Jagadananda Roy

Jagadananda Roy (Bengali: জগদানন্দ রায; 1869-1933) was an eminent scientific article writer as well as Bengali science fiction 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 who edited a journal called Sadhana and Roy later joined to become a teacher at Rabindranath Tagore's Visva Bharati.

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 published a science fiction book, Shukra Bhraman (Travels to Venus) in 1879, although he probably wrote it in 1857. This described travel to Venus and conjured up alien creatures on Uranus. His humanoid aliens are described as resembling apes, with dense black fur, large heads and long nails. This imaginative science-fiction preceded that of H. G. Wells’ somewhat similar The War of the Worlds (1889) by about a decade.