For generations of Indian students preparing for the JEE and NEET examinations, the journey towards success has often begun with a familiar name on a book cover: Concepts of Physics.
Long before online courses, coaching platforms and AI-powered learning tools changed the way students prepared for competitive exams, H.C. Verma’s books served as a trusted resource for building strong fundamentals in mechanics, electricity, optics and modern physics. For countless engineering and medical aspirants, completing the problems from the two-volume series became a defining milestone in their preparation journey.
However, behind these widely recognised books lies the lesser-known story of the teacher and physicist who created them.
Dr. Harish Chandra Verma—widely known as H.C. Verma or simply HCV—never intended to author one of India's most influential physics textbooks. The idea took shape when he realised that while several excellent physics books were available, none fully addressed the learning needs of Indian students. Determined to bridge that gap, he set out to write a textbook that explained complex concepts with clarity, making physics more accessible to generations of learners.
A brilliant American textbook inspired him—but also exposed a problem
Born on April 3, 1952, in Darbhanga, Bihar, Harish Chandra Verma grew up in a family where education was deeply valued. His father was a school teacher, and Verma developed an early fascination with science.
After completing his B.Sc. from Patna Science College, he went on to earn his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Physics from IIT Kanpur.
In 1980, he returned to Patna Science College as a lecturer. Every day, he taught undergraduate students using the internationally acclaimed Resnick and Halliday physics textbook.
He admired the book for its scientific depth and clarity.
Yet something kept bothering him.
Many bright students struggled to connect with the examples, language and style of explanation. The textbook assumed a classroom environment and life experiences very different from those of students coming from small towns and villages across India.
The problem wasn't intelligence.
The problem was communication.
He didn't translate the book. He built one from scratch.
Instead of complaining about the lack of a suitable textbook, Verma decided to create one himself.
Years of classroom teaching helped him understand exactly where Indian students got confused, what misconceptions they carried, and how concepts could be explained more naturally.
The result was Concepts of Physics, first published in 1992.
Unlike many textbooks that focused heavily on formulas, H.C. Verma encouraged students to ask why before learning how.
And numerical problems that tested understanding rather than memorisation.
The formula worked.
Within a few years, the book became one of the most recommended physics texts for JEE aspirants. Eventually, it also became a favourite among NEET aspirants, Olympiad students and engineering undergraduates.
Today, countless coaching institutes across India still recommend it as one of the best books to build conceptual clarity.
From Patna to IIT Kanpur
In 1994, Verma joined IIT Kanpur as a faculty member, where he spent more than two decades teaching and conducting research in experimental nuclear physics.
Alongside teaching, he published 139 research papers, contributing significantly to his field.
But even as a professor at one of India's premier engineering institutions, he never lost sight of his first passion—making physics easier for ordinary students.
Many of his lectures, demonstrations and classroom sessions continue to be freely available online, helping students far beyond IIT Kanpur.
Making physics affordable—and enjoyable
H.C. Verma believed that science should not depend on expensive laboratory equipment.
To make physics accessible to every classroom, he developed more than 600 low-cost physics experiments using everyday materials that teachers could easily replicate.
In 2011, he helped establish the National Anveshika Network of India (NANI) under the Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT).
The initiative encourages hands-on science learning and now supports learning centres across different parts of the country, helping teachers make physics more interactive and enjoyable.
Education beyond classrooms
Even after retiring from IIT Kanpur in 2017, Verma chose not to step away from education.
Instead, he devoted more time to Shiksha Sopan, an educational initiative he co-founded near the IIT Kanpur campus.
The organisation supports children from economically weaker families by providing academic assistance, mentoring and learning opportunities. Over the years, it has benefited hundreds of students and families.
His belief has always been simple: quality education should reach those who need it the most.
A Padma Shri—and the gratitude of millions
In 2021, the Government of India honoured Harish Chandra Verma with the Padma Shri, recognising his immense contribution to physics education.
But perhaps his greatest award cannot be measured by medals or honours.
Every year, lakhs of students preparing for JEE, NEET and other competitive examinations continue to learn physics through the books he wrote over three decades ago.
For many, "HCV" is not just the name of an author.
It represents the moment when difficult physics problems finally began to make sense.
And that may be his greatest legacy—that he didn't merely teach equations; he taught generations of students how to think.
Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available information about Dr. Harish Chandra Verma's life, academic career, published works, interviews and official recognitions. It is intended for educational and inspirational purposes.
Dr. Harish Chandra Verma wrote Concepts of Physics not out of ambition to author a bestseller, but out of frustration with how physics was being taught to Indian students in the early 1980s.
The Turning Point at Patna Science College
After completing his Ph.D. at IIT Kanpur, Dr. Verma joined Patna Science College as a lecturer in 1980. He quickly noticed a glaring disconnect in his classroom:
The Foreign Textbook Dilemma: The gold standard for conceptual physics at the time was Fundamentals of Physics by Resnick and Halliday. While brilliant, its advanced English and cultural contexts (references to baseball, American football, or unfamiliar real-world scenarios) created a language and cultural barrier for students from non-English background schools.
The Rote-Learning Alternative: Local Indian textbooks solved the language problem, but sacrificed conceptual depth entirely. They relied on formula memorization, repetitive numerical patterns, and exam-oriented shortcuts rather than teaching how to think like a physicist.
Seeing bright students struggle to develop genuine curiosity, Dr. Verma realized India needed a bridge: a textbook that offered the mathematical and conceptual rigor of international standards, but explained in clear, simple language with everyday Indian context.
The 8-Year Crafting Process (1984–1992)
Writing the two volumes took eight years of continuous refinement, testing every problem against real classroom interactions:
Relatable Everyday Scenarios: Instead of abstract particles, problems featured monkeys climbing ropes, cars navigating Indian traffic, and children playing on swings. Physics was brought into the immediate environment of the student.
"Questions for Short Answer": Dr. Verma deliberately included non-numerical, thought-provoking questions at the start of each chapter to force students to question their physical intuition before reaching for a calculator.
Self-Contained Rigor: The mathematical apparatus (calculus, vectors) was introduced progressively within the physics context so students wouldn't need a separate mathematics prerequisite to understand the first few chapters.
When Volume 1 was published in 1992, it became an instant phenomenon across India, eventually becoming the definitive foundation text for millions of engineering and science aspirants.
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