Daily Times

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar was a pioneering astrophysicist and mathematician born in Lahore, British India (now Pakistan) in 1910. Despite his extraordinary contributions to our understanding of stellar evolution and black holes, his legacy remains largely unrecognized in his birthplace.

Chandrasekhar’s most celebrated work was his discovery of the “Chandrasekhar Limit” in 1930 when he was just 20 years old. This fundamental concept describes the maximum mass a white dwarf star can attain before collapsing under its gravitational force, paving the way for our modern understanding of how stars evolve and black holes form.

Yet, in the city of Lahore, where Chandrasekhar was born and raised, there is little to no public recognition of his groundbreaking achievements. While cities around the world proudly honour their celebrated sons and daughters, Lahore has yet to name a road, square, or even a chair after this remarkable scientist.

While cities around the world proudly bear the names of their celebrated sons and daughters, Lahore has yet to honour its native sons.

Chandrasekhar’s dedication to his craft is exemplified by the anecdote of his weekly commute from the Yerkes Observatory to the University of Chicago, where he taught a course attended by only two students. When asked why he spent his time this way, he replied, “They are very good students.” Those two students, Lee Tsung-Dao and Yang Chen-Ning would go on to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957, making Chandrasekhar’s course the only one in history where all its attendees were awarded the coveted prize.

As we continue to unravel the mysteries of the cosmos, we must acknowledge and celebrate the pioneers who paved the way for our understanding. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar’s contributions to astrophysics and theoretical physics have left an indelible mark on humanity’s quest to comprehend the universe, and it is only fitting that his birthplace, Lahore, takes pride in honouring this forgotten son.

Why not a road, a square, or even a chair named after Chandrasekhar at his alma mater, the prestigious Government College University (GCU) in Lahore?

In the annals of scientific brilliance, few cities can boast of producing luminaries quite like Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan. Yet, the legacies of two of its most illustrious sons – Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar and Abdus Salam – remain largely unrecognized in the city of their alma mater, a glaring omission that calls for immediate rectification.

What binds these two giants of science is their shared alma mater – the prestigious Government College University (GCU) in Lahore and Presidency College Chennai Madras. It was within these hallowed halls that their thirst for knowledge was nurtured, laying the foundations for their future groundbreaking discoveries.

Yet, despite the extraordinary achievements of Chandrasekhar and Salam, and the global recognition they garnered, their legacies remain largely overlooked in their birthplace and the city of their alma mater. While cities around the world proudly bear the names of their celebrated sons and daughters, Lahore has yet to honour its native sons with fitting tributes.

The writer is a freelance columnist.