Who Was Anna Mani? Google Celebrates Indian Physicist Anna Mani

Anna Mani was a pioneering scientist known for her contributions to Indian weather forecasting and renewable energy research.

Anna Mani would have turned 104 on August 23 2022. Google’s doodle in the United States and India has been changed to an illustration of her and her work in her honour.

Anna Mani was born in the former state of Travancore, now known as Kerala, in 1918 in Peermade.

Mani earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Presidency College in Chennai, with honours in physics and chemistry.

When she was 27, she enrolled at Imperial College London to study meteorological instrumentation. She studied instruments, calibration, and standardisation during that time.

Three years later, in 1948, Mani returned to India and joined the Indian Meteorological Department.

She created an instrument for measuring atmospheric ozone and established a meteorological observatory. She also joined the International Ozone Commission.

Mani retired as the Indian Meteorological Department’s deputy director-general in 1976. She also served on the United Nations World Meteorological Organization and was awarded the INSA K. R. Ramanathan Medal in 1987.

Mani suffered a stroke in 1994, rendering her immobile. On August 16, 2001, she died at the age of 82 a week before her 83rd birthday.