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TMYS spoke to eight authors who have a Science background and/or have written Science Fiction, trying to understand how they have brilliantly merged the seemingly disparate worlds of Science and Art.
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RICHA LAKHERA
Author of HUNGRY GODS. Richa studied B.Sc. in Analytical Chemistry & Biotechnology and went further to complete her M.Sc. in Chemistry.
About the book: Hungry Gods is about the acquisitive spirit of a people who work in collusion with a greedy pharmaceutical company which specializes in exploiting and acquiring. The book brings together a superstar brand ambassador, a pharmaceutical company hellbent on pushing unsafe drugs and talented druggist who uses his remarkable pharmaceutical knowledge about colloid derivative based poisons to extract his revenge.
Author Speaks: “My knowledge and love for Chemistry was crucial in the telling of the story. The protagonist had to be a talented with the knowledge of poisons, he was a talented druggist with remarkable pharmaceutical knowledge about piperidine complexes and colloid derivatives etc. In the book I have used the concept of a reverse biocide. In science, biocides are known as life-sustaining, they help in nurturing, perpetuate balance of nature. But this poison is reverse, an Omnicide—a mimic, closest to what is called an Organic Death Particle. It’s believed to lead to the irreversible destruction of a living organism. I also used a bit of knowledge about biocides which are synthetic, but a class of natural biocides can be derived from bacteria plants, even fish. Poison lends itself most conveniently to a good murder with it’s worm-like stealth.
KATE KELLY
Author of RED ROCK. Kate has a background in Geology and Oceanography, her Masters dissertation focussing on marine Geophysics. She now works as a marine scientist in the Technology sector.
About the book: With her dying breath 14-year-old Danni’s aunt entrusts her with a strange, small rock. But what is the rock for and to what lengths must Danni go to keep it safe? Danni soon discovers that friends are not always what they seem and a rock is not always just a rock.
Author Speaks: “I have always been fascinated by the sea. I live by it. It’s both my work and where I spend much of my free time. It is therefore inevitable that the sea will feature in my writing. In Red Rock I’ve explored the effects of Climate change and rising sea levels on our world. The world Danni travels through has seen a 12m sea level rise and the scenario I describe explores what this would do to the geography of the societies around the coastal areas. Danni travels to an ice-free Greenland, through the flooded cities of Cambridge and Naples, in a world that is beginning to fall apart.”
SONALI RAJE
Author of THE EMPRESS OF INDRAPRASTHA - ENTERING KURUVANSH. Sonali Raje has a doctorate in Biochemistry from the University of Delaware and a Masters in Organic Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. She currently works as an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Towson University, Maryland, USA. The Empress of Indraprastha is her first stab at creative writing.
About the book: It is the first part of a pentalogy on Draupadi from a feminist viewpoint. The series is a fan-fictional recreation of the Mahabharat, using different versions of the epic. Part one is dedicated to the theme of inclusivity; championing gender-equality for boys, girls, and trans-gender people.
Author Speaks: “For my research over several years, I routinely synthesize available Chemistry literature to develop my own projects. I also collaborate with interdisciplinary faculty members to secure extramural funding for research. I have applied this training to my writing. I drew upon multiple storylines of the Mahabharat and my own vision to recreate the epic. Over the series, the characters engage in several scientific and engineering practices. The women work in collaboration instead of competition. Without using jargons, concepts of Knot Theory from Mathematics, solubility and polarity from chemistry, ecology, magnetism, and applied physics, have been used to develop the plotline.”
RHYS HUGHES
Author of HOW MANY TIMES? Rhys has a background in Engineering (M.Eng level) and has taught Mathematics in several universities.
About the book: Experimental fiction based on Mathematics in form and theme. Stories created using rigid numerical constraints, works in the form of grids that can be read in any direction, and a logico-erotic tale in which the permutations of the sexual acts are based on the workings of logic gates.
Author Speaks: “My interest in fiction writing and my interest in Mathematics may seem to be frictional, but they can be productively combined. Stories might have numbers as characters and plots can develop as equations do, combining with other plots to produce startling results, not to mention the fact that Mathematics underpins symmetry and beauty and itself is symmetrically beautiful. As for the worry that Mathematical stories are too complex to appeal to the average reader, I say that the idea of an ‘average’ reader is also mathematical. If a mathematical structure is seamlessly blended into the story there is no danger of the reader becoming distracted or confused.”
TANUSHREE PODDER
Author of DECODING THE FERONIA FILES, a Science Fiction and Thriller. Tanushree is a Science graduate.
About the book: Can the weather be controlled? If so, can it be weaponized? The USA set up HAARP in 1993 to research weather modification. Its covert experiments caused unexplained weather changes like cloudbursts, tsunamis, floods, and earthquakes, leading to massive destruction across the globe. The book takes readers on a global journey to trace the scientists who are conducting experiments that could open a new weapon of destruction—the climate.
Author Speaks: “Decoding the Feronia Files is a cli-fi, that details the methods involved in weather modification. Weather modification is a highly complex subject. One needs a scientific temperament to understand it and place it in simple words for the readers. Writing sci-fi requires a tremendous creativity, knowledge, and writing expertise. Sci-Fi thrillers are basically about real-life facts, extended into the unseen future. Inconsistencies or an absence of credibility can ruin a sci-fi. I could not have written the book without a science background.”
S.VENKATESH
Author of AGNIBAAN. S.Venkatesh has a B Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. He has also been an investor and Board member in several companies in the power sector.
About the book: AgniBaan blends an ancient mystical link between Egypt and India with a modern-day conspiracy involving electronic warfare and climate change. The story is a saga that spans multiple centuries and continents, underscoring the links that bind humans across time and space.
Author Speaks: “Writing AgniBaan provided me an opportunity to blend my imagination with actual scientific trends I witnessed as an investor and advisor to power and technology companies. It also led me to dust the cobwebs off some of my electrical engineering books. The conspiracy in AgniBaan brings together cutting-edge research in High Temperature Superconductivity and advances in electronic warfare. My background enabled me to take a complex concept, distil it into simple words that can be understood by a layperson, and give it a unique twist tinged with danger and suspense.”
HARSHITA NANDA
Author of XANADU: THREE SOULS SEARCHING FOR THEIR PARADISE. Harshita has completed her B.E.(Hons) Electrical and Electronics and M.Sc. in Physics.
About the Book: A young girl lives a simple life surrounded by nature and her parents' love. An earthquake destroys her home and changes her life forever. A young boy struggles with the loss of his mother. As a reward for honesty, he gets a step up in life but has to leave behind all that is familiar to him. An old lady lives alone, surrounded by memories and whispers of the past. What is the link between them? Where is their Xanadu?
Author Speaks: “In engineering, one needs to be logical, while in fiction one exists in an imaginary world. And yet, one can apply logic in fiction too. While I did not use any software tools, I did plot my time linearly, making sure that there was logic behind the actions of my characters. My book relies heavily on cause and effect. The way the characters react sets off chain reactions, which in hindsight, follows Newton's principle of action/reaction that I subconsciously used.
GAURAV SHARMA
Author of LOVE @ AIR FORCE. The author has completed his B.Sc and M.A. and is a teacher Mathematics.
About the book: Love @ Air Force is the story of four school friends on the backdrop of Air Force. They meet after twenty years only to find how the rank discrimination in armed forces spoils lives.
Author Speaks: “Being a student of Mathematics not only helps in understanding life logically but it also helps in writing. When you're teaching mathematics ten hours a day, you tend to analyse everything you do with reasons and rationales and that helps you to not get carried away by emotions. I think, that is essential for weaving stories.”