Valentine Joseph

Valentine Joseph (27 January 1929 – 15 March 2017) was a Sri Lankan Tamil mathematician, noted for his contributions to education.[2][3][4]

Professor

Valentine Joseph
வலன்டைன் யோசப்
Joseph in December 1994
Born(1929-01-27)27 January 1929
Penang, Malaya
Died15 March 2017(2017-03-15) (aged 88)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan
OccupationAcademic
Spouse(s)Antonia Arulanandam
ChildrenArulesh, Umesh
Academic background
Alma materKing's College London
University of Ceylon (Colombo campus)
ThesisMechanics and Optics in General Relativity (1967)
Doctoral advisorFelix Pirani
InfluencesAlbert Einstein[1]
Academic work
DisciplineApplied mathematics
Sub-disciplineTheoretical physics
Main interestsGeneral relativity

Early life and education

Joseph was born in Penang, Malaya to Sri Lankan Tamil parents. His extended family were Roman Catholics, with his cousin, Dominic Vendargon, becoming the first Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur. Joseph commenced school at St. Xavier's Institution in Penang in 1935.[3]

Joseph prepared for the University Entrance Examination as a science student studying pure mathematics, applied mathematics, physics and geography at St. Patrick's College, Jaffna. In 1949, Joseph entered University of Ceylon (Colombo campus) to study for a four-year mathematics degree, obtaining a first class degree in three years.[3]

Career

Joseph joined the University of Ceylon (Colombo campus) as an assistant lecturer in 1952 where he stayed for the next 42 years.[3] As one of the prominent mathematicians in Sri Lanka at the time, he represented the country at many international gatherings and organisations such as the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy.[2][3] He was sent by the University to King's College London in 1956 to commence a doctoral thesis in mathematical physics, joining a renowned group of General Relativity specialists, under the guidance of Professor Felix Pirani, to work on developing Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.[3][5] Joseph went on to publish a number of academic papers pertaining to this subject.[6][7][8][9]

His output of articles and lectures covering these themes, spanned a period of over 60 years, from 1955 to 2016.[10]

During his university career, which spanned over four decades, Joseph taught several generations of students, first as a lecturer and later as a professor.[3][11][12][13] In addition to his university duties, Joseph was Chief Examiner for the GCE Advanced level examinations in mathematics for over twenty years, setting exam questions which were regarded to have been creative.[14] He also authored an A-level mathematics textbook in Sinhala entitled Gathikaya in 1994.[3][15][16] He maintained an interest in teaching throughout his later retirement, and in 2016 published an updated English edition of his book, Dynamics: Newtonian Relativity.[17][18]

Joseph gave his final lecture in 2016 entitled "Einstein: The Wunderkind".[4]

Personal life

Joseph married Antonia (née Arulanandam) in 1965 and they had two children, Umesh and Arulesh.[2][19]

Joseph and his family were badly affected during the ethnic riots of 1983.[2] According to witnesses, before a mob ransacked his house in Colombo, Joseph was asked whether he was a Tamil or a Sinhalese.[20] He replied in Sinhala: "I am a human being". Following this statement, he was physically assaulted.[21]

Academic papers on relativity
  • Valentine Joseph (1957) Physical Properties of Some Empty Space-Times. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Volume 53, Part 4, pp. 836–842[7][22]
  • Valentine Joseph (1958) On Apparent Luminosity In General Relativity. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 118, No. 6, pp. 631–639.[6]
  • Valentine Joseph (1966) A spatially homogeneous gravitational field. Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, Volume 62, pp. 87–89[8][23]
  • D. Lorenz-Petzold, V. Joseph (1985) Comment on the Bianchi Type-V Vacuum Model. General Relativity and Gravitation, Volume 17, No. 5.[9]

References
  1. "An Eulogy – Prof. Valentine Joseph". rohanwickramaratne. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  2. "Admired University of Colombo Professor Valentine Joseph passes away". Colombo Page. Indianapolis, U.S.A. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  3. Codippily, Hilarian (30 April 2017). "Professor Valentine Joseph: Scholar and teacher par excellence". The Sunday Times. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  4. "Professor Valentine Joseph". University of Colombo Alumni Association NSW Inc. 30 October 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  5. Joseph, Valentine (1967). Mechanics and Optics in General Relativity. London: King's College London. Department of Mathematics.
  6. Joseph, Valentine (1958). "On Apparent Luminosity In General Relativity". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 118 (6): 631–639. Bibcode:1958MNRAS.118..631J. doi:10.1093/mnras/118.6.631.
  7. Joseph, Valentine (1957). "Physical Properties of Some Empty Space-Times". Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 53 (4): 836–842. Bibcode:1957PCPS...53..836J. doi:10.1017/S0305004100032953.
  8. Joseph, Valentine (1966). "A spatially homogeneous gravitational field". Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. 62 (1): 87–89. Bibcode:1966PCPS...62...87J. doi:10.1017/S030500410003958X.
  9. Lorenz-Petzold, Joseph (1985). "Comment on the Bianchi Type-V Vacuum Model". General Relativity and Gravitation. 17 (5): 509–513. Bibcode:1985GReGr..17..509L. doi:10.1007/BF00761908. S2CID 58925615.
  10. Sayakkara, Asanka P. (13 May 2016). "Prof. Valentine Joseph". fetch( ); decode( ); execute( ); // the cycle of my life... Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  11. Warusawithana, Srima (20 January 2013). "Universities then and now". The Island. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  12. "Former professor Valentine Joseph has passed away". Faculty of Science, University of Colombo. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  13. "Prof Valentine Joseph passed away on March 15, 2017". Edison, New Jersey, U.S.A.: Colombo University Faculty of Science Alumni Association of North America. 19 March 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  14. Premadasa, Kirthi (29 March 2017). "A tribute to a most beautiful mind". The Island. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  15. Joseph, Valentine (1994). Gathikaya. Colombo: Educational Publications Department.
  16. "Do we need to look at Singapore math? Why not relay on our own resources?". Teacher Saroji's Website. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  17. Miriyagalla, Das (22 March 2017). "The Era of Prof. Valentine Joseph". The Island. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  18. Joseph, V. (2016). Dynamics: Newtonian Relativity. No. 107D, Havelock Road, Colombo 05: Educational Publications Department.CS1 maint: location (link)
  19. "Obituaries". Daily News. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  20. "Sri Lanka's Black July". University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), Sri Lanka. 9.
  21. "Professor Valentine Joseph Commemorative Issue". CUFSAA Newsletter. 2 (1). 8 June 2017.
  22. Synge, J. (1960). Relativity: The General Theory. Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company. p. 451.
  23. Kramer, D.; Stephani, H.; MacCallum, M.; Herlt, E. (1980). Exact solutions of Einstein's field equations. The Pitt Building, Trumping Street, Cambridge CB 2 1 RP: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge. p. 398. ISBN 978-0521230414.CS1 maint: location (link)
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