Views Bangladesh Logo
author image

Abdul Gaffar Rony

  • Science Writer

Science Writer

Politics over tea and master of nitrite
master of nitrite
Science

Politics over tea and master of nitrite

Faults are thick where love is thin — the same thing happened in the case of Acharya Prafulla Roy. He studied in Britain. It was there that he made his name as a scientist. Yet he never bowed his head to British imperialism. When the Swadeshi Movement was gaining momentum in the then British India, this pioneer of science raised his voice in opposition to the British. He regularly wrote against them. After ammunition production and indigo cultivation, the British began tea cultivation on the land of this country. And that tea was, of course, exported abroad; but the vast Indian subcontinent itself was a huge market?

Love, politics and the Galois tragedy
Galois tragedy
Science

Love, politics and the Galois tragedy

Love makes people immortal, teaches them how to love, and from love comes the inspiration to build the world. Love is sacred, love is beautiful, but it can also turn cruel. Love lays out the net of betrayal and destroys human lives. How many lives are lost each year due to the betrayal of love—who keeps count? The love and betrayal of ordinary people may not have much impact on society. A betrayed lover may end his life in an obscure corner of a city or in a remote village, and the world doesn’t bat an eyelid. But if a life is lost to deceitful love — a life to whom mathematics, science or the world itself is indebted — then the tragic tale of that betrayal-stained love cannot be erased from the earth even after ages or centuries have passed.

Battles in Europe using gunpowder from Bengal
gunpowder from Bengal
Special Content

Battles in Europe using gunpowder from Bengal

When the sun sets in the East, the Western sky is tinged with the light of dawn. Today, the Middle East trembles under Western arms; on either side of the Wagah border, foreign aircraft or drones ignite the lands of India and Pakistan. Yet, in earlier times, the soil of Europe shuddered under the weaponry of India and medieval Bengal.

Immortality, saltpetre and Bengal’s first weapon of war
Bengal’s first weapon of war
Special Content

Immortality, saltpetre and Bengal’s first weapon of war

His father was the ruler of Fergana in Uzbekistan. Conspirators overthrew him and seized the throne. The king was killed. The son took refuge in the remote mountains surrounded by deep forests. From there, he carried out rapid raids, capturing small caravans to gather troops and resources. Each successful attack made him stronger. Later, he regained control of Fergana. Growing even more powerful, he advanced further south. At one point, he even conquered the whole of Afghanistan. Then he set his sights on India, like a bird aiming for its prey. His dream grew bigger. With a vast army and entourage, he arrived at the banks of the Indus River. At that time, the throne of India was held by Ibrahim Lodi — a formidable emperor. Defeating him required something extraordinary. That special thing the young man had acquired from the Turks: a large iron pipe with two wheels on either side.

Half-eaten apple, world war and Alan Turing
Half-eaten apple
Special Content

Half-eaten apple, world war and Alan Turing

“On the day I disappear, you will understand, from the twilight stars beyond the west, you will then inquire about me…”—just like this poem by Kazi Nazrul Islam, by the time the government of the United Kingdom admitted its mistake, it was already too late. Alan Turing, the theoretical pioneer of the modern computer, had already ended his own life over 5.5 decades before British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in 2009, said that the UK government had made a mistake in the 1950s. “The fault lay in the UK’s judicial and legal system. As a result, one of the most brilliant individuals in our history was unjustly sentenced. For this, the UK government is ashamed and apologetic,” he said.

The Russo-American nuclear war and an Oppenheimer
The Russo-American nuclear war and an Oppenheimer
Science

The Russo-American nuclear war and an Oppenheimer

When Rome was burning, Nero was playing the fiddle—there is some doubt about the truth of this proverb. But while nuclear bombs were dancing a dance of destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, US President Harry Truman was smiling in victory. It was so grotesque that he didn’t hesitate for a moment to insult Oppenheimer, the head of their nuclear bomb project.