ALLEN ABRAHAM (Ambalavanar Subramaniar) and the Halley’s Comet

This book is a biography of a man named Ambalavanar Subramaniar who later became better known as Allen Abraham. He hailed from an islet off a peninsula in the far north of the tropical island nation Sri Lanka. It was late nineteenth century and the person in question was an orphaned boy who turned out to be a gifted mathematician. He took a particular interest in analysing the trajectory of heavenly bodies using measurements obtained from a simple desk-mounted 3.5 inch telescope at his humble abode. Such was his brilliance that he was able to predict the transit of Halley’s Comet in 1910 with greater accuracy than any of the other astronomers around the world. It was the inclusion of the gravitational effects of planet Venus in his analyses that gave a more accurate result. The greater influence on comet Halley by Venus due to its proximity was yet to be discovered by other astronomers and this was  a contributory factor for their errors in the calculations. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society of the United Kingdom in 1912, the first native Ceylonese to receive that honour. The most impressive aspect of this book is the abundance of evidential material that has been included in a methodical manner. The author must have spent years obtaining copies of century-old documents from the archives.

He was very much admired not only as a Professor of Mathematics at Jaffna College but also as a scholar of Tamil language and literature. Although the contents of the book are dominated by his achievements on the astronomical front, they also cover his prowess as a devout Christian who excelled at singing Hindu hymns with passion and devotion. In addition, he composed his own songs which are sung at places of worship today. It takes an incredible amount of patience, dedication, and perseverance to conduct this kind of search over a very long period. The whole book is elegantly structured and laid out in an easy-to-read format with well-articulated prose combined with plenty of illustrations throughout. This book is a must read for all interested not only in astronomy but also the unusual set of circumstances which led to flashes of inspiration every now and then. The author has gone beyond a traditional narrative by providing a masterpiece of the fascinating account of the life of one man. He is to be congratulated on successfully creating a publication where all the claims are supported by documentary evidence. This book is thought provokingly enjoyable from the beginning to the end and is unreservedly recommended.

Thurai Rahulan PhD FRAeS