chemistry

M. V. George

M. V. George is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand M. V. George rather than just read about it. In short: Manapurathu Verghese George (3 October 1928 - 9 December 2019) was an Indian photochemist and an emeritus professor of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST). He was known for establishing the Photochemistry Research Unit at NIIST and his studies on the mechanism of organic reactions.

Key takeaways

M. V. George belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect M. V. George to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of M. V. George from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Manapurathu Verghese George (3 October 1928 - 9 December 2019) was an Indian photochemist and an emeritus professor of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST). He was known for establishing the Photochemistry Research Unit at NIIST and his studies on the mechanism of organic reactions. He is a recipient of the 1992 TWAS Award and an elected fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1973, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography

M. V. George, born on 3 October 1928 in the south Indian state of Kerala, graduated in chemistry from Madras University in 1948 and moved to the Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University (then known as Agra University) from where he secured his master's degree in 1951. He did his doctoral studies at St. John's College, Agra of Agra University under the guidance of P. I. Ittyerah, a former principal of the college, and after securing PhD in 1954, he did his post-doctoral studies at various colleges in the US, UK, Germany and Canada. He returned to India in 1963 and started his career as a member of faculty at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He stayed at the institution for quarter of a century until 1988 during which period he headed the Department of Chemistry from 1966 to 1969, succeeding C. N. R. Rao. Returning to his home state of Kerala in 1988, he joined the Regional Research Laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (present-day National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology) as an emeritus professor and served the institution until his superannuation from service. In between, he had various stints at the University of Notre Dame as a visiting professor during 1978–2001.

Legacy The main focus of George's research was centered on the mechanical implications of the thermal and photochemical organic reactions. His studies covered different areas of organometallic chemistry and he worked on electron transfer processes, organic reactions and functional group transformations. Thus he studied the organic reactions and functional group transformations, heterohexa-1, 3, 5-triene systems with regard to its electrocyclic reactions and the synthetic utility and phototransformations of dibenzobarrelenes. He also studied the picosecond laser flash photolysis techniques and the transient intermediates involved in photoreactions. He was noted for the original approach in his studies of hetero-aromatic systems. George published his research through over 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and guided a number of doctoral and post-doctoral scholars in their researches. He has contributed chapters to the Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, edited by C. N. R. Rao and his works have been cited by various authors in their publications. He pioneered photochemistry research at the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology and established the Photochemistry Research Unit at the institution. He was a collaborator of C. N. R. Rao in popularizing science education at academic levels and is associated, as the executive director, with the Foundation for Capacity Building in Science (FCBS) initiative which promotes science education among Indian students through seminars and workshops. He also served as a member of the council of the Indian National Science Academy from 1989 to 1991.

Awards and honors The Indian Academy of Sciences elected George as a fellow in 1973 before he became an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1975. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1973. He received the C. V. Raman Award in 1985 and the Professor T. R. Seshadri 70th Birthday Commemoration Medal of the Indian National Science Academy in 1990. The World Academy of Sciences awarded him the TWAS Prize in 1992 and two years later, elected him as their fellow. He is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Chemical Research Society of India and a life member of the society.

Selected bibliography

Books M. V., George (1971). Rao, C. N. R. (ed.). Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. Van Nostrand Reinhold Inc. p. 367. ISBN 978-0442068202.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with M. V. George

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what M. V. George claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to M. V. George before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about M. V. George ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of M. V. George

In research: M. V. George appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses M. V. George in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: M. V. George is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1928 births, 2019 deaths, 20th-century Indian chemists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for M. V. George outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study M. V. George in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what M. V. George means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain M. V. George out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is M. V. George in simple terms?

Why does M. V. George matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study M. V. George?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on M. V. George.