Pioneer Bengali science fiction writer Jagadananda Roy was born on this day. Born in Krishnagar, he showed an interest in science from early age. He wrote on science and an article published in the journal Sadhana introduced him to the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Roy first worked at the Tagore estate in Shiladaha. He then taught science and mathematics to Tagore’s children.
Later, he was appointed a teacher at Brahmacharyashrama at Visva-Bharati. His work at the Visva-Bharati publishing department won him a lot of appreciation.
He wanted to talk about science in a simple way in the tradition of Ramendrasundar Tribedi and wrote a number of books on science for the purpose. He wrote one of the earliest science fiction stories in Bengali, titled Shukra Bhraman (A Journey to Venus) in 1892.
In this book he described aliens as humanoid creatures resembling apes. Their bodies were covered in black fur and they had large heads.
