Anna Mani’s birth anniversary: Google on Tuesday (August 23, 2022) celebrated the 104th birth anniversary of Indian physicist and meteorologist Anna Mani, one of the country’s first women scientists, with a special doodle. Born on this day in 1918, Anna Mani was known for her work and research that made it possible to make accurate weather forecasts for India.
Google said, “Happy 104th Birthday, Anna Mani! Your life’s work has inspired good days for this world.”
An avid reader throughout his life, Mani grew up in the former state of Travancore (present-day Kerala). After high school, she did her Intermediate Science course at Women’s Christian College (WCC) and completed her Bachelor of Science with Honors in Physics and Chemistry from Presidency College, Madras.
After graduation, Anna Mani taught at WCC for a year and received a scholarship for postgraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. After that, he studied spectroscopy under the guidance of Nobel laureate Sir CV Raman, specializing in diamonds and rubies.
Mani published five papers, completed a PhD dissertation between 1942 and 1945, and also began a graduate program at Imperial College, London, where he learned to specialize in meteorological instruments.
Anna Mani started working for IMD in 1948
Returning to India in 1948, Anna Mani began working for the India Meteorological Department, where he helped the country design and manufacture its own weather instruments. In 1953, she became the head of the division, and under her leadership, more than 100 weather instrument designs were simplified and standardized for production.
During the 1950s, Mani also established a network of solar radiation monitoring stations and published several papers on sustainable energy measurement.
Anna Mani held key positions in the United Nations World Meteorological Organization
Subsequently, Anna Mani became the Deputy Director General of the India Meteorological Department, and also held various key positions in the United Nations World Meteorological Organization.
In 1987, he won the INSA KR Ramanathan Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Science.
After his retirement, Mani was appointed as a trustee of the Raman Research Institute in Bangalore.