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Chandra Wickramasinghe
Chandra Wickramasinghe at the University of Buckingham
Born	Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe (1939-01-20) 20 January 1939 (age 86) Colombo, British Ceylon
Known for	Organic composition of cosmic dust
Scientific career
Fields	Astronomy and mathematics

Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe (born 20 January 1939) is a Sri Lankan-born British mathematician, astronomer and astrobiologist. He is currently Professor and Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Buckingham, a post he has held since 2011. Chandra Wickramasinghe is a communicator and a popularizer of science. He has written over 30 books about astrophysics and related topics; he has made frequent appearances on radio, television and film, and he writes extensive online blogs and articles.

His research interests include the interstellar medium, infrared astronomy, light scattering theory, applications of solid-state physics to astronomy, the early Solar System, comets, astrochemistry, the origin of life and astrobiology. A student and collaborator of Fred Hoyle, their joint work on the infrared spectra of interstellar grains led to the hypothesis of panspermia, that proposes that life on Earth was "seeded" from space rather than arising through abiogenesis on Earth. He is currently a consultant team member of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission which will arrive at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2014. He is also making further identifications of spectral features in comets and in the interstellar medium.

More recently, Wickramasinghe has hypothesized that elementary living organisms like the lichen-forming alga spores present in the red rain in Kerala are of extraterrestrial origin, and that pathogens as the SARS virus also arrived on Earth from deep space carried in asteroids and comets. However, these speculations lack support from the scientific community and are at times published in the fringe Journal of Cosmology. In his role as media communicator, he has appeared on BBC Horizon, UK Channel 5 and the History Channel. He has recently been featured on a Discovery Channel program on "Red Rain" which will be aired in the fall of 2013.

He has a long association with Daisaku Ikeda, President of Soka Gakkai International that led to the publication of a best selling dialogue with him, first in Japanese and later in English entitled "Space and Eternal Life".

Education

Wickramasinghe studied at Royal College, Colombo, the University of Ceylon where he graduated in 1960 with a BSc First Class Honours degree in mathematics, and at Trinity College, Cambridge and Jesus College, Cambridge where he obtained his PhD and ScD degrees. He was previously Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge (1963-1973); Professor and Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Astronomy at University College Cardiff (1973-1988); Professor of Applied Mathematics and Astronomy, University of Cardiff, Wales, UK (1990-2006); Professor and Director of the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, University of Cardiff, Wales, UK (2006-2011); Professor and Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham, UK (2011- )

Scientific career

In 1960 he commenced work in Cambridge on his PhD degree under the supervision of the late Sir Fred Hoyle, and published his first scientific paper "On Graphite Particles as Interstellar Grains” in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1962. He was awarded a PhD degree in Mathematics in 1963 and was elected a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge in the same year. In the following year he was appointed a Staff Member of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. Here he continued to work on the nature of interstellar dust, publishing many papers in this field, that led to a shift of emphasis in astronomy from inorganic dust models to organic grains.

My most significant astronomical contribution was to develop the theory of organic grains in comets and in the interstellar medium. This was done during the 1970s and 1980s, and it is now accepted by everyone almost without remembering its origins! I feel I also played a part in the birth of the science of astrobiology.

Wickramasinghe published the first definitive book on Interstellar Grains in 1967. He has made many contributions to this field, publishing over 350 papers in peer-reviewed journals, over 75 in Nature. In 1974 he first proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space was largely organic (contain carbon), which Wickramasinghe later proved to be correct. Hoyle and Wickramasinghe further contended that extraterrestrial life forms continue to enter the Earth's atmosphere, and may be responsible for epidemic outbreaks, new diseases, and the genetic novelty necessary for macroevolution. In a virtual presentation on April 7, 2009, physicist Stephen Hawking endorsed the hypothesis. Chandra Wickramasinghe had the longest-running collaboration with Fred Hoyle and is responsible for forging a link between biology and astronomy in the late 1970s. Their publications on books and papers arguing for panspermia and a cosmic hypothesis of life are nevertheless controversial.

Wickramasinghe was appointed a consultant and advisor to the President of Sri Lanka in 1982-84, and played a key role in founding the Institute of Fundamental Studies in Sri Lanka.

Detection of living cells in the stratosphere

On the 20 January 2001 the Indian Space Research Organisation conducted a balloon flight from Hyderabad, India to collect stratospheric dust from a height of 41 km with a view to testing for the presence of living cells. The collaborators on this project included a team of UK scientists led by Wickramasinghe. In a paper presented at a SPIE conference in San Diego in 2002 the detection of evidence for viable microorganisms from 41 km was presented. However, the experiment did not present evidence as to whether the findings are incoming microbes from space rather than microbes carried up to 41 km from the surface of the Earth.

In 2005 the ISRO group carried out a second stratospheric sampling experiment from 41 km altitude and reported the isolation of three new species of bacteria including one that they named Janibacter hoylei sp.nov. in honour of Fred Hoyle. However, these facts do not prove that bacteria on Earth originated in the cosmic environment.

Samplings of the stratosphere have also been carried out by Yang et al. (2005, 2009). During the experiment strains of highly radiation-resistant Deinococcus bacterium were detected at heights up to 35 km. Nevertheless these authors have abstained from linking these discoveries to panspermia.

Inbound Viruses Hypothesis

On May 24, 2003 The Lancet published a letter from Wickramasinghe, jointly signed by Milton Wainwright and Jayant Narlikar, in which they hypothesized that the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) could be extraterrestrial in origin and not originated from chickens. The Lancet subsequently published three responses to this letter, showing that the hypothesis was not evidence-based, and casting doubts on the quality of the experiments referenced by Wickramasinghe in his letter.

The Lancet as a medical journal, failed to point out to its readers that there was a major difference between medical and scientific hypotheses. Unlike hypotheses in the medical world, a scientific hypotheses is a proposed explanation of a phenomenon which still has to be rigorously tested and for which it is acceptable for no evidence (or limited evidence) to exist. As theoretical astrophysicists Wickramasinghe argues that they were indeed behaving in the scientific way. In 2013 Wickramasinghe continues with his vision of an early warning virus detection system which places virus detection sensors in a network of balloons traveling on the edge of space. A prototype for the network of balloons is already being tested by Google's Project Loon.

Wickramasinghe was also involved in coordinating analyses of the red rain in Kerala in collaborations with Godfrey Louis.

Participation in the creation-evolution debate

Wickramasinghe and his mentor Fred Hoyle have also used their data to argue in favor of cosmic ancestry, and against the idea of life emerging from inanimate objects by evolution.

Once again the Universe gives the appearance of being biologically constructed, and on this occasion on a truly vast scale. Once again those who consider such thoughts to be too outlandish to be taken seriously will continue to do so. While we ourselves shall continue to take the view that those who believe they can match the complexities of the Universe by simple experiments in their laboratories will continue to be disappointed.

Wickramasinghe attempts to present scientific evidence to support the notion of cosmic ancestry and "the possibility of high intelligence in the Universe and of many increasing levels of intelligence converging toward a God as an ideal limit."

During the 1981 scientific creationist trial in Arkansas, Wickramasinghe was the only scientist testifying for the defense, which in turn was supporting creationism. In addition, he wrote that the Archaeopteryx fossil finding is a forgery, a charge that the expert scientific community considers an "absurd" and "ignorant" statement.

Honours and awards

• Commonwealth Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge, 1960-1963
• Powell Prize for English Verse, Trinity College, 1961
• Decorated by the President of Sri Lanka with the titular honour of Vidya Jyothi, 1992
• Honorary DLitt, Sōka University (Japan), 1996
• Doctor of Science (honoris causa), University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, 2004

Books

• Interstellar Grains (Chapman & Hall, London, 1967)
• Light Scattering Functions for Small Particles with Applications in Astronomy (Wiley, New York, 1973)
• Solid-State Astrophysics (ed. with D.J. Morgan) (D. Reidel, Boston, 1975)
• Interstellar Matter (with F.D. Khan & P.G. Mezger) (Swiss Society of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 1974)
• The Cosmic Laboratory (University College of Cardiff, 1975)
• Lifecloud: The Origin of Life in the Universe (with Fred Hoyle) (J.M. Dent, London, 1978)
• Diseases from Space (with Fred Hoyle) (J.M. Dent, London, 1979)
• Origin of Life (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1979)
• Space Travellers: The Bringers of Life (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1981)
• Evolution from Space (with Fred Hoyle) (J.M. Dent, London, 1981) ISBN 978-0-460-04535-3
• Is Life an Astronomical Phenomenon? (University College Cardiff Press, 1982) ISBN 9780906449493
• Why Neo-Darwinism Does Not Work (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1982) ISBN 9780906449509
• Proofs that Life is Cosmic (with Fred Hoyle) (Institute of Fundamental Studies, Sri Lanka, Memoirs no.1, 1982)
• From Grains to Bacteria (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1984) ISBN 9780906449646
• Fundamental Studies and the Future of Science (ed.) (University College Cardiff Press, 1984) ISBN 9780906449578
• Living Comets (with Fred Hoyle) (University College Cardiff Press, 1985) ISBN 9780906449790
• Archaeopteryx, the Primordial Bird (with Fred Hoyle) (Christopher Davies, Swansea, 1986) ISBN 9780715406656
• The Theory of Cosmic Grains (with Fred Hoyle) (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991) ISBN 9780792311898
• Life on Mars? The Case for a Cosmic Heritage (with Fred Hoyle) (Clinical Press, Bristol, 1997) ISBN 9781854570413
• Astronomical Origins of Life: Steps towards Panspermia (with Fred Hoyle) (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2000) ISBN 9780792360810
• Cosmic Dragons: Life and Death on Our Planet (Souvenir Press, London, 2001) ISBN 9780285636064
• Fred Hoyle’s Universe (ed. with G. Burbidge and J. Narlikar) (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 2003) ISBN 9781402014154
• A Journey with Fred Hoyle (World Scientific, Singapore, 2005) ISBN 9789812565792
• Comets and the Origin of Life (with J. Wickramasinghe and W. Napier) (World Scientific, Hackensack NJ, 2010) ISBN 9789812814005

Articles

• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1962. On graphite particles as interstellar grains, Mon.Not.Roy.Astr.Soc. 124, 417-433
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1969. Interstellar Grains, Nature 223, 450-462 doi:10.1038/223459a0
• Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1974. Formaldehyde polymers in interstellar space, Nature 252, 462-463
• Wickramasinghe, N.C., Hoyle, F., Brooks, J. and Shaw, G., 1977. Prebiotic polymers and infrared spectra of galactic sources, Nature 269, 674-676 doi:10.1038/269674a0
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1977. Identification of the λ2,200A interstellar absorption feature, Nature 270, 323-324
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1977. Primitive grain clumps and organic compounds in carbonaceous chondrites, Nature, 264, 45-46
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1977. Polysaccharides and infrared spectra of galactic sources, Nature 268, 610-612
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1979. On the nature of interstellar grains, Astrophysics and Space Science 66, 77-90 doi:10.1007/BF00648361
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1979. Biochemical chromophores and the interstellar extinction at ultraviolet wavelengths, Astrophysics and Space Science 65, 241-244 doi:10.1007/BF00643503
• Hoyle, F., Wickramasinghe, N.C., S. Al-Mufti et al., 1982. Infrared spectroscopy over the 2.9-3.9μm waveband in biochemistry and astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science 83, 405-409 doi:10.1023/A:1002417307802
• Hoyle, F., Wickramasinghe, N.C., S. Al-Mufti, 1982. Organo-siliceous biomolecules and the infrared spectrum of the Trapezium nebula, Astrophysics and Space Science 86, 63-69 doi:10.1007/BF00651830
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1983. Bacterial life in space, Nature 306, 420 doi:10.1038/306420a0
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1986. The case for life as a cosmic phenomenon, Nature 322, 509-511
• Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C., 1990. Influenza – evidence against contagion, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 83. 258-261
• Napier, W.M., Wickramasinghe, J.T, Wickramasinghe, N.C., 2007. The origin of life in comets, International Journal of Astrobiology 6(4), 321-323 doi:10.1017/S1473550407003941
• Rauf, K. and Wickramasinghe, C., 2010. Evidence for biodegradation products in the interstellar medium, International Journal of Astrobiology 9(1), 29-34 doi:10.1017/S1473550409990334
• Wickramasinghe, N. C., 2010. The astrobiological case for our cosmic ancestry, International Journal of Astrobiology 9(2), 119–129 doi:10.1017/S1473550409990413
• Wickramasinghe, N.C., Wallis, J., Wallis, D.H., Schild, R.E. and Gibson, C.H., 2012. Life-bearing planets in the solar vicinity, Astrophysics and Space Science 341.2, 295-9 DOI: 10.1007/s10509-012-1092-8
• Chandra Wickramasinghe, A Journey with Fred Hoyle: The Search for Cosmic Life, World Scientific Publishing, 2005, ISBN 981-238-912-1
• Janaki Wickramasinghe, Chandra Wickramasinghe and William Napier, Comets and the Origin of Life, World Scientific Publishing, 2009, ISBN 981-256-635-X
• Chandra Wickramasinghe and Daisaku Ikeda, Space and Eternal Life, Journeyman Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85172-060-X

References

1. "Royal Astronomical Society". Retrieved 17 July 2013.
2. BCAB. "The Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology (BCAB)". Retrieved 16 July 2013.
3. "Historical background — University of Buckingham". Buckingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
4. Wickramasinghe, Chandra. "Rosetta Mission". Rosetta Radio Science Investigations. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
5. Wickramasinghe, Chandra (10 January 2013). "Fossil Diatoms in a new Carbonaceous Meteorite". Journal of Cosmology. 21 (37). {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
6. Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1017/S1473550410000157, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1017/S1473550410000157 instead.
7. "Altimatrix Consulting". Retrieved 16 July 2013.
8. Connor, Steve (2011-03-01). "We're all aliens... how humans began life in outer space". The Independent. The Independent.
9. Ikeda, Daisaku (1998). Space and Eternal Life: A Dialogue Between Chandra Wickramasinghe and Daisaku Ikeda. Journeyman Press. ISBN 9781851720613.
10. "Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe — University of Buckingham". Buckingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
11. "BBC News". UK National News Service. 7 September 2006. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
12. ^ "This Week's Citation Classic" (PDF). ISI Current Contents. 1986-06-02. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
13. ^ "Archive of key historical publications — University of Buckingham". Buckingham.ac.uk. 1980-04-03. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
14. ^ "Interstellar grains (Book, 1967)". . Retrieved 2013-01-18.
15. Nature, vol: 252, 462, 1974; and Nature,Vol 268, 610, 1977.
16. Wickramasinghe, D. T. & Allen, D. A. The 3.4-µm interstellar absorption feature. Nature 287, 518−519 (1980). Allen, D. A. & Wickramasinghe, D. T. Diffuse interstellar absorption bands between 2.9 and 4.0 µm. Nature 294, 239−240 (1981). Wickramasinghe, D. T. & Allen, D. A. Three components of 3–4 μm absorption bands. Astrophys. Space Sci. 97, 369−378 (1983).
17. Fred Hoyle, Chandra Wickramasinghe and John Watson (1986). Viruses from Space and Related Matters. University College Cardiff Press.
18. "Ruminations on other worlds". StatePress.com. April 7, 2009. Retrieved 2012-10-10. {{cite news}}: |first= missing |last= (help)
19. Melanie J. Harris, N.C. Wickramasinghe, David Lloyd et al., Proc SPIE, vol 4495, p192)
20. Shivaji, S., Chaturvedi, P., Begum, Z. et al, 2009. Janibacter hoylei sp.nov., Bacillus isronensis sp.nov. and Bacillus aryabhattai sp.nov. isolated from cryotubes used for collecting air from the upper atmosphere, Int.J.Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 59, 2977-2986 doi:10.1099/ijs.0.002527-0
21. Yang, Y., Yokobori, S., Kawaguchi, J., et al, 2005. Investigation of cultivable microorganisms in the stratosphere collected by using a balloon in 2005, JAXA Research Development Report, JAXA-RR-08-001, 35-42
22. Yang, Y.; Yokobori, S.; Yamagishi, A. (2009). "Assessing panspermia hypothesis by microorganisms collected in the high altitude atmosphere" (PDF). Biol. Sci. Space. 23 (3): 151–163.
23. Wickramasinghe, C (2003 May 24). "SARS—a clue to its origins?". Lancet. 361 (9371): 1832. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13440-X. PMID 12781581. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
24. Willerslev, E (2003 Aug 2). "Panspermia--true or false?". Lancet. 362 (9381): 406, author reply 407–8. PMID 12907025. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
25. Bhargava, PM (2003 Aug 2). "Panspermia--true or false?". Lancet. 362 (9381): 407, author reply 407–8. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14041-X. PMID 12907028. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
26. Ponce de Leon, S (2003 Aug 2). "Panspermia--true or false?". Lancet. 362 (9381): 406–7, author reply 407-8. PMID 12907026. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
27. Hoyle, Fred (1986). Viruses from Space (PDF). Cardiff, Wales: Univ. Coll. Cardiff. p. 128. ISBN 978-0906449936.
28. Red rain in Kerala. Pdf
29. Creationism versus Darwinism. Published in Darwinism, Design, and Public Education, Michigan State University Press, 2003 ISBN 978-0870136757
30. Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe. Evolution from Space: A Theory of Cosmic Creationism, Touchstone, 1984 ISBN 0-671-49263-2
31. Wickramasinghe and Hoyle, Our Place in the Cosmos: The Unfinished Revolution, J.M. Dent & Sons, 1993 ISBN 978-0460860840
32. Fred Hoyle, Evolution From Space (The Omni Lecture) and Other Papers on the Origin of Life, (Enslow; Hillside, NJ; 1982 ISBN 978-0894900839
33. Figures don't Lie but Creationists Figure. By Alec Grynspan ( 9 November 1997)
34. Gangappa, Rajkumar; Wickramasinghe; Wainwright; Kumar; Louis (29 Aug 2010). Hoover, Richard B; Levin, Gilbert V; Rozanov, Alexei Y; Davies, Paul C. W (eds.). "Growth and replication of red rain cells at 121°C and their red fluorescence" (PDF). ArXiv.org. Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology XIII. 7819: 18. Bibcode:2010SPIE.7819E..18G. doi:10.1117/12.876393. Retrieved 2011-07-29. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
35. ^ Fred Hoyle; Chandra Wickramasinghe (1986). Archaeopteryx, the Primordial Bird: A Case of Fossil Forgery. Christopher Davies. p. 135. ISBN 0715406655.
36. Fry, Iris, Emergence of Life on Earth: A Historical and Scientific Overview, Rutgers University Press, 2000 ISBN 978-0813527406
37. Phy-Olsen, Allene, Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design, Greenwood, 2010, pp 74-75 ISBN 978-0313378416
38. Charig, A. J. (1986). "Archaeopteryx is not a forgery". Science. 232 (4750): 622–626. Bibcode:1986Sci...232..622C. doi:10.1126/science.232.4750.622. PMID 17781413. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
39. "A Case of Fossil Forgery?". AskWhy. 18 November 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-01.
40. "Light scattering functions for small particles, with applications in astronomy (Book, 1973)". . Retrieved 2013-01-18.
41. "Interstellar matter (Book, 1972)". . Retrieved 2013-01-18.
42. "The cosmic laboratory (Book, 1975)". . 1975-05-20. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
43. "Diseases from space (Book, 1980)". . Retrieved 2013-01-18.
44. "The origin of life (Book, 1980)". . Retrieved 2013-01-18.
45. "Proofs that life is Cosmic (Book, 1982)". . Retrieved 2013-01-18.
46. ^ Wickramasinghe, N. C. "Formaldehyde polymers in interstellar Space" (PDF). Cosmology Science Publishers. Retrieved 2013-01-18. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
47. F., Hoyle; N. C., Wickramasinghe (1976-11-04). "Primitive grain clumps and organic compounds in carbonaceous chondrites" (PDF). Nature. 264. Nature Publishing Group. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
48. F., Hoyle; N. C., Wickramasinghe (1977-08-18). "Polysaccharides and infrared spectra of galactic sources" (PDF). Nature. 268. Nature Publishing Group. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
49. F., Hoyle; N. C., Wickramasinghe (1986-08-07). "The case for life as a cosmic phenomenon" (PDF). Nature. 322. Nature Publishing Group. Retrieved 2013-01-18.
50. Hoyle, F.; Wickramasinghe, N. C. (1990). "Influenza-evidence against contagion: discussion paper". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 83 (4). Royal Society of Medicine: 258–261. PMC 1292615. PMID 2342043. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

External links

• Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology (BCAB)
• Review of Space and Eternal Life
• A panspermic view of life Interview with N. Chandra Wickramasinghe
• Star treatment for astronomer
• Professor Wickramasinghe Bio
• 'Life from space' expert loses funding
• Professor Wickramasinghe's profile at the University of Buckingham
• Biography in Debrett's People of Today

• Scintilla Issue 1(1997) ‘Speech’; ‘Monsoon’; ‘The Chase’; ‘Evening’
• Interviews

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• Academics of Cardiff University
• Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge
• Alumni of the Royal College, Colombo
• Alumni of the University of Ceylon
• Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
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• Sinhalese people