Millimetre-wave communication
AI-drafted · awaiting admin review
J.C. Bose sent and received microwaves at around 60 GHz in Calcutta in 1895: the first millimetre-wave communication.
India first (well documented)Technology & engineering
Indian claim
Jagadish Chandra Bose generated and detected millimetre waves (around 60 GHz) at Presidency College, Calcutta, and in 1895 used them to ring a bell and set off gunpowder 23 metres away through two walls.
Evidence for the Indian claim
- Bose's papers to the Royal Society and his 1897 Royal Institution lecture in London describe his waveguides, horn antennas, polarisers and detectors.
- The IEEE dedicated a Milestone, 'First Millimeter-wave Communication Experiments by J.C. Bose, 1894–96', at Presidency College, Kolkata, on 15 September 2012.
Commonly credited to
Most early radio pioneers (Hertz, Lodge, Marconi) worked with much longer waves; millimetre waves were not widely used until the late 20th century.
Evidence for the other claim
- Heinrich Hertz had generated and detected radio waves earlier, in 1887–88, but at much longer wavelengths.
What historians and scientists say
Bose's work is recognised by the IEEE as the first millimetre-wave communication experiments in the world. This is a well-documented Indian first.