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Abdus Salam’s Followers (32)

Abdus Salam

Born

in Santokdas, Pakistan

January 29, 1926

Died

November 21, 1996

Genre

Science, Religion & Spirituality

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Pakistani theoretical physicist Abdus Salam shared a Nobel Prize of 1979 for helping to develop the theory of the electroweak force, unifying the electromagnetic force and the weak force, two of the four fundamental forces of nature.

This astrophysicist, also the first Muslim to win for his work, belonged to Ahmadiyya community. After Salam gained the highest marks ever recorded for the matriculation examination at the University of the Punjab and then cycled home from Lahore at the age of 14 years in 1940, the whole town turned to welcome him. He won a scholarship to government college, University of the Punjab, and took his Magister Artium in 1946. In the same year, he was awarded a scholarship to Saint John's College, Cambridge, where he Pakistani theoretical physicist Abdus Salam shared a Nobel Prize of 1979 for helping to develop the theory of the electroweak force, unifying the electromagnetic force and the weak force, two of the four fundamental forces of nature.

This astrophysicist, also the first Muslim to win for his work, belonged to Ahmadiyya community. After Salam gained the highest marks ever recorded for the matriculation examination at the University of the Punjab and then cycled home from Lahore at the age of 14 years in 1940, the whole town turned to welcome him. He won a scholarship to government college, University of the Punjab, and took his Magister Artium in 1946. In the same year, he was awarded a scholarship to Saint 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. To pursue a career of research in theoretical physics, he with no alternative at that time left his own country and worked abroad. Many years later, he succeeded in finding a way to solve the heartbreaking dilemma that many young and gifted theoretical physicists from developing countries faced.
At the ICTP, Trieste, which he created, he instituted the famous "associateships" which allowed deserving young physicists to spend their vacations in an invigorating atmosphere in close touch with their peers in research and with the leaders in their own field.

In 1954, Salam left his 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 founding 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. Salam was also responsible for initiating research on water logging and salinity problems in Pakistan. He also played a critical role in agricultural research, PAEC and SUPARCO, the international space agency in Pakistan.
Since 1957 till his death, he was Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College, London, and since 1964 combined this position with that of Director of the ICTP, Trieste.

For more than forty years he had been a prolific researcher in theoretical elementary particle physics. He had 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 used his academic reputation to add weight to his active and influential participation in international scientific affairs. He served on a number of United Nations committees concerned with the advancement of science and technology in developing countries.

Abdus Salam is known to be a devout Muslim, whose religion, inseparable from his work and family life, occupied not a separate compartment of his 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."

After a long illness, Abdus Salam died in Oxford, England. People finally brought his body back to Pakistan, where thirteen thousand men and women visited to pay their last respects. Thirty thousand persons attended his funeral prayers.

Reference: biography by Miriam Lewis, now a ...more

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Abdus Salam’s books

Average rating: 4.3 · 69 ratings · 6 reviews · 42 distinct works

	Unification of Fundamentals Physics: The First 1988 Dirac Memorial Lecture by Abdus Salam, John C. Taylor (Foreword) 4.09 avg rating — 23 ratings — published 1990 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fundamentals of Electrical Machines 4.27 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2005	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Circuit Analysis 4.10 avg rating — 10 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Islam Und Wissenschaft 4.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1991	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Aspects of Quantum Theory by Abdus Salam (Editor), E.P. Wigner (Editor) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1972 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Supergravities in Diverse Dimensions by Abdus Salam (Editor), Ergin Sezgin (Editor) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1990 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Science in the 3rd World: The 1st Edinburgh Medal Address it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1989	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	fan-e-novel-nigari \| فنِ ناول نگاری it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nonpolynomial Lagrangians, Renormalisation and Gravity 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sains dan Dunia Islam really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Abdus Salam (?)

“It is good to recall that three centuries ago, around the year 1660, two of the greatest monuments of modern history were erected, one in the West and one in the East; St. Paul's Cathedral in London and the Taj Mahal in Agra. Between them, the two symbolize, perhaps better than words can describe, the comparative level of architectural technology, the comparative level of craftsmanship and the comparative level of affluence and sophistication the two cultures had attained at that epoch of history. But about the same time there was also created—and this time only in the West—a third monument, a monument still greater in its eventual import for humanity. This was Newton's Principia, published in 1687. Newton's work had no counterpart in the India of the Mughals.”
― Abdus Salam, Ideals and Realities: Selected Essays of Abdus Salam

tags: craftsmanship, culture, east, genius, isaac-newton, monument, newton, principia, principia-mathematica, taj-mahal, west

9 likes

“I firmly believed that with the breadth of knowledge now makes it impossible for someone to be a polymath in the 20th century-until I met Dr.Ashoka Jahnavi Prasad.”
― Abdus Salam

tags: polymath

5 likes

“Alfred Nobel stipulated that no distinction of race or colour will determine who received of his generosity.”
― Abdus Salam

tags: alfred-nobel, nobel, nobel-prize, science

5 likes

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Abdus Salam’s Followers (32)

Abdus Salam

Combine EditionsAbdus Salam’s books

Combine Editions
Abdus Salam’s books