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=== Religion === === Religion ===
Abdus Salam was a devout Muslim, and a member of the ]<ref>http://www.alislam.org/library/salam-5.htm</ref>, who saw his religion as integral to his scientific work. 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."''<ref name="NobelBio" />
A .....brn in Red Light

During his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Physics, Salam quoted the following verses from the ]:
:{{cquote|Thou seest not, in the creation of the All-merciful any imperfection, Return thy gaze, seest thou any fissure. Then Return thy gaze, again and again. Thy gaze, Comes back to thee dazzled, aweary.}}

He then said: {{cquote|This, in effect, is the faith of all physicists; the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, the more is the dazzlement for our gaze.<ref name="The Nobel Prize in Physics 1979 - Banquet Speech"></ref>}}


In 1974, when the ] declared ] to be non-Muslims, he left Pakistan for London in protest. In 1974, when the ] declared ] to be non-Muslims, he left Pakistan for London in protest.
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In 1956 he was invited to take a chair at ], where he and ] created a lively theoretical physics group. He remained a professor at Imperial until his retirement. In 1964, he founded the ], ] in the North-East of Italy. In 1959, he became the youngest ] (at that time) at the age of 33.
buried in ]


In 1998, the ] issued a stamp carrying his portrait as part of a series of stamps entitled "Scientists of Pakistan."<ref>{{cite web| author=Philately | title=Scientists of Pakistan | url=http://www.pakpost.gov.pk/philately/stamps98/scientists_of_pakistan.html | publisher= Pakistan Post Office Department | date=1998-11-21 | accessdate=2008-02-18}}</ref> In 1998, the ] issued a stamp carrying his portrait as part of a series of stamps entitled "Scientists of Pakistan."<ref>{{cite web| author=Philately | title=Scientists of Pakistan | url=http://www.pakpost.gov.pk/philately/stamps98/scientists_of_pakistan.html | publisher= Pakistan Post Office Department | date=1998-11-21 | accessdate=2008-02-18}}</ref>

Revision as of 22:29, 25 March 2009

This article is about the Pakistani scientist. For other uses, see Abdus Salam (disambiguation).
Abdus Salam
File:Abdus salam.gifAbdus Salam (1926-1996)
BornJanuary 29, 1926
Jhang, Punjab, Present-day Pakistan
DiedNovember 21, 1996(1996-11-21) (aged 70)
Oxford, England, United Kingdom
NationalityPakistani
CitizenshipPakistani
Alma materUniversity of the Punjab
Government College
St John's College, Cambridge
Known forElectroweak theory
Pati-Salam model
AwardsNobel Prize in Physics (1979)
Smith's Prize
Adams Prize
Nishan-e-Imtiaz
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical Physics
InstitutionsPakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC)
Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO)
Punjab University
Imperial College, London
Government College
University of Cambridge
International Centre for Theoretical Physics
Doctoral advisorNicholas Kemmer
Paul Matthews
Doctoral studentsMichael Duff
Walter Gilbert
John Moffat
Yuval Ne'eman
John Polkinghorne
Raziuddin Siddiqui
Riazuddin

Abdus Salam (Urdu: محمد عبد السلام) (January 29, 1926; Jhang Punjab – November 21, 1996; Oxford, England) was a Pakistani theoretical physicist, Astrophysicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work in Electro-Weak Theory. Salam, Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg shared the prize for this discovery. Salam holds the distinction of being the only Pakistani Nobel Laureate, and is the first Muslim Nobel Laureate in science. The validity of the theory was ascertained through experiments carried out at the Super Proton Synchrotron facility at CERN in Geneva, particularly, through the discovery of the W and Z Bosons.

Biography

Youth and education

Salam's father was an officer in the Department of Education in a poor farming district. His family has a long tradition of piety and learning.

At the age of just fourteen, Salam scored the highest marks ever recorded for the Matriculation Examination at the University of the Punjab. He won a scholarship to the Government College, University of the Punjab, in Lahore. As a fourth-year student there, he published his work on Srinivasa Ramanujan. He got his master's degree at the Government College in 1946. That same year, he was awarded a scholarship to St. John's College, Cambridge University, where he got a BA degree with Double First-Class Honours 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 obtained a PhD degree in Theoretical Physics at Cambridge. His doctoral thesis contained fundamental work in Quantum Electrodynamics. By the time it was published in 1951, it had already gained him an international reputation and the Adams Prize.

Religion

Abdus Salam was a devout Muslim, and a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who saw his religion as integral to his scientific work. 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."

During his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Physics, Salam quoted the following verses from the Quran:

Thou seest not, in the creation of the All-merciful any imperfection, Return thy gaze, seest thou any fissure. Then Return thy gaze, again and again. Thy gaze, Comes back to thee dazzled, aweary.

He then said:

This, in effect, is the faith of all physicists; the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, the more is the dazzlement for our gaze.

In 1974, when the Pakistan National Assembly declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims, he left Pakistan for London in protest.

Later career

In 1956 he was invited to take a chair at Imperial College, London, where he and Paul Matthews created a lively theoretical physics group. He remained a professor at Imperial until his retirement. In 1964, he founded the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste in the North-East of Italy. In 1959, he became the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society (at that time) at the age of 33.

In 1998, the Government of Pakistan issued a stamp carrying his portrait as part of a series of stamps entitled "Scientists of Pakistan."

Death

Salam died at the age of 70 on 21st November 1996 in Oxford, England after a long illness. His body was brought to Pakistan and was taken to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community headquarters of the city of Rabwah. His body was kept in Darul Ziafat, where 13,000 men and women took a last glimpse of his face. Some 30,000 people attended the funeral prayers of the scientist.

Salam was buried without official protocol in the graveyard Bahishti Maqbara in Rabwah next to his parents' graves. The epitaph on his tomb initially read "First Muslim Nobel Laureate" but, because of Salam's adherence to the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect, the word "Muslim" was later erased on the orders of a local magistrate, leaving the non-sensical "First Nobel Laureate". Dr. Abdus Salam is considered to be one of the most prominent Astrophysicists to come from Pakistan.

Documentary Film (Docufilm)

A documentary film on the life and science of Abdus Salam is in the works and will be directed by Sabiha Sumar; http://www.abdussalamdocufilm.com/filmmakers_advisors.php subject to collection of donations valued to $500,000.

Career in science

See also

References

  1. http://www.chowk.com/articles/8387 -Dr Abdus Salam - The ’Mystic’ scientist
  2. ^ Abdus Salam Nobel Prize in Physics Biography
  3. This is the standard transliteration (e.g. see the ICTP Website and Nobel Bio). Other transliterations include Abdus Salam; see Abd as-Salam for more details.
  4. Kibble, T.W.B. (1998). "Muhammad Abdus Salam, K. B. E.. 29 January 1926-21 November 1996". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 44: 386–401. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1998.0025. Retrieved 2008-01-05. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. Abdus Salam, A Problem of Ramanujam, Publ. in: Math. Student XI, Nos.1-2, 50-51 (1943)
  6. http://www.alislam.org/library/salam-5.htm
  7. The Nobel Prize in Physics 1979 - Banquet Speech
  8. Philately (1998-11-21). "Scientists of Pakistan". Pakistan Post Office Department. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  9. ^ http://www.alislam.org/library/salam-15.htm
  10. Isambard Wilkinson (2007-12-25). "Pakistan clerics persecute 'non Muslims'". Daily Telegraph.

External links

Laureates of the Nobel Prize in Physics
1901–1925
1926–1950
1951–1975
1976–2000
2001–
present
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