8 the comet i

1. THE COMET - I JAYANT NARLIKAR biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

2. Before you read A new comet has appeared in the sky and is heading straight for the earth. A head-on collision, which is nearly unavoidable, will mean the end of life on this planet. Scientists and religious leaders react to this situation in two different ways. What happens to the comet? biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

3. ABOUT THE AUTHOR JAYANT BISHNU NARLIKAR biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

4. Narlikar was born in  Kolhapur , India on July 19, 1938. His father,  Vishnu Vasudev Narlikar , was a mathematician who served as a professor and later as the Head of the Department of Mathematics at  Banaras Hindu University ,  Varanasi . Jayant's mother, Sumati Narlikar , was a scholar of  Sanskrit language . Jayant studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya Banaras (till class 12) and Banaras Hindu University (12th Onwards) campus,  Varanasi . Career.Narlikar received his  Bachelor of Science  degree from Banaras Hindu University in 1957. He then began his studies at  Fitzwilliam House ,  Cambridge University  in England, where he received a B.A. in mathematics in 1959 and was  Senior Wrangler . [2]  This appears to have been the first time, and perhaps the only time, that a student was Senior Wrangler who was a non-collegiate member of the University at the time. In 1960, he won the  Tyson Medal  for astronomy. During his doctoral studies at Cambridge, he won the Smith’s Prize in 1962. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1963 under the guidance of  Fred Hoyle , he served as a Berry Ramsey Fellow at  King's College  in Cambridge and earned an M.A. in astronomy and astrophysics in 1964. He continued to work as a Fellow at King's College until 1972. In 1966, Fred Hoyle established the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy in Cambridge, and Narlikar served as the founder staff member of the institute during 1966-72. Narlikar is internationally known for his work in cosmology, especially in championing models alternative to the popular  Big Bang  model. During 1994-1997, he was the President of the Cosmology Commission of the International Astronomical Union.Narlikar was appointed as the Chairperson of The Advisory Group for Textbooks in Science and Mathematics, the textbook development committee responsible for developing textbooks in Science and Mathematics, published by  NCERT , which are used widely as standard textbooks in many Indian schools. biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

5. GENERAL INTRODUCTION COMETS ARE LIKE SMALL PLANETS AND THEY REVOLVE ROUND THE SUN. BUT THEY COME FROM AFAR, AND SO THEY APPEAR AFTER YEARS, AND EVEN AFTER CENTURIES. THEN THEY DISAPPEAR. THAT IS WHY, YOU CAN ALWAYS DISCOVER A NEW COMET. DUTTADA IS AN AMATEUR SCIENTIST. HE HAS A SMALL TELESCOPE. HIS SECRET AMBITION OF LIFE IS TO DISCOVER A COMET. HE WATCHES THE DARK NIGHT SKIES. ONE DAY HE DISCOVERS A NEW COMET. IT IS CALLED ‘COMET DUTTA. MANY PEOPLE, LIKE DUTTA’S WIFE, INDRANI DEVI, CHERISH SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT COMETS. THEY THINK THAT COMETS BRING CALAMITIES IN THE WORLD. BUT THE SCIENTISTS DO NOT BELIEVE THAT COMETS HAVE ANY HARMFUL EFFECT. BUT ‘COMET DUTTA’ IS SURELY DANGEROUS. IT IS CALCULATED THAT IN TEN MONTHS TIME IT IS GOING TO BE COLLIDE WITH EARTH. AND IF IT DOES, IT WILL MEAN THE END OF LIFE ON THE EARTH. biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

6. SUMMARY OF THE PASSAGE MANOJ DUTTA LIVED ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF KOLKATA. HE HAD A SECRET AMBITION TO DISCOVER A COMET. WHEN HE RETIRED, HE BOUGHT AN 8-INCHC TELESCOPE. HE NAMED IT ‘DIBYACHAKSHU’. HIS WIFE CALLED IT SIMPLY DIBYA. DUTTADA, AS HE WAS POPULARLY KNOWN, SPENT MANY NIGHTS LOOKING AT THE STARS THROUGH DIBYA. ONE MOONLESS NIGHT, DUTTADA DETECTED A NEW FAINT STAR. IN FACT, IT WAS A NEW COMET. AFTER WATCHING IT FOR TWO NIGHTS, HE INFORMED THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF ASTROPHYSICS AT BANGALORE. THEY CONFIRMED THAT DUTTADA HAD DISCOVERED A NEW COMET. THE COMET WAS CALLED ‘COMET DUTTA’. DUTTADA LIKED TO LEAD A QUIET LIFE. BUT HIS DISCOVERY MADE HIM FAMOUS. HE WAS INVITED TO A NUMBER OF FUNCTIONS. DUTTADA WAS FED UP. HE WISHED HE HAD NOT DISCOVERED THE COMET. HIS WIFE ALSO AGREED WITH HIM. BUT HER REASONS WERE DIFFERENT. SHE WAS UNHAPPY BECAUSE HER HUSBAND WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISCOVERY OF AN EVIL OBJECT. DUTTADA TOLD HER THAT COMETS WERE HARMLESS. LIKE PLANETS THEY ORBIT THE SUN. BUT THEIR ORBITS ARE TOO ECCENTRIC. THEY COME FROM AFAR. THEY HAVE A LONGISH TAIL. WHEN THEY COME NEAR THE SUN, THEY SHINE BRIGHTLY. AFTER SOMETIME, THEY DISAPPEAR AGAIN AND DO NOT APPEAR AGAIN FOR YEARS. biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

7. Dr. JAMES FORSYTH WAS A PROFESSOR AT KING’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. HE LEARNT ABOUT COMET DUTTA. HE MADE HIS CALCULATIONS. HE FOUND THAT IN TEN MONTHS’ TIME, COMET DUTTA WAS GOING TO COLLIDE WITH THE EARTH. HE WROTE A PAPER AND SENT IT TO A SCIENTIFIC MAGAZINE, ‘NATURE’. HE WANTED TO HAVE HIS PAPER PUBLISHED IMMEDIATELY. TAYLOR, THE EDITOR OF ‘NATURE’, WAS A FRIEND OF SIR JOHN MACPHERSON, WHO WAS DEFENCE SCIENCE ADVISOR TO THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. TAYLOR SHOWED THE PAPER TO SIR JOHN FOR HIS OPINION. SIR JOHN DID NOT WANT THE PAPER TO BE PUBLISHED IMMEDIATELY. HE SENT FOR Dr. FORSYTH. A SPECIAL MESSENGER WENT TO CAMBRIDGE TO BRING Dr. FORSYTH TO MACPHERSON’S OFFICE AT NIGHT. THE VISIT WAS KEPT SECRET. SIR JOHN GAVE Dr. FORSYTH’S MANUSCRIPT TO HIM. HE SAID THAT HE HAD VERIFIED HIS CALCULATIONS AND THE COLLISION BETWEEN THE EARTH AND COMET DUTTA WAS IMMINENT. HE INSISTED THAT THIS PREDICTION SHOULD BE MADE KNOWN TO THE WHOLE WORLD. BUT SIR JOHN SAID THAT IF THIS INFORMATION REACHED THE PEOPLE, THEY WOULD BE PANICKED. THE COLLISION MEANT THE END OF ALL LIVING BEINGS ON THE EARTH. SO HE ADVISED Dr. JAMES FORSYTH TO REWRITE HIS PAPER. HE WANTED IT TO TONE IT DOWN. HE SHOULD SAY THAT THERE WAS A PROBABILITY OF THE COMET COLLIDING WITH THE EARTH. BUT COLLISION WAS NOT CERTAIN. THEN SIR JOHN DECIDED THAT A SECRET MEETING OF EXPERTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD SHOULD BE HELD. biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

8. SOME SHORT QUESTIONS APART FROM COMPREHENSION CHECK WHAT IS THE NAME OF DUTTADA’S TELESCOPE? WHAT WAS DUTTADA’S SECRET AMBITION? WHY WAS DUTTADA FED UP WITH HIS DISCOVERY? WHAT IS DUTTADA’S OPINION ABOUT COMETS? WHO WAS SIR JOHN MACPHERSON? WHO WAS JAMES FORSYTH? WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE SCIENCE MAGAZINE IN THIS PASSAGE? WHAT DID SIR JOHN MACPHERSON DECIDE TO DO FINALLY? biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

9. COMPREHENSION CHECK WHY DOES INDRANI DEVI DISLIKE DUTTADA’SHOBNOBBING WITH DIBYA? ANS: INDRANI DEBI DISLIKES HER HUSBAND’S HOBNOBBING WITH DIBYA BECAUSE SHE LOOKS UPON DIBYA LIKE A DESIGNING WOMAN. 2. SHE IS COMPLAINING AND SMILING. WHY IS SHE SMILING? ANS: SHE SMILES TO THINK OF CHILDLIKE FORGETFULNESS OF HER HUSBAND. SHE HAS TO TAKE CARE OF HIS NEEDS. 3. i . WHAT WAS DUTTADA’S SECRET AMBITION? ii. WHAT DID HE DO TO ACHIEVE IT? ANS: i.DUTTADA’S SECRET AMBITION WAS TO DISCOVER A NEW COMET. ii. AFTER HIS RETIREMENT, HE BOUGHT AN EIGHT INCHES TELESCOPE AND SET IT ON THE ROOF OF HIS HOUSE. HE REGULARLY GAZED AT THE SKY ON DARK NIGHTS. 4.WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PLANET AND A COMET, AS GIVEN IN THE STORY? ANS: BOTH PLANETS AND COMETS ORBIT ROUND THE SUN BUT THE ORBIT OF A COMET IS HIGHLY ECCENTRIC. IT COMES FROM REMOTE CORNER OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM. IT HAS A LONGISH TAIL THAT IS LIT BRILLIANTLY WHEN IT COMES NEARER THE SUN. 5. WHY WAS DUTTADA HOPEFUL THAT HE WOULD DISCOVER A NEW COMET SOON? ANS: DUTTADA HAD A TINY TELESCOPE. STILL HE HOPED TO DISCOVER A COMET SOON BECAUSE THE PROFESSIONALS WITH GIGANTIC TELESCOPES HAD PRE-ASSIGNED PROGRAMMES. THEY HARDLY TOOK NOTICE OF THE APPEARANCE OF A NEW COMET. AND INDEED, HE SAW A STRANGER AMONG THE KNOWN STARS. HE HOPED THAT IT WAS A COMET. biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

10. 6.WHY DOES DUTTADA SAY –”I ALMOST WISH I HAD NOT DISCOVERED THIS COMET?” ANS: DUTTADA WAS AN INTROVERT. HIS DISCOVERY OF A COMET BROUGHT IN UNWELCOME PUBLICITY. HE WAS OFTEN INVITED TO RECEPTIONS WHICH HE DID NOT LIKE.HE WAS SO FED UP THAT HE WISHED HE HAD NOT DISCOVERED THE COMET. 7. WHY IS HIS WIFE UNHAPPY ABOUT THE DISCOVERY? ANS: INDRANI DEVI BELIEVED THAT COMETS BROUGHT IN CALAMITIES IN THE WORLD. SHE WISHED HER HUSBAND NOT TO ASSOCIATE WITH SUCH A SINISTER OBJECT. 8. HOW DID SIR JOHN GET HOLD OF JAMES’ ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT? ANS: JAMES SENT HIS MANUSCRIPT TO ‘NATURE’ FOR PUBLICATION. NATURE’S EDITOR, TAYLOR, WAS SIR JOHN’S FRIEND. HE GAVE IT TO SIR JOHN TO GIVE HIS OPINION ABOUT IT. 9.WHAT IS THE IMPORTANT POINT THE PAPER MAKES? ANS: THE IMPORTANT POINT IN THE PAPER IS THAT COMET DUTTA IS SURE TO COLLIDE AGAINST EARTH IN TEN MONTHS’ TIME. 10. WHY DOES SIR JOHN SAY THAT JAMES’ PAPER SHOULD NOT BE PUBLISHED? ANS: SIR JOHN REALISES THAT IF JAMES’ PAPER IS PUBLISHED AS IT IS, IT WILL CREATE PANIC ALL OVER THE WORLD. biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

11. 11. WHAT DO THE TWO MEN FINALLY DECIDE TO DO? ANS: FINALLY, THE TWO MEN AGREE THAT A MEETING OF EXPERTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD BE CALLED IN A WEEK’S TIME . THE EXPERTS WILL TRY TO FIND A WAY TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM IMMINENT COLLISION. QUESTIONS FOR ASSIGNMENT WHAT WAS DUTTADA’S SECRET AMBITION? WHEN AND HOW DID HE FULFIL IT? DRAW A PICTURE OF A COMET AND WRITE FEW LINES ON IT. WHAT SOCIAL MESSAGE IS DECLARED THROUGH THE MORAL OF THIS STORY? DISCUSS. biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]

12. Prepared By- Biswarup Mukherjee (TGT English) JNV Hadagarh , Keonjhar Odisha Email id: [email protected] Mobile no. - 09692415878 biswarup mukherjee (jnv keonjhar). [email protected]