That three Americans will share the '04 Nobel prize for physics, is already known. By tomorrow, the world will also know about the winner for chemistry.
What many in India do not know, however, is that an Indian scientist, Mrinal Thakur, who is now a professor at Auburn University, Alabama, is in the race for the coveted award. The university has nominated him for the fourth time in a row for the Nobel prize in chemistry for his discovery of non-conjugated conductive polymers and the correct fundamental basis of conductive polymers in general.
It may be mentioned that the '00 Nobel prize for chemistry was awarded to Alan Hedger, Alan MacDiarmid and Hideki Shirakawa for their discovery and development of electrically-conductive polymers.
However, the trio discovered only 'conjugated' conductive polymers. Mr Thakur has established that conjugation is not a fundamental requirement for a polymer to be conductive.
"A polymer must have at least one double bond in the repeat to be conducive and that is the correct fundamental basis for conductive polymers," says David Dyer, professor, mechanical engineering department of the Auburn University, Alabama, in his recommendation.
Mr Thakur, who hails from West Bengal, joined Auburn University in 1988, after finishing his initial studies at the Viswabharati University, Shantiniketan.