Hyderabad’s very own and renowned astrophysicist Dr BG Sidharth has been named to receive this year’s Einstein-Galilei Laureate and gold medal under the aegis of the Institute for Theoretical Physics and Advanced Mathematics, Einstein-Galei and the Telesio Galileo Academy of Sciences in Europe. But, the director general of BM Birla Science Centre, who missed the 2011 Nobel for his study on dark energy and the acceleration of the universe, a model he had proposed in 1997, says the latest honour comes only as a consolation for the fact that others have got the Nobel for working on the same topic that he did successfully.
“In 1997, when everyone thought that the universe was slowing down and was filled with dark matter, I had said, on the contrary, that the universe was actually accelerating and that it was dominated by something called dark energy,” said Dr Sidharth adding that, “It is dangerous to be ahead of your time. People understand nothing off the beaten path.” However, he is aware that many deserving scientists in the past have missed out on the Nobel as well. Case-in-point the example of the accidental discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation by two radio engineers Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson, Dr Sidharth said, “These radio engineers got Nobel for something they were not able to understand and just turned out that it was a concept proposed by the great Physicist George Gemow. So, such things keep happening.”
Amidst reports of him being cheated out of a Nobel prize, he tries to keep himself grounded. He maintains that he wants to only continue doing his work which brings him personal satisfaction more than anything else. When asked about his findings that even questioned the discoveries of great Albert Einstein, he said, “My first thought was just that it was a great discovery. It is not nice to say something that is so different. One may feel afraid, particularly in the scientific community.” Nevertheless he takes heart in the fact that if the the finding is honest, the worst that could go wrong is that one would be ridiculed by others. “It is very difficult to get contra ideas published but one should not be afraid,” said the senior scientist.
There have been few other models that makes his 30 year long illustrious career in research, radical. One of the most popular theories today, the string theory, which is neither accepted nor rejected, the doctor has made his clear and conclusive observations recently. “On gravitation, which Einstein tried to unify with other forces like electro-magnetism etc, to give a unified picture of the universe, my conclusion was that we are tying to solve a non-existent force. I have said that gravitation is not a separate force to be unified and that the problem itself does not exist here,” said Dr Sidharth.
Talking about scientists in the country, he says the community today face a lot of constraints. “Though scientists receive a lot of freedom in our country, it is still a public sector undertaking. You get noticed if you know to pull the right strings,” he opines.