Cosmic Anger: Abdus Salam - The First Muslim Nobel Scientist - Hardcover

Fraser, Gordon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199208468 ISBN 13: 9780199208463

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2008

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

Physicist turned science writer, Gordon Fraser aims to convey difficult concepts without compromising the underlying science. After a first-class degree in physics and mathematics and while working towards his PhD in theoretical physics at London's Imperial College in the mid-1960s, he wrote short-story fiction as a hobby. By 1970, it was clear that he was not cut out for scientific research, and he spun together two very different strands of interest by becoming a reporter on a weekly UK newspaper for the computer industry. He later returned to science as an in-house editor at major laboratories. Working in Geneva, Switzerland, from 1980 - 2002 he was Editor of the CERN Courier, the monthly magazine of the international high energy physics community. He has been a visiting lecturer in Science Communication at several UK universities.

Review:

"In a lucid and engaging style Fraser describes how the collaboration of Salam and the nomadic genius John C. Ward yielded a number of crucial papers in the 1959-1964 period that gave us the synthesis of electromagnetic and weak interactions. Fraser's well researched contribution provides a transparent description on the creation of the standard model that merits attention from physicists and historians alike. Cosmic Anger is highly recommended."--Optics Journal

"A balanced biography of Abdus Salam, touching on his humble upbringing, ambitions, achivements, fame, virtues, and weaknesses..A valuable addition to the collections of public and science libraries. Particularly in Islamic Communities, the book may stir up ambitions in youth to follow a career in science."--The Mathematical Association of America Reviews

"Gordon Fraser's enigmatically titled biography, Cosmic Anger: Abdus Salam - The First Muslim Nobel Scientist, is immensely engaging, and its numerous anecdotes will titillate physicists." -- Pervez Hoodbhoy, Physics Today

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0199208468
• ISBN 13: 9780199208463
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304