Valentine Joseph

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

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. Joseph went on to publish a number of academic papers pertaining to this subject.

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

During his university career, which spanned over four decades, Joseph taught several generations of students, first as a lecturer and later as a professor. 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. He also authored an A-level mathematics textbook in Sinhala entitled Gathikaya in 1994. He maintained an interest in teaching throughout his later retirement, and in 2016 published an updated English edition of his book, Dynamics: Newtonian Relativity.

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

Personal life Joseph married Antonia (née Arulanandam) in 1965 and they had two children, Umesh and Arulesh.

Joseph and his family were badly affected during the ethnic riots of 1983. He replied in Sinhala: "I am a human being". Following this statement, he was physically assaulted.

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 Valentine Joseph (1958) On Apparent Luminosity In General Relativity. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 118, No. 6, pp. 631–639. D. Lorenz-Petzold, V. Joseph (1985) Comment on the Bianchi Type-V Vacuum Model. General Relativity and Gravitation, Volume 17, No. 5.