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Nalin Chandra Wickramasinghe (born 20 January 1939) is a Sri Lankan-born British mathematician, astronomer and astrobiologist. He is currently Visiting By-Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge, England 2015/16; Professor and Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Buckingham, a post he has held since 2011;〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology (BCAB) )〕 Affiliated Visiting Professor, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka; and a Board Member and Research Director at the Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics, Ogaki-City, Gifu, Japan. Chandra Wickramasinghe has written 24 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, the pair worked jointly for over 40 years as influential proponents of panspermia. In 1974 they proposed the hypothesis that some dust in interstellar space was largely organic.〔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).〕 In 2003, in a letter to The Lancet, Wickramasinghe 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 such as the SARS virus arrived on Earth from deep space carried by asteroids and comets. Wickramasinghe was subject to considerable attack in The Lancet letters in subsequent editions. He has appeared on BBC Horizon, UK Channel 5 and the History Channel. He was featured on the 2013 Discovery Channel program "Red Rain".〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://altimatrix.com/archives/817 )〕 He has a long association with Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Buddhist sect Soka Gakkai International, that led to the publication of a best-selling dialogue with him, first in Japanese and later in English, on the topic of ''Space and Eternal Life''. ==Education and career== Wickramasinghe studied at Royal College, Colombo, the University of Ceylon (where he graduated in 1960 with a BSc First Class Honours in mathematics), and at Trinity College and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he obtained his PhD and ScD degrees.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe — University of Buckingham )〕 Following his education, Wickramasinghe was a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge from 1963 to 1973, until he became professor of applied mathematics and astronomy at University College Cardiff. Wickramasinghe was a consultant and advisor to the President of Sri Lanka from 1982 to 1984, and played a key role in founding the Institute of Fundamental Studies in Sri Lanka. After fifteen years at University College Cardiff, Wickramasinghe took an equivalent position in the University of Cardiff, a post he held from 1990 until 2006. After retirement in 2006, he incubated the Cardiff Center for Astrobiology as a special project reporting to the President of the University. In 2011 the project closed down, losing its funding in a series of UK educational cut backs. After this event Wickramasinghe was offered the opportunity to move to the University of Buckingham as Director of the Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, University of Buckingham where he has been since 2011. He maintains his part-time position as a UK Professor at Cardiff University. In 2015 he was elected Visiting scholar, Churchill College, Cambridge, England 2015/16.〔 He is a co-founder and Board member of the Institute for the Study of Panspermia and Astroeconomics, set up in Japan in 2014,〔( ISPA - About us ).〕 and the Editor-in-Chief of a publication they produce, the Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Chandra Wickramasinghe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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