1. I do recall reading something written by Salam about him meeting Einstein at Princeton, and when Salam described his work, Einstein professed either ignorance or lack of interest. BUT, I don't recall Salam writing that he then told Einstein that he wasn't interested in Relativity or whatever else Einstein was working on. I also recall watching an interview where he expressed deep admiration for Newton, Dirac, Einstein, Feynman, and maybe Maxwell and Faraday (memory fails me; but it's on youtube). 2. As far as hagiographer articles about our "heros" this is a cultural problem, but I think in case of Salam an outlier; in case of Salam the Pakistani media typically refuses to acknowledge his accomplishment at all. But perhaps this is also because of the abstruse nature of his work. Personally, I would have preferred if Hoodbhoy has instead spent more time explaining Salam's work (e.g. can anyone explain "Renormalization" in layman's terms in under 5 minutes?).
I think this is only the first part - so I expect that some of Salam's physics will also be a focus in the second part. Also, please keep an eye out for a documentary about Salam coming out from Kailoola productions (probably later this year): http://www.kailoola.com/abdussalamdocufilm/home.php
1. I do recall reading something written by Salam about him meeting Einstein at Princeton, and when Salam described his work, Einstein professed either ignorance or lack of interest. BUT, I don't recall Salam writing that he then told Einstein that he wasn't interested in Relativity or whatever else Einstein was working on. I also recall watching an interview where he expressed deep admiration for Newton, Dirac, Einstein, Feynman, and maybe Maxwell and Faraday (memory fails me; but it's on youtube).
ReplyDelete2. As far as hagiographer articles about our "heros" this is a cultural problem, but I think in case of Salam an outlier; in case of Salam the Pakistani media typically refuses to acknowledge his accomplishment at all. But perhaps this is also because of the abstruse nature of his work. Personally, I would have preferred if Hoodbhoy has instead spent more time explaining Salam's work (e.g. can anyone explain "Renormalization" in layman's terms in under 5 minutes?).
I think this is only the first part - so I expect that some of Salam's physics will also be a focus in the second part. Also, please keep an eye out for a documentary about Salam coming out from Kailoola productions (probably later this year): http://www.kailoola.com/abdussalamdocufilm/home.php
ReplyDeleteWonderful exposition by Pravez Hoodbhoy.
ReplyDelete