Chemistry professor Henry F. Schaefer III delivered the 2007 C. V. Raman Memorial Lecture at the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in Calcutta last month. This is the most prestigious academic lecture given in India, and the last two chemists to deliver it were Nobel laureates. C. V. Raman (1888-1970) remains the most important scientist in the history of India. Raman was knighted by the British government in 1929. He was named the sole recipient of the 1930 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discoveries.