Monday, August 14, 2006

Great Muslims - Part One

I know I have been critical of Muslims a lot lately, and so this post is part one in a series dedicated to praising the great Muslims - the ones who have been making the world a better place. And there are many of them! The first one in my series is Ahmed H. Zewail. This man is an Egyptian muslim who won the Nobel prize in chemistry in 1999 for his work in femtochemistry, as a pioneer in the field. Femtochemistry is, according to wikipeida, "the science that studies chemical reactions on extremely short timescales, approximately 10–15 seconds (this is one femtosecond, hence the name)." The Nobel Prize website states:
This year's laureate in Chemistry is being rewarded for his pioneering investigation of fundamental chemical reactions, using ultra-short laser flashes, on the time scale on which the reactions actually occur. Professor Zewail's contributions have brought about a revolution in chemistry and adjacent sciences, since this type of investigation allows us to understand and predict important reactions.
Go to the Nobel prize website to learn more about Femtochemistry, and Professor Zewail's contributions to it. This series is going to highlight the good Muslims not only for my Western audience out there. Really, this series is for the Muslims. There are some great and inspiring Muslims out there - heroes to look up to. There are many reasons to value life, learning, advancement, and achievement, because Muslims have achieved and contributed a great deal to this world. So this is only part one in what hopefully will be a long series, showcasing these great achievements. Thanks to The Sphinx for pointing out Professor Zewail to me!

4 comments:

The Sphinx said...

I feel honoured =) Thanks a lot!

It was a sensation in Egypt when he (a fellow Egyptian) won the prize, though I must admit that his entire high education and work was done abroad, so he doesn't owe us that much really..

Anonymous said...

That's ok Sphinx, you take your heros where and when you find them.

CELTIC
FROST,
R

Red Tulips said...

Render:

This man made some genuinely important contributions to the world. I feel that highlighting Muslims such as him help show Muslims that they DON'T have to be victims, and they CAN achieve, and life IS worth living.

That is my hope, anyway!

Anonymous said...

Oh I agree, Miss R, I agree.

Just saying that where he was educated and did his work is somewhat irrelevent to the fact that he's Egyptian. A point that Sphinx can be justifiably proud of.

Kinda of like a star soccer player playing in a foreign league. Just not as worthwhile to civilization...

EVERY
LITTLE
BIT,
R