Abdus Salam^[3] (Urdu: محمد عبد السلام) (January 29, 1926; Jhang Punjab – November 21, 1996; Oxford, England)^[4] was a Pakistani theoretical physicist, astrophysicist and Nobel laureate in Physics for his work in Electro-Weak Theory. Salam, Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg shared the prize for this discovery. Salam holds the distinction of being the only Pakistani Nobel Laureate, and is the first Muslim Nobel Laureate in science. The validity of the theory was ascertained through experiments carried out at the Super Proton Synchrotron facility at CERN in Geneva, particularly, through the discovery of the W and Z Bosons. Today, Abdus Salam is considered to have been one of Pakistan's most influential scientists. While he was a devout Muslim his whole life, a law passed in 1984, by the Government of Pakistan,under General Zia-ul-Haq, called Ordinance XX^[5] which declared Salam's specific sect of Islam, the Ahmadiyya, to be declared non-Muslims. This in turn led to his grave stone being defaced, with the original "First Muslim Nobel Laureate" changed to read the epitaph "First Nobel Laureate".^[6]

Biography

Youth and education

Salam's father was an officer in the Department of Education in a poor farming district. His family has a long tradition of piety and learning.

Only fourteen, Salam scored the highest marks ever recorded for the Matriculation Examination at the Panjab University. He won a scholarship to the Government College, Panjab University, in Lahore. As a fourth-year student there, he published his work on Srinivasa Ramanujan.^[7] He received his master's degree from the Government College in 1946. That same year, he was awarded a scholarship to St. John's College, Cambridge University, where he completed a BA degree with Double First-Class Honours 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 obtained a PhD degree in Theoretical Physics at Cambridge. His doctoral thesis contained fundamental work in Quantum Electrodynamics. By the time it was published in 1951, it had already gained him an international reputation and the Adams Prize.^[2]

Family

He was married to a British lady.

Religion

Abdus Salam was a devout Muslim, and a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community^[8], who saw his religion as integral to his scientific work. 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."^[2]

During his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in Physics, Salam quoted the following verses from the Quran:

Thou seest not, in the creation of the All-merciful any imperfection, Return thy gaze, seest thou any fissure. Then Return thy gaze, again and again. Thy gaze, Comes back to thee dazzled, aweary.

He then said:

This, in effect, is the faith of all physicists; the deeper we seek, the more is our wonder excited, the more is the dazzlement for our gaze.^[9]

In 1974, when the Parliament of Pakistan declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims, he left Pakistan for London in protest.

Later career

He returned to the Government College University, Lahore as a Professor of Mathematics from 1951 to 1954 and then went back to Cambridge as a lecturer in mathematics.

During the early 1960s Salam played a very significant role in establishing the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) - the atomic research agency of Pakistan - and Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) - the space research agency of Pakistan, of which he was the founding director. He was also instrumental in setting up five Superior Science colleges throughout Pakistan to further the progress in science in the country. He was founder and Director of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy from 1964 to December 1993. (The Centre has since been renamed, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics). Salam was a firm believer that "scientific thought is the common heritage of mankind," and that developing nations needed to help themselves and invest into their own scientists to boost development and reduce the gap between the Global South and the Global North, thus contributing to a more peaceful world. Salam also founded the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and was a leading figure in the creation of a number of international centres dedicated to the advancement of science and technology.

In 1956 he was invited to take a chair at Imperial College, London, where he and Paul Matthews created a lively theoretical physics group. He remained a professor at Imperial until his retirement. In 1964, he founded the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste in the North-East of Italy. In 1959, he became the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society (at that time) at the age of 33.

In 1998, the Government of Pakistan issued a stamp carrying his portrait as part of a series of stamps entitled "Scientists of Pakistan."^[10]

Death and Legacy

Salam died at the age of 70 on 21st November 1996 in Oxford, England after a long illness. His body was brought to Pakistan and was taken to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community headquarters of the city of Rabwah.^[11] His body was kept in Darul Ziafat, where some 13,000 men and women visited to pay their last respects. Some 30,000 people attended the funeral prayers of the scientist.

Salam was buried without official protocol in the graveyard Bahishti Maqbara in Rabwah next to his parents' graves.^[11] The epitaph on his tomb initially read "First Muslim Nobel Laureate" but, because of Salam's adherence to the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect, the word "Muslim" was later erased on the orders of a local magistrate, leaving the non-sensical "First Nobel Laureate".^[12]

Dr. Abdus Salam is considered to be one of the most prominent theoretical physicist and astrophysicist to come from Pakistan. Dr. Abdus Salam's work and theories were and still have far reaching influence and in spite of treatment of Ahmaiyyah Muslims in Pakistan, he is highly regarded and is seen as one of the most respected scientists in Pakistan.

In 1998, the Government of Pakistan issued a commemorative stamp to honour the contributions and services of Abdus Salam as part of its 'Scientists of Pakistan' series. Mr. Jamiluddin Aali, a renowned Pakistani journalist, wrote an article in 1979 for the Daily Jang titled "Two failed heroes of the east are celebrated universally", referring to Mother Teresa and Dr. Salam.

Dr. Ghulam Murtaza, professor of the plasma physics at the Government College University, Lahore, recalled his memories and said:

"He (Dr. Salam) takes immense pride in the fact that when I was a student of Dr. Salam at Imperial College and that I obtained a Ph.D under his patronage. When Dr. Salam was to deliver a lecture, the hall would be packed and although the subject was Particle Physics, his manner and eloquence was such as if he was talking about literature. When he finished his lectures, listeners would often burst into spontaneous applause and give him a standing ovation. People from all parts of the world would come to Imperial College and seeks Dr. Salam's help. He would give a patient hearing to everyone including those who were talking nonsense. He treated everyone with respect and compassion and never belittled or offended anyone. Dr. Salam's strength was that he could "sift jewels from the sand" ^[13].

Dr. Riazuddin, one of his close and distinguish students, and a professor of theoretical physics at the Quaid-e-Azam University, paid tributes to him and said:

"Although Dr. Salam may not have succeeded in establishing an internationally recognised physics community in Pakistan, he helped convince the Pakistani government to make a series of modest investments in scientific research. As a result, there was a flurry of activity in physics during the 1960s and 1970s that prompted the training of a small group of physicists who were born in Pakistan."

Dr. Abdus Salam was responsible for laying the groundwork for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, initiating research on problems of waterlogging and salinity, and agricultural research. He played a crucial role in PAEC and SUPARCO. He helped Pakistan's scientists and engineers to be trained in nuclear applications and nuclear science. In August 1996, a team of Pakistani scientists under the leadership of Mr.Munir Ahmad Khan and Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad met with Dr. Abdus Salam in Oxford, United Kingdom.

A well-known Pakistani nuclear physicist Dr. Ishfaq Ahmad, who is a professor of nuclear physics at the Quaid-i-Azam University, recalls, "Dr. Abdus Salam was responsible for sending about 500 physicists, mathematicians and scientists from Pakistan, for PhD’s to the best institutions in UK and USA" ^[1].

Mr. Munir Ahmad Khan (late), a famous Pakistani nuclear engineer and former PAEC chairman said:

"My last meeting with Abdus Salam was only three months ago. His disease had taken its toll and he was unable to talk. Yet he understood what was said. I told him about the celebration held in Pakistan on his seventieth birthday. He kept staring at me. He had risen above praise. As I rose to leave he pressed my hand to express his feelings as if he wanted to thank everyone who had said kind words about him. Dr. Abdus Salam had deep love for Pakistan in spite of the fact that he was treated unfairly and indifferently by his own country. It became more and more difficult for him to come to Pakistan and this hurt him deeply. Now he has returned home finally, to rest in peace for ever in the soil that he loved so much. May be in the years to come we will rise above our prejudice and own him and give him, after his death, what we could not when he was alive. We Pakistanis may chose to ignore Dr. Salam but the world at large, will always remember him."

Documentary Film (Docufilm)

A documentary film on the life and science of Abdus Salam is in the works and will be directed by Sabiha Sumar[1] subject to collection of donations valued to $500,000.

Relationship with President Ayub Khan

Dr. Abdus Salam had an extremely close relationship with President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan. Dr. Salam had a greatest influence on the scientific policies of Pakistan. On August, 04,1959, while inaugurating the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), President Ayub Khan said "In the end, I must say how happy I am to see Prof. Abdus Salam in our midst. His attainments in the field of science at such a young age are a source of pride and inspiration for us and I am sure that his association with the commission will help to impart weight and prestige to the recommendations." ^[14] As scientific Adviser to President of Pakistan, dr. Abdus Salam was an instrumental in the formation of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). He also established a nuclear research institute, PINSTECH. On september, 16, 1961, by the order of President Ayub Khan on the advice of its founding director, Abdus Salam, established SUPARCO, a leading Pakistani space agency. President Ayub Khan also invited him over for a state dinner in honour of the Shah of Iran. ^[1]

Relationship with Prime Minister Bhutto

Salam was one of the few Pakistani scientists who were very close to former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. In 1970s, when Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, learned that India was close to developing a nuclear bomb, and in response, Bhutto formed a group of nuclear engineers and scientists, was initially headed by dr. Abdus Salam to develop nuclear devices. Abdus Salam worked closely in Pakistan's nuclear program. He was one of the key figure of Pakistan's nuclear program. He called majority of his nuclear students, working at ICTP, to join Pakistani nuclear program on the request of Bhutto. Salam, along with dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan and Munir Ahmad Khan, played an important role in country's program. In 1976, Salam met with Bhutto where he recieved Bhutto's permission established the Annual international Nathiagali Summer College on Physics and Contemporary Needs in Pakistan. However, the close relationship deteoriated when Parliament of Pakistan pressured Prime Minister Bhutto to pass the controversial amendment of the Constitution of Pakistan, which declared Ahmadiyyah Muslims to be non-muslims.

Relationships with President Gen. Zia ul-Haq

Abdus Salam enjoyed better relations with President General Zia ul-Haq, who received him as a state guest and awarded him the Nishan-i-Imtiaz in 1979. However, Abdus Salam was carefully excluded from exercising any real influence over scientific matters.^[15] In 1979, when Abdus Salam visited Islamabad at President General Zia ul-Haq's invitation, the physics department at Quaid-e-Azam University wanted Abdus Salam to give a lecture on his Nobel Prize winning theory.^[16]

He gave a very short lecture about his thoery. After his lecture, he went to hotel under strict security along with dr. I.H.Usmani. Later, he was departed to United Kingdom shortly.

A law passed in 1984, by the Government of Pakistan, under Military dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq, called Ordinance XX which declared Salam's specific sect of Islam, the Ahmadiyya, to be declared non-Muslims.

Career in science

Salam returned to Pakistan in 1951 to teach Mathematics at the Government College, Lahore. In 1952, he became the Head of the Mathematics Department of the Punjab University. In 1954, Salam went for a lectureship at Cambridge, although he visited Pakistan from time to time as an adviser on science policy to the Government of Pakistan. His work for Pakistan was far-reaching and influential. He was a member of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and work their as a chief scientist with his students, a member of the Scientific Commission of Pakistan, Founder Chairman of Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission and Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of Pakistan from 1961 to 1974.

From 1957 onwards, he was Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College, London. From 1964 onwards, has combined this position with that of Director of the International Centre For Theoretical Physics, a research institution in Trieste, Italy.

Salam had a prolific research career in theoretical elementary particle physics. He either pioneered or was associated with all the important developments in this field. He also served on a number of United Nations committees concerning science and technology in developing countries.^[2]. Many prominent scientists, which includes, Ghulam Murtaza, Riazuddin, Raziuddin Siddiqui, Munir Ahmad Khan, Ishfaq Ahmad, and I. H. Usmani, considered him as their chief mentor and a teacher. Abdus salam played a important and a crucial role in preparing and teaching of future pakistani engineers and scientists in the field of mathematics and physics.

A Key Role in Pakistan's Space Programme

It was Dr. Abdus Salam's advice to the President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan, to establish a National Space Agency of Pakistan, SUPARCO. In September, 16, 1961, on the advice of dr. Abdus Salam, it was decided to set up a Committee dealing with space sciences. Consequently, a Space SciencesResearch Wing of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) was established through an Executive Order of the President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan which was addressed to dr. I. H. Usmani, the Chairman of PAEC. The programme of rocket firings was entrusted to Chairman PAEC.^[17] Dr. Abdus Salam was appointed its first Chairman. On June 7, 1961, under the leadership of dr. Abdus Salam and dr. I. H. Usmani, a two-stage rocket, Rehbar-I was launched Sonmiani Rocket Range. Pakistan had the honour of becoming the third country in Asia and the tenth in the world to conduct such a launching.

On July, 25,1964, Dr. Abdus Salam arranged a meeting with President Ayub Khan where SUPARCO was placed under the direct control of the President of Pakistan. On 8 March 1966, President Ayub Khan constituted SUPARCO as a separate organisation under the administrative control of Dr. Abdus Salam. ^[18] Dr. Abdus Salam, along with Dr. I. H. Usmani, led a team of aerospace engineers to design a Rehbar sounding Rocket series. Dr. Abdus Salam also established space centers in different cities of Pakistan, notebly in Karachi and Lahore. Abdus Salam also intiated an aerospace engineering program in SUPARCO. He was one of the pionneering figures in 1960s to lead Pakistan in Space Power world. Abdus Salam was noted for his theories and its relationship to Islam in SUPARCO, his efforts were involved in inducting an applied physics and an experimental physics laboratories in Karachi University. Abdus Salam also established an aerospace engineering course in Pakistan Airforce Academy.

Involvement in Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons Programme

Abdus Salam was one of the key figures of Pakistan's nuclear program. A vast majority of Pakistani nuclear scientists were his students, his student often called him as their "nuclear and scientific father". Abdus Salam and his students studied and research extensively in the field of sensitive nuclear technology. Salam's influenced theories and research paper in the field of nuclear technology, were obtained by his student inorder to develop nuclear program. Abdus Salam also knew the importance of Nuclear Technology in Pakistan. He also knew that India's Nuclear test in 1974, would spur Pakistan to accelerate development of Nuclear weapons of its own (its nuclear programme dated from no later than 1967), in order to purportedly defend its self from India. He knew that the energy crises was deepening in Pakistan. That is why Dr. Abdus Salam had closely worked with his noted colleague and friend, the PAEC Chairman Mr. Munir Ahmad Khan for development of the nuclear program in Pakistan. As a Scientific Adviser to the President of Pakistan, Dr. Abdus Salam attended a high-level secret meeting of Nuclear scientists and Nuclear engineers to meet Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Dr. Abdus Salam also attended that meeting where he and Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were briefed by Dr. S.A Butt and Mr. Munir Ahmad Khan.^{[citation needed]}

On the other hand, Dr. Abdus Salam was a strong supporter of peaceful use of Nuclear technology. Like many other Pakistaniphysicists, Dr. Abdus Salam was a strong supporter for peaceful use of Nuclear technology, non-nuclear proliferation, and nuclear disarmament. However, he an was instrumental in launching a massive training programme for Pakistani Nuclear scientists, in setting up PINSTECH as a high quality Nuclear research institution at PAEC. Dr. Abdus Salam also introduced Pakistan at CERN, where many Pakistani scientists and engineers were trained in the field of Nuclear applications as well as in Nuclear engineering.

In December 1972 two theoretical physicists working at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, were asked by Dr. Abdus Salam to report to Pakistani Nuclear scientist and Nuclear engineer Mr. Munir Ahmad Khan, the PAEC Chairman. This marked the beginning of the “Theoretical Physics Group” (TPG) in PAEC that would develop the theoretical designs of Pakistan’s Nuclear weapons.

The Theoretical Physics Group (TPG) team under the leadership of Riazuddin and Raziuddin Siddiqui, completed work on the theoretical design of the bomb by 1977^[19]. Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqui, Dr. Riazuddin, and Dr. Masud Ahmad were a distinguished student of Dr. Abdus Salam.

Contributions

Salam's primary focus was research on the physics of elementary particles. His particular contributions included:

• two-component neutrino theory and the prediction of the inevitable parity violation in weak interaction;
• gauge unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions, the unified force is called the "Electroweak" force, a name given to it by Salam, and which forms the basis of the Standard Model in particle physics;
• predicted existence of weak neutral currents and W particles and Z particles before their experimental discovery;^[20]
• symmetry properties of elementary particles; unitary symmetry;
• renormalization of meson theories;
• gravity theory and its role in particle physics; two tensor theory of gravity and strong interaction physics;
• unification of electroweak with strong nuclear forces, grand unification theory;
• related prediction of proton-decay;
• Pati-Salam model, a grand unification theory;
• Supersymmetry theory, in particular formulation of Superspace and formalism of superfields in 1974;
• the theory of supermanifolds, as a geometrical framework for understanding supersymmetry, in 1974;^[21]
• Supergeometry, the geometric basis for supersymmetry, in 1974;^[22]
• application of the Higgs mechanism to the electroweak symmetry breaking;
• prediction of the magnetic photon in 1966;^[23]

Awards

• Hopkins Prize (Cambridge University) for "the most outstanding contribution to Physics during 1957-1958"
• Adams Prize (Cambridge University) (1958)
• First recipient of Maxwell Medal and Award (Physical Society, London) (1961)
• Hughes Medal (Royal Society, London) (1964)
• Atoms for Peace Medal and Award (Atoms for Peace Foundation) (1968)
• J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Medal and Prize (University of Miami) (1971)
• Guthrie Medal and Prize (1976)
• Matteuci Medal (Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome) (1978)
• John Torrence Tate Medal (American Institute of Physics) (1978)
• Royal Medal (Royal Society, London) (1978)
• Einstein Medal (UNESCO, Paris) (1979)
• Shri R.D. Birla Award (India Physics Association) (1979)
• Josef Stefan Medal (Josef Stefan Institute, Ljublijana) (1980)
• Gold Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Physics (Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Prague) (1981)
• Lomonosov Gold Medal (USSR Academy of Sciences) (1983)
• Copley Medal (Royal Society, London) (1990)
• Nishan-e-Imtiaz for outstanding performance in Scientific projects in Pakistan (1979).
• Sitara-e-Pakistan for contribution to science in Pakistan (1959).

Institutes Named After Abdus Salam

• Abdus Salam National Center for Mathematics (ASNCM), Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan. [2]
• Abdus Salam Center for Solid-State Physics(ASCSSP), Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan. [3]
• Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics , Trieste, Italy.
• The Edward Bouchet Abdus Salam Institute (EBASI)