Professor Dr. Gokulananda Mahapatra was born on 24 May 1922 at Bhadrak, Odisha He had his primary education at his village school and completed his Matriculation from Bhadrak high school in the year 1941. He did his graduation with chemistry honours from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack in the year 1945. Then he went on to do MSc in Chemistry from Presidency College, Kolkata in the year 1947 and did his with PhD from the Utkal University in the year 1958 in Chemistry on"Synthesis of new Hetero cyclic compounds and their Mercurial derivatives and testing theirBiological activities .He was awarded the Cooper Memorial Gold Medal for producing the best research paper inOrganic Chemistry in Journal of Institution of Chemist,1959and was awarded Fellow of Institution of Chemists, Calcutta (F.I.C)in the year 1961. Gokulananda Mahapatra has authored over 95 science fiction Science Novel and children science books and biography of some renowned scientists and many others. Some of his notable contributions are "Krutrima Upagraha"( Artificial Satellite,1958) "Sputnik (1958), Madhyanhara Andhakara (Darkness of the Noon,1959) Udhanta Thalia (The Flying Saucer,1963) "Chandra ra Mrutyu"(Death of Moon,1966), Sunara Odisha (Golden Odisha,1973).In a lucid style he had portrayed the impact of science on human civilization and how human life is influenced by scientific and technological discoveries and invention His fiction played a significant role in the consolidation of the contemporary scientific imagination. He had a good sense of scientific realism and knew the art of combining it with fantasy. He is known as the H.G.Wells of Odisha.
