{"id":72421,"date":"2017-12-03T15:10:49","date_gmt":"2017-12-03T22:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=72421"},"modified":"2017-12-03T15:26:15","modified_gmt":"2017-12-03T22:26:15","slug":"featured-image-remarkable-sri-lankan-scientists-the-world-knows-but-we-dont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/12\/03\/featured-image-remarkable-sri-lankan-scientists-the-world-knows-but-we-dont\/","title":{"rendered":"Remarkable Sri Lankan Scientists The World Knows But We Don\u2019t"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy\u00a0https:\/\/roar.media<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Many of us are well aware of Newton, Einstein, Curie and Hawking, and their contributions to science. But how much do we know about the eminent scientists that Sri Lanka has produced?<\/p>\n

Most recently, a Sri Lankan scientist at Harvard University, Dr. Ranga Dias, and his colleague, Dr. Isaac Silvera, made headlines when they created\u00a0metallic hydrogen<\/a>, in what has been called a \u2018breakthrough in physics\u2019. A year ago, another Sri Lankan,\u00a0Dr. Nipuni Palliyaguru<\/a>, was part of the team that succeeded in detecting gravitational waves, confirming renowned physicist Albert Einstein\u2019s century-old theory of\u00a0General Relativity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sri Lankans have, in fact, been making contributions to science for many, many years. Here, we take a look at some of the more well-renowned Sri Lankan intellectuals who have made their mark on the world of science, and made this country proud.<\/p>\n

Prof. Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe<\/h2>\n
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Prof. Wickramasinghe is perhaps best known as an influential proponent of panspermia. Image courtesy: alchetron.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Born on January 20, 1939, Prof. Wickramasinghe is a Sri Lankan born British mathematician, astronomer, and astrobiologist, famous for his assertion that Life did not start here on Earth but in space\u201d through his renowned theory of\u00a0panspermia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prof. Wickramasinghe is an alumnus of Royal College Colombo, as well as the University of Ceylon, where he obtained his BSc first class honours in Mathematics, Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD, and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he obtained his ScD degree. For his PhD, he published his first scientific paper,\u00a0On Graphite Particles as Interstellar Grains\u201d<\/a>, under the supervision of the late Sir Fred Hoyle.<\/p>\n

In 1974, Prof. Wickramasinghe proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space is largely organic. The Hoyle-Wickramasinghe model of Panspermia, the belief that life on Earth is, at least in part, of extraterrestrial (outer earth and its atmosphere) origin, is one of his greatest achievements. Red rain in Kerala and meteorites fallen at Polonnaruwa were used as evidence to prove their model. His research interests include the\u00a0interstellar medium,\u00a0infrared astronomy, the light scattering theory, applications of solid-state physics to astronomy, the early\u00a0solar system, comets,\u00a0astrochemistry, the\u00a0origin of life,\u00a0and\u00a0astrobiology. Prof. Wickramasinghe has written more than 30 books about astrophysics and related topics, and he has made appearances on radio, television, and film. He also writes online blogs and articles. He has been awarded six honours and awards including the\u00a0Vidya Jyothi<\/a>and the \u00a0Commonwealth Scholar<\/a>. Check out his website\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dr. Cyril Andrew Ponnamperuma<\/h2>\n
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Dr. Ponnamperuma is known for his work in the fields of chemical evolution and the origin of life. Image courtesy: nalakagunawardene.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dr. Ponnamperuma is an eminent theoretician who worked in the fields of chemical evolution and the origin of life. Born on October 16, 1923, he completed his school education from St. Aloysius College, \u00a0Galle, and St. Joseph\u2019s College, Colombo, and obtained his BA in Philosophy from University of Madras. After moving to the United Kingdom, he completed his BSc in Chemistry from the Birkbeck University of London. Meanwhile, he received the chance to research with a pioneering scientist, Prof. Bernal, on the origin of life. After obtaining his doctorate in Chemistry from University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Ponnamperuma was honoured with a\u00a0National Academy of Science\u00a0resident associateship with\u00a0NASA\u00a0at\u00a0Ames Research Center.<\/p>\n

In 1963, he joined NASA\u2019s Exobiology Division and took over the helm of the Chemical Evolution Division. He was selected as the principal investigator for analysis of\u00a0lunar soil\u00a0brought to earth by\u00a0Project Apollo. He was also closely involved with NASA in the\u00a0Viking\u00a0and\u00a0Voyager\u00a0programmes, and was offered memberships in both the Space Science Advisory Council and the Life Sciences Advisory Council of NASA.<\/p>\n

Most notable among all his outstanding achievements and honours, is perhaps the\u00a0Alexander Oparin\u00a0Gold Medal for the \u2018Best Sustained Programme\u2019 on the origin of life awarded by the International Society for the study of the origin of life in 1980. He was awarded the Vidya Jyothi by the late President R. Premadasa in 1990, and he worked as the science adviser to the late President J.R. Jayawardena. After his excellent service of many years, Dr. Ponnamperuma died after suffering a heart attack at the Laboratory of Chemical Evolution in\u00a0University of Maryland,\u00a0USA, on December 20, 1994.<\/p>\n

Dr. Sarath D. Gunapala<\/h2>\n
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Dr. Gunapala is highly recognised for his work in photonics based on infrared light. Image courtesy: wikipedia.org<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Dr. Gunapala is a research scientist who is highly recognised for his work in photonics based on infrared light. Originally from Yatiyantota in Kegalle, he received his school education from Nalanda College, Colombo, obtained his BSc in Physics from the University of Colombo, and obtained his MSc and PhD in Physics from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Gunapala currently works as a solid-state physicist, senior research scientist, and group supervisor of the Infrared Photonics Group at the\u00a0Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA.<\/p>\n

His work mainly includes\u00a0Quantum Well Infrared Photo Detecting<\/a>\u00a0and he has served as Director of the Center for Infrared Photodetectors at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1992. He was also a member of the Technical Staff, AT&T Bell Laboratories, New Jersey, and a research associate of Bell Communication Research. Dr. Gunapala\u2019s long list of\u00a0awards and honours<\/a>\u00a0consists of the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal 2014, the Nalanda Keerthi Sri Award 2007, several NASA Space Act Awards and the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal.<\/p>\n

Dr. Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala<\/h2>\n
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Dr. Deraniyagala was a zoologist, palaeontologist, and an artist. Image courtesy: sirimunasiha.wordpress.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Born in 1900 in Colombo, Dr. P. E. P. Deraniyagala was a zoologist, palaeontologist, and also an artist. He earned his BA and MA from the University of Cambridge, and obtained another MA from Harvard University in 1924. Dr. Deraniyagala specialised in fauna and human fossils of the\u00a0Indian subcontinent. From 1939 to 1963 he was the Director of the\u00a0National Museum of Ceylon, and from 1961 to 1964 he was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the\u00a0Vidyodaya University.<\/p>\n

His fossil and species depictions included the prehistoric\u00a0Balangoda Man<\/a>, the extinct\u00a0Sri Lankan lion<\/a>, the extinct Sri Lankan\u00a0gaur, the extinct Sri Lankan\u00a0hippopotamus, and the extinct Sri Lankan\u00a0rhinoceros. He also published a new genus name for Chinese Alligator and described many new species of lizards and snakes for the field of\u00a0herpetology<\/a>. Before passing away at the age of 76, Dr. Deraniyagala served as the President of the Ceylon Branch for the Royal Asiatic Society from 1952-1955.<\/p>\n

Prof. Chandima Gomes<\/h2>\n
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Prof. Gomes is best known for his contribution to lightning protection technology. Image courtesy: wikipedia.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Prof. Chandima Gomes is a globally recognised physicist for his contribution to lightning protection technology. Born on September 12, 1966, he is an alumnus of Royal College Colombo and the University of Colombo, where he obtained his first class honours degree in Physics. Soon after, Prof. Gomes lectured at the same university, and then started a joint PhD programme at Uppsala University, Sweden. There, he conducted research in fields such as lightning physics, high voltage engineering, and discharge physics under the supervision of Prof. Vernon Cooray. For 10 years he had been a senior academic and a researcher at the University of Colombo, and was involved in promoting lightning safety and protection in the South Asian region.<\/p>\n

Prof. Gomes also held the positions of Chairman of the Young Scientists Forum of NASTEC,\u00a0Chairman of the Committee on developing National Policy on Lightning Protection,\u00a0and the Sri Lanka Telecommunication Regulatory Commission\u2019s National Policy on Antenna Structures.<\/p>\n

After shifting to Malaysia as a Professor of electrical engineering, where he contributed in establishing the Centre for Electromagnetic and Lightning Protection, he became the first head of that institute. He spread his work to the African region and established a centre which was\u00a0dedicated to research, education, awareness, and training on lightning-related engineering and physics. One of his most remarkable achievements was\u00a0explaining the lightning protection technology of ancient Sri Lankan Buddhist monuments (called\u00a0\u2018stupas\u2019) after ten years of research. Dr. Gomes\u2019s professions include chartered engineer and chartered physicist registered in the UK, and also an engineering consultant and trainer in lightning protection, grounding and bonding, electromagnetic interference and research methodology. He now lives in Malaysia.<\/p>\n

Prof. Mohan Munasinghe<\/h2>\n
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Prof. Munasinghe, the first Sri Lankan to win a Nobel Prize. Image courtesy: speakersbulgaria.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Last but not least, Prof. Munasinghe is the first Sri Lankan to win a Nobel Prize. He is a physicist, an academic, and an economist who was a Vice-Chair of the\u00a0Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)<\/a>\u00a0that shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. He completed his school education from Royal College, Colombo, and obtained his BA honours in Engineering in 1967 and later his Masters degree from the University of Cambridge, UK.<\/p>\n

Prof. Munasinghe also holds the SM and Professional EE degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, a PhD degree in Solid State Physics from McGill University, Canada, and an MA degree in Development Economics from Concordia University, Canada. Prof. Munasinghe is the author of over one hundred scholarly books, and about three hundred technical papers in well-known scientific journals on climate change, disasters, environment, sustainable development, energy, transport, urban infrastructure, water resources, telecommunications, and sustainable consumption and production.<\/p>\n

He has helped in formulating and implementing the national energy strategy and computer policy in Sri Lanka as a senior adviser of Energy and Information Technology from 1982-1987, and he was the founding chairman of the Computer and Information Technology Council. From 1990 to 1992, Prof. Munasinghe was Advisor to the US President\u2019s\u00a0Council on Environmental Quality<\/a>\u00a0(PCEQ).<\/p>\n

Until 2002, he was a Senior Manager\/Advisor at the\u00a0World Bank. Though this versatile individual\u2019s achievements will fill many pages, some of his long-listed awards and honours are the Sarvodaya Award for Humanity, Peace and Development (2007), the Eminence in Engineering Award (2014), the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award (2003) and the Zayed International Prize for Environment (2006). Presently, he is the founding Chairman of the Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND) Colombo, distinguished guest Professor at Peking University China, and Honorary Senior Advisor to the Government of Sri Lanka. Visit his website\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Think we missed out on someone? Let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n

Featured image: Dr. Cyril Ponnamperuma. Image courtesy wikipedia.org<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy\u00a0https:\/\/roar.media Many of us are well aware of Newton, Einstein, Curie and Hawking, and their contributions to science. But how much do we know about the eminent scientists that Sri Lanka has produced? Most recently, a Sri Lankan scientist at Harvard University, Dr. Ranga Dias, and his colleague, Dr. Isaac Silvera, made headlines when they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72421\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}