Dr Abdus Salam - a Pakistani Nobel Laureate
Dr Abdus Salam holds the distinction of being the first Pakistani and Muslim Nobel Laureate in Physics.
Abdus Salam was born in Jhang, a small town in what is now Pakistan, in 1926. His father was an official in the Department of Education in a poor farming district. His family has a long tradition of piety and learning.
When he cycled home from Lahore, at the age of 14, after gaining the highest marks ever recorded for the Matriculation Examination at the University of the Punjab, the whole town turned out to welcome him. He won a scholarship to Government College, University of the Punjab, and took his MA in 1946. In the same year he was awarded a scholarship to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took a BA (honours) with a double First in mathematics and physics in 1949. In 1950 he received the Smith's Prize from Cambridge University for the most outstanding pre-doctoral contribution to physics. He also obtained a PhD in theoretical physics at Cambridge; his thesis, published in 1951, contained fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics which had already gained him an international reputation.
Salam returned to Pakistan in 1951 to teach mathematics at Government College, Lahore, and in 1952 became head of the Mathematics Department of the Punjab University. He had come back with the intention of founding a school of research, but it soon became clear that this was impossible. To pursue a career of research in theoretical physics he had no alternative at that time but to leave his own country and work abroad. Many years later he succeeded in finding a way to solve the heartbreaking dilemma faced by many young and gifted theoretical physicists from developing countries. At the ICTP, Trieste, which he created, he instituted the famous "Associateships" which allowed deserving young physicists to spend their vacations there in an invigorating atmosphere, in close touch with their peers in research and with the leaders in their own field, losing their sense of isolation and returning to their own country for nine months of the academic year refreshed and recharged.
In 1954 Salam left his native country for a lectureship at Cambridge, and since then has visited Pakistan as adviser on science policy. His work for Pakistan has, however, been far-reaching and influential. He was a member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, a member of the Scientific Commission of Pakistan and was Chief Scientific Adviser to the President from 1961 to 1974.
Since 1957 he has been Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College, London, and since 1964 has combined this position with that of Director of the ICTP, Trieste.
For more than forty years he has been a prolific researcher in theoretical elementary particle physics. He has either pioneered or been associated with all the important developments in this field, maintaining a constant and fertile flow of brilliant ideas. For the past thirty years he has used his academic reputation to add weight to his active and influential participation in international scientific affairs. He has served on a number of United Nations committees concerned with the advancement of science and technology in developing countries.
To accommodate the astonishing volume of activity that he undertakes, Professor Salam cuts out such inessentials as holidays, parties and entertainments. Faced with such an example, the staff of the Centre find it very difficult to complain that they are overworked.
He has a way of keeping his administrative staff at the ICTP fully alive to the real aim of the Centre - the fostering through training and research of the advancement of theoretical physics, with special regard to the needs of developing countries. Inspired by their personal regard for him and encouraged by the fact that he works harder than any of them, the staff cheerfully submit to working conditions that would be unthinkable here at the (International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna (IAEA). The money he received from the Atoms for Peace Medal and Award he spent on setting up a fund for young Pakistani physicists to visit the ICTP. He uses his share of the Nobel Prize entirely for the benefit of physicists from developing countries and does not spend a penny of it on himself or his family.
Abdus Salam is known to be a devout Muslim, whose religion does not occupy a separate compartment of his life; it is inseparable from his work and family life. He once wrote: "The Holy Quran enjoins us to reflect on the verities of Allah's created laws of nature; however, that our generation has been privileged to glimpse a part of His design is a bounty and a grace for which I render thanks with a humble heart."
The biography was written by Miriam Lewis, now at IAEA, Vienna, who was at one time on the staff of ICTP (International Centre For Theoretical Physics, Trieste).
Source: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1979/salam-bio.html
Xray, To be frank, No. If Dr Khan had not returned to Pakistan, he still would not emerge as a world-class scientist, least a genie like Dr Salam. I base this looking at their research backgrounds/accomplishments in their respective areas. Both of them are great but they have totally different profiles from each other in terms of research and creation of knowledge.
We cannot compare the two. It's like comparing Ghalib and Iqbal. Both are poets but no comparison can be drawn among them.
Right Adil, agree with you... If Dr khan don't come back to Pakistan, he may become uptil now an international figure in his field
offcourse, as Dr. A.Q. Khan, did only for "Pakistan" whereas Dr. A. Salam for all human being.
No doubt Dr Khan's contribution to Pakistan is huge. He is rightly called 'mohsan-e-Pakistan'. Nonetheless, he is not an acclaimed and prominent scientist on world stage like Dr Salam.
Pakistan produced Dr Abdus Salam. We know that he was a proud and patriotic Pakistani who made the nation proud. We own him.
u always wellcome.
Mr. Mathboy
Wat about Dr. A.Q. Khan contribution for our beloved country?
Thanks, Aadil.Khan.
right mathboy.Allah bless our Pakistan and protect it from all the evils .
"PROUD TO BE A PAKISTANI"
MagicD
i'll give u 10 plus.. ;)
He was a beautiful human being, and that's enough.
He was a "Pakistani", and thats enough.
That's entirely a different debate Lahori. Every sect and every religion calls or atleast considers others 'infidel'. I don't think here we want to get into this. Our country has lost much on it already.
we r proud of him, but dont write Muslim as we all know he was a devoted qadyani(mirzai).
Pakistani, the superior race! Hats off to Abdus Salam for his contributions to the Chromodynamic theory together with Steven Weinberg and Sheldon Lee Glashow.
Dr Abdus Salam is a great son of Pakistan. We are proud of him. I found his CV at Nobel Foundation website, so thought to share it with you:
Date of birth: 29 January, 1926
Place of birth: Jhang, Pakistan
Educational Career
Government College, Jhang and Lahore (1938-1946) M.A. (Punjab University)
Foundation Scholar, St. John's College, Cambridge (1946- 1949) B.A. Honours Double first in Mathematics (Wrangler) and Physics
Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge (1952) Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics
Awarded Smith's Prize by the University of Cambridge for "the most outstanding pre-doctoral contribution to Physics" (1950)
D.Sc. Honoris Causa
Punjab University, Lahore (1957)
University of Edinburgh (1971)
Punjab University, Lahore (Pakistan) (1957)
University of Edinburgh (UK) (1971)
University of Trieste (Italy) (1979)
University of Islamabad (Pakistan) (1979)
Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria, Lima (Peru) (1980)
University of San Marcos, Lima (Peru) (1980)
National University of San Antonio Abad, Cuzco (Peru) (1980)
Universidad Simon Bolivar, Caracas (Venezuela) (1980)
University of Wroclow (Poland) (1980)
Yarmouk University (Jordan) (1980)
University of Istanbul (Turkey) (1980)
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar (India) (1981)
Muslim University, Aligarh (India) (1981)
Hindu University, Banaras (India) (1981)
University of Chittagong (Bangladesh) (1981)
University of Bristol (UK) (1981)
University of Maiduguri (Nigeria) (1981)
University of the Philippines, Quezon City (Philippines) (1982)
University of Khartoum (Sudan) (1983)
Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) (1983)
City College, City University of New York (USA) (1984)
University of Nairobi (Kenya) (1984)
Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Argentina) (1985)
Universidad Nacional de la Plata (Argentina) (1985)
University of Cambridge (UK) (1985)
University of Göteborg (Sweden) (1985)
Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia (Bulgaria) (1986)
University of Glasgow (UK) (1986)
University of Science and Technology, Hefei (China) (1986)
The City University, London (UK) (1986)
Panjab University, Chandigarh (India) (1987)
Medicina Alternativa, Colombo (Sri Lanka) (1987)
National University of Benin, Cotonou (Benin) (1987)
University of Exeter (UK) (1987)
University of Gent (Belgium) (1988)
"Creation" International Association of Scientists and Intelligentsia (USSR) (1989)
Bendel State University, Ekpoma (Nigeria) (1990)
University of Ghana (Ghana) (1990)
University of Warwick (UK) (1991)
University of Dakar (Senegal) (1991)
University of Tucuman (Argentina) (1991)
University of Lagos (Nigeria) (1992)
Awards
Hopkins Prize (Cambridge University) for "the most outstanding contribution to Physics during 1957-1958"
Adams Prize (Cambridge University) (1958)
First recipient of Maxwell Medal and Award (Physical Society, London) (1961)
Hughes Medal (Royal Society, London) (1964)
Atoms for Peace Medal and Award (Atoms for Peace Foundation) (1968)
J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Medal and Prize (University of Miami) (1971)
Guthrie Medal and Prize (1976)
Matteuci Medal (Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome) (1978)
John Torrence Tate Medal (American Institute of Physics) (1978)
Royal Medal (Royal Society, London) (1978)
Einstein Medal (UNESCO, Paris) (1979)
Shri R.D. Birla Award (India Physics Association) (1979)
Josef Stefan Medal (Josef Stefan Institute, Ljublijana) (1980)
Gold Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Physics (Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague) (1981)
Lomonosov Gold Medal (USSR Academy of Sciences) (1983)
Copley Medal (Royal Society, London) (1990)
Appointments
Professor, Government College and Punjab University, Lahore (1951- 1954)
Elected Fellow St. John's College, Cambridge (1951-1956)
Member, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton (1951)
Lecturer, Cambridge University (1954-1956)
Professor of Theoretical Physics, London University, Imperial College, London, since 1957
Director, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, since 1964
Elected (First) Fellow of the Royal Society, London, from Pakistan (1959)
Elected, Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (1970)
Elected, Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1971)
Elected, Foreign Member, USSR Academy of Sciences (1971)
Elected, Honorary Fellow St. John's College, Cambridge (1971)
Elected, Foreign Associate, USA National Academy of Sciences (Washington) (1979)
Elected, Foreign Member, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Rome) (1979)
Elected, Foreign Member, Accademia Tiberina (Rome) (1979)
Elected, Foreign Member, Iraqi Academy (Baghdad) (1979)
Elected, Honorary Fellow, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Bombay) (1979)
Elected, Honorary Member, Korean Physics Society (Seoul) (1979)
Elected, Foreign Member, Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco (Rabat) (1980)
Elected, Foreign Member, Accademia Nazionale delle Scienze dei XL (Rome) (1980)
Elected, Member, European Academy of Science, Arts and Humanities (Paris) (1980)
Elected, Associate Member, Josef Stefan Institute (Ljublijana) (1980)
Elected, Foreign Fellow, Indian National Science Academy (New Delhi) (1980)
Elected, Fellow, Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (Dhaka) (1980)
Elected, Member, Pontifical Academy of Sciences (Vatican City) (1981)
Elected, Corresponding Member, Portuguese Academy of Sciences (Lisbon) (1981)
Founding Member, Third World Academy of Sciences (1983)
Elected, Corresponding Member, Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (Zagreb) (1983)
Elected, Honorary Fellow, Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (1984)
Elected, Honorary Member, Polish Academy of Sciences (1985)
Elected, Corresponding Member, Academia de Ciencias Medicas, Fisicas y Naturales de Guatemala (1986)
Elected, Fellow, Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences (1987)
Elected, Honorary Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences (Bangalore) (1988)
Elected, Distinguished International Fellow of Sigma Xi (1988)
Elected, Honorary Member, Brazilian Mathematical Society (1989)
Elected, Honorary Member, National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, Argentina (1989)
Elected, Honorary Member, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1990)
Elected, Member, Academia Europaea (1990)
Orders and other Distinctions
Order of Andres Bello (Venezuela) (1980)
Order of Istiqlal (Jordan) (1980)
Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (1980)
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1989)
Awards for contributions towards peace and promotion of international scientific collaboration
Atoms for Peace Medal and Award (Atoms for Peace Foundation) (1968)
Peace Medal (Charles University, Prague) (1981)
Premio Umberto Biancomano (Italy) (1986)
Dayemi International Peace Award (Bangladesh) (1986)
First Edinburgh Medal and Prize (Scotland) (1988)
"Genoa" International Development of Peoples Prize (Italy) (1988)
Catalunya International Prize (Spain) (1990)
United Nations Assignments
Scientific Secretary, Geneva Conferences on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (1955 and 1958)
Member, United Nations Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (1964-1975)
Member, United Nations Panel and Foundation Committee for the United Nations University (1970-1973)
Chairman, United Nations Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (1971-1972)
Member, Scientific Council, SIPRI, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1970)
Vice President, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
(1972-1978)
Pakistan Assignments
Member, Atomic Energy Commission, Pakistan (1958-1974)
Adviser, Education Commission, Pakistan (1959)
Member, Scientific Commission, Pakistan (1959)
Chief Scientific Adviser, President of Pakistan (1961-1974)
President, Pakistan Association for Advancement of Science (1961-1962)
Chairman, Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Committee (1961-1964)
Governor from Pakistan to the International Atomic Energy Agency(1962-1963)
Member, National Science Council, Pakistan (1963-1975)
Member, Board of Pakistan Science Foundation (1973-1977)
Pakistani Awards
Sitara-i-Pakistan (S.Pk.)
Pride of Performance Medal and Award (1959)
From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1979, Editor Wilhelm Odelberg, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1980
Source: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1979/salam-cv.html