A new book examines why belief in myths and superstitions thrive in the age of science

Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray (1861-1944) is also called the “Father of Modern Indian Chemistry” in India. In one of his popular science articles written in Bengali, “Satyer Sandhaan” (Search for Truth), he says:

I have been teaching for half a century; in this period I have told thousands of students that solar and lunar eclipses are not caused by the demons Rahu and Ketu devouring the sun and the moon; and that eclipses do not end due to the prayers of the humans and the demons releasing the sun and the moon; that these beliefs are false and products of imagination. For half a century I have told this to the students. They listened and agreed. But during the eclipses, the moment conch shells are blown in the houses, the moment prayer processions come out in the streets, these educated people also join the processions and throw away their food.

In India, we often witness even today what PC Ray had recorded about a hundred years ago. Leave the common citizens alone; even scientists and researchers observe rituals based on laughable superstitions. Some scientists do not eat during eclipses, break coconuts, recite prayers or put a swastika mark on imported instruments and machines. The...

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