Wonder of Wonders

Preface This bouquet of poems is dedicated to my Grandfather who was one of the main source of my interest in Nature and development of curiosity which increased by leaps and bounds when I chose biology as a subject - each lesson enhancing my sense of wonder about natural phenomena which were explained so nicely "by our good teachers, of botany and zoology in particular, that it went on increasing day by day ....

Thereafter a gap of several years ensued but that interest resurfaced when I got an opportunity to update my meager knowledge later on. However, when I tried to do so it proved to be a Herculean task as there has been virtually an explosion in various fields of science-particularly biology, and many new disciplines have emerged - and along with them new wonders have come to light.

But with the active encouragement of my dear wife and sister coupled with revival of interest in English poetry my little effort has bloomed in its present form. The idea here is to present proven scientific facts and theories in Verse (rather than in prose) form in a rhythmic and rhyming manner, in a simple language, to make it interesting and intelligible even to those readers, of other than science background , who were interested in scientific discoveries and understanding of the ways of Nature.

For this purpose effort has been made to cull the latest and precise facts from published works-encyclopedias, reference books and journals and to explain the technical terms through foot notes and a glossary.

Another feature which I have tried to impart to these poems is to refer to Western or Indian mythology, wherever possible, and try to match well known ancient episodes or narratives with some facts or features about modern living organisms or phenomena discovered in our times, in an effort to show that what appears "impossible was plausible" and thus to render the matter more interesting.

Luckily my father had familiarized me with the ancient Greek- Roman and my mother with old Indian mythology and ethos and this has come handy in fulfilling this task as ancient Greeks and Indians were very close to Nature and their scientists and philosophers and our Rishis and munis were very keen observers of nature; in fact various Vedic hymns are dedicated to Nature and ancient treaties on astronomy etc. are a proof positive thereof.

Our modern scientists are also great experimenters and keen observers of the same nature; further aided by modern instruments they have been able to see better and probe deeper into the mysteries of Nature. It’s therefore not surprising if many old observations or speculations made centuries ago find echo in modern scientific discoveries .and I have tried to imagine and draw parallels where ever these are striking.

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