Thanking Two Teachers for My Scientific Writing
by Sachi Sri Kantha, August 3, 2025
When we complete our ‘formal studies’ at one or more tertiary institutions of learning with an undergraduate degree or a postgraduate degree, nominally we would have listened to lectures, trained in practicals and demonstrations, received guidance/ mentoring and other modes of teaching from tens of academics. Among these, only a handful are remembered with nostalgia for their marked contributions for one’s advances in career ladder. In this part, I remember two Sri Lankan teachers of mine – Errol Fernando and Canagaratnam ‘master’. One had a long life, but the other one had a short life. While Errol introduced me the name of Nobel, Canagaratnam introduced me the name of Newton.
About Errol Fernando
Errol Fernando (1932-2019)
Mr. Errol Fernando (1932-2019), a Sinhalese Christian by birth from Moratuwa, was a remarkable chemistry tutor in Colombo for high school students in 1960s and later decades. He had a significant influence in my career as a science historian. He lived by practicing the Christian principles of assisting the needy (students) who came to him for learning and NOT demanding a fee for his service. I was a regular attendee of his weekly chemistry lessons during 1969 and 1970. Though diminutive in physical frame, Errol’s brain and heart were of enormous grade. His teaching skill, in stimulating the teenage minds to learning chemistry, by re-telling stories in the lives of elite chemists (Alfred Nobel, Dimitry Mendeleev, August Kekule, Marie Curie, Victor Grignard, Ernest Rutherford, Amadeo Avogadro) and even lesser ones with named laws or reagents (such as James Joule, Henry Le Chatelier, Francois-Marie Raoult, Soren Sorenson) was exemplary. What A. Prasanna (AP) de Silva, my immediate senior at the University of Colombo (now affiliated to Queen’s University Belfast) had mentioned about the influence of teacher Errol on his career, in February 2021 to his interviewer Barbara Pinho applies to me as well. [https://www.chemistryworld.com/culture/prasanna-de-silva-kindness-plays-a-key-role-in-academia/4012876.article]. Errol was a tutor par excellence. In 2019, he died on his birth date October 10, aged 87.
Errol’s chemistry tutorial sessions were split into three components: physical chemistry, organic chemistry and inorganic chemistry. I remember vaguely, (then) Errol charged 10 SL rupees per month per component. Students who could afford have to pay 30 rupees, or 20 rupees for two components, placed in an envelope. But, those who cannot, need not pay – but leave a brief explanatory note about family circumstances, placed in an envelope. But, Errol humored the students – ‘Never short change the hard earned money you receive from your parents for your vice pranks, and cheat them by leaving an empty envelope to me.’
Watching Errol’s enthusiastic smile in his face was a delight indeed. He held court in the premises of a Buddhist temple, near the Bambalapitiya junction. As he taught high school chemistry in English, students assembling to his lectures were from all communities – Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers etc.
Errol about physical chemist Dr. Devanathan
I vividly remember, once Errol told us – ‘If you want to see a scientist of international stature, we have one nearby at the Ceylon Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research (CISIR). He is electrochemist Michael Devanathan. Why not visit him?’ To the dismay of many of his admirers like Errol and me, this great Tamil scientist died young in 1977, at the age of 52(?), while he was holding the rank of the Director of Tea Research Institute (TRI). In my diary entry on Oct 31, 1977 (Mon), I had simply noted, ‘the funeral rites of Dr. Devanathan (Director, TRI), who had died last Saturday, is held today at Talawakele.’ Two of my pals, then at the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture, attended the funeral, but I didn’t. Those two were then working at the research divisions of TRI. In my 2009 inventory on Sri Lankan Tamil scientists, I had included Devanathan’s publication metrics.[https://sangam.org/2009/03/Scientists.php?uid=3345]
Dr M.A.V. Devanathan (1925 – 1977)
There exists a brief entry on Devanathan, in Wikipedia (only in German language) [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._A._V._Devanathan, accessed Aug 1, 2025]. It’s English translation, is as follows:
“Michael Angelo Vincent Devanathan, who always published his work as M. A. V. Devanathan, was a Sri Lankan chemist who worked as a physical chemist, particularly in the field of electrochemistry, contributing to the understanding of the electrochemical double layer. Devanathan received an honors degree in chemistry from the University of Ceylon in 1947. He received his doctorate from Imperial College London in 1951.
Devanathan, while working at the University of Pennsylvania, developed a permeability measurement cell with Z. Stachurski. At the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, he also collaborated with J.O.M. Bockris and Klaus Müller; in 1963, they published an improved model of the double layer, which is also called the BMD model after the authors. From the second half of the 1960s until around 1970, Devanathan worked at the Central Electrochemical Research Institute in Karaikkudi in the state of Madras, now Tamil Nadu, in India, and then in Colombo, Ceylon.
From around 1972 until his death, Devanathan worked as director of the Tea Research Institute of Ceylon, where he researched the relationship between weather, plant growth, and yield.”
I heard from my TRI pal Thiru, that Devanathan was a self-effacing silent type. He told this humorous Devanathan anecdote. Once, Devanathan had to submit a patent on tea processing, for which a stipulation was that it had to be formally attested by a ‘Justice of Peace (JP)’ – a political appointee – in Sri Lanka. And there happened to be a laborer at the TRI with political connection, who had been appointed by the political authorities as a JP. The irony of the situation was – this poor laborer (with a secondary school education, devoid of any elementary knowledge of chemistry), had to certify a tea patent application submitted by internationally ranked Devanathan, the physical chemist, and the director of TRI! I did literature search and found out that particular episode should have happened during the preparation of the British patent (GB149603) jointly awarded to Devanathan and biochemist Godwin Rajendran Roberts. The patent’s title ‘Extracting tea leaf’. The application filed on July 3, 1975, publication April 6, 1977. Current status: expired.
My published studies on the creativity of elite scientists and literati – a select list
Sachi’s Publication Productivity (1983-2018)
After completing my PhD in Food Chemistry (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) in 1985, I enjoyed studying and publishing about the creativity of elite scientists/physicians and literati from an unusual angle. These constitute only a component of output of published science research, since 1981, as evinced in my productivity graph (presented nearby), based on SCOPUS database. Over forty years had passed by. Undoubtedly, catalyst for this work was mostly derived from the story telling I learnt from Errol, from his chemistry lessons.
As an exercise of Mr Errol Fernando’s influence on my intellect, I list below, in alphabetical order, my studies on this specific theme – only one prominent name I chose for an alphabet, with two proviso: (1) for alphabets J and X, I have to side-step this pattern of arranging by last name; I cite reasons for this deviation. (2) alphabets Q and U are omitted, as I haven’t published anything on individuals with names beginning these two alphabets.
A – Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927) – Japanese litterateur/novelist
Sri Kantha S. A comparison of two famous tragi-comedy ‘Nose’ stories by Gogol and Akutagawa, tinged with medical humor. International Medical Journal, Oct 2022; 29(5): 300-303.
Sri Kantha S. Suicides of elite Japanese writers: The case of Ryunosuke Akutagawa. National Medical Journal of India, Mar-Apr 2023; 36(2): 117-123.
B – Adolf Butenandt (1903-1995) – 1939 Nobelist in chemistry
Sri Kantha S. Nobel awards and nominations for research/activities linked to human sexuality. International Medical Journal, April 2021; 28(2): 262-266.
C – Francis Crick (1916-2004) – One of the three 1962 Nobelists in Medicine
Sri Kantha S. Corpus of Francis Crick’s research papers: Useful guides in manuscript preparation for graduate students. Reviews in Agricultural Science, 2016; 4: 66-72. (editorial).
Sri Kantha S. Acknowledgements in Francis Crick’s papers appearing in science journals. Current Science, Apr 25, 2017; 112(8): 1768 – 1771.
D – Charles Darwin (1809-1882) – one of 19th century’s influential biologist.
Sri Kantha S. Charles Darwin’s anthropological observations on Ceylonese. Ceylon Medical Journal, 1992; 37: 97-98.
Sri Kantha S. Annotations on India and Indians in ‘The Descent of Man’, by Darwin.
Current Science, Dec 10, 2011; 101(11): 1388-1389.
Sri Kantha S. Quantitating Darwin’s ‘The Descent of Man’ (1871): a sesquicentennial review. International Medical Journal, Apr 2022; 29(2): 128-131.
E – Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) – 1921 Nobelist in Physics
About my publications on Einstein, I had already described in Part 7 of this series
[https://sangam.org/notes-on-reaching-70-not-out-part-7/] As such, I refrain from further addition.
F – Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) – Father figure of Psychoanalysis
. Sri Kantha S. Scientific productivity of Einstein, Freud and Landsteiner. Medical Hypotheses, 1996; 46: 467-470.
Sri Kantha S. Sexual humor on Freud as expressed in limericks. Humor, 1999; 12: 289-299.
G – Carleton Gajdusek (1923 – 2008) – 1976 co-Nobelist in Medicine.
Sri Kantha S and Suzuki J. Primatological studies by medicine Nobel laureates. Current Science, Aug 25, 2015; 109(4): 810-813.
H – Sidney Harris (b. 1933) – influential American science cartoonist
Sri Kantha S. Cartoon humor on Nobel prizes. Current Science, Oct 25, 2013; 105 (8): 1175-1177.
I – Teizo Iwai (1858 – 1915) – Physician in Chief of Japan Red Cross Hospital
Sri Kantha S. Teizo Iwai’s landmark paper on polymastia revisited. International Medical Journal, Feb 2018; 25(1): 25-26.
J – John Erdman Jr. – My mentor and PhD thesis advisor at the University of Illinois.
Instead of alphabet E (assigned to The Scientist of the 20th century), I’ve chosen the alphabet J, to recognize the influence of my mentor. Among my cumulative total of 190 research papers as of now, he was my co-author only in 9 research items. After I completed my Ph.D, Erdman’s parting advice was – ‘Sri, now you are on your own. There is no need to have my name, in your papers.’ As such, since 1986, I had strictly adhered to his advice. Among the 9 research items I co-authored with Erdman, three of my favorites are,
Sri Kantha S and Erdman JW. Winged bean as an oil and protein source; a review. Journal of American Oil Chemists Society, 1984; 61: 215-225.
Sri Kantha S and Erdman JW. Legume carotenoids. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1987; 26: 137-155.
Dietz JM, Sri Kantha S and Erdman JW. Reversed phase HPLC analysis of a and b-carotene from selected raw and cooked vegetables. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 1988; 38: 333-341.
K – Shibasaburo Kitasato (1853 – 1931) – pioneer Japanese immunologist
Sri Kantha S. A centennial review the 1890 tetanus antitoxin paper of von Behring and Kitasato and the related developments. Keio Journal of Medicine, 1991; 40: 35-39.
Sri Kantha S. The legacy of von Behring and Kitasato. Immunology Today, 1992; 13: 374.
L – Karl Landsteiner (1868 – 1943) – 1930 Nobelist in Medicine
Sri Kantha S. Is Karl Landsteiner, the Einstein of the biomedical sciences? Medical Hypotheses, 1995; 44: 254-256.
Sri Kantha S. The blood revolution initiated by the famous foot-note of Karl Landsteiner’s 1900 paper. Ceylon Medical Journal, 1995; 40: 123-125.
Sri Kantha S. Scientific productivity of Einstein, Freud and Landsteiner. Medical Hypotheses, 1996; 46: 467-470.
Sri Kantha S. A history of Landsteiner’s stature in Nobel prizes. Current Science, Apr 10, 2014; 105(12): 1754-1757.
M – William Masters (1915 – 2001) – pioneer sexuality researcher
Sri Kantha S. Sexography of William Masters in medical journals: a survey. International Medical Journal, Dec 2016; 23(6): 607-610.
Sri Kantha S. Reference citations in ‘Human Sexual Response’ book by Masters and Johnson; an analysis. International Medical Journal, Oct 2021; 28(5): 569-572.
N – Alfred Nobel (1833 –1896) – one of 19th century’s influential chemist-inventor
Sri Kantha S. Alfred Nobel’s three loves. Chemical & Engineering News, Apr 16, 1990; 68(16): 41-42.
Sri Kantha S. Could nitroglycerine poisoning be the cause of Alfred Nobel’s angina pains and premature death? Medical Hypotheses, 1997; 49: 303-306.
Sri Kantha S. Alfred Nobel’s unusual creativity: an analysis. Medical Hypotheses, 1999: 53: 338-344.
Sri Kantha S. Health problems of Alfred Nobel, as recorded in his love letters to Sofie Hess. International Medical Journal, June 2017; 24(3): 250-252.
O – Tomoko Ohta (b. 1933) – Japanese geneticist
Sri Kantha S and Yamamoto S. Trend setting women scientists of biomedical research in Japan. International Medical Journal, Aug 2015; 22(4): 224-226.
P – Wardell Pomeroy (1913 – 2001) – pioneer sexuality researcher
Sri Kantha S. Sexography of Wardell Pomeroy: an analysis. International Medical Journal, Dec 2021: 28(6): 667-670.
R – Chandrasekara Venkata Raman (1888-1970) – 1928 Nobelist in Physics
Sri Kantha S. The discovery of Raman effect and its impact in biological sciences. European Spectroscopy News, 1988; no. 80: 20-26.
Sri Kantha S. Raman’s prize. Nature, Aug 31, 1989; 340: 672.
S – William Shakespeare (1564-1616) – medieval English playwright
Sri Kantha S. Subhuman primates in Shakespeare’s oeuvre. Current Science, Apr 10, 2014; 106(7): 1021-1024.
Sri Kantha S. On Shakespeare, syphilis and his naughty synonyms for penis. International Medical Journal, Aug 2016; 23(4): 310-312.
T – Junichiro Tanizaki (1996-1965) – Japanese litterateur/novelist
Sri Kantha S. Taizaki’s ‘Kagi’ (The Key) novel viewed from 21st century medical perspectives. International Medical Journal, Jun 2023; 30(3): 128-131.
V – Vatsyayana (4th cent. AD – North India) – recognized for ‘Kama Sutra’ treatise in Sanskrit verse.
Sri Kantha S. Sexography of Vatsyayana: the author of ‘Kama Sutra’. International Medical Journal, Dec 2023; 30(6): 333-334.
W – James Watson (b. 1928) – One of the three 1962 Nobelists in Medicine
Sri Kantha S. Self-deprecating humour in James Watson’s The Double Helix (1968) memoir. Current Science, Oct 25, 2012; 103(8): 950-953.
Sri Kantha S. Citation patterns of the four seminal DNA double-helix model papers by Watson and Crick in 1953-54. Current Science, May 10,, 2013; 104(9): 1237-1239.
Sri Kantha S. Citations to movies in the books of James Watson; a case study. International Medical Journal, Feb 2020; 27(1): 76-78.
Sri Kantha S. Portrayal of women (excluding Rosalind Franklin) in the ‘The Double Helix’ memoir of James Watson. International Medical Journal, Oct 2023; 30(5): 279-280.
Sri Kantha S. Citations and sleep episodes in ‘The Double Helix’ (1968) memoir of James Watson. International Medical Journal, Oct 2023; 30(5): 281-282.
X – [see below for description]
Y – Hideki Yukawa (1907 – 1981) – 1949 Nobelist in Physics
Sri Kantha S. Hideki Yukawa. [In] Biographical Encyclopedia of Scientists, ed. By R. Olson, Marshall Cavendish Corp, New York, 1998, vol. 5, pp 1387-1391.
Z – Bernhard Zondek (1891- 1966) – a pioneer in pregnancy testing method
Sri Kantha S. Nobel awards and nominations for research/activities linked to human sexuality. International Medical Journal, April 2021; 28(2): 262-266.
The individual chosen for alphabet X
It’s me! By mathematical convention, the 24th alphabet in English is used for ‘any unknown quantity’. By achievement yardstick, my status is rather less significant from any one of the above mentioned individuals. This is the reason, I chose alphabet X. Apart from the names I’ve included above, I have also published on the activities of other ranking scientists like Oswald Avery, Kandiah Balasubramaniam, Alex Comfort, Kenichi Fukui, Hans Krebs, Hideyo Noguchi, Leonardo da Vinci, Bertrand Russell, Shinichiro Tomonaga, and Wright Brothers.
Prof Ian Robertson
I’ve come to believe that scientists do belong to a family (not sharing hereditary genes), devoid of nationality, creed or skin color. The solitary connecting link to their relationship is the ‘accessible published papers’ they contribute to the society at large. I experienced this, when I received a brief mail on March 20, 2015, from Prof. Ian Robertson, who died a year ago in Aug 2024. He introduced himself as ‘Head of School of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, University of Leeds, UK’. The contents of his mail was this:
“Sir,
I came across your work on Alfred Nobel as I read up on him. I was intrigued by the notion that he was affected by exposure to nitroglycerine. My father worked in the same area in the 40s/50s [i.e., 1940s/1950s] and I think should have been diagnosed with depression, before his untimely death from peritonitis aged 67, shortly after his retirement. I wondered if peritonitis could be related? He often blamed the explosives for his ailments. One of his papers is attached. Regards.”
I was pleasantly surprised to receive this mail for the reason that, from one of my inquisitive papers on Alfred Nobel’s premature death published in 1997, Prof. Robertson was able to infer the medical cause of the death of his father. My study on Nobel’s death was a hypothesis paper,, as published in the Medical Hypotheses journal, and subsequently introduced to a wider audience in the ‘newsscripts’ column of the American Chemical Society’s Chemical and Engineering News weekly of May 4, 1998 (p. 88). It was my guess that Prof. Robertson might have checked the back issues of this weekly, and checked my then university affiliation to send the mail in 2015. This was after a lapse of 17 years. He might have been wondering about the medical cause of his father’s death, and my 1997 study on Nobel’s death offered Prof. Robertson, a clue. I was also pleased that Prof. Robertson provided me a solitary empirical data point for my hypothesis. I replied to him by mail, on the same day. It was,
“March 20, 2015
Dear Prof Robertson,
Thanks for your mail. I was pleasantly surprised to hear from you, about my postulation on Alfred Nobel’s cause of death, in 1998, and your partial confirmation about the death of your father. Thanks for sending a PDF copy of your father’s Nature paper in 1948. Surely, I’ll look into the peritonitis situation, as you had suggested. The problem is, it’s difficult to get Nobel’s medical records, because he had lived such a peripathetic life. I guess, these records are dispersed in Paris and Italy and elsewhere….
Thanks again for writing to me.
Best regards.
Sachi Sri Kantha
P.S: As you could guess from my name, I’m a Sri Lankan native, resident in Japan for long time.”
About Canagaratnam Master (of Colombo Hindu College, Ratmalana)
In addition to Mr. Errol Fernando, there was another teacher of mine, at the Colombo Hindu College, Ratmalana, during the first half of 1960s. His name was Canagaratnam, a Jaffna Hindu Tamil. I don’t know his initials as well as his date of birth and date of death. Like Mr. Errol Fernando, he was also a diminutive guy. About Canagaratnam’s influence on my intellect, I had reminisced in my 1998 essay on suicide.
Initially, this essay was submitted to the annual Wakley Essay Prize contest held by the Lancet medical journal. The stipulations for this contest were, (1) The essay should be on an internationally relevant clinical theme. (2) It should be not more than 2,000 words. (3) Only one prize will be awarded with a remuneration of 2,000 pound sterling. Among the submitted essays for that year, my essay was placed within the top six. Eventually, it lost out in the final selection of number one choice. Then, I submitted a marginally revised version to the Ceylon Medical Journal with reference citations and Prof. Colvin Goonaratna accepted it for publication. The title of my essay was, ‘Suicide: a Socratic Revenge’ [Ceylon Medical Journal, 2000; 45: 25-28]. Here are the excerpts, in which I had recorded my debt to Canagaratnam ‘master’.
“…The news of suicide revisited me…This time, it claimed the life of one of my favorite teachers at secondary school, Canagaratnam ‘master’. He probably had the strongest influence on my juvenile years from 1963 to 1965. I still remember fondly how he annotated my homework exercises in English language with ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’. I yearned for those days when only I, among my classmates, was bestowed with those ‘Very good’ credits. Not only English, but he also introduced me to Newton and his apple tree. We affectionately referred to him as ‘cheroot Canagar’ since he was fond of tobacco processed as a cigar. He was partial to arrack as well. He was an educator par excellence, who laughed at life’s foibles and entertained students with his dramatic humour. He could also be a stern task master who freely used the cane when under the influence of arrack. We certainly dreaded his cane whacking our posteriors, but thrilled to his pontifications on how Newton did not think that the apple should fly above the tree. He kindled the flame of science in me. One day I heard he had committed suicide by hanging. During my undergraduate days, I became convinced that alcoholic depression was the cause of his untimely demise. He was only in his thirties then….
Deep in my heart, I also thank my mentor Canagaratnam ‘master’ for teaching me by a sort of inverse demonstration that it is better to live rather than surrender one’s life to stress. Socrates lives via Plato. It is not an exaggeration if I say that Canagaratnam ‘master’ lives via me….”
Coda
Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of Canagaratnam! I conclude with the thoughts that I have been rewarded with a good harvest in research publications, thanks to the seeds sown by Mr. Canagaratnam and Mr. Errol Fernando in 1960s. My gratitude to these two teachers is boundless now for one specific reason. Half a century ago, I suffered the misfortune to graduate at the bottom of my Zoology (Special) class of 1976 (ranked between 6 and 8, among the total of 8 students) at the University of Colombo!
It pleases me that quite a few of my papers on the lives of Nobel (an example given above), Freud and Einstein had received gratifying level of interest internationally. Already they had received positive citations in published books. Canagaratnam master would offer an appreciative pat on my back, cheering ‘Very good’, like it was in 1963.