Faridpur District]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], [[British India]]
|death_date       = {{death date and age|1981|04|08|1895|08|11||df=y}}
|death_place      = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], India
|field            = [[Entomologist]], [[Botanist]]
|work_institution = [[Bose Institute]], [[Kolkata]]
|prizes           = [[Rabindra Puraskar]], 1975<br/> [[Ananda Puraskar]], 1968
| signature = Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya sign.svg
|footnotes        =
}}
'''Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya''' (1 August 1895&nbsp;– 8 April 1981) was an Indian [[entomologist]] and [[naturalist]] who spent most of his career at [[Bose Institute]], Kolkata. He had no formal college degree. In 1981, the [[University of Calcutta]] awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree<ref name="convocation">{{cite web|title=Annual Convocation|url=http://www.caluniv.ac.in/convocation-2012/hony_degrees.htm|publisher=[[University of Calcutta]]|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120528004638/http://caluniv.ac.in/convocation-2012/hony_degrees.htm|archivedate=2012-05-28}}</ref> months before he died. He was awarded the [[Ananda Puraskar]] for Bengali literature in 1968, and the highest award for Bengali literature, the [[Rabindra Puraskar]], in 1975.
He published his first research papers in 1932, on life events in the body of plants. Subsequently, he also published work on bioluminescence and other botany topics, but gradually his interests shifted to entomology. He became an expert photographer, and photographed many varieties of ants, spiders, small bats and tadpoles.<ref name=vp/> In total, he published 22 papers in English, including in journals such as the [[Natural History (magazine)|Natural History]] of the [[American Museum of Natural History]].
==Science popularization==
In 1948 he worked with [[Satyendra Nath Bose]] (of [[Bose–Einstein statistics]] fame) to establish the ''[[Bangiya Bijnan Parishad]]'' (Bengal Science Council), a society for science research.
==Scientific findings==
In 1943, possibly before the fact had been established among naturalists,<ref name=vp/> Gopal Chandra published an article in the ''Transactions of the Bose Institute'' of Calcutta, outlining how the [[queen bee|queen]] in [[social insect]]s such as [[ant]]s or [[bee]]s, produces other queens, [[worker bee|worker]]s or soldiers, by appropriately altering the nature of the [[royal jelly]] fed to the [[larva]]e. His observations were based on a species of ants, ''[[Oecophylla smaragdina]]''.<ref name=vp>{{cite journal
|title=Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya: One Who Observed Insects
|author=Amit Chakraborty
|journal=Dream 2047: Monthly Newsletter of Vigyan Prasar
|url=http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/dream/sept2002/english.pdf
|date=September 2002
|volume=4:12
|pages=19
|url-status=dead
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412095044/http://www.vigyanprasar.gov.in/dream/sept2002/english.pdf
|archivedate=2006-04-12
}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bhattacharya |first1=Gopal Chandra |year=1943 |title=Reproduction and caste determination in aggressive red ants, ''Oecophylla smaragdina'' |journal=Transactions of the Bose Research Institute |volume=16 |pages=137-156 }}</ref>
==The Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya Award==
In 2005, the government of [[West Bengal]] instituted an award for science popularization in his name, the ''Gopal Chandra Bhattacharyya Smriti Puraskar''.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya Award for science popularization
|url=http://www.dstwb-council.gov.in/document/Gopal%2520Chandra%2520Bhattacharyya%2520Smriti%2520Puraskar.doc
}}{{dead link|date=February 2024|bot=medic}}</ref> In 2005, the entomologist Debashis Biswas<ref>
{{cite news
| title =       Mosquitoes and the man
| author =      Jayanta Basu
| publisher =   [[The Telegraph (Kolkata)|The Telegraph]]
| url =         http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060109/asp/calcutta/story_5693515.asp
| archive-url =         https://web.archive.org/web/20060630085948/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060109/asp/calcutta/story_5693515.asp
| url-status =         dead
| archive-date =         June 30, 2006
| date =        January 9, 2006
| accessdate =  2008-10-10
}}</ref> was awarded this prize for writing several books that describe the biology of [[mosquito]]es and malaria prevention through stories.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://bigyan.org.in/bengali-science-article-online-archive/] Gopal Chandra Bhattacharya archives on bigyan.org.in - a popular science magazine in Bengali.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharya, Gopal Chandra}}
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:Indian entomologists]]
[[Category:1895 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Rabindra Puraskar]]
[[Category:People from Naria Upazila]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian zoologists]]
[[Category:Scientists from West Bengal]]