CM Rasika wins Nobel

prabuddha · Post by **prabuddha** » 08 Oct 2009, 07:19

It seems this year's joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, Sri Venky Ramakrishnan, is a CM rasika. Please read:

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article30476.ece

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, the Tamil Nadu-born winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, kept his connections with India and the State alive in recent years - not only to deliver scientific lectures, but also to listen to classical music in the sabhas of Chennai.

Most of his scientific career has been in the U.S. and the U.K. In the last decade Dr. Ramakrishnan revived his academic links with the land of his birth, and started collaborating with Indian institutions and interacting with Indian students and faculty. "After a long gap, he came for the Biophysics Society meeting at the University of Madras and delivered the G.N. Ramachandran Memorial lecture [in 2002],"

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 08 Oct 2009, 07:31

That is very heartening!
He had CM in his heart while his mind was a CM (Chemistry Machinary) too!

108talas · Post by **108talas** » 08 Oct 2009, 14:02

.. simply CMLovers', where 'C' is the first pitch...

rajaglan · Post by **rajaglan** » 08 Oct 2009, 15:32

Congrats... Is he a member here.

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 08 Oct 2009, 18:36

A lot of CM rasikas/artists are chemists, more than you may think

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 08 Oct 2009, 19:03

...of course it is the body chemistry (hormones?) that propels one to love CM!

vsn207 · Post by **vsn207** » 08 Oct 2009, 22:55

It looks like all the three Nobel laureates of Indian origin in science- Sir C.V. Raman, Dr. Chandrashekar and Dr. Venkataraman Ramakrishnan are carnatic rasikas. C. V. Raman in fact did do some research on Carnatic Music( VKV Sir could elaborate on this). Dr. Chandrashekar was the son of famous musicologist C.S. Iyer and brother of Veena Vidhushi Vidya Shankar. Now, with Dr. Venky Ramakrishnan joining the elite club, we should be happy that the carnatic rasika quotient is still unchanged among Nobel laureates of Indian origin in science.

Vivek

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 08 Oct 2009, 23:41

Dear vsn,
I will respond briefly& in a non-technical fashion because CV.Raman was so thorough & brilliant in ANYTHING HE DID its impossible to do justice to his research in music esp. carnatic music in a brief way. Let me say that Sir C.V.Raman occupies a position in Indian Science analogous to Mahatma Gandhi reg. most things Indian & twentieth century India or M.S.S in Music or Rabindranath Tagore in so many areas of fine arts including literature. As far as I am concerned it is Trail Blazers like these who are today's GREAT Saints & Philosophers and I can SAFELY say that its their inspiration that has spawned & propelled so many Indians to SUCH great heights of Acheivements & Global recognirion....Reg Chandra sekhar I knew him well- knew C.V.R. tho' he was at a GOD LIKE level for me- & let me relate my first meeting with him: When I came to USA in 1959 my Professor Alladi Ramakrishnan said I shd. meet Prof. Chandrasekhar in Chicago. I went to Chicago to give a talk at a meeting & called him to say Prof. Alladi wanted me to meet him but my problem was MY LEVEL IN ASTROPHYSICS was such that I had spent 3 years getting to Eqn 36 from Eqn 35 in a famous paper of his & do not wish to disturb him as well as waste his time. Iknew he was a big fan of MMI & I had the latest concert tape -recorded by me with Presidency college recorder(Ramesh might know!) I had borrowed without permission- & told him I can come & play it for him & leave. He was such a gentleman he invited me to dinner & after explaining in 30 seconds how to get to Eqn 36 FROM 35 was so GRACIOUS we ended up discussing the genius of MMI!.....REG our latest PRIDE & JOY Dr. Ramakrishnan I know of him but do not know him. But JUST the fact he hails from CHIDAMBARAM itself is proof that he knows at least a few of the "Rahasyams"- may be Chidambara Rahasyam too?!-; He joins the illustrious natives from that area starting with Nataraja himself: Nandanar, Gopalakrishna Bharatiyar, not to mention Michael Wood who has presented probably the best history of India(he lived in Chidambaram for 15 years at least).....I want to conclude by saying that these great persons clearly prove statements about persons existing at VARIOUS levels& states of conscience.....VKV

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 09 Oct 2009, 00:44

CV Raman's papers on multiple-layer drums can be found on the internet. He explains why tabla and mridangam sound the way that they do, as opposed to the single-skin untuned drums. I have not looked at it for a long time, so I can't give any link. I am no mathematician (I was thrown out of the class as a hopeless case) and no physicist; it was tough for me to get any understanding, but there are many fellow members here for whom that will not be the case.

vkv, it is nice to get the personal touch from your post.

vsn207 · Post by **vsn207** » 09 Oct 2009, 00:50

Dear VKV sir:

I thank you for your great narrative as as always.

Vivek

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 09 Oct 2009, 01:34

Dear Vivek,
I hope I didn't disappoint you by not talking"Technicalese"; This is because I do not know at what level to "pitch "- a quibble?- things in this forum. As Nick has pointed out GOOGLE is today's KALKI AVATHARAM for these things......VKV

Suji Ram · Post by **Suji Ram** » 09 Oct 2009, 02:15

nick H wrote:CV Raman's papers on multiple-layer drums can be found on the internet.

Sir CV Raman also wrote articles on violin acoustics- early research

Anaconda · Post by **Anaconda** » 09 Oct 2009, 04:19

Congratulations to Dr.Venkatraman Ramakrishnan...

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 09 Oct 2009, 04:48

Congratulations to Dr. Venkatraman, and thank you, VKV sir for that very interesting account!

srutishree · Post by **srutishree** » 09 Oct 2009, 04:55

Suji Ram wrote:
nick H wrote:CV Raman's papers on multiple-layer drums can be found on the internet.
Sir CV Raman also wrote articles on violin acoustics- early research

Is it possible to post the links where these papers can be found? Should make for interesting reading.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 09 Oct 2009, 05:02

VKV
Don't you think ECG (another CM enthusiasst) is a missed case of the Noble honour!

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 09 Oct 2009, 06:20

YES. Prof E.C.G.Sudharsan who is still active in Physics(at UT AUSTIN) in the opinion of experts- I include myself in that list as I really have the expertise- JUSTLY DESERVED THE NOBEL at least TWICE. Actually in the private account of my life I wrote for my son who was born in USA & who wanted me to write my life story I wrote(Quoting myself): ECG joins the unique list of Gandhi,Nehru & R.K.Narayan of Indians who so obviously deserved the NOBEL prize & the NOBEL community is all the poorer in not giving that recognition. It is somewhat similar to the Music Academy not giving the Sangitha Kalanidhi Title to S.Rajam. Honouring persons of this calibre only enhances the organisation conferring the title because their contributions will only loom larger with passage of time.....I also want to recall what I had written about ECG previously here. He was the one mainly responsible for Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's group ending up with Kalki Gardens in a very difficult time for T.S& M.S. They were in USA at that time & M.S. whose donations thru' her concerts could have owned the entire city of Madras said they did not know where they would live when they returned after the tour ....VKV

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 09 Oct 2009, 07:35

VKV
That latter story belongs in the MS thread. I hope Ramesh will get to that!

Though not a physicist myself, I concur with you on your assessment of ECG. His colleague was working with me at UCLA and used to rave about him (40 yrs ago). I was amazed at his forethought even then and was hoping he would get the Nobel even at that time. Politics

kamalamba · Post by **kamalamba** » 09 Oct 2009, 07:42

Great News that Venki got the Nobel Prize. I happen to know him reasonably well: he is one of the nicest and most humble people you will ever come across.

Since the discussion has moved into CM and Indians who have missed the Nobel, GN Ramachandran should rank up there as well. He held appointments in University of Chicago, University of Madras and then at the IISc. He then went on to head the Center for Theoretical Studies at IISc, which was composed of brilliant scientists from physical and biological sciences, such as N Mukunda, Sharat Chandra, and a host of others (IISc folks, correct me if I am wrong).

One of the most important findings in biochemistry concerning angles between amino acids in proteins is still referred to as the "Ramachandran Plot" which is the basis of protein structure (Proteins are the machines that essentially do everything in a cell).

I was told by Vettai Ananthanarayanan (biochemistry professor at McMaster, Canada), who worked with GN Ramachandran that GN Ramachandran asked him to sing some CM kriti and without any scientific discussion accepted him to his research laboratory in the late 1960s!

In a different thread, when I have more time, I will write about biologists and biochemists who are keen MDR fans.

Kamalamba

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 09 Oct 2009, 07:48

Interesting, Kamalamba! We have just been discussing Ramachandran plots in structural biochemistry. Did anyone else in a related field win the Nobel?

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 09 Oct 2009, 10:02

Prof.G.N.Ramachandran was quite an expert in music & had discussed nuances in Music Academy. When I did M.SC in Theoretical Physics at Madras University he was our professor; His student Prof. Thyagaraja Rao was a huge Mali fan( now resides in Columbus) & another R.Srinivasan was a fanatic MDR fan!....As a matter of fact I was lucky to visit GNR before he passed away & he discussed MUSIC & PHYSICS with me all the time!(The first was my student at presidency College too where I arranged a cricket match for FLUTE Mali & the second was my class mate at Madras Christian College.....I agree that GNR should have also received the Nobel but some might know of his disagreements with Watson(of Double Helix fame) & the likely consequences......VKV

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 09 Oct 2009, 13:00

vkv sir
Nice posts from you and kamalamba. I am kind of curious for years about this. Even though literature and economics have their own clear demarcation, I always see physics ,chemistry and medicine as one big jumble like say malayamArutham,valachi and kalAvathi

. For eg the physicist venkatraman this year is awarded nobel prize for chemistry, even though if I was in nobel prize committee I would have given him nobel prize in medicine as I studied ribosomes only in biology (I associate like most of you biology to medicine )

. In short is there a clear cut demarcation of physics, chemistry or medicine.

kamalamba · Post by **kamalamba** » 09 Oct 2009, 13:36

Rajeshnat

there are several ways of looking at it. Here is a quick overview.

Primarily a large number of physicists have moved into Biology in the last 60-70 years. The catalyst in many cases has been the reading of Erwin Schroedinger's "What is Life?". Schroedinger and several other physicists including Neils Bohr have held the opinion that the real challenge for physicists lay in explaining the physics behind life / biology and using the physics learned from Biology for new types of applications.

Francis Crick, Max Delbruck, Max Perutz,...... and most recently Venki are all physicist-turned biologists / biochemists winning the Nobel Prize.

The physicists brought in quantitative approaches to biology as opposed to a more qualitative approach that existed in Biology.
The quantitative approaches and physical methods led to solving structures of DNA, protein, transcription machinery, catalytic RNA, ........ etc, which all pertain to "molecules" of biological importance, and hence they end up getting the chemistry prize.

I agree in some cases the distinction Physiology or Medicine versus Chemistry is arbitrary; i.e. the same prize could have been given in either discipline.

Kamalamba.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 09 Oct 2009, 19:36

Dear Kamalamba
Don't forget high hopes are riding on you too! Don't be complacent with the honour you have received at Singapore!
For that matter take this as a clarion call for all the young brilliant scientists at this Forum. CM will help you relax and think clearly. You guys can do it too!

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 09 Oct 2009, 21:42

I was thinking the same thing! Mohan is no mean scientist himself. Science absorbs him and CM too!

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 09 Oct 2009, 22:01

Kamalamba, That is a great summary of what has been happening in those related fields. Also, in the past 10 years, "life" is increasingly seen as an information processing engine running on a biological computer. Is this view point correct? If so, may be a brilliant computer scientist or a mathematician, especially a specialist in Topology, can make some major discoveries in this field. I keep thinking that this amazing nature of stem cells turning into organ-specific cells has to be a spatial configuration/topology related problem coupled with some algorithms that computer scientists already are very familiar with.

makham · Post by **makham** » 09 Oct 2009, 22:17

I was pleasantly surprised to find references to Prof GNR in this thread ! I had the opportunity of working with GNR at the Madras lab from early 1968 to late 1969. At all available fora I have been speaking about the "prize" missing the man !! Several researchers during those days in GNR's lab, Mathew's theoretical physics lab and Alladi's Matscience were CM enthusiasts. Nadopasana the first chamber music sabha in Madras was started by these people.

CM Venkatachalam a student of GNR is a musicologist and lives in US West coast. Many CM artists visiting US get hosted by him. Ambady who worked closely with GNR on the collagen triple helix structure was also an ardent CM fan, besides Radhakrishnan and Vasudevan from Matscience. Recently, I have written a 2-part article on GNR's contributions in a magazine called Executive Knowledge Lines , a monthly published from Trivandrum. Some years back Kerala Government's school science textbook had the biography of GNR as one of the chapters (because GNR did his Intermediate at Maharaja's college, Ernakulam).

Though GNR had discussed mathematical modeling aspects with me I did not experience him talking of CM (at least to me!) May be he developed the interest post - 1969 or did not know that I was interested in CM. I have missed an opportunity indeed.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 09 Oct 2009, 22:20

...interestingly Chemical experiments are being run in Computer Labs!
Many medical experiments too!
40 years ago at UCLA we were trying to simulate 'heart attacks and treatment strategies' on our computer model of human heart in an IBM 360/91 the best available (clunketty

Computer at that time!

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 10 Oct 2009, 00:23

rajeshnat wrote:vkv sir
Nice posts from you and kamalamba. I am kind of curious for years about this. Even though literature and economics have their own clear demarcation, I always see physics ,chemistry and medicine as one big jumble like say malayamArutham,valachi and kalAvathi . For eg the physicist venkatraman this year is awarded nobel prize for chemistry, even though if I was in nobel prize committee I would have given him nobel prize in medicine as I studied ribosomes only in biology (I associate like most of you biology to medicine ) . In short is there a clear cut demarcation of physics, chemistry or medicine.

Having mostly worked in NASA projects as well as in Los Alamos National Laboratory professionally I am tempted to answer as I have great regard for your musical opinions which counts for a lot with me!... After more than 50 years in Physics mostly in research but some engineering also as far as I can tell while one might have specialzed in a particular discipline PHYSICS has the advantage that it tries to understand- successfully or not-almost all phenomena that we know of in the universe. The great Feynman himself after he got the NOBEL said all the action is going to be in Biology, chemistry, molecular biology & started teaching UNDER GRADUATE COURSES at CALTECH in this area! His lectures some of which I attended were absolutely eye opening as well as insightful & brilliant as anything Feynman touched turned to Gold like MMI in Carnatic music!

Incidentally another student of GNR- also happens to be my ex-student from Prtesidency college- who has written about GNR was actively involved in promoting Carnatic Music in NY AREA when he was at Stony brook: Dr.Raghupathy Sharma.

So GNR in addition to his own expertise & interest in Carnatic Music has developed a cadre of path breaking scientists who have promoted Carnatic music also!.....VKV

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 10 Oct 2009, 01:26

Off topic, but... you knew Feynman? Despite my mental block on mathematics and mathematical science, what I have seen on TV and read about him made him one of my heroes.

I have to say that I had no idea that I rubbed shoulders with such exalted academics on this forum --- I feel quite humbled.

At least for today: I'll go back to being cheeky tomorrow

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 10 Oct 2009, 01:55

Dear Nick,
I knew him quite well tho' Physics was Tangential in a certain sense! When I came to Rochester in 1959 as a graduate student as graduate student we were trained as bar tenders- making Singapore Screw Driver etc- & I was also responsible to take notes & make sure the speakers showed up for their lectures....I am not sure how many others will be interested in my story here so if we meet in Chennai I will tell you the rest! o.k: VKV

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 10 Oct 2009, 04:00

Makham, I didn't know Dr. CM Venkatachalam is a student of Prof GNR! He's a musicologist, music teacher, and an organizer in the San Diego CM circuit and is registered as "cmvenkat" in this forum.

kamalamba · Post by **kamalamba** » 10 Oct 2009, 04:10

vasanthakokilam wrote:Kamalamba, That is a great summary of what has been happening in those related fields. Also, in the past 10 years, "life" is increasingly seen as an information processing engine running on a biological computer. Is this view point correct? If so, may be a brilliant computer scientist or a mathematician, especially a specialist in Topology, can make some major discoveries in this field. I keep thinking that this amazing nature of stem cells turning into organ-specific cells has to be a spatial configuration/topology related problem coupled with some algorithms that computer scientists already are very familiar with.

VK, Indeed I am sure within the next decade someone with modelling /computational skills might get the Nobel. In fact, Eric Lander, who discovered the methods for mapping genes was a professor of economics and statistics in the business school at Harvard University and now heads the Broad Institute (at MIT), and is already talked about as a good candidate along with biologist David Botstein.

makham · Post by **makham** » 10 Oct 2009, 10:18

This thread has opened up some interesting intellectual discussion, although not strictly CM related. Yes, the shift of focus from Physical Sciences (PS) to Biological Sciences (BS) during the last 3 or 4 decades is real and the big names in PS have endorsed it. The reasons I see are:

PS help UNDERSTAND phenomena, BS help develop INSIGHT into phenomena

PS use linear Cause -> Effect model, BS models are more circular and holistic

PS use more left brain abilities, BS use more right brain faculties.

PS believe that component parts make the "whole", BS believe that without the "whole", the components do not have independent existence,

Consequently in PS Whole is EQUAL to sum of the parts while in BS Whole is GREATER than the sum of the parts (because the interdependencies add value)

PS seek OPTIMAL solutions , BS seek SUSTAINABLE solutions

Hence great science can result by combining the intuitive SYNTHESIS capabilities of BS with the rigorous ANALYTICAL capabilities of PS.

rajeshnat · Post by **rajeshnat** » 10 Oct 2009, 11:08

I was assuming that even though physicists move to researching in medicine and chemistry and any kind of combination , as such I am still thinking that there may have been a clear line of distinction between physics ,chemistry and medicine atleast from the standpoint of the nobel prize organizing committee .

The same question that I asked ,the Nobel laureate has answered in the url that came today in the hindu
http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/10/stories ... 590900.htm

In short kamalambA has summed up well :

kamalamba wrote: I agree in some cases the distinction Physiology or Medicine versus Chemistry is arbitrary; i.e. the same prize could have been given in either discipline.

Thank god they declare the prizes of each discipline in successive days or few days gap. For sure we dont want the same scientist to get all 3 prizes for the same research. I am assuming the 3 committees discuss enough and do not give a clashing awards.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 10 Oct 2009, 21:21

Dear makham,
Using your terminlogy the intellectual shift of Giants like Feynman(explicitly) & Gelman(implicitly thru"Complexity etc) from PS to BS in a genaralized way somewhat came about because 1) Theoretical Physics has reached a state of Stagnation tho' lot of noise about String Theory is being made tho' it is LITERALLY hanging by a thread hoping the Big Hadron Collider would bail out the Branes etc---PS is somewhat at its thread end right now! 2) PS techniques- mostly mathematical & even the Computer techniques can READILY be applied to the BS area- are ripe for application to BS areas & are being used......However I do not exactly buy the left side right bifurcation you have suggested based on recent research on the brain....VKV

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 11 Oct 2009, 00:04

I've just got used to CM and HM.

Now I have to come to terms with two more inititals: PS and BS!

I shall have to be very careful about context if using the BS abbreviation, as, according to me, it stands for something Biological, but not scientific

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 11 Oct 2009, 02:06

Nick,
BS in US terminology is a word associated with americans at the Bush-Cheyney level denoting a mundane gutteral unsophisticated term but neverthless real Americana!....VKV

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 11 Oct 2009, 02:17

Understood worldwide but thank goodness, not used by all!

I edited my post because of lack of clarity, thanks to VKV and Nick (who understood my drift, though I expressed it poorly)

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 11 Oct 2009, 02:28

Iis it universal?......I guess I must be moving in the wrong circles! VKV

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 11 Oct 2009, 03:01

In context, I think the meaning is universally understood, even though it has not become a "word" in its own right, like "OK".

makham · Post by **makham** » 13 Oct 2009, 11:18

The next heady combination of Nobel Prize winner + CM enthusiast could be:

V.S. Ramachandran , Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and Professor with the Psychology Department and Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego, and Adjunct Professor of Biology at the Salk Institute.

Understand that he has dedicated one of his best selling books to SSI !!

bilahari · Post by **bilahari** » 13 Oct 2009, 11:39

Makham, really? Is his research so groundbreaking?

kamalamba · Post by **kamalamba** » 13 Oct 2009, 13:38

Bilahari

His work on Phantom Limbs and a variety of neurological conditions and the design of ingenious therapies are extremely original and creative and of the highest caliber.

Google him and you will get a bunch of his lectures on youtube. They are simply outstanding and lucid.

Nobel or not does not matter, but the high impact work is there for people to see and will stand the test of time.

Kamalamba

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 13 Oct 2009, 18:30

Yes, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, a padma bhushan, is a rare combination of a top notch researcher and an effective public speaker. His solution for the Phantom Limbs issue is quite innovative. He essentially devised a $5.00 dollar solution to that problem that evaded even multi-million dollar treatments. I happened to notice that one of the episodes of the (medically related )T.V. drama 'House' figured this technique.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 29 Dec 2009, 22:51

Well, only yesterday cmlover encouraged me to come back to this forum. The last straw that broke the long hiatus is this thread on Venki Ramakrishnan receiving the Nobel in 2009 for Chemistry. Many interesting and revealing comments in this thread brought memories reeling back in my mind. Almost all the names mentioned in this thread ring a bell to me. For my part I wrote an article about the 2009 Nobelists in chennaionline.com soon after the prize was announced. Simultaneously Dr. D. Balasubramanian (currently in Hyderabad) a reputed scientist in his own right wrote in The Hindu about Venki Ramakrishnan.

I had some personal experience with quite a few of the people mentioned here. I had the privilege of hosting Dr. GNR (and his wife) at my home in Gaithersburg, Maryland when he was a visiting scientist at the Fogarty Center at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland in ca. 1980 when I was a visiting scientist there. Howard Schachman (from Berkeley) was also visiting at that time. We attended a concert at NIH (I don't exactly remember whose but it was a CM concert). Schachman mentioned his son took up playing Oboe which is very similar to our nAdhaswaram. GNR gave a lecture on "GulAm Khadhar and Gokulashtami" at NIH. I am not kidding! He gave a lecture which was centered around vitamin C, hydroxyproline, and immunity development. He mentioned that most people think Gulam Kadhar has no connection with Gokulashtami. But he pointed out that Gulam Kadhar was in the business of selling "nAval pazham" during Gokulashtami. Such a remote connection, but a connection nevertheless! Hydroxyproline is not a natural amino acied. It has to be converted from proline and vitamin C was a cofactor. He was lending credence to Pauling's vitamin C theory in preventing cold. OK, I am digressing.

To come back to GNR, he used the sabbatical at NIH to write a book. I was working in the area of Biothermodynamics. E. Subramanian was there with Dr. David Davies ( a crystallographer). GNR and I had some discussions on stability of proteins and thermodynamics of interactions between proteins and small molecules. He had a great mind which can span umpteen disciplines simultaneously. However, we did not discuss music. My knowledge was next to nothing and I did not raise that topic with him for fear of revealing my ignorance.

There is one omission here. That is Sasisekharan. He was one of the foremost and brightest students of GNR. He was bold enough to suggest a side-by-side structure for DNA. However it was not widely accepted. He too visited NIH. I am familiar with CMVenkat's work at Ann Arobor. He has a great mind too. His publication in Biopolymers sometime in 1980 (I think) regarding energetics in protein chemistry was a landmark paper. I was working at that time on finding a treatment for sickle cell anemia. I used the crystal structure information for sickle cell hemoglobin published by Warner Love (Johns Hopkins) to devise inhibitors for sickling. Some success, but did not get very far on that. Venkatachalam's theoretical work paved the way for later molecular graphics studies.

To sum up it is an important nexus that mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology have with music. They are all art forms to the highest degree and scientific too in a true sense. A few top minds span these areas very well.

cmvenkat · Post by **cmvenkat** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:02

mahakavi wrote:
There is one omission here. That is Sasisekharan. He was one of the foremost and brightest students of GNR. He was bold enough to suggest a side-by-side structure for DNA. However it was not widely accepted. He too visited NIH. I am familiar with CMVenkat's work at Ann Arobor. He has a great mind too. His publication in Biopolymers sometime in 1980 (I think) regarding energetics in protein chemistry was a landmark paper. I was working at that time on finding a treatment for sickle cell anemia. I used the crystal structure information for sickle cell hemoglobin published by Warner Love (Johns Hopkins) to devise inhibitors for sickling. Some success, but did not get very far on that. Venkatachalam's theoretical work paved the way for later molecular graphics studies.

To sum up it is an important nexus that mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology have with music. They are all art forms to the highest degree and scientific too in a true sense. A few top minds span these areas very well.

Mahakavi, you are absolutely right about the omission. Dr Sasisekharan is one of the brightest scientsists to work with Prof GNR. I listed only those who were already doing their graduate studies when I joined. Those where students who were senior to me when I joined. Sasisekharan was already in Bethesda and then came back to Madras as Reader in the department. His students Dr A. V. Lakshminarayanan and Dr Ponnuswamy need to be mentioned. Dr V.S.R. Rao and Dr K. Venkatesan then joined the department. Dr P. R. Sunderarajan and Dr Yathindra joined to work with VSR Rao. Dr R. Srinivasan was managing xray crystallography efforts and he was also quite interested Carnatic Music. I apologize if I left out some more names. Dr R. Parthasarathy and Dr Raghuapathi Sarma used to visit our department from USA for conferences. Of course Dr Gopinath Kartha is the most brilliant associate of Prof GNR.

Thank you for complementing my work, but most of it was with GNR's guidance and blessing. My biopolymers paper was in 1969.

Pardon me for digressing into science. I apologize to all members. regards.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 30 Dec 2009, 00:11

A big Welcome back Subramanian! Nice to know of your involements with the Famous South Indian Galaxy of scientists as well as their CM interests. Tell us about their CM connected stories/events if you know of any. Perhaps you may like to post other intersting anecdotes in the "Member's Stuff and Lounge Section'. Particularly It will be nice to know how GNR missed the Nobel Prize himself since he was an intellectual giant himself..

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 31 Dec 2009, 18:47

After reading all the posts,here on the brilliant minds amongst our forumites,I am humbled and feel "like a pickpocketeer in a nudist colony"!!!!

Like CM lover I am also interested in any anecdotes that the accomplished forumite-scientists may have about their "jousts" with Carnatic Music!!
May the Scientists tribe increase!!