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October 12, 2003
Review: Towards the frontiers of knowledge
BIG cities at times act like jump-boards. They receive geniuses born in remote towns and then elevate them to the heights of prominence. Lahore and Cambridge did this to Dr Abdus Salam, born in Jhang in 1926. His compatriots in his birthplace could never have believed that in their midst was a Nobel laureate who earned the nation a pride of place and a coveted honour. He did his masters from the University of Punjab, and, through the favour of the governor of his province, got a scholarship for a PhD in Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge. He returned to serve his country but failing to find favourable conditions decided to leave it once again.
His journey from Jhang to Cambridge in search of knowledge and then his efforts and achievements in propagation of knowledge are well documented in the book under review. It is a collection of his twenty-two very important articles translated for the Urdu readers. Most of these articles had been published in the second edition of Ideals and Realities (1983). Six articles are taken from academic journals. Fifteen articles were delivered at prestigious institutions including UNESCO, University of Stockholm, American Association for Advancement of Science, All Pakistan Science Conference, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Royal Moroccan Academy, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and the Giovanni Agnelli Foundation, Turin, among others.
Dr Salam’s major concerns seem to be: underdevelopment of science in the third world countries, the Muslim world, and especially Pakistan; the establishment of institutions for enriching and refreshing the LDCs’ scientists; new world order, globalization and its effects on food security; armament; Islam and science; mismanagement of scientific enterprise; and transfer of science instead of transfer of technology.
The author is also concerned about the dehumanizing effects of poverty and deprivation but he does not spare the governments of the developing countries for this predicament. He emphasizes the moral responsibility of the third world governments for the consolidation of the base of knowledge and for the development of technology, rather than merely benefitting from the products of developed countries. He regrets that very few or none in the third world is interested in acquiring knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
Taking science as the common heritage of humanity, Dr Salam appreciates what Muslims contributed to it in the past, and he has the same feeling of gratitude for every scientist, in the east or the west. His writings are inspired by the lives of great men, and he quotes frequently from Einstein, Al-Biruni, Ibn Khaldun, Stephan Hawking, many Muslim scientists, and even the mystics.
When he analyzes the situation in Pakistan, he laments extreme negligence of the planners who faced the challenge of feeding a population growing at an alarming rate and industrializing an agrarian economy. With unshakeable confidence in the talent of his nation, he had served in advisory positions as well to put it back on track.
In his speech before the Planning Commission of Pakistan (1986), he presented models of successful countries, which pledged to develop science and technology. There he pointed out the need for determination on the part of the nation to develop sciences, since neither the universities are producing knowledge nor are they held accountable for this. Moreover, the mediocre bureaucrats and the military governments could not dream of self-sufficiency even in the defense technology.
Among many of his workable recommendations, only a few seem to have materialized so far. With the same sentiments for the Muslim countries, he proposed measures for the development of science in his speeches and papers delivered on various occasions.
The most outstanding piece is his detailed lecture delivered at the Nobel Prize ceremony. His scientific pursuit is discussed in many other articles as well. These articles are product of a physicist having a trained mind to sift reality from fiction, a philosophical approach to existence in the expanse of universe coupled with the conditionality of empirical evidence. This mind is also sensitive to the human plight and deprivation.
Here one can find impressions of intuition, dreams, diligence, devotion, and a high degree of concern for the oppressed and deprived humans.
In the foreword Dr Abdus Salam has emphasized the importance of teaching sciences in Urdu as well as English, with more emphasis on the former. He calls for adopting the English technical terms in Urdu as such. He also suggests some modifications in the Urdu script to make it easier and to facilitate the learning process.
The Urdu translation of the articles itself is an outcome of hard labour, requiring the coining of some very beautiful and eloquent phrases for scientific terms. However, some terms are converted literally; they may conform to the Arabic and Persian style of Urdu, but they seem less useful. Dr Salam himself has asserted that explaining scientific terms in English is much easier. In the context of the IT revolution and the English language not remaining the language of the English people, very strict emphasis upon Urdu terms may not perhaps be justified.
The book also describes his great discovery called ‘Gauge Principle’ operating in the four basic energies. What his team proved through research was that two of these four basic energies — electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces — are in fact two dimensions/manifestations of the ‘electro weak’ energy. This had led to the vision that the two remaining forces — gravitation and strong nuclear force — would merge with the electro weak force. Hence finally a comprehension of the ultimate force is hoped for.
The endnote of the article is also very insightful which says that knowledge of reality starts from experience and pure logical thinking cannot inform us of the empirical world.
Dr Salam was deeply moved by the isolation of the scientific community of developing countries, which is deprived because of the unfortunate division of the countries between the rich and the poor. He dreamed of having an international centre of theoretical physics in 1962, and realized it in 1986 at Trieste, Italy. The centre has served as a kindling spirit and to quench the thirst for knowledge among his fellow scientists from the third world and also to serve as a catalyst for scientific research and development in poor countries. After reading this book no one can doubt his convictions and his sincerity and devotion to his discipline, and to the humanity at large.
Some of the articles of the book contain tables to show the expenditure on science in various countries, and the status of education and sciences in the Arab countries. A detailed bio-data of Dr Abdus Salam is appended in the text. There are frequent mistakes of proof, especially in English words, and this detracts from the utility of a text for one who has no access to the English version. Even small aberrations mar a good message and it is a moral and professional responsibility of the publishers to avoid it.
Pakistani Science, Taleem Aur Ma’eeshat
By Dr Abdus Salam
Translated by Shehzad Ahmed
Takhleeqat, Ali Plaza, 3 Mozang Road, Lahore
Tel: 042-7238014
Email: takhleeqat@yahoo.com
480pp. Rs280
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