Since i was leaving this forum, i have decided to dedicate it to one of the best people our country has ever produced, Dr. Abdus Salam.
http://www.alislam.org/library/salam.html
Abdus Salam -- Past And Present
by Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy
The News International (Pakistan), 29 January, 1996
"Dear Abdus, On 29 January, 1996 you will celebrate your 70th birthday and I should like to send to you the best wishes in the name of your European colleagues.....I would like to remember the day when I first met you. It was in December 1956 when you gave a talk at the Rutherford Laboratory about your two-component theory in a colloquium which was chaired by Wolfgang Pauli and when at the end he publicly apologized that he had discouraged you to publish this fundamentally new theory...Apart from your scientific successes, the foundation of ICTP in Trieste was one of the greatest achievements in this century."
In the above lines Herwig Schopper, President of the European Physical Society, pays tribute to one of the most remarkable men of science of the 20th century, Professor Abdus Salam. In alluding to Salam's unpublished 1956 two-component theory of the neutrino, Schopper reminds us that Salam had narrowly missed credit for a fundamental scientific discovery and for which, instead, two American physicists shared the Nobel Prize in 1958. Had Salam not made an unfortunate error of judgment, he would have had not one but two Nobel Prizes today.
Tragically, the numerous congratulatory messages from the world's prominent scientists might be incomprehensible to the man to whom they have been sent. Now confined to his wheelchair, he is the victim of a mysterious neurological disorder leading to a gradual loss of control over body functions. Visitors who have met him in recent months bring back little good news. Today it is hard to recognize in him the Salam of yesteryears -- enthusiastic, vibrant, bluntly authoritarian, and with a mind sharper than a razor's edge.
The Salam of days gone by was a man visibly possessed by two passions. First, an urge to understand the nature of physical reality using the tools of mathematical physics. Second, the desire to put Pakistan on the high road to prosperity through science.
Salam's first passion brought him fame and recognition. In 1949 this young prodigy, born in a very ordinary lower middle class family in Jhang, earned a first-class degree in physics from Cambridge University in just a year. Then in 1950 he solved an important problem in renormalisation theory and instantly became a minor celebrity. In 1951 he returned to Government College, Lahore, but found to his disappointment that research was not encouraged, even frowned upon. Without a library or colleagues to talk to, he reluctantly went back to Britain in 1954.
By the early '60s, Salam was already one of the world's top particle physicists with an enviable reputation in this most difficult and fundamental area of science. But Salam was a political animal as well. He skillfully used his growing reputation to push his European and American colleagues into supporting his dream of a major centre for physicists from the developing world. With his unhappy period at Government College at the back of his mind, Salam wanted a place where third world physicists could practise the advanced science of the West without being forced to become part of the brain drain, as he himself had been.
In 1964, supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Salam succeeded in setting up the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. Why Italy and not Pakistan? The reason was simple: Pakistan showed no interest, but Italy wanted the centre and was willing to put down a lot of money for it. Today the ICTP is a sprawling complex of buildings regularly visited by scientists engaged in research from over 50 developing countries. There have been over a thousand visits by Pakistani scientists.
Combining administration with research is never simple. But over a period of four decades, Salam won about 20 international awards which, apart from the 1979 Nobel Prize, includes the Hopkins Prize of Cambridge University for the most outstanding contribution to physics in 1957-1958, the Hughes Medal of the Royal Society, the Oppenheimer Memorial Prize, the Adam's Prize, and many others. But more than a winner of prestigious prizes, posterity will record Salam, together with Steven Weinberg, as one of the unifiers of the apparently different fundamental forces which govern the universe.
In recent years, Salam's unified electroweak theory has been elevated to the status of a touchstone. Now generally called the Standard Model of particle physics, it has been tested in dozens of clever experiments and has passed with flying colours in each. Today the search for the "Higgs" particle, predicted by Salam, is considered the number one priority in the world of physics. Billions of dollars continue to be spent on building accelerators with energies high enough to produce this highly elusive particle.
With prizes, awards, seminars and meetings, the world of physics has paid its due to Salam. But what about his country?
Under Ayub Khan, Salam wielded considerable influence. As the chief scientific adviser to the President, he was instrumental in launching a massive training programme for scientists, in setting up PINSTECH as a high quality research institution, and in creating the space agency SUPARCO. His influence continued, albeit to a lesser extent, in the Yahya and early Bhutto years.
1974 marked the turning point in Salam's life. By a decision of the National Assembly, the Ahmedis were excommunicated from Islam. Salam resigned from his official position as chief scientific adviser in protest. On Bhutto's request, he agreed to help informally. But from then onwards his involvement with the Bhutto government was more symbolic than substantial.
Somewhat paradoxically, Salam enjoyed better relations with General Zia, who received him as a state guest and awarded him the Nishan-i-Imtiaz in 1979. However, Salam was carefully excluded from exercising any real influence over scientific matters. Benazir Bhutto, on the other hand, during her first term as Prime Minister, felt no need to accede to Salam's request for an audience with her. And Nawaz Sharif, at a Government College function, topped it all by reading from a list of college alumni who had achieved distinction and failed to mention the most distinguished one of them all.
Why did the leaders of government in Pakistan choose to drive out the single Pakistani scientist who put this country on the scientific map of the world? The answer is obvious. Our leaders have always acquiesced, and even pandered to, the growth of intolerance in the country. Salam was but an incidental victim; to defend him was considered not worth the political risk.
In 1979, when Salam visited Islamabad at General Zia's invitation, the physics department at Quaid-i-Azam University wanted Salam to give a lecture on his Nobel Prize winning theory. But, because of threats from a student group with a penchant for violence, this invitation was never conveyed to him by the university authorities. There are other examples: a cover story in the weekly Takbeer accused Salam of selling out Pakistan's nuclear secrets. This perverted concotion would have been amusing, rather than simply disgusting, had it not been so laced with crude insults and abuse.
Fearful of being attacked, many admirers of Salam's achievements have chosen to remain silent. Consequently, unlike India which has science institutions named after men like Saha, Raman, Bose and Bhabha, Pakistan does not have any institution named after it's one and only great scientist. Nor is his name made known to children through their text-books, or through television and radio, even though the names of far lesser persons are. Had Salam been an Indian, there is little doubt that he would have been in the ranks of his equals.
Prejudices against Salam are not simply a matter of the past. Some months ago the government created a committee which would set up a new centre for physics in Islamabad. Reportedly after a brief internal debate, the committee decided against naming the centre after Salam. No reason was given.
And so it puzzles me why, in spite of all this, Salam remained committed to Pakistan. Was it just plain stubbornness? Or was it that certain beliefs acquired in one's early years remain, no matter what? Whatever the reasons, this commitment was transparent. Salam kept his Pakistani citizenship, spurning British and Italian offers. At his Trieste centre, all Pakistanis -- including staunch anti-Ahmedis -- got preferential treatment and had easier access to the director. Sometimes visitors from other countries resented this. I also think Salam's favouritism was wrong as a matter of principle, but it is a clear indication of his deep attachment to his land of birth.
More importantly, for over a decade, Salam has quietly been supporting needy science students throughout Pakistan with his Nobel Prize money. The money has also been used to purchase scientific equipment for half a dozen Pakistani colleges, and to support an annually awarded prize for scientific research.
Life's long journey, and debilitating illness, made Salam deeply sensitive to estrangement from his country. How much so, I saw from close at a 3 day conference held in Trieste to honour his retirement from Imperial College, London. Professor Ghulam Murtaza and I had been invited from the physics department of Quaid-e-Azam University to attend this veritable feast for the intellect. The world's top physicists deliberated upon startling new clues to the birth of the universe, down to relatively more mundane matters like quarks and superconductivity.
One the third day of the conference, Salam was presented an honorary doctoral degree by the University of Petersburg. The conference hall was full. Flanked on his left by Nobel Prize winners C.N. Yang and J. Schrieffer, and on his right by the rector of the University, Salam listened from his wheelchair but made no attempt to speak. At the end of the formal proceedings, a multitude of people from the international scientific community thronged forward and stood patiently in line to offer congratulations.
As I watched, it was the turn of a nervous young Pakistani visitor to the ICTP. "Sir, I am a student from Pakistan. We are very proud of you..." The rest I was unable to hear clearly. Salam's shoulders shook and tears coursed silently down his face.
A feeling of deep sadness overcame me. Nature has chosen to be cruel to Salam. But nature is to be forgiven because it is blind, both in its gifts and its punishments. Much less easy to forgive is the treatment that we in Pakistan have given to our best.
(Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy is professor of physics at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.)
Full Version: Dr. Abdus Salam
Poor As A Nation
Professor Dr. Abdus Salam (Nobel Laureate)
The Review of Religions, June 1990
(An analysis of relationship between lack of education and poverty by Nobel Laureate, Professor Dr. Abdus Salam, Director, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. The following article was published in the Urdu monthly magazine `Tahzeebul Akhlaq', Aligarh Muslim University, India, January 1986. Rendered into English by Mr. Zakaria Virk, Kingston, Canada.)
I was admitted to Jhang College, Pakistan in 1938 at the tender age of 12. I spent four years there. In those days it was an intermediate college, grade 9, 10, first year and second year classes were taught there. The majority of students in the college was Hindu. It was my good fortune that I had some of the exceptionally learned and most affectionate teachers assigned to me. Shaikh Ijaz Ahmad was my English teacher, Soofi Zia-ul Haq was my Arabic teacher, Khawaja Mirajud Din taught Persian language while mathematics and science subjects were taught by Hindu as well as Sikh teachers. Science and mathematics in those days were considered to be the domain of Hindu and Sikh students. Lala Badri Nath & Lala Ram Lal taught maths with great proficiency, while Lala Hans Raj taught physics, and chemistry was taught by Lala Naubat Rai.
The foundation of my academic career was laid in this college. I believe that I owe all of my later accomplishments to this institution and to its hard-working teachers. I firmly believe that a teacher's affection and his proper attention can make or break a student. To give an example, in my first year of college I got into the habit of using some English words which I liked very much. I started to use these phrases in my daily conversation without proper context. My respected teacher Shaikh Ijaz Ahmad forbade me to use such difficult words but advice fell on deaf ears. When the semester ended, my English teacher penalized me by deducting five points for every difficult or improper word I had used. The outcome of my English exam was quite obvious. My teacher did not consider it sufficient but decided to bring my paper to the classroom and announced in the entire school how I had used improper English words in my examination.
At the time I did not appreciate the treatment meted out to me by my teacher but now I think back and feel that it was the proper medicine administered to me. The net result of this shock therapy was that I stopped using difficult words altogether.
The education I received was due, in large part, to my teachers, but it was above all to my illustrious father's benign attention and his fervent prayers for me. In those days matriculation exam was more like a wrestling match in the province of Punjab. Wrestlers from various schools would show their prowess through this exam, especially students from Hindu Sanatam Dharam and Arya schools were considered to be formidable wrestlers. I vividly recall the day matriculation exam results came out, I was sitting in my father's Jhang courthouse office. The exam results were published in newspapers from Lahore and on that day the newspaper arrived around lunch time at Jhang railway station. My father had instructed one of his subordinates to bring the newspaper to him right away and in no time telegraphic messages of congratulations started pouring in from Lahore. As I mentioned matriculation exam results were sort of a national event in those days. The reason for this was that the Hindus patronized education to a great extent. I remember returning home around 2 p.m. in the afternoon on my bicycle from Maghiana to Jhang city. The news of my standing first in the exam had already reached Jhang city. I had to pass through Police Gate district of Jhang city to reach my home in Buland darwaza. I distinctly recall that those Hindu merchants who normally would have closed their shops due to afternoon heat, were standing outside their shops to pay homage to me. Their respect for me and their patronage of education has left an indelible impression on my mind.
From Jhang I went to Government College, Lahore and then to Cambridge, England. In Cambridge I experienced and learnt a variety of new methods of study from English students. In Cambridge students sit in their class rooms in such a respectful manner, as Muslims sit in a mosque for prayers. Before the lecturer's arrival there is pin drop silence. During the lecture you will see that students use ball-point pens with four types of ink and rulers to draw straight lines. Students' note-pads are written in such a professional manner as if written by a calligrapher. My class-mates had come to Cambridge straight from schools. They were younger than me in age but their self-reliance and high resolve was of such a degree that it took me two years to achieve the same standard. My class-mates had studied in such schools where teachers encouraged their pupils for advanced education and admonished them that they are sons of a great nation in which was born a man like Sir Isaac Newton. These teachers drilled in these children's minds that they had inherited the deep knowledge of science and mathematics and they too could become Newton.
In Cambridge the method of discipline was completely new and surprising for me. You could sit for B.A. exam only once. If heaven forbid you failed once, then you could not sit for this exam again. The discipline in student hostels required every student to be back in his residence by 10 p.m., if you came back before midnight the fine imposed was one penny, but if a student returned after midnight, the penalty was gating for a period of seven days. If it happened three times during the academic year, a student was expelled from the university. Every student was treated like an adult, he was accountable for all his deeds. A student did not engage in useless discussion as punishments were equally exemplary which some students accepted with fortitude.
A Cambridge student is expected to do some work with his hands as well. I remember my first day at St. John's College in London, England. When I arrived there my 40 kilogram luggage bag was brought from the railway station by a taxi driver. On arrival at the college I asked a porter for help. He pointed towards a wheel-barrow and told me to help myself. These incidents I am narrating here not for the sake of pastime but the subject at hand is education whereby these anecdotes become part of getting a point across.
You must pondered over the fact that there is a vital link between our economic downfall and education. Misleading and rather inappropriate education is in fact a national crisis right now. I believe that our nation is passing through a grave crisis for which the reason is that a proper educational system has not been developed.
The primary purpose of an educational system, in my view, is to develop a person's character. A character that is developed during school years seldom changes for the rest of a person's life. Here, however, I am not going to dwell on personal character. My reference is towards national aspects of our educational system. God Almighty has, at last, endowed us with freedom after 200 years of slavery. This momentous event took place some 40 years ago but up to now we have not cultivated any feeling of belonging, brotherhood, oneness and of being a unique nation.
The fact of the matter is that once we had achieved freedom, it should have been the primary objective of our educational system to strengthen our sense of belonging and nationality. The idea of nationality has been gradually changing in various regions of the earth but in today's world many countries can be cited whose consolidation as a nation solely depended on the type of educational system they developed for themselves. Take for instance the United States of America where Germans, English, Italians, Swedish and French people are living as one great nation. The reason I mentioned America here is that people from these European countries gave their lives during the last world war for the sake of a separate identity. These people in the U.S. spoke various languages before they arrived in America. In schools the American children are familiarised with the American constitution, American folk heroes are always at the tip of their tongues, day and night these kids listen to the American national anthem. American poets, writers, and novelists writer their pieces in such a way that every nook and corner of America is loved by one and all. Every American is taught to love his city, that is why an American citizen considers himself to be a citizen of thousands of cities. Far-off places of Europe from where his forefathers came to US do not bring any emotion or feeling of belongingness. He feels that his livelihood and daily life depends on American soil and that he only belongs to America. He strives day and night to promote the state or his city where he lives and all this is taking place through schools, colleges, newspapers, magazines and television. It is the crying need of the hour that our educational system should consciously promote this vital feeling of belongingness.
My second request to you is concerning the education and promotion of science and technology. India and Pakistan are economically backward countries, here an average person earns $70 / - USA every year. In contrast an American earns 50 times more, while a person in England earns 20 times more, in Japan 15 times, Iran 8 times, Turkey 8 times and in Iraq, Algeria, Syria and Egypt six times more. My question to you is Why are we poor as a nation? I totally agree that our national wealth was stolen by the British during their 100 years of rule over Delhi, Punjab and Sindh. I admit that Americans are fortunate, they have discovered a continent rich of natural resources, but the question arises how did we become British slaves?
If the British knew the art of sea-travel and we did not, then who taught them this art in the first place? If Robert Clive's flink lock rifles and guns had a greater craftmanship than those of the Muslim king Sirajud Daula, then may I ask who taught the British this art of making superior guns? Did they not invent this art themselves, and having invented it did they not master it through education in their country?
In the famous battle of Panipat the great Muslim conqueror king Baber won the day due to his use of superior Roman guns. The Roman Turks developed these guns in more sophisticated ways after its invention in 1526, however Baber's children did not care to introduce some sort of an institution in India that would have developed this art even further. If you happen to visit Constantinople (now Istanbul) you will find that the Turkish idea of a mosque was that on one side of the building will be a hospital and a school (or madrassah) on the other. This madrassah or place of learning was not to be for the purpose of teaching religious education alone but rather to teach the art of gun-making as well. Unfortunately those Turks who came to India were not interested in promoting education and learning. They have left behind as their legacy splendid masoleums and stretched graves as a reminder but alas no schools or places of learning for people of the Indian continent.
Let me ask you this, if God Almighty has bestowed the American people with plenty of food and a vast continent, then is it not due to their sheer determination that brought them to an unknown land across the oceans? If the Japanese industry has gained worldwide reputation, then how much of it is due to their well designed educational system? God's angels do not descend on Japanese to teach them new technology. There was time when Japanese goods and products were considered to be of inferior quality, but today it is deemed to be of super quality in technical terms. Do you know that British Leyland started to manufacture mini Morris and the next thing the Japanese produced a car the size of mini Morris but instead of 1000 c.c. engine power, it was 600 c.c. with the same amount of engine power. How can it be? Twenty years ago an American professor Townes invented the transistor and was awarded a Nobel Prize for his revolutionary invention. To find out the true nature and internal working of the transistor, the Japanese started work in Tokyo University right away. The Japanese efforts bore fruit in such a short span of time that since then the Japanese are considered to be the masters in the field of electronics. Not only did they re-discover the transistor but they published the secret of the transistor in a magazine so that any Pakistan, Indian, Arab, or Iranian may make use of it in case he could develop the transistor technology a little further. These champions of knowledge who are they anyway? Would you believe that these Japanese are the people who did not know the art of making a horse-shoe. It is said that when American Admiral Percy came to Japan with his armada of ships, the Japanese tried to block his entry into their harbour but the American bombardment forced the Japanese to let Percy's ship enter into the harbour. One night a horse was stolen from the Admiral's ship and returned the next day. The mystery behind this strange theft was that the Japanese wanted to see the horse-shoe as their science of metallurgy had not been developed to a point where they could make a horse-shoe in Japan.
In Japan the exam season is considered to be the suicide season for Japanese students as the admission for higher studies depends on the results of matriculation exam. The standard of this exam is so high that none of the school children in any other part of world sits for such a tough series of exams in physics and chemistry. During the exam period no body ever leaks the contents of the questionaires, no one goes on strike, nobody breaks windows of the buildings where these exams are held. The entire nation, parents as well as students are gripped in this exam frenzy and they all accept the outcome of exams with usual Japanese style.
During the month of September, I was fortunate to visit the People's Republic of China. A Chinese student enters the Grade 8 (or middle school) at the age of 12 and at 17 his school career is just about over. These grade 8 schools are equivalent of intermediate college in Indo-Pakistan. Education in these five years is compulsory and every Chinese student has to study the following 12 subjects of which none is elective: Nationalism, Chinese languages, two foreign languages (English, Russian or Japanese), Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Agriculture, History, Geography, Arts drama, Music and workshops.
Every student has to student 12 complete subjects. Chinese educationalists have made up their minds that every student must study science as well as arts.
Perhaps one may surmise that due to compulsory teaching of science the level of 16 or 17 years old students would be lower as opposed to our intermediate level. To find out the truth myself I attended maths and physics classes in a school in China. I was awestruck to find that a barely 14 years old was learning orders of infinity. In our part of the world we learn orders of infinity at the B.A. level.
Chinese people are now determined to introduce every new industrial technique in China. Their national life started two years after ours, but their determination and sheer resolve has resulted in the fact that during these 40 years they have learnt and mastered science of electronics to its fullest. They started iron casting at 40,000 tons a year and now it is equivalent to 200,000 tonnes a year. They can now manufactured sophisticated machine tools. Every Chinese student spends one day in his school or university workshop in order to practise his craft. The afore-mentioned school I visited had 14 to 16 years old students making transistor components. Another group was brining the mineral potassium carbonate to its grinding titration and packing it in bottles for marketing purposes. A group of four students, aged 12 were repairing shoes for the rest of their classmates. One of the girls in the group said that we should look at windows of the particular room, which were adorned with curtains. The girl said that when they started repairing shoes they were sort of shy and felt repulsive to repairing smelly shoes, to overcome this problem they covered the windows with curtains. Gradually they got used to it and now no one is shy at all. I believe that it is imperative for our school children to be productive during their school years. In all of China students and teachers from various schools, colleges and universities spend their summer holidays in factories and at farms in the countryside.
Perhaps you may think that I am exaggerating the situation a bit but believe me that if someone had told me that such a vast country like China is running smoothly like a calm ocean, I would not have believed it either. How can I, however, deny what I have observed there with my own eyes? Not once but three times I have travelled to China. Still it is not possible for me to believe that nearly 700 million humans can sacrifice their personal interests for the sake of their nation, and besides this they have inter-twined their personal self into national self. Every person of that vast land works tirelessly day and night. Their cities were once filled with filth and flies and in Peking once a thirty foot wide Dragon sea canal right behind the Royal Palace, full of flies and disgusting filth and was, perhaps, not cleaned during the past 300 years. But now Peking is one of the cleanest cities and the credit does not go to the sweepers but it was cleaned by lawyers, teachers, students, politicians and store-keepers. This job was done by student unions and in fact they were at the forefront of this movement.
It is true that the Chinese system is working in such an efficient manner because it is equalitarian. A Chinese government minister goes to his office on his bike and he will use an official car only when he is to receive a foreign visitor. The effect of this exemplary behavior is that the Chinese nation is willing to sacrifice. However, the fact that the Chinese nation is determined to learn technology has no bearing on the system itself.
While talking about China, I have digressed from my main topic to some degree. I was relating to you that the British people invented and introduced industrial techniques and they have disseminated the same through proper education. If Japan can teach skills to its workers without having natural or other resources, if Chinese consider their citizens to be mental slaves and they expect from every child to learn some sort of science or skill and will teach others as well, and if all these nations are endeavouring to eradicate poverty through these methods then is not there a lesson for us.
One might say that poverty itself is a menace because if a man is hungry then he has no time or inclination to develop his mental faculties. In this context I cannot help but relate to you an incident that took place in Germany some forty years ago. In 1947 I was a student at Cambridge University, Germany had lost the war and the entire German nation was feeling the distressing effects of this crushing defeat. The American control commission invited students from Cambridge and other European universities to visit Germany and see the plight of the German nation. Around 500 students from all over Europe arrived in Munich. Not a single building structure was left intact in the city and it seemed that the inhabitants of Munich were living in pigeon holes.
We were to stay in huge tents in a city park. I had learnt from someone that a German scholar was looking for me. One day I met this scholar who was just a human skeleton. He was employed in a German war camp where there were some Punjabi prisoners as well. He learnt from these Punjabi soldiers that I had arrived in the city. He was learning the Punjabi language from these soldiers as he was compiling a German-Punjabi dictionary in 1947. The books he had in his possession were Meer Warith Shah and an old copy of Dulla Bhatti published from Lahore. As he was experiencing difficulty in understanding some verses from these books he decided to meet me so that I could explain to him some of the different passages. Unfortunately those passages were rather difficult for me as well and consequently I could not be of much help to him. Now think about this incident for a moment. I don't know whether that dictionary was ever published and if it was then how many people made use of it but this is a story of knowledge loving people. A nation whose total G.N.P. is but knowledge of science, technology and languages. The people of such a great country know that compiling a German/Punjabi dictionary may be fruitless but they will not waste time in playing cards or going on strikes or watching useless movies. They consider their time during university years to be extremely valuable, they learn and teach others, perhaps there is a great lesson for us.
In this context I would like to relate a story which was told by great Chinese leader Mao-Tse Tung and invariably you will hear this from almost every person in China.
Once upon time an old man lived in northern China whose name was Mr. Unlettered. The old man's house faced south and there were two huge mountains Bang and Wang situated right in front of his house. One day he suggested to his children that they should start digging these mountains away. His neighbour whose name was Mr. Intelligent said to his foolish neighbour that he knew he was a stupid old man but not this stupid as to remove those mountains by digging away with his hands. The old man replied `My friend you are right but remember if I die then this work will be carried on by my children, when they die by their children, then when those kids die it will be carried on by their kids and this digging will go on and on and on. These mountains are not going to grow any taller. Every day we dig they are reduced in size and hopefully this menace will be completely removed from the front of the house'. On hearing the old man's tale God Almighty sent two angels who immediately removed those old mountains in no time.
Our society is inflicted with menaces like these two mountains. Try to remove them from your surroundings with patience. God will have mercy on you one day. Do not be afraid if your endeavours don't bear fruit, but keep on doing your job and God will indeed bless your efforts.
Professor Dr. Abdus Salam (Nobel Laureate)
The Review of Religions, June 1990
(An analysis of relationship between lack of education and poverty by Nobel Laureate, Professor Dr. Abdus Salam, Director, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. The following article was published in the Urdu monthly magazine `Tahzeebul Akhlaq', Aligarh Muslim University, India, January 1986. Rendered into English by Mr. Zakaria Virk, Kingston, Canada.)
I was admitted to Jhang College, Pakistan in 1938 at the tender age of 12. I spent four years there. In those days it was an intermediate college, grade 9, 10, first year and second year classes were taught there. The majority of students in the college was Hindu. It was my good fortune that I had some of the exceptionally learned and most affectionate teachers assigned to me. Shaikh Ijaz Ahmad was my English teacher, Soofi Zia-ul Haq was my Arabic teacher, Khawaja Mirajud Din taught Persian language while mathematics and science subjects were taught by Hindu as well as Sikh teachers. Science and mathematics in those days were considered to be the domain of Hindu and Sikh students. Lala Badri Nath & Lala Ram Lal taught maths with great proficiency, while Lala Hans Raj taught physics, and chemistry was taught by Lala Naubat Rai.
The foundation of my academic career was laid in this college. I believe that I owe all of my later accomplishments to this institution and to its hard-working teachers. I firmly believe that a teacher's affection and his proper attention can make or break a student. To give an example, in my first year of college I got into the habit of using some English words which I liked very much. I started to use these phrases in my daily conversation without proper context. My respected teacher Shaikh Ijaz Ahmad forbade me to use such difficult words but advice fell on deaf ears. When the semester ended, my English teacher penalized me by deducting five points for every difficult or improper word I had used. The outcome of my English exam was quite obvious. My teacher did not consider it sufficient but decided to bring my paper to the classroom and announced in the entire school how I had used improper English words in my examination.
At the time I did not appreciate the treatment meted out to me by my teacher but now I think back and feel that it was the proper medicine administered to me. The net result of this shock therapy was that I stopped using difficult words altogether.
The education I received was due, in large part, to my teachers, but it was above all to my illustrious father's benign attention and his fervent prayers for me. In those days matriculation exam was more like a wrestling match in the province of Punjab. Wrestlers from various schools would show their prowess through this exam, especially students from Hindu Sanatam Dharam and Arya schools were considered to be formidable wrestlers. I vividly recall the day matriculation exam results came out, I was sitting in my father's Jhang courthouse office. The exam results were published in newspapers from Lahore and on that day the newspaper arrived around lunch time at Jhang railway station. My father had instructed one of his subordinates to bring the newspaper to him right away and in no time telegraphic messages of congratulations started pouring in from Lahore. As I mentioned matriculation exam results were sort of a national event in those days. The reason for this was that the Hindus patronized education to a great extent. I remember returning home around 2 p.m. in the afternoon on my bicycle from Maghiana to Jhang city. The news of my standing first in the exam had already reached Jhang city. I had to pass through Police Gate district of Jhang city to reach my home in Buland darwaza. I distinctly recall that those Hindu merchants who normally would have closed their shops due to afternoon heat, were standing outside their shops to pay homage to me. Their respect for me and their patronage of education has left an indelible impression on my mind.
From Jhang I went to Government College, Lahore and then to Cambridge, England. In Cambridge I experienced and learnt a variety of new methods of study from English students. In Cambridge students sit in their class rooms in such a respectful manner, as Muslims sit in a mosque for prayers. Before the lecturer's arrival there is pin drop silence. During the lecture you will see that students use ball-point pens with four types of ink and rulers to draw straight lines. Students' note-pads are written in such a professional manner as if written by a calligrapher. My class-mates had come to Cambridge straight from schools. They were younger than me in age but their self-reliance and high resolve was of such a degree that it took me two years to achieve the same standard. My class-mates had studied in such schools where teachers encouraged their pupils for advanced education and admonished them that they are sons of a great nation in which was born a man like Sir Isaac Newton. These teachers drilled in these children's minds that they had inherited the deep knowledge of science and mathematics and they too could become Newton.
In Cambridge the method of discipline was completely new and surprising for me. You could sit for B.A. exam only once. If heaven forbid you failed once, then you could not sit for this exam again. The discipline in student hostels required every student to be back in his residence by 10 p.m., if you came back before midnight the fine imposed was one penny, but if a student returned after midnight, the penalty was gating for a period of seven days. If it happened three times during the academic year, a student was expelled from the university. Every student was treated like an adult, he was accountable for all his deeds. A student did not engage in useless discussion as punishments were equally exemplary which some students accepted with fortitude.
A Cambridge student is expected to do some work with his hands as well. I remember my first day at St. John's College in London, England. When I arrived there my 40 kilogram luggage bag was brought from the railway station by a taxi driver. On arrival at the college I asked a porter for help. He pointed towards a wheel-barrow and told me to help myself. These incidents I am narrating here not for the sake of pastime but the subject at hand is education whereby these anecdotes become part of getting a point across.
You must pondered over the fact that there is a vital link between our economic downfall and education. Misleading and rather inappropriate education is in fact a national crisis right now. I believe that our nation is passing through a grave crisis for which the reason is that a proper educational system has not been developed.
The primary purpose of an educational system, in my view, is to develop a person's character. A character that is developed during school years seldom changes for the rest of a person's life. Here, however, I am not going to dwell on personal character. My reference is towards national aspects of our educational system. God Almighty has, at last, endowed us with freedom after 200 years of slavery. This momentous event took place some 40 years ago but up to now we have not cultivated any feeling of belonging, brotherhood, oneness and of being a unique nation.
The fact of the matter is that once we had achieved freedom, it should have been the primary objective of our educational system to strengthen our sense of belonging and nationality. The idea of nationality has been gradually changing in various regions of the earth but in today's world many countries can be cited whose consolidation as a nation solely depended on the type of educational system they developed for themselves. Take for instance the United States of America where Germans, English, Italians, Swedish and French people are living as one great nation. The reason I mentioned America here is that people from these European countries gave their lives during the last world war for the sake of a separate identity. These people in the U.S. spoke various languages before they arrived in America. In schools the American children are familiarised with the American constitution, American folk heroes are always at the tip of their tongues, day and night these kids listen to the American national anthem. American poets, writers, and novelists writer their pieces in such a way that every nook and corner of America is loved by one and all. Every American is taught to love his city, that is why an American citizen considers himself to be a citizen of thousands of cities. Far-off places of Europe from where his forefathers came to US do not bring any emotion or feeling of belongingness. He feels that his livelihood and daily life depends on American soil and that he only belongs to America. He strives day and night to promote the state or his city where he lives and all this is taking place through schools, colleges, newspapers, magazines and television. It is the crying need of the hour that our educational system should consciously promote this vital feeling of belongingness.
My second request to you is concerning the education and promotion of science and technology. India and Pakistan are economically backward countries, here an average person earns $70 / - USA every year. In contrast an American earns 50 times more, while a person in England earns 20 times more, in Japan 15 times, Iran 8 times, Turkey 8 times and in Iraq, Algeria, Syria and Egypt six times more. My question to you is Why are we poor as a nation? I totally agree that our national wealth was stolen by the British during their 100 years of rule over Delhi, Punjab and Sindh. I admit that Americans are fortunate, they have discovered a continent rich of natural resources, but the question arises how did we become British slaves?
If the British knew the art of sea-travel and we did not, then who taught them this art in the first place? If Robert Clive's flink lock rifles and guns had a greater craftmanship than those of the Muslim king Sirajud Daula, then may I ask who taught the British this art of making superior guns? Did they not invent this art themselves, and having invented it did they not master it through education in their country?
In the famous battle of Panipat the great Muslim conqueror king Baber won the day due to his use of superior Roman guns. The Roman Turks developed these guns in more sophisticated ways after its invention in 1526, however Baber's children did not care to introduce some sort of an institution in India that would have developed this art even further. If you happen to visit Constantinople (now Istanbul) you will find that the Turkish idea of a mosque was that on one side of the building will be a hospital and a school (or madrassah) on the other. This madrassah or place of learning was not to be for the purpose of teaching religious education alone but rather to teach the art of gun-making as well. Unfortunately those Turks who came to India were not interested in promoting education and learning. They have left behind as their legacy splendid masoleums and stretched graves as a reminder but alas no schools or places of learning for people of the Indian continent.
Let me ask you this, if God Almighty has bestowed the American people with plenty of food and a vast continent, then is it not due to their sheer determination that brought them to an unknown land across the oceans? If the Japanese industry has gained worldwide reputation, then how much of it is due to their well designed educational system? God's angels do not descend on Japanese to teach them new technology. There was time when Japanese goods and products were considered to be of inferior quality, but today it is deemed to be of super quality in technical terms. Do you know that British Leyland started to manufacture mini Morris and the next thing the Japanese produced a car the size of mini Morris but instead of 1000 c.c. engine power, it was 600 c.c. with the same amount of engine power. How can it be? Twenty years ago an American professor Townes invented the transistor and was awarded a Nobel Prize for his revolutionary invention. To find out the true nature and internal working of the transistor, the Japanese started work in Tokyo University right away. The Japanese efforts bore fruit in such a short span of time that since then the Japanese are considered to be the masters in the field of electronics. Not only did they re-discover the transistor but they published the secret of the transistor in a magazine so that any Pakistan, Indian, Arab, or Iranian may make use of it in case he could develop the transistor technology a little further. These champions of knowledge who are they anyway? Would you believe that these Japanese are the people who did not know the art of making a horse-shoe. It is said that when American Admiral Percy came to Japan with his armada of ships, the Japanese tried to block his entry into their harbour but the American bombardment forced the Japanese to let Percy's ship enter into the harbour. One night a horse was stolen from the Admiral's ship and returned the next day. The mystery behind this strange theft was that the Japanese wanted to see the horse-shoe as their science of metallurgy had not been developed to a point where they could make a horse-shoe in Japan.
In Japan the exam season is considered to be the suicide season for Japanese students as the admission for higher studies depends on the results of matriculation exam. The standard of this exam is so high that none of the school children in any other part of world sits for such a tough series of exams in physics and chemistry. During the exam period no body ever leaks the contents of the questionaires, no one goes on strike, nobody breaks windows of the buildings where these exams are held. The entire nation, parents as well as students are gripped in this exam frenzy and they all accept the outcome of exams with usual Japanese style.
During the month of September, I was fortunate to visit the People's Republic of China. A Chinese student enters the Grade 8 (or middle school) at the age of 12 and at 17 his school career is just about over. These grade 8 schools are equivalent of intermediate college in Indo-Pakistan. Education in these five years is compulsory and every Chinese student has to study the following 12 subjects of which none is elective: Nationalism, Chinese languages, two foreign languages (English, Russian or Japanese), Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Agriculture, History, Geography, Arts drama, Music and workshops.
Every student has to student 12 complete subjects. Chinese educationalists have made up their minds that every student must study science as well as arts.
Perhaps one may surmise that due to compulsory teaching of science the level of 16 or 17 years old students would be lower as opposed to our intermediate level. To find out the truth myself I attended maths and physics classes in a school in China. I was awestruck to find that a barely 14 years old was learning orders of infinity. In our part of the world we learn orders of infinity at the B.A. level.
Chinese people are now determined to introduce every new industrial technique in China. Their national life started two years after ours, but their determination and sheer resolve has resulted in the fact that during these 40 years they have learnt and mastered science of electronics to its fullest. They started iron casting at 40,000 tons a year and now it is equivalent to 200,000 tonnes a year. They can now manufactured sophisticated machine tools. Every Chinese student spends one day in his school or university workshop in order to practise his craft. The afore-mentioned school I visited had 14 to 16 years old students making transistor components. Another group was brining the mineral potassium carbonate to its grinding titration and packing it in bottles for marketing purposes. A group of four students, aged 12 were repairing shoes for the rest of their classmates. One of the girls in the group said that we should look at windows of the particular room, which were adorned with curtains. The girl said that when they started repairing shoes they were sort of shy and felt repulsive to repairing smelly shoes, to overcome this problem they covered the windows with curtains. Gradually they got used to it and now no one is shy at all. I believe that it is imperative for our school children to be productive during their school years. In all of China students and teachers from various schools, colleges and universities spend their summer holidays in factories and at farms in the countryside.
Perhaps you may think that I am exaggerating the situation a bit but believe me that if someone had told me that such a vast country like China is running smoothly like a calm ocean, I would not have believed it either. How can I, however, deny what I have observed there with my own eyes? Not once but three times I have travelled to China. Still it is not possible for me to believe that nearly 700 million humans can sacrifice their personal interests for the sake of their nation, and besides this they have inter-twined their personal self into national self. Every person of that vast land works tirelessly day and night. Their cities were once filled with filth and flies and in Peking once a thirty foot wide Dragon sea canal right behind the Royal Palace, full of flies and disgusting filth and was, perhaps, not cleaned during the past 300 years. But now Peking is one of the cleanest cities and the credit does not go to the sweepers but it was cleaned by lawyers, teachers, students, politicians and store-keepers. This job was done by student unions and in fact they were at the forefront of this movement.
It is true that the Chinese system is working in such an efficient manner because it is equalitarian. A Chinese government minister goes to his office on his bike and he will use an official car only when he is to receive a foreign visitor. The effect of this exemplary behavior is that the Chinese nation is willing to sacrifice. However, the fact that the Chinese nation is determined to learn technology has no bearing on the system itself.
While talking about China, I have digressed from my main topic to some degree. I was relating to you that the British people invented and introduced industrial techniques and they have disseminated the same through proper education. If Japan can teach skills to its workers without having natural or other resources, if Chinese consider their citizens to be mental slaves and they expect from every child to learn some sort of science or skill and will teach others as well, and if all these nations are endeavouring to eradicate poverty through these methods then is not there a lesson for us.
One might say that poverty itself is a menace because if a man is hungry then he has no time or inclination to develop his mental faculties. In this context I cannot help but relate to you an incident that took place in Germany some forty years ago. In 1947 I was a student at Cambridge University, Germany had lost the war and the entire German nation was feeling the distressing effects of this crushing defeat. The American control commission invited students from Cambridge and other European universities to visit Germany and see the plight of the German nation. Around 500 students from all over Europe arrived in Munich. Not a single building structure was left intact in the city and it seemed that the inhabitants of Munich were living in pigeon holes.
We were to stay in huge tents in a city park. I had learnt from someone that a German scholar was looking for me. One day I met this scholar who was just a human skeleton. He was employed in a German war camp where there were some Punjabi prisoners as well. He learnt from these Punjabi soldiers that I had arrived in the city. He was learning the Punjabi language from these soldiers as he was compiling a German-Punjabi dictionary in 1947. The books he had in his possession were Meer Warith Shah and an old copy of Dulla Bhatti published from Lahore. As he was experiencing difficulty in understanding some verses from these books he decided to meet me so that I could explain to him some of the different passages. Unfortunately those passages were rather difficult for me as well and consequently I could not be of much help to him. Now think about this incident for a moment. I don't know whether that dictionary was ever published and if it was then how many people made use of it but this is a story of knowledge loving people. A nation whose total G.N.P. is but knowledge of science, technology and languages. The people of such a great country know that compiling a German/Punjabi dictionary may be fruitless but they will not waste time in playing cards or going on strikes or watching useless movies. They consider their time during university years to be extremely valuable, they learn and teach others, perhaps there is a great lesson for us.
In this context I would like to relate a story which was told by great Chinese leader Mao-Tse Tung and invariably you will hear this from almost every person in China.
Once upon time an old man lived in northern China whose name was Mr. Unlettered. The old man's house faced south and there were two huge mountains Bang and Wang situated right in front of his house. One day he suggested to his children that they should start digging these mountains away. His neighbour whose name was Mr. Intelligent said to his foolish neighbour that he knew he was a stupid old man but not this stupid as to remove those mountains by digging away with his hands. The old man replied `My friend you are right but remember if I die then this work will be carried on by my children, when they die by their children, then when those kids die it will be carried on by their kids and this digging will go on and on and on. These mountains are not going to grow any taller. Every day we dig they are reduced in size and hopefully this menace will be completely removed from the front of the house'. On hearing the old man's tale God Almighty sent two angels who immediately removed those old mountains in no time.
Our society is inflicted with menaces like these two mountains. Try to remove them from your surroundings with patience. God will have mercy on you one day. Do not be afraid if your endeavours don't bear fruit, but keep on doing your job and God will indeed bless your efforts.
Its such a ashame that we never respect for our HEROS ,, and this relegion thing always comes up first.. Look at other nations they dont give damn about relegions but for them they always respect there heros.. 
Dr Salam indeed a gear man and great Physisist... Pakistan might never have some one like him
too bad we lost him because of our own ignorancee
Dr Salam indeed a gear man and great Physisist... Pakistan might never have some one like him
too bad we lost him because of our own ignorancee
GREAT MAN INDEED!
I highly regard Dr. Abdus Salaam being only muslim and Pakistani Nobel prize winner for his ingenuinity and pioneer research. But I think he was the victim of being on wrong side of history. After 1971 episode and Indian nuke explosion in 1974, Pakistan wanted to have the bomb badly. The reason for neglecting Dr. Abdus Salaam by Pakistan government was that he was against the bomb. In the so called Multan conference in 1972 where ZAB proposed to go for nuclear, Dr. Salaam was the only prominent scientist raised voice against it. The government was afraid that other scientists would follow him and refused to work for the program. Being a pioneer in Pakistani scientist community and being world famous for his ingenuinity he had influence on young Pakistani scientists. So the Pakistan government tried best to isolate him from Pakistani scientists and did not want to portray him as a role model to follow by others. The government was also afraid that being pacifist Dr. Salaam might leek information about Pakistan's inspiration for nuclear weapon to international scientific and diplomatic community which would bring unnecessary attention toward Pakistan. This policy of the government though might seem ridiculous afterward but it is understandable. But as patriotic Pakistani though he was personally against the bomb but he never said anything against it in the public.
Now as Pakistan is a declared nuclear state, the government should pay long due respect to this great son of Pakistan and name a premier physics institute after him. As he is no longer in this world may Allah have peace and mercy on his soul and others should stop to demonise him for being unpatriotic or being of wrong faith. The young Pakistani scientists would follow his footstep to seek knowledge and put the name and fame of Pakistan in the world map.
Now as Pakistan is a declared nuclear state, the government should pay long due respect to this great son of Pakistan and name a premier physics institute after him. As he is no longer in this world may Allah have peace and mercy on his soul and others should stop to demonise him for being unpatriotic or being of wrong faith. The young Pakistani scientists would follow his footstep to seek knowledge and put the name and fame of Pakistan in the world map.
Introduction
Professor Abdus Salam is a man of three worlds, the world of Islam, the world of Theoretical Physics, and the world of International Co-operation. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979, for his theoretical unification of the two fundamental forces of nature. A year before his Nobel Prize, he was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society of London. He is a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of USA and also of USSR, a rare 'double-first' which demonstrates his important position in the world of Sciences. His association with UN goes back to 1955, when he became Scientific Secretary to the Geneva Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. He is very active in promoting scientific research in developing countries.
We are indeed privilged to have 'Bio-Data' of such a distinguished man. I therefore present to you: Professor Abdus Salam, Nobel Laureate, F.R.S; Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Imperial College of Sciences and Technology, London, and President of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics Trieste Italy.
Personal
Date of birth
29th Jan, 1926
Place of birth
Jhang, Pakistan
Nationality
Pakistan
Educational Career
* Govt. College, Jhang and Lahore, Pakistan (1938-1946)
* M.A (Punab University) First place in every examination at the Punjab University
* Foundation Scholar, St. John's College, Cambridge (1946-1949)
* B.A Honours Double first in Mathematics (Wrangler) and Physics.
* Cavendish Laboratory
* Ph. D in Theoretical Physics Cambridge (1952)
# Awarded Smith's Prize by the University of Cambridge for the most outstanding pre-doctral contribution to physics (1950)
Appointments
1. Professor, Government College, Lahore (1951-1954)
2. Head of the Mathematics Department of Punjab University, Lahore (1951-54)
3. Lecturer, Cambridge University (Cambridge) (1954-1956)
4. Prof. of Theoretical Physics, London Univeristy.
5. Prof. of Theoretical Physics Imperial College (London) (1957)
6. Founder and Director, International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Trieste) (1964-1993)
7. Elected Fellow, St. John's College (Cambridge) (1951-56)
8. Member, Institute of Advanced Study (Princeton) (1951)
9. Elected, Honorary Life Fellow, St. John's College (Cambridge)
10. Honorary President , (1993-)
United Nations Assignments
1. Scientific Secretary, Geneva Conferences on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (1955 and 1958)
2. Elected Member of the Board of Governors, TAEA, Vienna (1962-63)
3. Member, United Nations Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (1964-75)
4. Elected Chairman, United Nations Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (1971-1972)
5. Member, United Nations Panel and Foundation Committee for the United Nations University (1970-73)
6. Member, United Nations University Advisory Committee (1981-83)
7. Member Council, University of Peace (Costa Rica) (1981-86)
8. Elected Chairman, UNSECO Advisory Panel on Science, Technology and Society (1981)
Other Assignments
1. Member, Scientific Council, SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) (1970)
2. Elected Vice President, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) (1972-78)
3. Elected First President of the Third World Academy of Sciences (1983)
4. Member of the CERN Scientific Policy Committee (1983-86)
5. Member of the Board of Directors of the Beijir Institute of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1986)
6. Member of the South Commision (1987- )
7. Elected 1st President of Third World Network of Scientific Organizations (1988)
Awards for contribution to physics
1. Hopkins Prize (Cambridge University) for the most outstanding contribution to physics during 1957-58 (1958)
2. Adams Prize (Cambridge Univeristy) (1958)
3. First receipient of Maxwell Medal and Award (Physical Society, London) (1961)
4. Hughes Medal (Royal Society, London) (1964)
5. J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Medal and Prize (University of Miami) (1971)
6. Guthrie Medal and Prize (Institute of Physics London) (1976)
7. Sir Devaprasad Sarvadhikary Gold Medal (Calcutta University) (1977)
8. Metteuci Medal (Accademia Nazionale di XL, Rome) (1978)
9. John Torrence Tate Medal (American Institute of Physics) (1978)
10. Roval Medal (Royal Society, London) (1978)
11. NOBEL PRIZE for Physics (Nobel Foundation) (1979)
12. Einstein Medal (UNESCO, Paris) (1979)
13. Shri R. D. Birla Award (Indian Physics Association) (1979)
14. Josef Stefan Medal (Josef Stefan Institute, Ljublijana) (1980)
15. Gold Medal for outstanding contribution to physics (Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague) (1981)
16. Lomonosov Gold Medal USSR (USSR Academy of Sciences) (1983)
17. Copley Medal, Royal Society London (1990)
Awards for contributions towards peace and promotion of international scientific collaboration
1. Atoms for Peace Medal and Award (Atoms for Peace Foundation) (1968)
2. Peace Medal (Charles University, Prague) (1981)
3. Premio Umberto Biancamano (Italy) (1986)
4. Dayemi International Peace Award (Bangladesh) (1986)
5. First Edinburgh Medal and Prize (Scotland) (1988)
6. "Genoa" International Development of Peoples Prize (Italy) (1988)
7. Catalunya International Prize (Spain) (1990)
Academies and Scocieties
1. Elected, Fellow, Pakistan Academy of Sciences (Islamabad) (1954)
2. Elected, Fellow of the Royal Society, London (1959)
3. Elected, Fellow, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Stockholm) (1970)
4. Elected, Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Boston) (1971)
5. Elected, Foreign Member, USSR Academy of Sciences (Moscow) (1971)
6. Elected, Foreign Associate, USA National Academy of Sciences (Washington) (1979)
7. Elected, Foreign Member, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome) (1979)
8. Elected, Foreign Member, Accademia Tiberina (Rome) (1979)
9. Elected, Foreign Member, Iraqi Academy (Baghdad) (1979)
10. Elected, Honorary Fellow, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Bombay) (1979)
11. Elected, Honorary Member, Korean Physics Society (Seoul) (1979)
12. Elected, Foreign Member, Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco (Rabat) (1980)
13. Elected, Foreign Member, Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze (dei XL) (Rome) (1980)
14. Elected, Member, European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Humanities (Paris) (1980)
15. Elected, Associate Member, Josef Stefan Institute (Ljublijana) (1980)
16. Elected, Foreign Fellow, Indian National Sciences Academy (New Delhi) (1980)
17. Elected, Fellow, Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (Dhaka) (1980)
18. Elected, Member, Pontifical Academy of Sciences (Vatican City) (1981)
19. Elected, Corresponding Member, Portuguese Academy of Sciences (Lisbon) (1981)
20. Founding Member, Third World Academy of Sciences Trieste (1983)
21. Elected, Corresponding Member, Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (Zagreb) (1983)
22. Elected, Honorary Fellow, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (1984)
23. Elected, Honorary Member, Polish Academy of Sciences (1985)
24. Elected, Corresponding Member, Academia de Ciencias Medicas, Fisicas y Naturales de Guatemala (1986)
25. Elected, Honorary Life Fellow, London Physical Society (1986)
26. Elected, Fellow, World Academy of Art and Science (Stockholm) (1986)
27. Elected, Corresponding Member, Academia de Ciencias Fisicas, Mathematicas y Naturales de Venezuela (1987)
28. Elected, Fellow, Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences (1987)
29. Elected, Honorary Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (1988)
30. Elected, Distinguished International Fellow of Sigma Xi (1988)
31. Elected, Honorary Member, Brazilian Mathematical Society (1989)
32. Elected, Honorary Member, National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Argentina (1989)
33. Elected, Honorary Member, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1990)
34. Elected, Member, Academia Eureopaea (1990)
Orders
1. Order of NISHAN-E-IMTIAZ (Pakistan) (1979)
2. Order of Andres Bello (Venezuela) (1980)
3. Order of Istiqlal (Jordan) (1980)
4. Cavaliere de Gran Croce dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (1980)
5. Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1989)
D.Sc. HONORIS CAUSE
1. Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan (1957)
2. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK (1971)
3. University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy (1979)
4. University of Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan (1979)
5. Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Lima, Peru (1980)
6. University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru (1980)
7. National University of San Antonio Abad, Cuzco, Peru (1980)
8. Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela (1980)
9. University of Wroclow, Wroclow, Poland (1980)
10. Yarmouk University, Yarmouk, Jordan (1980)
11. University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (1980)
12. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India (1981)
13. Muslim University, Aligarh, India (1981)
14. Hindu University, Banaras, India (1981)
15. University of Chittagong, Bangladesh (1981)
16. University of Bristol, Bristol, UK (1981)
17. University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria (1981)
18. University of Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines (1982)
19. University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan (1983)
20. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (1983)
21. The City College, The City University of New York, USA (1984)
22. University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya (1984)
23. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Cuyo, Argentina (1985)
24. Universidad Nacional de la Plata, La Plata, Argentina (1985)
25. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (1985)
26. University of Goteborg, Goteborg, Sweden (1985)
27. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria (1986)
28. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland (1986)
29. University of Science and Technology, Heifei, China (1986)
30. The City University, London, UK (1986)
31. Punjab University, Chandigarh, India (1987)
32. Medicina Alternativa, Colombo, Sri Lanka (1987)
33. National University of Benin, Contonou, Benin (1987)
34. University of Exetes, UK (1987)
35. University of Gent, Belgium (1988)
36. "Creation" International Association of scientists and Intelligentsia, USSR (1989)
37. Bendel State University, Ekpoma, Nigeria (1990)
38. University of Ghana (1990)
39. University of Tucuman, Argentina (1991)
Pakistan Assignments
1. Member, Atomic Energy Commission, Pakistan (1958-74)
2. Elected President, Pakistan Association for Advancement of Sciences (1961-1962)
3. Adviser, Education Commission Pakistan (1959)
4. Member Scientific Commission Pakistan (1959)
5. Chief Scientific Adviser to President of Pakistan (1961-74)
6. Founder Chairman, Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Committee (1961-64)
7. Governor from Pakistan to the International Atomic Energy Egency (1962-63)
8. Member National Science Council, Pakistan (1963-75)
9. Member, Board of Pakistan Science Foundation (1973-77)
Pakistani Awards
1. Sitara-e-Pakistan (1959)
2. Pride of Performance Medal and Award (1959)
3. The Order of Nishan-e-Imtiaz (the highest civilian award) (1979)
As "Servant of Peace"
1. Member, Scientific Council, SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) (1970)
2. Awarded the Atoms for Peace Medal and Award (Atoms for peace foundation) (1968)
3. Peace Medal (Charles University, Prague) (1981)
4. Premio Umberto Biancamano, Italy (1968)
5. Dayemi International Peace Award (Bangladesh) (1986)
6. Member, Council, University for Peace, Costa Rica (1981-86)
Published Papers
Around 250 scientific papers on physics of elementary particles. Papers on scientific and educational policies for developing countries and Pakistan.
Scientific Contributions
Research on physics of elementary particles. Particular contributions:
1. two-component neutrino theory and the prediction of the inevitable parity violation in weak interaction;
2. gauge unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions - the unified force is called the "Electroweak" force - a name given to it by Salam; predicted existence of weak neutral currents and W,Z. particles before their experimental discovery;
3. symmetry properties of elementary particles; unitary symmetry;
4. renormalization of meson theories;
5. gravity theory and its role in particle physics; two tensor theory of gravity and strong interaction physics;
6. unification of electroweak with strong nuclear forces, grand (elec- tro-nuclear) unification; and
7. related prediction of proton-decay;
8. supersymmetry theory, in particular formulation of superspace and formalism of super fields.
Professor Abdus Salam is a man of three worlds, the world of Islam, the world of Theoretical Physics, and the world of International Co-operation. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979, for his theoretical unification of the two fundamental forces of nature. A year before his Nobel Prize, he was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society of London. He is a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of USA and also of USSR, a rare 'double-first' which demonstrates his important position in the world of Sciences. His association with UN goes back to 1955, when he became Scientific Secretary to the Geneva Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy. He is very active in promoting scientific research in developing countries.
We are indeed privilged to have 'Bio-Data' of such a distinguished man. I therefore present to you: Professor Abdus Salam, Nobel Laureate, F.R.S; Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Imperial College of Sciences and Technology, London, and President of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics Trieste Italy.
Personal
Date of birth
29th Jan, 1926
Place of birth
Jhang, Pakistan
Nationality
Pakistan
Educational Career
* Govt. College, Jhang and Lahore, Pakistan (1938-1946)
* M.A (Punab University) First place in every examination at the Punjab University
* Foundation Scholar, St. John's College, Cambridge (1946-1949)
* B.A Honours Double first in Mathematics (Wrangler) and Physics.
* Cavendish Laboratory
* Ph. D in Theoretical Physics Cambridge (1952)
# Awarded Smith's Prize by the University of Cambridge for the most outstanding pre-doctral contribution to physics (1950)
Appointments
1. Professor, Government College, Lahore (1951-1954)
2. Head of the Mathematics Department of Punjab University, Lahore (1951-54)
3. Lecturer, Cambridge University (Cambridge) (1954-1956)
4. Prof. of Theoretical Physics, London Univeristy.
5. Prof. of Theoretical Physics Imperial College (London) (1957)
6. Founder and Director, International Centre for Theoretical Physics (Trieste) (1964-1993)
7. Elected Fellow, St. John's College (Cambridge) (1951-56)
8. Member, Institute of Advanced Study (Princeton) (1951)
9. Elected, Honorary Life Fellow, St. John's College (Cambridge)
10. Honorary President , (1993-)
United Nations Assignments
1. Scientific Secretary, Geneva Conferences on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (1955 and 1958)
2. Elected Member of the Board of Governors, TAEA, Vienna (1962-63)
3. Member, United Nations Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (1964-75)
4. Elected Chairman, United Nations Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (1971-1972)
5. Member, United Nations Panel and Foundation Committee for the United Nations University (1970-73)
6. Member, United Nations University Advisory Committee (1981-83)
7. Member Council, University of Peace (Costa Rica) (1981-86)
8. Elected Chairman, UNSECO Advisory Panel on Science, Technology and Society (1981)
Other Assignments
1. Member, Scientific Council, SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) (1970)
2. Elected Vice President, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) (1972-78)
3. Elected First President of the Third World Academy of Sciences (1983)
4. Member of the CERN Scientific Policy Committee (1983-86)
5. Member of the Board of Directors of the Beijir Institute of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1986)
6. Member of the South Commision (1987- )
7. Elected 1st President of Third World Network of Scientific Organizations (1988)
Awards for contribution to physics
1. Hopkins Prize (Cambridge University) for the most outstanding contribution to physics during 1957-58 (1958)
2. Adams Prize (Cambridge Univeristy) (1958)
3. First receipient of Maxwell Medal and Award (Physical Society, London) (1961)
4. Hughes Medal (Royal Society, London) (1964)
5. J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Medal and Prize (University of Miami) (1971)
6. Guthrie Medal and Prize (Institute of Physics London) (1976)
7. Sir Devaprasad Sarvadhikary Gold Medal (Calcutta University) (1977)
8. Metteuci Medal (Accademia Nazionale di XL, Rome) (1978)
9. John Torrence Tate Medal (American Institute of Physics) (1978)
10. Roval Medal (Royal Society, London) (1978)
11. NOBEL PRIZE for Physics (Nobel Foundation) (1979)
12. Einstein Medal (UNESCO, Paris) (1979)
13. Shri R. D. Birla Award (Indian Physics Association) (1979)
14. Josef Stefan Medal (Josef Stefan Institute, Ljublijana) (1980)
15. Gold Medal for outstanding contribution to physics (Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague) (1981)
16. Lomonosov Gold Medal USSR (USSR Academy of Sciences) (1983)
17. Copley Medal, Royal Society London (1990)
Awards for contributions towards peace and promotion of international scientific collaboration
1. Atoms for Peace Medal and Award (Atoms for Peace Foundation) (1968)
2. Peace Medal (Charles University, Prague) (1981)
3. Premio Umberto Biancamano (Italy) (1986)
4. Dayemi International Peace Award (Bangladesh) (1986)
5. First Edinburgh Medal and Prize (Scotland) (1988)
6. "Genoa" International Development of Peoples Prize (Italy) (1988)
7. Catalunya International Prize (Spain) (1990)
Academies and Scocieties
1. Elected, Fellow, Pakistan Academy of Sciences (Islamabad) (1954)
2. Elected, Fellow of the Royal Society, London (1959)
3. Elected, Fellow, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Stockholm) (1970)
4. Elected, Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Boston) (1971)
5. Elected, Foreign Member, USSR Academy of Sciences (Moscow) (1971)
6. Elected, Foreign Associate, USA National Academy of Sciences (Washington) (1979)
7. Elected, Foreign Member, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome) (1979)
8. Elected, Foreign Member, Accademia Tiberina (Rome) (1979)
9. Elected, Foreign Member, Iraqi Academy (Baghdad) (1979)
10. Elected, Honorary Fellow, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Bombay) (1979)
11. Elected, Honorary Member, Korean Physics Society (Seoul) (1979)
12. Elected, Foreign Member, Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco (Rabat) (1980)
13. Elected, Foreign Member, Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze (dei XL) (Rome) (1980)
14. Elected, Member, European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Humanities (Paris) (1980)
15. Elected, Associate Member, Josef Stefan Institute (Ljublijana) (1980)
16. Elected, Foreign Fellow, Indian National Sciences Academy (New Delhi) (1980)
17. Elected, Fellow, Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (Dhaka) (1980)
18. Elected, Member, Pontifical Academy of Sciences (Vatican City) (1981)
19. Elected, Corresponding Member, Portuguese Academy of Sciences (Lisbon) (1981)
20. Founding Member, Third World Academy of Sciences Trieste (1983)
21. Elected, Corresponding Member, Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (Zagreb) (1983)
22. Elected, Honorary Fellow, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (1984)
23. Elected, Honorary Member, Polish Academy of Sciences (1985)
24. Elected, Corresponding Member, Academia de Ciencias Medicas, Fisicas y Naturales de Guatemala (1986)
25. Elected, Honorary Life Fellow, London Physical Society (1986)
26. Elected, Fellow, World Academy of Art and Science (Stockholm) (1986)
27. Elected, Corresponding Member, Academia de Ciencias Fisicas, Mathematicas y Naturales de Venezuela (1987)
28. Elected, Fellow, Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences (1987)
29. Elected, Honorary Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (1988)
30. Elected, Distinguished International Fellow of Sigma Xi (1988)
31. Elected, Honorary Member, Brazilian Mathematical Society (1989)
32. Elected, Honorary Member, National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Argentina (1989)
33. Elected, Honorary Member, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1990)
34. Elected, Member, Academia Eureopaea (1990)
Orders
1. Order of NISHAN-E-IMTIAZ (Pakistan) (1979)
2. Order of Andres Bello (Venezuela) (1980)
3. Order of Istiqlal (Jordan) (1980)
4. Cavaliere de Gran Croce dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (1980)
5. Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1989)
D.Sc. HONORIS CAUSE
1. Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan (1957)
2. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK (1971)
3. University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy (1979)
4. University of Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan (1979)
5. Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Lima, Peru (1980)
6. University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru (1980)
7. National University of San Antonio Abad, Cuzco, Peru (1980)
8. Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela (1980)
9. University of Wroclow, Wroclow, Poland (1980)
10. Yarmouk University, Yarmouk, Jordan (1980)
11. University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (1980)
12. Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India (1981)
13. Muslim University, Aligarh, India (1981)
14. Hindu University, Banaras, India (1981)
15. University of Chittagong, Bangladesh (1981)
16. University of Bristol, Bristol, UK (1981)
17. University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria (1981)
18. University of Philippines, Quezon City, Philippines (1982)
19. University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan (1983)
20. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (1983)
21. The City College, The City University of New York, USA (1984)
22. University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya (1984)
23. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Cuyo, Argentina (1985)
24. Universidad Nacional de la Plata, La Plata, Argentina (1985)
25. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK (1985)
26. University of Goteborg, Goteborg, Sweden (1985)
27. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria (1986)
28. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland (1986)
29. University of Science and Technology, Heifei, China (1986)
30. The City University, London, UK (1986)
31. Punjab University, Chandigarh, India (1987)
32. Medicina Alternativa, Colombo, Sri Lanka (1987)
33. National University of Benin, Contonou, Benin (1987)
34. University of Exetes, UK (1987)
35. University of Gent, Belgium (1988)
36. "Creation" International Association of scientists and Intelligentsia, USSR (1989)
37. Bendel State University, Ekpoma, Nigeria (1990)
38. University of Ghana (1990)
39. University of Tucuman, Argentina (1991)
Pakistan Assignments
1. Member, Atomic Energy Commission, Pakistan (1958-74)
2. Elected President, Pakistan Association for Advancement of Sciences (1961-1962)
3. Adviser, Education Commission Pakistan (1959)
4. Member Scientific Commission Pakistan (1959)
5. Chief Scientific Adviser to President of Pakistan (1961-74)
6. Founder Chairman, Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Committee (1961-64)
7. Governor from Pakistan to the International Atomic Energy Egency (1962-63)
8. Member National Science Council, Pakistan (1963-75)
9. Member, Board of Pakistan Science Foundation (1973-77)
Pakistani Awards
1. Sitara-e-Pakistan (1959)
2. Pride of Performance Medal and Award (1959)
3. The Order of Nishan-e-Imtiaz (the highest civilian award) (1979)
As "Servant of Peace"
1. Member, Scientific Council, SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) (1970)
2. Awarded the Atoms for Peace Medal and Award (Atoms for peace foundation) (1968)
3. Peace Medal (Charles University, Prague) (1981)
4. Premio Umberto Biancamano, Italy (1968)
5. Dayemi International Peace Award (Bangladesh) (1986)
6. Member, Council, University for Peace, Costa Rica (1981-86)
Published Papers
Around 250 scientific papers on physics of elementary particles. Papers on scientific and educational policies for developing countries and Pakistan.
Scientific Contributions
Research on physics of elementary particles. Particular contributions:
1. two-component neutrino theory and the prediction of the inevitable parity violation in weak interaction;
2. gauge unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions - the unified force is called the "Electroweak" force - a name given to it by Salam; predicted existence of weak neutral currents and W,Z. particles before their experimental discovery;
3. symmetry properties of elementary particles; unitary symmetry;
4. renormalization of meson theories;
5. gravity theory and its role in particle physics; two tensor theory of gravity and strong interaction physics;
6. unification of electroweak with strong nuclear forces, grand (elec- tro-nuclear) unification; and
7. related prediction of proton-decay;
8. supersymmetry theory, in particular formulation of superspace and formalism of super fields.
My parents are from Jhang as well. My dad actually met Dr. Abdus Salam. He is indeed a Pakistani GREAT!!!
Thx guys this just makes me work harder in school at night knowing maybe i could be the next salam!
great read
Dr. Salam is a hero to many and I think we should all model our studies with dedication just like him.
QUOTE(BoggedDown @ Oct 6 2004, 11:08 AM)
Dr. Salaam was the only prominent scientist raised voice against it. The government was afraid that other scientists would follow him and refused to work for the program.
[right][snapback]531942[/snapback][/right]
[right][snapback]531942[/snapback][/right]
Then why has he gone against the nukes is there was some thing better then nukes for Pakistan in his mind? who knows...?
THOSE TIMES HAD DIFF CONDITIONS MAYBE HE DIDNT KNEW THAT SOMETHING HAPPEN LIKE WATS HAPPENING THESE DAYS
HE WILL ALWAYS BE OUR PRIDE
HE WILL ALWAYS BE OUR PRIDE
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