Jagadananda Roy ( bn, জগদানন্দ রায; 1869-1933) was an scientific article writer as well as
Bengali science fiction
Bengali science fiction ( bn, বাংলা বিজ্ঞান কল্পকাহিনী ''Bangla Bigyan Kalpakahini'') is a part of Bengali literature containing science fiction elements. It is called ''Kalpabigyan'' ( ) or storie ...
writer. His works were primarily written for teens.
Born in an aristocratic family from Krishnanagar, Nadia, he went to teach in a missionary school and wrote popular articles on science. He met
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
who edited a journal called Sadhana and Roy later joined to become a teacher at Rabindranath Tagore's
Visva Bharati
Visva-Bharati () is a public central university and an Institution of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which means the communion of the w ...
.
He also wrote numerous books on science including such as Prakrtiki Paricay, Vijnanacarya Jagadis Basur Abiskar, Vaijnaniki, Prakrtiki, Jnanasopan, Grahanaksatra, Pokamakad (on insects), Vijnaner Galpa, Gachpala, Mach-byang-sap, sabda, Pakhi (on birds), Naksatracena (on stars).
Roy wrote one of the earliest science fiction stories in Bengali, ''Shukra Bhraman'' (''Travels to Venus'') in 1892, later published in his book ''Prakritiki'' (1914). This described travel to Venus and conjured up
alien
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...
creatures on
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars (mythology), Mars), grandfather ...
. His humanoid aliens are described as resembling apes, with dense black fur, large heads and long nails. This imaginative science-fiction preceded that of
The War of the Worlds
''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...
'' (1898) by about a decade.
See also
*
Bengali science fiction
Bengali science fiction ( bn, বাংলা বিজ্ঞান কল্পকাহিনী ''Bangla Bigyan Kalpakahini'') is a part of Bengali literature containing science fiction elements. It is called ''Kalpabigyan'' ( ) or storie ...
*
Charu Chandra Bhattacharya
Charu Chandra Bhattacharya ( bn, চারুচন্দ্র ভট্টাচার্য; 1883–1961) was a prominent science teacher and writer of various scientific articles mainly for children in Bengali.
Early life and career
Bhattac ...