Books - Abdus Salam

Product Description:
This book presents a biography of Abdus Salam, the first Muslim to win a Nobel Prize for Science (Physics 1979), who was nevertheless excommunicated and branded as a heretic in his own country. His achievements are often overlooked, even besmirched. Realizing that the whole world had to be his stage, he pioneered the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, a vital focus of Third World science which remains as his monument. A staunch Muslim, he was ashamed of the decline of science in the heritage of Islam, and struggled doggedly to restore it to its former glory. Undermined by his excommunication, these valiant efforts were doomed.



Customer Review: Remembering Abdus Salam:
My husband, George Gwilt, read Cosmic Anger and these are his remarks.

I first met Abdus Salam over sixty years ago when we were both attending supervision by Fred Hoyle at Johns College in Cambridge. The book's description of Abdus brought back vivid memories including even his gentle high pitched voice as he told me how to look for a lost object. "If it is not in one place look in another."

The book covers many aspects of Abdus Salam's life including his personal life, his contribution to particle physics, his establishment of and involvement with the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste and his role in politics.

Elected to the Royal Society as its youngest Fellow and also a Nobel Prize winner. Abdus Salam was an extraordinary person.

When I first knew Abdus, India was still united and he told me that there was going to be trouble. Trouble did indeed come as a result of the conflicts between the various religions including Hindu and Muslim, as Cosmic Anger explains. A large part of the book is taken up with religion. Abdus was a member of the small Ahmadi sect, which is a part of Islam. In September 1974 this sect was declared by Pakistan 'non-Muslim'. Because of this Pakistan, which had become his home country, did not accord him the recognition which was his due.

I think that, if this book were read, and really understood, by politicians not only of Pakistan, but worldwide the world would become a better place.

I found Cosmic Anger readable, enjoyable and instructive.

Customer Review: Abdus Salam - An Uncommon Muslim Scientist:
"Cosmic Anger" --- Abdus Salam-- The First Muslim Nobel Scientist" is is written by a physicist/ science writer-Gordon Fraser. This tightly and handsomely-bound 300-page book is a must read. The book is thoroughly researched and meticulously-detailed with ample references. The best picture of this great man from Jhang, Punjab is at the Nobel awards ceremony itself where he is resplendent in his traditional turban, sherwani, white shalwar with Multani khusas delivering his stirring speech about Science and Islam.

Coming from a modest Ahmadi family (a minority sect that has been ostracized and discriminated against in Pakistan), he was a brilliant young student who stood first in Punjab securing unbelievably high marks with his picture published in the local newspaper, he progressed fast on the academic ladder, graduating from Govt. College Lahore, went on to Oxford, England, became a mathemetician, worked in the famous Cavendish Physics laboratory, came back to Govt. College, Lahore, went back to England and started teaching at the Imperial College in London. He had a one year stint in the fabled Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ with Einstein in permanent residence there and J. Robert Openheimer at the helm. He started his Theoretical Physics Institute in Trieste, Italy for the 3rd world country scientists and became an ambassador-at-large of the non-western physicists. He became a polished speaker, teacher and enjoyed tremendous respect in academic circles. He was prolific in research and in churning out papers for publication.

His life story is stupendously fascinating. His achievements, somehow ignored and under-valued in his own country were many and varied. With his multi-faceted life is detailed with sensitivity and authoritatively. The book is also a primer of the life, times and theories of major players in Theoretical Physics in the 20th century. The book is a fascinating read and is recommended highly.

Customer Review: Wonderfully intriguing:
Abdus Salam was one of the most important physicists of the latter half of the twentieth century and the story of his journey from a poor village in the Punjab to the Nobel Prize would be fascinating and remarkable in its own right. But Salam was also a devout Muslim and pursued his devotion to his religion and its culture, especially its scientific heritage, with an equal passion.

This delightfully crafted work explores both sides of Salam's life discussing not only his most obvious achievement in formulating the most successful theory of modern physics but also his tireless support of scientific education in the third world. Mr. Fraser discusses science, politics and history with equal effectiveness. I earned my Ph.D. under Salam but still learned a great deal more about him from this book - both about his private life and his relations with his scientific colleagues.

This book will have immense appeal to any intelligent reader. Heartily recommended.

Product Description:
Biography of a physicist from Pakistan.



Customer Review: splits open the life and science of Dr A. Salam:
this is perhaps the only available book on Dr Salam which highlights his early life in Punjab, province of Pakistan, his college days, his time at Cambridge. The book has very little on Dr Salam's own thoughts, his ideals, his love for his country, religion and above all his simplistic attitude towards life in general. Mr Singh nevertheless has succesfully acheived what no one has yet been able to; telling us about the early life of Dr Salam and the ill treatment meted to him by the government of his country; the country he dearly loved. This was perhaps the biggest irony of Dr Salam's life which Singh has so masterfully captured i.e his love for his country which was never reciprocated, if anything he was despised and unforgiveably disrespected. Mr Singh manages to enlighten us on these aspects and thus for anyone wishing to gain insight on the early life of Dr Salam; this is the book.

Product Description:
This digital document is an article from Science and Its Times, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses. The length of the article is 547 words. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. The histories of science, technology, and mathematics merge with the study of humanities and social science in this interdisciplinary reference work. Essays on people, theories, discoveries, and concepts are combined with overviews, bibliographies of primary documents, and chronological elements to offer students a fascinating way to understand the impact of science on the course of human history and how science affects everyday life. Entries represent people and developments throughout the world, from about 2000 B.C. through the end of the twentieth century.

Product Description:
This digital document, covering the life and work of Abdus Salam, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1722 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Product Description:
This digital document is an article from Science and Its Times, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses. The length of the article is 1630 words. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser. The histories of science, technology, and mathematics merge with the study of humanities and social science in this interdisciplinary reference work. Essays on people, theories, discoveries, and concepts are combined with overviews, bibliographies of primary documents, and chronological elements to offer students a fascinating way to understand the impact of science on the course of human history and how science affects everyday life. Entries represent people and developments throughout the world, from about 2000 B.C. through the end of the twentieth century.

Product Description:
The year 2007 marked not only the centenary of Imperial College London but also the 50th anniversary of the late Nobel Laureate Professor Abdus Salam's arrival at the College. Accordingly, a conference entitled "Salam + 50" organized by the Theoretical Physics Group was held at Imperial College on 7 July 2007. Many distinguished guests attended and paid their respects to the great man. Their contributions recorded in these proceedings are divided into three sections, designed to reflect the three dimensions of Salam's character: Salam the Scientist, Salam the Humanitarian, and Salam the Man.

Product Description:
The Salamfest was held to honour a man whose scientific contribution to the development and dissemination of physics has deeply influenced the course of scientific advancement. Colleagues, collaborators and former students met together to celebrate Professor Abdus Salam's scientific acheivements and discussed the highlights of recent advances in experiments and phenomenology in particle and condensed matter physics.