Release the Bird

लेखकाविषय : 

डॉ. बाळ फोंडके,

ज्येष्ठ वैज्ञानिक आणि विज्ञानलेखक

तेवीस वर्षे भाभा अणुसंशोधन केंद्रात भौतिकी क्षेत्रातील संशोधनानंतर ‘सायन्स टुडे’ या अग्रेसर  विज्ञानमासिकाचे प्रमुख संपादकपद डॉ. बाळ फोंडके यांनी भूषवले. त्यानंतर टाइम्स ऑफ इंडिया  समूहातील सर्व दैनिक वृत्तपत्रांचे ते विज्ञान संपादक होते. १९८९ मध्ये तत्कालीन पंतप्रधान राजीव गांधी  यांच्या आमंत्रणावरून दिल्लीला ‘नॅशनल इन्स्टिट्यूट ऑफ सायन्स कम्युनिकेशन’ या ‘सीएसआयआर’च्या  संस्थे चे संचालकपद त्यांनी स्वीकारले. 

गेल्या साडेचार दशकांहून अधिक काळ त्यांनी विज्ञानविषयक लेख आणि सकस विज्ञानकथांचे लेखन  केले आहे. इंग्लिश व मराठी भाषांत मिळून आजवर त्यांची ७०हून अधिक पुस्तके प्रकाशित झाली आहेत.

केंद्र सरकारच्या विज्ञान तंत्रज्ञान विभागाने तयार केलेल्या, देशाच्या विकासासाठी आवश्यक तंत्रज्ञानाचा  आढावा घेणाऱ्या ‘टेक्नॉलॉजी व्हिजन २०३५’ या दस्तावेजाचे लेखन करण्यातही त्यांचा महत्त्वाचा सहभाग होता.

About the Author:
Dr. Bal Phondke is a senior scientist and science writer. After conducting research in the field of physics for twenty-three years at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, he served as the chief editor of Science Today, a leading science magazine. Later, he worked as the science editor for all the daily newspapers of the Times of India group. In 1989, at the invitation of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, he moved to Delhi and accepted the position of Director of the National Institute of Science Communication, an institution of CSIR. For more than four and a half decades, he has been writing articles on science as well as well-crafted science fiction stories. So far, more than 70 of his books have been published in English and Marathi. He also played an important role in preparing the document Technology Vision 2035, created by the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology, which reviews the technologies necessary for the country’s development.