I grew up in the countryside until the age of 13 and, for the most part, had a fortunate childhood. I was blessed with a grandmother who nurtured me with an abundance of love, and I was surrounded by genuinely caring relatives and neighbors. My memories are filled with beautiful landscapes, shepherds, cattle, farmers’ activities, and children’s free play. These early, enchanting experiences may have given me a somewhat idyllic view of life.
I was a curious child who easily engaged with the elderly, asking questions and listening intently, my imagination fully immersed in their stories—and they took me seriously. Once I learned to read, I eagerly devoured Kebede Michael’s “Tarik ena Misale” and Tekletsadik Mekuria’s history books, driven by intrinsic motivation. I could recite most of Kebede Michael’s poems, which resemble Aesop’s fables in their moral depth. I loved the way he crafted short stories and the profound messages they conveyed, and I still read them today.
I often sat by one of the elders—my grandmother’s uncle, Kebebew Wagaye (he was often called by the shorter version Kbu Wagaye)—who could recount the history of Ethiopia from memory. Despite having no formal education, he was a fascinating man, wise and endowed with a formidable memory. His stories captivated me and deepened my appreciation for our rich heritage.
As I matured, I developed a deep interest in history, physics, mathematics, and philosophy, enjoying reading and reflecting on various topics in these fields. That my father was a physicist might have inspired my interest in physics – I didn’t grow up with him, but I might have subconsciously felt closer to him by pursuing physics.
About nine years ago, several incidents inspired me to start writing about the special theory of relativity in Amharic. I have also been long fascinated by the nature of language, thought, epistemology, and related aspects of human nature. The works I began then and continued whenever possible have now come to fruition. At the end of last year, I published my first book, intentionally limited to 40 pages, titled “Beyond Self” (ከእራስ ባሻገር). This book explores the concepts of self, thought, and related aspects of human nature—a project I informally called “a thesis at 40 years of age” (although it came a bit latter than originally intended) and an initiative I hope others will undertake. You may call it “Thesis -40”
A couple of months later, I published much of the work I produced intermittently over the last 9 years in five more books: “ሥነ ቁጥር ወ ሥነ ሥፍራ ዘዩክሊድ” on Numbers and Euclidean Geometry, “የቅምሮች እና የቀስቶ ሥፍሮች ሥነ-ስሌት” On the Calculus of Scalar and Vector-valued Functions, “ኒውተናዊ ሥነ እንቅስቃሴ” on Newtonian motion, “የፕላኔቶች ጉዞ እና የኒውተን የስበት ንድፈ ሐሳብ” On Planetary motion and Newton’s theory of gravity, and “የብርሃን መንገድ” on Electromagnetism, Vision, and the Special Theory of Relativity, with an emphasis on the latter. Below are the links to these books:
These books are released with the hope of inspiring the Ethiopian youth to engage in scientific investigation in their own language and encouraging scholars to write their research findings and scientific discourses in Amharic which will make them relevant to society.
Initially, I intended to publish everything in a single book, but I found it challenging to maintain a smooth flow and come up with a fitting, descriptive title. So, I decided to split the content into multiple books. However, these books are interdependent. Words defined in the first book are used freely in the subsequent books without redefinition. This might inconvenience readers who pick up one book randomly without reading the others. Future editions will include a glossary of important words and terms, allowing readers to choose any book independently. For now, I recommend starting with “ሥነ ቁጥር ወ ሥነ-ሥፍራ ዘዩክሊድ,” where several important terms in mathematics are formally defined.
My primary goal is not commercial. This is a modest attempt to engage the Ethiopian youth and scholars from various disciplines in this cause. The goal is the initiation of hearts into the cause. I envision scholars holding meaningful dialogues about scientific and technological affairs in their native language, students and educators in higher education using supplementary references in Amharic, and the establishment of scientific journals that communicate in Amharic. The books should be read with this purpose in mind.
I acknowledge the challenges readers may encounter. There will be new words, borrowed from Geez or adapted from the Amharic vocabulary, that might initially be unfamiliar. Despite my best efforts, there may be typographical errors that may disrupt the reading flow – I have found a few myself. However, I hope the dedicated reader will persevere, adjust, and continue. Remember, every word was once unfamiliar – just a sound – until we learned its meaning or defined one for it. This is a natural process. By the end of the reading, I trust the engaged reader will master the content and consider ways to enhance it, contributing to the initiative so that the Amharic language is enriched with the necessary vocabulary for modern science and technology.
Remember: The ultimate goal isn’t the books I’ve written, but you, the reader, inspired to write works that are meaningful to society. You are the one who will pen new discoveries in your own language.
OBS! Please find the brief overview of the books and some notes in Amharic in the following pdf file.
ዝንቅ - Multidisciplinary Forum 
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