Cyril Ponnamperuma (1923-1994), was a Sri Lankan scientist in the fields of chemical evolution and the origin of life. Ponnamperuma hunted for the chemical paths by which life might have originated. He is shown here at NASA's Ames Research Center, where he headed the Chemical Evolution Division. He was principal investigator for analysis of lunar soil brought to earth by Project Apollo. The caption to this 1963 photo reads that Ponnamperuma here "points out the simple laboratory equipment with which he artificially produced ATP, the source of energy for all forms of life."