astronomy

Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala

Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala rather than just read about it. In short: Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala (1900–1976) was a Sri Lankan paleontologist, zoologist, and artist. Early life and education He was born in Colombo, the son of Paul Edward Pieris and Lady Hilda Obeyesekere Pieris.

Key takeaways

Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala (1900–1976) was a Sri Lankan paleontologist, zoologist, and artist.

Early life and education He was born in Colombo, the son of Paul Edward Pieris and Lady Hilda Obeyesekere Pieris. He had two younger brothers, Justin Pieris Deraniyagala, Ralph St. Louis Pieris Deraniyagala, and a sister, Miriam Pieris Deraniyagala. He was educated at S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained a BA in 1922 and an Oxbridge MA in 1923. He entered Harvard University for a year, where he was awarded a Master of Arts in 1924.

Career He specialised in fauna and human fossils of the Indian subcontinent. From 1939 to 1963, he was the director of the National Museum of Ceylon, and from 1961 to 1964, he was also the dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Vidyodaya University. He described several fossils and proposed scientific names for species and subspecies, with several now identified as dubious, including:

Sri Lankan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sinhaleyus) in 1936 for a fossil found in Ratnapura District Sri Lankan hippopotamus (Hexaprotodon sinhaleyus) in 1937 Sri Lanka lion (Leo leo sinhaleyus) in 1939 for two fossil teeth found at Kuruwita – the information about the teeth is not sufficient to determine whether it differs from other subspecies. Panthera tigris sudanensis was named in 1951 for a tiger skin that he saw in a Cairo bazaar. When he asked the shop owner for the origin of this specimen, he was told that the animal was shot in Sudan. Vratislav Mazák thought it likely that the skin was smuggled from Iran or Turkey to Egypt and commented "the situation is half-humorous, half-ironic". Javan elephant (Elephas maximus sondaicus) was described in 1955 based on an illustration of a carving on the Buddhist monument of Borobudur in Java. It is considered synonymous with the Indian elephant (E. m. indicus). Balangoda Man (Homo sapiens balangodensis) in 1955 Sri Lankan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros kagavena) in 1956 Sri Lankan gaur (Bibos sinhaleyus) in 1962 During his trips to China, he studied the Chinese alligator and published a new genus name for it. In the scientific field of herpetology, he described many new species of lizards and snakes. He served as president of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1952 to 1955. Deraniyagala is commemorated in the scientific names of three species of Sri Lankan reptiles: Aspidura deraniyagalae, Lankascincus deraniyagalae, and Nessia deraniyagalai.

Family He was married to Prini Molamure; their son Siran Upendra Deraniyagala is also a scientist, specialising in archeology.

See also Category:Taxa named by Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala List of herpetologists

References

External links Genealogy of the Deraniyagala family, including a photo of Dr. Paul E. P. Deraniyagala Dr. Paul E. P. Deraniyagala and his son's work, including two drawings by the former

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala

In research: Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1900 births, 1976 deaths, 20th-century anthropologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala in simple terms?

Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala (1900–1976) was a Sri Lankan paleontologist, zoologist, and artist. Early life and education He was born in Colombo, the son of Paul Edward Pieris and Lady Hilda Obeyesekere Pieris.

Why does Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala.