Scientist Who Sparked 'A Revolution in Chemistry' Dies at 70 (washingtonpost.com) 41
Ahmed Zewail pioneered a technique for using lasers to monitor chemical reactions, which the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said sparked "a revolution in chemistry and adjacent sciences." Slashdot reader Provocateur writes, "The Washington Post has the story...citing his prizewinning research in femtochemistry..."
Slashdot covered Zewail's Nobel prize in 1999, as well as his 2001 claim to have resolved Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. "Mathematics, mechanics, and chemistry were among the fields that gave me a special satisfaction..." he says in the Post's article, adding "for reasons unknown (to me), my mind kept asking 'how' and 'why.' "
Slashdot covered Zewail's Nobel prize in 1999, as well as his 2001 claim to have resolved Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. "Mathematics, mechanics, and chemistry were among the fields that gave me a special satisfaction..." he says in the Post's article, adding "for reasons unknown (to me), my mind kept asking 'how' and 'why.' "
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Re:Muslim Scientist (Score:4, Insightful)
Its nice when you don't have to live in 3rd world conditions.
Millions of muslims live in countries with per capita GDPs that would place them in the 1st world. Instead of using their wealth to educate, they use it to pay for imports and to keep women uneducated and economically isolated. Even Ahmed Zewail, a rare example of an exemplary muslim scientist, did almost all of his important work will living in America.
There is some effort to change things, such as King Saud University [ksu.edu.sa], a first rate research university where women are treated like human beings, but that is a rare exception, and is generating a lot of conservative push-back.
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....and what OP is saying is that the wealth in those countries is very concentrated so GDP is a poor benchmark.
Except their wealth is not particulary concentrated [wikipedia.org]. For instance, Qatar, the wealthiest Arab country, has a Gini coefficient about the same as America.
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Oxymoron.
Muslims once invented chemistry, astronomy, and mathematics. Then Saudi Arabia gained influence of the faith and ownership of the holy cities.
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Muslims once invented chemistry, astronomy, and mathematics.
Uhhh...that would be a nope.
Re: Muslim Scientist (Score:1)
I bet you did not know that algebra is an Arabic word.
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Re: Muslim Scientist (Score:1)
Have you done any research into History at all? I'm not one to defend terrorism, however the modern concept of the scientific method from Islam. Say what you will about Muslims but it is not correct to say that they do not have a strong scientific pedigree.
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He had the right idea (Score:5, Informative)
Dr. Zewail worked for years to raise money and generate political interest in creating a science-based university and research campus near Cairo...
“A part of the world that pioneered science and mathematics during Europe’s dark ages is now lost in a dark age of illiteracy and knowledge deficiency,” he wrote, adding that he wished the $1.5 billion in annual support that the United States gives to Egypt would accent “scientific and industrial cooperation” instead of going overwhelmingly toward the purchase of military equipment.
He managed to rise above the political problems in that region to try and make the world a better place.
Met him at University (Score:2)
I had the honor and privilege of meeting Dr. Zewail and attending a private lecture while at university. His daughter was my upper division biochemistry professor and he was kind enough to drop in and give us a lecture while he was visiting. He was a brilliant thinker not just in the world of femto-spectroscopy, but overall. He was approachable and witty. He will be missed as a father, a fellow human and for his contributions to the scientific world.
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