Positioning astronomy

Photographs: Indranil Paul

A lot can be learnt from a 78-year-old scientist who just refuses to fade like the stars, writes Mathures Paul

Stars fade but Professor Amalendu Bandyopadhyay’s interest in them remains undiminished. With a small suitcase filled with a telescope and slides, he has travelled to every corner of India to give lessons in astronomy, to dispel misconceptions and put astrology in its right place.
A senior scientist at the MP Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, MP Birla Planetarium, Kolkata, he has been instrumental in introducing the postgraduate diploma course in Astronomy and Planetarium Sciences and can, in a few simple words, explain the complex movements of planets and stars (as readers of this newspaper will have have realised from his regular and exclusive contributions to these columns). The 78-year-old Bandyopadhyay has visited remote corners of the country to explain astronomical concepts to children — an activity that has won him accolades from the scientific community — and yet, ironically, while Indian youngsters have heard of Bill Gates they know little or nothing about him.
His contribution to Positional Astronomy in India started many decades ago. He goes on to explain the events that led to the formation of the Positional Astronomy Centre. The late MN Saha founded the Nautical Almanac Unit under the India Meteorological Department, government of India, in Calcutta on 1 December 1955. As one may be aware, Positional Astronomy is something that involves computing the various parameters involving the sun, moon, planets and stars. Saha’s dream was to create a centre for positional astronomy like those present in the USA, UK, France, Russia or Japan. After his death in 1956, his dream unit suffered negligence.
This was when Bandyopadhyay stepped in as scientific assistant. He took charge of the unit in 1968 after the retirement of NC Lahiri. His first job was to present the poor condition of the Nautical Almanac Unit before the late Hirendra Nath Mookherjee, then member of Parliament.
In 1976, Indira Gandhi set up a high-power committee to look after the promotion of various types of scientific work conducted by the India Meteorological Department and the workings of the Nautical Almanac. Raja Ramanna, then chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, invited Bandyopadhyay to New Delhi to present his case. Ramanna then recommended that this small unit be removed from the administrative control of the director of the Regional Meteorological Office, Calcutta, and be made an independent institute.
The recommendation was implemented with the help of the late AK Saha (MN Saha’s eldest son), who was then director of the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Calcutta, and a scientific member of the IMD Council. Thus was born the Positional Astronomy Centre and Bandyopadhyay became its first director. The PAC is the only institute in India that annually brings out Indian Astronomical Ephemeris. India’s neighbours depend on the copies of this publication for their astronomical works. During his tenure as its first director, he computerised computations of the elements of the Indian Astronomical Ephemeris.
Academic honours Bandyopadhyay has many — member of the International Astronomical Union of Paris, fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of London, life member of the Indian Science Congress Association and more. But it is his dedication to the popularisation of science in India among students that is closest to his heart. Since 1970 he has taken upon himself the task of popularising astronomy in schools and colleges, and for this purpose he has travelled extensively in West Bengal, Assam, Nagaland, Bihar, Orissa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. His popularity among students in remote corners can be understood by just one instance when, on 21 December 1997, he delivered a lecture in a remote West Bengal village before 15,000 people. After retirement from services in 1988, he spent about Rs 1.5 lakh of his Provident Fund earnings on three German slide projectors, expensive foreign bulbs for the projectors, a voltage stabliser, two plastic transportable screens and one four-inch telescope. Despite his age, he continues to travel and teach children all about astronomy. Till December 2006 he’d conducted over 6,000 slide shows on popular astronomy.
Another chapter in his life unfolds when he’s asked about his reaction on astrology. He has studied the subject and has found no rationality in its theories. His 17 November 1991 article in The Statesman — Do Planets Rule Our Lives? — was extremely well received and yet he and his wife were threatened time and again by a section of the community. In fact, The Statesman published a large number of Letters to the Editor after the publication of the article.
In 2000, the University Grants Commission decided to introduce a three-year graduate degree and a PhD level research degree in Vedic Astrology, dubbing it “Jyotis Vigyan”. As a mark of protest, Bandyopadhyay wrote a book in Bengali (which was later translated into English) — Jyotish Kee Adou Bigyan? Hirendra Nath Mookherji, impressed by the book, encouraged him to write the English edition, which even President APJ Abdul Kalam appreciated.
Another of his achievements was the development of the software for the project — Journey to the Sun. The West Bengal Renewable Energy Department Agency launched a new exhibit — Journey to the Sun — on 18 August 2003. It is a simulated ride.
Bandyopadhyay has written more than 2,000 articles on popular astronomy and has done numerous radio and television shows. In recognition of his outstanding contribution, the University of Burdwan conferred on him a DSc degree in 2003. Yet, how many youngsters appreciate his work? A lesson or two can be learnt from this scientist, only if we open our minds to scientific thinking.