Eminent Indian physicist Harish Chandra Verma, whose textbooks adorn bookshelves of students across the country, was bestowed with the Padma Shri award on Monday, 8 November, for his contribution in the field of Science and Engineering.
The scientist's two-volume book Concept of Physics, which bagged him the honour, is widely read by students of science, and has, over the years, come to be popularly known simply as 'HC Verma.'
The emeritus professor, who had taught at the Department of Physics at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, is fondly remembered for his engaging textbook problems that often involved unique premises.
"If engineers are asked to vote for reasons for loving Physics, Professor HC Verma would lead by a margin larger than speed at which monkey of mass m will ascend from the massless pulley with two ropes with a charge Q kept in magnetic field," quips a Twitter user.
'Man Behind Monkey Hanging on Tension Strings': Twitterati Celebrate HC Verma's Padma Shri Award
As the revered Indian scholar received the fourth highest civilian honour on Monday, Twitter users inundated the platform with posts celebrating Verma's Padma Shri award.
While some tweets amuse, others evoked nostalgia.
More About HC Verma
Professor Harish Chandra Verma had taught for 38 years before he retired from the Department of Physics at IIT Kanpur in 2017, where he had served for 22 years.
Prior to joining IIT Kanpur, he had taught at the Science College, Patna University (1979-1994) as a lecturer and reader.
His areas of interest include nano fabrication using focused ion beam, magnetism in graphite on irradiation by ion beam, nanosize magnetic materials, and iron-based alloys, among others.
As per his website, the professor has published 139 research papers in reputed journals, in addition to writing several books on Physics for school and college level.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)