The Founder Of International Centre For Theoretical Physics- Abdus Salam
Professor Salam was awarded: the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1979, the Royal Medal from the Royal Society of London, he was the Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA and the USSR, he was the Scientific Secretary to the Geneva Conference for the Peaceful Use of Atomic Energy, he promoted scientific research in developing countries by establishing the biggest Theoretical Physics Centre. Yet, Professor Abdus Salam is hardly mentioned in any school books, not known by many in his homeland.
Professor Salam was born on January 29, 1926, in Jhang. Back then the land was known as the subcontinent and it was ruled by Britain. His father, Chaudhry Muhammad Hussain worked in the Department of Education and his Mother Hajira Hussain used to help around the house.
From an early age, young Salam loved reading, he was known for blocking distractions around him and concentrating on a book. Young Salam was also known for his photographic memory. His teacher was once walking with him and his schoolmates through a street and they passed various shops. When the group reached the other side of the intersection, the teacher asked Salam to name shop boards that they passed, Salam after thinking for a while easily named all shops they crossed. The school he was attending had limited resources, during lecture students were asked if they knew what gravity was, almost all the hands went up, the teacher continued by asking if students knew what electricity was, no hands when up and the students were told it helps light up a bulb, no one knew what a bulb was. And they were told a bulb is used at nights, and that there is one 100 miles away. Then the students were asked if they knew what the nuclear force was, no one knew and they were told that’s in Europe 100,000 miles away.
Young Salam at 12, attended Jhang College, where he spent four years. Later he wrote,
“it was my good fortune that I had some of the exceptionally learned and most affectionate teachers assigned to me”
This was where his career started, he took classes in English, Arabic, Persian as well as math and science. Back then exam results were published in newspapers, and the day came where students and parents were either nervous or excited. Young Salam was sitting with his father, and his father had asked one of his friends to bring him the newspaper from the railway station. As the friend left to buy a newspaper, Salam went out of the house not knowing what the mood would be once he returned. As Salam was biking back, shop owners that would normally close their shops were waiting at their doors for Salam. It turned out that Salam had broken records by scoring the highest grade, the town turned out on streets to welcome him; this sign of respect left an impression on young Salam’s mind.
His scores helped him receive a scholarship. Receiving a scholarship was also somewhat of a miracle. As this was the mids of the Second World War, a politician was collecting funds to help Britain with the war efforts, he was able to raise 15,000 pounds but for one reason or the other he decided to set up a scholarships fund, and Salam was one of the students who received it. With the scholarship, he attended the Government College. When Salam arrived at the Government College, for the first time he saw something that was discussed at his school, an electric light. Later in 1946, he was awarded a scholarship at St. John’s College. What he had learned from Cambridge was not just education; he was introduced to a new culture and a lifestyle.
It all started on his arrival at the campus. As he arrived in Cambridge, he asked one of the College helpers to help him with his luggage, the man pointed at a wheelbarrow and told young Salam to help himself. He noticed that students treated each other and their professors differently from what he was used to. At the college in Cambridge, students were required to be back at their residence by 10 p.m, if for some reason a student was late, a fine was imposed.
After the War in 1947, Salam visited Germany and saw the destruction. The buildings were collapsed and the city of Munich was nearly inhabitable. Visitors would stay in a tent, and this is where Salam met a German scholar, who wanted to learn Punjabi. The German scholar was compiling a German-Punjabi dictionary and met with the professor to get his input. Professor was amazed that even with the destruction in the city people were looking for knowledge; Germans believed that by learning and teaching they can rebuild their city, as it once was. Salam learned then that access to correct knowledge and implementing it with hard work and patience can help rebuild society. And that is what he set out to do for his birthplace, Pakistan. By 1947, the subcontinent was divided among two nations.
With his experience from Cambridge and Germany, he set out a challenge for himself, building a major Centre for physicists in early 60’s. With his plan he decided to move to Pakistan and started teaching math at Government College in Lahore. Teaching was a means to the end, he wanted to see if building a Center was possible or not, but the professor soon realized that it was impossible to build a research center due to limited libraries and no like-minded individuals. Sadden by what he saw, he wrote that there is a vital link between the economic downfall and education. An inappropriate education system is causing a national crisis, and not just in academics but also in human character.
Not having enough resources Professor left Pakistan in 1954 for a lectureship at Cambridge, however, he kept making visits to Pakistan as an adviser for science policies. He was a member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, the Scientific Commission of Pakistan and was Chief Scientific Adviser to the President from 1961 to 1974. As the chief scientific adviser, he helped launch a high-quality research institution PINSTECH, and in 1961 he established Pakistan’s space program, SUPARCO.
In 1964, Professor Salam succeeded in setting up the ICTP, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. Italy at the time wanted a Centre and was willing to invest in it. Today ICTP label themselves as the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, the Centre has been a driving force behind global efforts to advance scientific expertise in the developing world.
ICTP seeks to accomplish its mandate by providing scientists from developing countries with the continuing education and skills that they need to enjoy long and productive careers. The vision, professor saw came to reality.
In 1970, Salam helped set up Pakistan’s first nuclear power plant in Karachi with the help of Canadian and Pakistani engineers. For Professor, things were not as good as he expected, but he was happy working in two continents. People knew him through his projects from Europe and Asia.
But then, in 1974 things got worse for the professor, the National Assembly of Pakistan declared a law that excluded Ahmadis from practicing their religion. Professor, in protest, left the country.
Five years after leaving Pakistan, professor Abdus Salam became the first Pakistani to win a Nobel Prize. To this day he remains the only Muslim to win a Nobel Prize in Physics. During his speech at the Nobel Banquet on December 10, 1979, Abdus Salam said
“On behalf of my colleagues, Professor Glashow and Weinberg, I thank the Nobel Foundation and the Royal Academy of Sciences for the great honour and the courtesies extended to us, including the courtesy to me of being addressed in my language Urdu. Pakistan is deeply indebted to you for this. I am saying this, not only to remind those here tonight of this, but also for those in the Third World, who feel they have lost out in the pursuit of scientific knowledge, for lack of opportunity and resource”
After receiving an international award for scientific advances he was invited by Indira Gandhi to visit India. The professor said that the first country he would want to visit was his homeland, Pakistan, and he did as a state guest. In 1979 he was awarded the highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz. He was also invited by Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, but unfortunately, he couldn’t enter the institute as there were threads by some students to disrupt the event. He did, however, respected his invitation from Indira Gandhi and saw her, the prime minister of India, invited him for a tea at her residence and reportedly made the tea herself out of respect.
Remembering that it was a scholarship that got him to where he was today, he decided to use his earnings from the Atoms for Peace Medal and Awards, for setting up a fund for young Pakistani physicists to visit the ICTP.
Professor was an inspiration to many. On his retirement from Imperial College, London there was a 3-day conference held in Trieste to honor his accomplishments. Many speeches were delivered; Professor Salam listened from his wheelchair but did not speak due to his disease. At the end of the formal proceedings, many walked up to him and congratulated him on his career achievement. His friends visited him and express their gratitude, Professor thanked every visitor for their kind words. As a witness say a nervous young Pakistani visitor, walked up to the professor, and said “Sir, I am a student from Pakistan. We are very proud of you…” Salam’s shoulders shook, he looked at the young man for a split second and turned his head down with tears rolling down his face. A feeling of deep sadness was seen in the room.
On November 21, 1996, Professor passed away in Oxford, United Kingdom. He wanted his final resting place next to his parents, so his body was taken to Pakistan. After arriving in Lahore at the Jamaat-i-Ahmadia’s center, final funeral services took place and he was laid to rest. Dr. Salam was buried next to his parents.
Professor was known for his loyalty. His loyalty holds true not only for his birthplace but also in his regular life. Once he needed a suit tailored last-minute, he visited a shop and they made special arrangements to have one ready for him in time. Salam appreciated the gesture and kept buying suits from that shop for the rest of his life.
Throughout his lifetime he has won various awards for contribution to physics, awards for peace and promoting scientific collaboration, to the world of physics he has left a legacy, known as the Unification Theory. To developing countries, he had left the ICTP. Through his scholarship funds, 600 Pakistani physicists and mathematicians had a chance to visit international universities. Professor Salam was a visionary, who wanted to be at service for developing countries. To people around the world, he will always be the first Muslim to win a Nobel Prize.
