Jamal Nazrul Islam dies at 74

Celebrated mathematician, physicist, cosmologist and Professor Emeritus of Chittagong University Dr Jamal Nazrul Islam passed away at the age of 74 at a private hospital in Chittagong late on Friday.

He was suffering from diabetes and heart diseases, his former colleague and Director of Chittagong University's Research Centre for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Dr Abul Mansur told bdnews24.com.

The professor left behind his wife and two daughters.

His Namaz-e-Janaza will be held at Jamiatul Falah mosque in Chittagong on Sunday. He will be buried at Garibullah Shah Mazar graveyard.

Jamal Nazrul Islam was born on Jan 24, 1939 in Jhenaidah city. He was raised in Kolkata along with his family.

He studied BSc in Mathematics from Calcutta University.

He got his Honours and Masters in Functional Mathematics and Theoretical Physics from the Cambridge University and was later awarded Doctorate (PhD) in Physics.

Dr Islam worked in the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy in Cambridge from 1967 to 1971. He was also a faculty member at the King’s College (London) from 1973-74 following his research in the California Institute of Technology and Washington University.

He was also a faculty at the City University of London from 1978-84.

On his return to Bangladesh in 1984 Dr Islam joined the Chittagong University and later retired from there.

Jamal Nazrul was also involved with culturalal and social welfare. He had written to the Prime Minister of England in 1971 urging to stop Pakistani attacks on Bangladesh.

He wrote several books to encourage research conducted in mother tongue.

In one of his columns, the Professor wrote in bdnews24.com, “Many think, they cannot do research if they do not know English. This is wrong. Quality research can be done in mother tongue.”

He was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2001 for his research in mother tongue Bengali. He received the Bangladesh Science Academy Gold Medal in 1985.

He also received many other recognition during his lifetime.

Scientists across the globe were moved by one of his publications ‘The Ultimate Fate of The Universe’ in 1983. It was translated in Japanese, French, Portuguese and Yugoslav languages.

Some of his other works were Classical General Relativity, Rotating Fields in General Relativity, An Introduction to Mathematical Cosmology, Sky and Telescope.