 Not
exactly. But V. Ramanathan, a Scripps Institution of Oceanography
atmospheric
scientist, was at the Vatican in November when Pope John Paul II
appointed him to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Ramanathan will
serve a lifelong term as an Academician, joining other eminent scientists
around the globe to discuss issues surrounding
mathematical, physical and natural science. The Academy, which was
founded in 1603, publishes papers, attends plenary sessions in the
Vatican, and deliberates to appoint other members. Ramanathan is
known as the first scientist to demonstrate the damaging effects
of chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) in 1975. His most recent research has
focused on the Asian “brown cloud,” a mixture of pollutants
that have created a change in the earth’s atmosphere. 
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