A quick shout that Vietnamese American astrophysicist Trinh Xuan Thuan is one of two winners of the Kalinga Prize for the 2009 Popularization of Science:
Thuan, born in 1948 in Ha Noi, is well-known for his studies in astronomy in the US and around the world. His research has focused on the evolution of galaxies and the chemical composition of the universe. He has taught astronomy at the University of Virginia since 1976. He is also the author of several books including The Birth of the Universe in 1993 and Chaos and Harmony in 2000, best-seller in France. The UNESCO Kalinga Prize was created in 1952, following a donation from Bijoyanand Patnaik, founder and president of the Kalinga Foundation Trust in India.
