Cyril ponnamperuma biography

Cyril Andrew Ponnamperuma (16 October 1923 – 20 December 1994) was a.
Dr.
Cyril Andrew Ponnamperuma was born in Galle (in 1923), Sri Lanka.

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Ponnamperuma, Cyril Andrew

(b. 16 October 1923 in Galle, Ceylon, now Sri Lanka; d. 20 December 1994 in Washington, D.C.), chemist known for his work on the chemical basis of life and for showing that the basic building blocks of DNA and RNA can be synthesized outside living cells.

Ponnamperuma was one of five children born to Andrew Ponnamperuma and Grace Siriwardene. Both of his parents were educators, and they persuaded him to study philosophy. After attending local schools, Ponnamperuma received a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Madras in 1948. At that point he decided to change his field of study to chemistry. He earned a B.Sc. from the University of London in 1959. While pursuing this degree, he also worked as a research chemist and as a radiochemist. He married Valli Pal on 19 March 1955. They had one daughter. The family immigrated to the United States in 1959, and Ponnamperuma became a U.S. citizen in 1967.

Ponnamperuma entered the University of California at Berkeley in 1959 and received a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1962. While at Berkeley he worked as resear

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Ponnamperuma, Cyril (1923-1994)

Sri Lankan-born American chemist

Cyril Ponnamperuma, an eminent researcher in the field of chemical evolution, rose through several National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) divisions as a research chemist to head the Laboratory of Chemical Evolution at the University of Maryland, College Park. His career focused on explorations into the origin of life and the "primordial soup" that contained the precursors of life. In this search, Ponnamperuma took advantage of discoveries in such diverse fields as molecular biology and astrophysics.

Born in Galle, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on October 16, 1923, Cyril Andres Ponnamperuma was educated at the University of Madras (where he received a B.A. in Philosophy, 1948), the University of London (B.Sc., 1959), and the University of California at Berkeley (Ph.D., 1962). His interest in the origin of life began to take clear shape at the Birkbeck College of the University of London, where he studied with J. D. Bernal, a well-known crystallographer. In addition to his studies, Ponnamperuma also work

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Cyril Ponnamperuma

Sri Lankan scientist (1923–1994)

Dr.Cyril Andrew Ponnamperuma (Sinhala: ආචාර්ය සිරිල් ඇන්ඩෘ පොන්නම්පෙරුම) (16 October 1923 – 20 December 1994) was a Sri Lankan scientist in the fields of chemical evolution and the origin of life.

Biography

Cyril Ponnamperuma was born in Sri Lanka^[1] on 16 October 1923. After completing his early education with flying colours at St. Aloysius' College, Galle and subsequently at St. Joseph's College, Colombo, Ponnamperuma proceeded to India and in 1948 obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of Madras.^[2]

Later he moved to the United Kingdom and enrolled at Birkbeck, University of London, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1959. At the same time he had the opportunity to work with Professor J. D. Bernal, a pioneering scientist engaged in research on the origin of life. Afterwards he proceeded to the United States, where in 1962 he received a doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley under the direction o