Ronald Ross was an Indian born British doctor who is famous for his work concerning malaria. He was able to successfully demonstrate how the malaria bacteria resided in the mosquitoes’ gastrointestinal tract.
He worked in the Indian medical service for 25 years, and his research started while he was at the presidency General hospital.
From time to time, he went around a nearby village to collect mosquitoes with the help of the Indian scientist Kishori Mohan Bandyopadhyay. Ross made the important discovery that malaria could be controlled by preventing mosquitoes from breeding.
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water. By not allowing stagnant water to collect, both their breeding and the spread of malaria are controlled. Ross also established an organization to fight malaria specifically in Sri Lanka.
Ronald Ross received the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine in 1902, for his work on the transmission of malaria.
While Ross is remembered for his malaria work, this remarkable man was also a mathematician, epidemiologist, sanitarian, editor, novelist, dramatist, poet, and an amateur musician, composer and artist!
