Books by Sportspersons and Scientists: Author Pairs
Books and authors notes for exams: autobiographies of Indian cricketers and Olympians, books by Kalam, Hawking and Darwin, and ancient Indian science treatises.
By GK24 Editorial Team· Published · 4 min read
Questions on books and authors are among the easiest marks in a general awareness paper, and two groups of writers appear again and again: sportspersons who have told their own story, and scientists who have explained their work to ordinary readers. A single line is enough to answer them, but only if the title and the name are learnt as a pair. This chapter collects the autobiographies of Indian cricketers, Olympians and chess players, the books of Indian and world scientists, and the classical treatises of ancient Indian science, in the form in which SSC, Railway, Banking and State papers ask them.
Autobiographies of Indian cricketers
Cricket produces more books than any other Indian sport, and examiners prefer the ones whose titles are distinctive.
| Book | Written by |
|---|---|
| Playing It My Way | Sachin Tendulkar |
| Straight from the Heart | Kapil Dev |
| Sunny Days | Sunil Gavaskar |
| A Century Is Not Enough | Sourav Ganguly |
| The Test of My Life | Yuvraj Singh |
Sunil Gavaskar also wrote Idols, Runs and Ruins and One Day Wonders, so a question may name any of the four and expect the same author. Yuvraj Singh's book carries the subtitle From Cricket to Cancer and Back, which is itself a clue in the options.
Books by Olympians and other sportspersons
| Book | Written by | Sport |
|---|---|---|
| The Race of My Life | Milkha Singh | Athletics |
| Unbreakable | Mary Kom | Boxing |
| A Shot at History | Abhinav Bindra | Shooting |
| Playing to Win | Saina Nehwal | Badminton |
| Ace Against Odds | Sania Mirza | Tennis |
| Mind Master | Viswanathan Anand | Chess |
| Goal! | Dhyan Chand | Hockey |
Abhinav Bindra's book has the subtitle My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold and was written with the sports writer Rohit Brijnath. Viswanathan Anand's Mind Master is subtitled Winning Lessons from a Champion's Life. Keep biographies separate from autobiographies: Driven: The Virat Kohli Story was written about Virat Kohli by Vijay Lokapally, not by the cricketer himself, and that difference is a favourite trap.
Books by scientists of the modern era
The best known name in this group is A P J Abdul Kalam, aerospace scientist and the eleventh President of India, whose books are asked in the history, science and books chapters alike. Wings of Fire is his autobiography, written with Arun Tiwari, and it traces his life from Rameswaram to the missile programme. India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, written with Y S Rajan, sets out a plan for a developed India. Ignited Minds, My Journey, Turning Points and Indomitable Spirit are his other titles. Jagadish Chandra Bose, who showed that plants respond to stimuli, wrote Response in the Living and Non-Living. The ornithologist Salim Ali, called the Birdman of India, wrote The Book of Indian Birds and an autobiography named The Fall of a Sparrow. Venki Ramakrishnan, the Nobel laureate in chemistry, described his research in Gene Machine, and the astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar wrote An Introduction to the Study of Stellar Structure.
Classics of world science
| Book | Written by | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| On the Origin of Species | Charles Darwin | Evolution by natural selection |
| Principia Mathematica | Isaac Newton | Laws of motion and gravitation |
| A Brief History of Time | Stephen Hawking | Cosmology for the general reader |
| The Selfish Gene | Richard Dawkins | Gene-centred view of evolution |
| Silent Spring | Rachel Carson | Effects of pesticides on nature |
| The Double Helix | James Watson | Discovery of the structure of DNA |
Stephen Hawking also wrote The Universe in a Nutshell and The Grand Design, and Charles Darwin followed his first book with The Descent of Man. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring is asked in the environment chapter as well, because it began the modern environmental movement.
Treatises of ancient and medieval Indian science
The oldest questions in this family come from Sanskrit works whose authors were astronomers, mathematicians and physicians. Learn them as pairs and the marks are certain.
| Work | Author | Field |
|---|---|---|
| Aryabhatiya | Aryabhata | Astronomy and mathematics |
| Brahmasphutasiddhanta | Brahmagupta | Mathematics, rules for zero |
| Siddhanta Shiromani, with its section Lilavati | Bhaskara II | Mathematics and astronomy |
| Brihat Samhita | Varahamihira | Astronomy and natural science |
| Charaka Samhita | Charaka | Medicine |
| Sushruta Samhita | Sushruta | Surgery |
How to remember the pairs
- Attach the title to the sport or the science, not only to the name: shooting for A Shot at History, boxing for Unbreakable, chess for Mind Master.
- Watch for a subtitle in the option, because it often names the theme and settles the answer.
- Separate autobiography from biography; a book about a player is usually written by a journalist.
- Kalam's titles are the most asked of any Indian scientist, so learn all of them together.
Exam Point of View
Every paper carries at least one book and author question, and it is answered in seconds if the pairs are learnt. Examiners choose titles that sound alike, so options often mix two cricketers or two shooters, and the safest method is to link the title to the sport or the field before looking at the names. Watch for the autobiography and biography distinction, which is tested through Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid, about whom others have written. Kalam's titles are asked more than those of any other Indian scientist, and the same question may appear in the science or the modern history section. The ancient treatises form their own block: learn Aryabhatiya, Brahmasphutasiddhanta, Siddhanta Shiromani, Brihat Samhita, Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita together, because papers list all six as options in a single question.
Important Facts
| Playing It My Way | Sachin Tendulkar, cricket |
|---|---|
| Straight from the Heart | Kapil Dev, cricket |
| Sunny Days | Sunil Gavaskar, cricket |
| A Century Is Not Enough | Sourav Ganguly, cricket |
| The Race of My Life | Milkha Singh, athletics |
| Unbreakable | Mary Kom, boxing |
| A Shot at History | Abhinav Bindra, shooting |
| Playing to Win | Saina Nehwal, badminton |
| Ace Against Odds | Sania Mirza, tennis |
| Mind Master | Viswanathan Anand, chess |
| Wings of Fire | A P J Abdul Kalam, with Arun Tiwari |
| The Book of Indian Birds | Salim Ali, the Birdman of India |
| A Brief History of Time | Stephen Hawking, cosmology |
| On the Origin of Species | Charles Darwin, 1859 |
| Silent Spring | Rachel Carson, pesticides and the environment |
| Aryabhatiya and Brahmasphutasiddhanta | Aryabhata and Brahmagupta |
| Siddhanta Shiromani and Brihat Samhita | Bhaskara II and Varahamihira |
| Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita | Charaka on medicine, Sushruta on surgery |
Practice MCQs on this topic
The autobiography 'Playing It My Way' was written by which sportsperson?
- A.Rahul Dravid
- B.Sachin Tendulkar
- C.Sourav Ganguly
- D.Virender Sehwag
Show answer
Playing It My Way is the autobiography of the batsman Sachin Tendulkar, published in 2014 soon after he retired, and it was written with the sports writer Boria Majumdar.
Read the full explanation →'Wings of Fire' is the autobiography of which Indian scientist?
- A.Homi Jehangir Bhabha
- B.Vikram Sarabhai
- C.A P J Abdul Kalam
- D.C V Raman
Show answer
Wings of Fire was written by the aerospace scientist and eleventh President of India, A P J Abdul Kalam, along with Arun Tiwari, and it traces his life from a modest childhood at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to his work on the satellite launch vehicle and the missile programme.
Read the full explanation →Who is the author of the popular science book 'A Brief History of Time'?
- A.Carl Sagan
- B.Stephen Hawking
- C.Richard Dawkins
- D.James Watson
Show answer
The British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking wrote A Brief History of Time in 1988 to explain the Big Bang, black holes and the nature of time to readers without a background in physics, and it became one of the best-selling science books ever published.
Read the full explanation →'The Race of My Life' is the autobiography of which Indian sportsperson?
- A.Milkha Singh
- B.P T Usha
- C.Gurbachan Singh Randhawa
- D.Sriram Singh
Show answer
The Race of My Life was written by the sprinter Milkha Singh, known as the Flying Sikh, together with his daughter Sonia Sanwalka, and it describes his childhood during Partition, his rise in Indian athletics and the fourth place in the 400 metres at the 1960 Rome Olympics that he…
Read the full explanation →The autobiography 'Unbreakable' was written by which Indian sportsperson?
- A.Saina Nehwal
- B.Mary Kom
- C.Sania Mirza
- D.Sakshi Malik
Show answer
Unbreakable is the autobiography of the boxer M C Mary Kom of Manipur, a multiple world champion and an Olympic bronze medallist at London in 2012, and the book describes her journey from a farming family in Manipur to the world stage while raising a family.
Read the full explanation →'A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold' was written by which Indian sportsperson?
- A.Gagan Narang
- B.Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
- C.Abhinav Bindra
- D.Jaspal Rana
Show answer
The shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won the ten metre air rifle gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and became independent India's first individual Olympic gold medallist, wrote this book with the sports journalist Rohit Brijnath.
Read the full explanation →'Straight from the Heart' is the autobiography of which cricketer?
- A.Kapil Dev
- B.Mohinder Amarnath
- C.Bishan Singh Bedi
- D.Ravi Shastri
Show answer
Straight from the Heart is the autobiography of the all-rounder Kapil Dev, who captained India to its first cricket World Cup title in 1983 at Lord's and who was the first bowler to take four hundred Test wickets.
Read the full explanation →The book 'On the Origin of Species' was written by which scientist?
- A.Gregor Mendel
- B.Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
- C.Charles Darwin
- D.Alfred Wallace
Show answer
Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, setting out the theory that species change over generations through natural selection, in which individuals better suited to their surroundings leave more offspring.
Read the full explanation →The ancient astronomical and mathematical treatise 'Aryabhatiya' was composed by:
- A.Varahamihira
- B.Aryabhata
- C.Brahmagupta
- D.Bhaskara II
Show answer
The Aryabhatiya is a short Sanskrit work in verse, written by the astronomer and mathematician Aryabhata, which states an accurate approximation for pi, explains the daily rotation of the earth as the cause of the apparent motion of the stars, and gives the correct reason for eclipses.
Read the full explanation →The book 'Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a Champion's Life' was written by:
- A.Viswanathan Anand
- B.Koneru Humpy
- C.Pentala Harikrishna
- D.Gukesh Dommaraju
Show answer
Mind Master was written by the chess Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand with the writer Susan Ninan, and it sets out the lessons in concentration, preparation and handling defeat that Anand drew from his world championship matches.
Read the full explanation →'Sunny Days' is the autobiography of which Indian cricketer?
- A.Sunil Gavaskar
- B.Dilip Vengsarkar
- C.Gundappa Viswanath
- D.Ajit Wadekar
Show answer
Sunny Days was written by the opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar, whose nickname was Sunny, and it covers his early career including the record-breaking debut series in the West Indies.
Read the full explanation →'The Book of Indian Birds' was written by which Indian scientist?
- A.Salim Ali
- B.Jagadish Chandra Bose
- C.Birbal Sahni
- D.M S Swaminathan
Show answer
Salim Ali, known as the Birdman of India, was the ornithologist whose surveys built the modern study of Indian birds, and The Book of Indian Birds is his best-known work, long used as a field guide.
Read the full explanation →Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an autobiography and a biography in these questions?
An autobiography is written by the person about themselves, while a biography is written by someone else. Playing It My Way is Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography, but Driven: The Virat Kohli Story was written about Virat Kohli by the journalist Vijay Lokapally. Examiners place both kinds in the options, so read the stem carefully to see which is being asked.
Which books of A P J Abdul Kalam are asked most often?
Wings of Fire, his autobiography written with Arun Tiwari, is the most asked. After it come India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium, written with Y S Rajan, Ignited Minds, Turning Points, My Journey and Indomitable Spirit. Learn the six together, because a single question may set two of them against each other in the options.
Which sportsperson's book is linked to which sport?
Link the word in the title to the game. A Shot at History belongs to shooting and Abhinav Bindra, Unbreakable to boxing and Mary Kom, Ace Against Odds to tennis and Sania Mirza, Playing to Win to badminton and Saina Nehwal, Mind Master to chess and Viswanathan Anand, and The Race of My Life to athletics and Milkha Singh.
Why is Silent Spring important beyond the books chapter?
Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, published in 1962, showed how pesticides such as DDT were harming birds and other wildlife, and it is usually credited with starting the modern environmental movement and with the later restrictions on DDT. For that reason the same title is asked in the environment and ecology chapter as well as in books and authors.
Which ancient Indian works should be learnt as a set?
Six works cover almost every question: the Aryabhatiya of Aryabhata, the Brahmasphutasiddhanta of Brahmagupta, the Siddhanta Shiromani of Bhaskara II with its section Lilavati, the Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira, the Charaka Samhita on medicine and the Sushruta Samhita on surgery. Papers frequently ask them as a matching question.
Sources
- Wings of Fire: An Autobiography — Universities Press
- Playing It My Way: My Autobiography — Hodder and Stoughton
- Aryabhatiya of Aryabhata, critical edition with translation — Indian National Science Academy
