Biman Basu

C-203, Hindon Apartments,
25, Vasundhara Enclave,
DELHI-110096
India
E-mail: basu_biman@yahoo.com
Contacts: Ph: phone no. 22610620 or
9810043843 (mobile).

A science communicator by profession, Biman Basu (b.1945) has been making significant contribution to the S&T scenario in the Indian subcontinent through his popular science writings, radio talks and popular lectures for more than three decades,. A prolific writer on a wide range of S&T topics, he writes in English, Bengali and Hindi and has written for both adults and children. As editor of the popular science monthly Science Reporter (published by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research), he has regularly reviewed books on a wide range of science topics for his own journal and for other publications also. He has to his credit more than 600 popular science articles and over 200 radio talks and features. His popular science articles in English have appeared in most of the major national newspapers of the country and also in periodicals like the Reader's Digest, Computers Today, Yojana, and Indian & Foreign Review. He has also been writing for special issues of the prestigious Bengali weekly Desh, and has been a regular contributor to the Bengali children's monthly Kishore Jnan Bijnan. He has also written ten popular science books, some of which have been reprinted several times. Some of his books have also been translated into other Indian languages - Assamese, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, and Tamil.

Basu has been a science broadcaster over All India Radio since 1975. His popular science talks and features are regularly broadcast on the national and overseas network. He has been involved in the production of several editions of national science magazine programmes like 'Radioscope' and 'Science Scan', dealing with current developments in S&T. He has also interviewed several eminent Indian and foreign scientists including Herman Bondi, Roger Penrose, and Nobel laureates Severo Ochoa, and George Porter for Science Reporter and All India Radio.

One of biggest S&T communication projects conceptualized and executed by Basu was the 140-episode radio serial on the topic 'Human Evolution', which was broadcast simultaneously in 18 languages every Sunday morning from 2nd June 1991 up to 20th February 1994 from all the broadcasting centers of All India Radio. The basic outline of the serial was prepared by Basu in association with other experts after extensive literature survey and discussions. He was also involved in scripting of the serial. The main idea behind the project was to present in an easily comprehensible form for children of age group 10-14 the entire history of the human kind, beginning from the birth of the universe with the Big Bang, going on to birth of stars and planets of our solar system, appearance of life on Earth and its slow but steady evolution into more complex forms, culminating in the appearance of modern humans, and their many faceted intellectual forays into the world of the unknown.

Basu has been assisting several organizations including the National Book Trust, Bal Bhawan Society, National Open Schools, and the National Science Centre, Delhi, in their science popularization programmes as a consultant and also by participating in interaction programmes with children. He has been invited to deliver popular science talks at Aligarh Muslim University, National Physical Laboratory, Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC), and several schools and colleges in Delhi. He has also delivered talks on 'Popular Science Writing' for training courses organized at the National Institute of Science Communication (NISCOM), Defence Scientific Information and Documentation Centre (DESIDOC), Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), and Staff Training Institute of All India Radio.

 Jill May

24737 Bashian Drive,
Novi, MI 48375-2941,
USA
E-mail: jillmay@teleweb.net
Phones:
Home: (248) 473-7137
Cell:    (248) 231-2568
Fax:    (248) 486-9722

Driven by a passion for literature, Jill May resides in Novi, Michigan, where she's currently pursuing her own writing career. She enjoys suspension of disbelief stories as well as mysteries, including medical mysteries/thrillers. Ms. May has a special fondness for the art of short story writing. She achieved outstanding marks for her short stories in Creative Writing at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, MI, and was subsequently invited to join a group of talented and successful writers. She also won praise for one of her short stories from Detroit native, Jim Daniels, whose first book won him The Brittingham Prize for Poetry.

Ms. May draws inspiration from authors like Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D, whose novella, "The Gift of Story," was published in 1993 by Ballantine Books. Like Estes, Jill believes stories really are the thread beneath all glorious gowns. She learned communicating through storytelling as a child when her parents and grandparents shared their own tales. She's also learned that there is no greater comfort after the death of a loved one than love itself...and the stories they left behind. Whether they instruct, enlighten or entertain, stories are a necessary and essential part of life. The storyteller may die, but the story never fades until there is no one left to tell it. Indeed, Jill firmly believes that stories are our most precious gift to one another.

 Dhanalakshmi Ayyer

Flat 9, Riverview Apartments
23 (Old 12) First Crescent Park Road
Gandhi Nagar
Chennai 600 020
E-mail: dhanalakshmi60@yahoo.co.in
Phones:
(044) 24910718
Cell: 98410-10718

Born on 26 Dec 1960, Dhanalakshmi Ayyer completed her post-graduation in Economics from the Guwahati University, where she also did her graduation. She had her schooling in Kolkatta and Guwahati, and thus have a sound working knowledge of Bengali and Assamese, apart from Tamil, her mother-tongue, and Hindi, too.

Dhanalakshmi has an inherent love for the English language, and literature, and also history and social sciences, religion and philosophy. Anything worth reading in on her plate, and she spends much of her time reading.

Dhanalakshmi has been regularly reviewing books on development economics, management, media-related topics and sociology for almost ten years. She has also reviewed books on history, current affairs, international relations, child development and several other humanities-related subjects. She is also an experienced editor of books in these areas.